Vandalism Have you ever been attracted by the wall painted graffiti or some illegal advertisements when you

are walking on the street? When you are finding your direction to somewhere else, it is so annoying you found that only road sign is vandalized. This could be a big problem to ambulances and postmen. This causes them spend more time on the road craving for their direction. Vandalism happens everywhere. It is not only the public facilities but in the school. Over one half of all the crimes associated with vandalism occur in high schools. There is no typical vandal. Vandals can be good or bad students, girls or boys, whites or blacks, rich or poor. The largest age group arrested for vandalism is between 13 and 14. However, children as young six and seven vandalize schools and park areas. Teenagers with growing-up problems act destructively by destroying vehicles, spray-painting graffiti on public places. Older youths often commit more serious acts such as damaging vehicles or machinery, burglary, arson or theft. Vandalism is one of the issues that caused by the degeneration of moral in Malaysia. Vandalism is the deliberate destruction of private or public property. Other than graffiti and illegal advertisement, stealing signs, tearing or writing in library books, spray painting signs, keying cars and knocking over trash cans and mailboxes all these are considered as vandalism. Chief Operating Officer, Nik Airina Nik Jaffar said, more than 5,000 cases of reported vandalism to her. Among the facilities damaged are fences of 4.332 cases, furniture (825 cases), emergency phone cable theft (42 cases), theft of manhole (50 cases) and toilet facilities (107 cases). PLUS Expressways Berhad (PLUS) had spent RM13 million to install the equipment damaged by vandalism along the highway last year. A total of 92 420 cases of corruption in the elevator in 50 unit low-cost flats and medium enterprises in the city was damaged because of vandalism. All these damaged facilities already costs up to billion Riggit Malaysia to repair or renew it. There is a case happened in Dungun, Flat Bijangga which located at Jalan Bijangga was severe damaged by the vandals until cannot be utilized anymore. These flats are purposely built for the poor families as a shelter. However, there is nothing went wrong on those flats, but they still destroyed due to the vandalism. The vandals may commit this kind of actions as an entertainment for themselves. According to Edisi Timur, the flats are owned by the Yayasan Pembangunan Keluarga (YPK). They found that there are more than 50 empty housing units cannot be rented out because of badly damaged on it. The windows are broken, toilets totally destroyed until cannot be used and filled with the rubbish. Besides that, the flats become the places where the drug addicts would like to be stayed. At least 10 units in each of five blocks of flats are badly damaged by the vandals. All the houses cannot be rented out causes a loss to the public and to those who are qualified to move in. They also received many complaints from the public due to the vandalism on those flats. In the last few months, there is a office worker named Wan Affendi Wan Zaabar, 34 years old said that he went to the management for several times to ask for an empty house to rent over but it is embarrassed and he felt disappointed after being told that they have empty house cannot be rented out because of the damaging. The empty houses became the victims of vandalism without any reasons. If someone did really want the houses, they got to spend a lot to fix the things up. Unfortunately, the flats are built for the people who do not have a proper shelter. The vandals seems like did not achieve the target to destroy the empty houses. Although there is only 10 units in each block are damaged, but it can causes the total of 50 units cannot be rented out. It is a great loss to the people who wanted a shelter. An uncle who live there, Zakaria said that

many houses which are empty and not rented out by the owner but the management have not be informed that, resulting the houses are not locked and became the victims of vandalism and immoral activities of certain individuals. The tenants who live there have moved out but did not inform the management so the houses are not locked and just abandoned. At first, there is only children play at there. Since the place become worst and worst, the vandalism begins. Husin Ali, 39 years old, he said he had asked the management to rent the empty houses for many times but the management just told him the houses are not allowed to rent owing to the reason of damaging and said that will be repaired soon. He hoped that the damaged houses can be repaired immediately because there are many people need those houses just like him who works as a plumber can rent it. Vandalism is still and will always be a growing problem unless we do something about it. People pay their taxes for a reason, to build a better community for the future generation. When the community is vandalized, the people are the ones who have to pay for someone elses damage. It would be a large number we have to spend on the result from vandalism if we still take this problem lightly.