45
“We are not sure that this is a case where the intruder was even in the kitch-
caught committing a crime. They might have burglarised the en. We called
house to hide other motives,’’ he says. the police, who
Chau adds: “Burglars aren’t usually violent, nor will they dusted the house
break into the same house twice. They may return to the same for prints and
building or area a couple of times, but not the same apart- warned us that
ment.’’ this particu-
Last year, a single building was burglarized 38 times, and lar period of
always during the day. It was the work of an individual from the year was a
Taiwan that hired some thugs from the mainland. Chau proudly dangerous one
points out that he caught them: “Buildings without video sur- because they [the
veillance and a porter are the most vulnerable. Whoever lives in criminals} did not
such buildings should buy an alarm or a close circuit recording want to begin the
system,’’ he says. New Lunar Year
in debt – they be-
Lingering fear lieved it would bring
them bad luck.
Break-ins in Macau are not a new thing. Ana was the vic- “Two months later,
tim of a break-in six years ago. The intruder(s) came in through the police called us say-
the apartment window, on the seventh floor, facing the Flora ing the case had been closed. Every year, around this
Garden. time, we are extra cautious, but the fear lingers”, she re-
“It was late Saturday to early Sunday during the Chinese calls.
New Year. We went to bed around 2am. The following day we A few days after the incident, Ana was washing the dishes
woke up to take one of our daughters to Sunday School. When when she caught a reflection in the mirror that scared her, un-
we entered the living room we saw my purse open, its contents til she realised it was her own. For most victims of break-ins,
spilling out, on the veranda. the fear remains and manifests itself in various forms, chal-
“ The intruder(s) took three mobile phones, a photographic lenging all rationality. But Ana did not move away to a new
camera and money. He/they wandered around the whole house, house.
february 2009
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