Razor blade-armed con

Razor blade-armed con

Like many expatriates in Jakarta, I have enjoyed the
development of shopping malls in South Jakarta, most notably
Pondok Indah Mall, or PIM. Last Sunday, I took my teenage
daughter to the mall, but it became a bit more memorable outing
than I had anticipated. While walking near Guardian pharmacy on
the first floor at 12:50 p.m. as I was exiting the mall, I
noticed a middle-aged woman with bobbed hair in a plain dark
maroon dress (who had neither a purse nor shopping bags) walking
in front of me on the left. She turned her head and looked at me.
She then stepped directly in front of me and stopped dead in her
tracks with her back to me. It seemed a bit bizarre, and I almost
ran around and past her to get away. My daughter thought I was
being paranoid.

When I returned home, I noticed an eight-inch cut through my
handbag. Whoever "pickpocketed" my bag only got two packages of
Canasta chips that I was bringing home for my son. Though my only
material loss was a handbag, it makes me queasy to think that
this kind of razor blade-armed con artist is stalking foreigners
in PIM. Fellow expats, beware!

Name and address

known to the editor