Dos and donts: Shoppers (from left) Renee Aw,
Syawani Atiqah and Siti Masnidah Mahsahiwan looking at the flyers
distributed during the crime prevention campaign in Penang
yesterday.
By TAN SIN CHOW
PENANG: They are supposed to instil moral values in their students.
Instead, some headmasters and teachers here have been caught
red-handed for shoplifting.
Sunshine Wholesale Mart Sdn Bhd general manager Yee Kam Ming said
there had been cases where schoolteachers and headmasters were
caught stealing shampoo, drinks, batteries, milk powder and coffee
powder from their stores.
A teacher even had the cheek to say she shoplifted after watching
others do it, he said, adding the teachers were let off with a
warning.
Yee also cited the case of an undergraduate caught stealing
cosmetics worth more than RM100 recently.
She refused to admit her wrongdoing at first but later confessed
she needed to apply make-up to look pretty in university, he told
reporters after the launching of a crime prevention campaign at
Sunshine Farlim Hypermarket yesterday.
He added that offenders would give absurd excuses for their
behaviour.
A couple who failed in their bid to steal condoms claimed they
were too embarrassed to pay at the counter, said Yee.
He said it was vital to educate and create awareness among shoppers
on the seriousness of committing crimes like shoplifting and theft.
During the launch, over 1,000 flyers were distributed to shoppers
at the hypermarket.
Air Itam police stations officer-in-charge Chief Insp Jamaluddin
Ismail, who launched the event, said offenders would always come
out with new tricks to avoid arrest.
Some would bring along old receipts and plastic bags to keep all
the stolen items to avoid detection by the security
personnel.
In one case, a woman even pretended to be pregnant and kept the
stolen items in her bloated stomach.
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