Eateries bite the bullet and get armed guards

Poor Chap, Defending others with a Bamboo stick, Need to Think Harder.....Don't Ya Think ?

Eateries bite the bullet and get armed guards
The Star 3/7/13

PETALING JAYA: After a spate of robberies at eateries, even restaurants have resorted to hiring armed guards.

South Sea Seafood Restaurant in Kampung Baru Subang is one such restaurant, which has invested in extra security to provide customers peace of mind as they eat in the premises.

“It is an unusual and costly move for a restaurant but we feel that prevention is better than cure.

“We had heard about restaurants being targeted by robbers so we decided to engage an armed guard a month ago,” said restaurant owner Terence Wong yesterday.

Wong, 42, said his customers admitted feeling more secure and confident when dining at the restaurant with an armed guard around.

The failure to hire of such armed guards, however, proved costly for the owners of the Lala Chong Seafood Restaurant which has two outlets.

Robbers armed with parang hit its Ara Damansara outlet in April.

Manager Wong Thian Foh, 35, said the company had security personnel for its Kayu Ara restaurant since 2008 but felt the one in Ara Damansara was secure enough because it was located in a posh neighbourhood.

“But the Ara Damansara restaurant ended up being an easy target for robbers,” he said.

Since the incident, more security guards have been hired for both restaurants.

“We are also looking at arming all our security guards in spite of the added costs,” he said.

In early June, several restaurants in Pudu and Cheras suffered a similar fate.

In one case, eight parang-wielding men robbed customers and the restaurant owner of RM24,000 and mobile phones at 4am.

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/07/03/Eateries-bite-the-bullet-and-get-armed-guards.aspx