The number of house break-ins in the country is alarming. Despite all the barricades we put around the perimeter and entrances to our homes, break-ins haunt us every day nationwide. How long more must this fear remain with us while foreign nationals continue to rob and maim us in our own country?

On April 2, at about 4.30am, four Indonesians cut their way into our home. Holding me and my wife for a treacherous forty minutes with their menacing parangs, they ransacked and stripped us of our hard earned wages and a small cluster of jewelry before fleeing. Thank God, they spared my teenage daughters.

Perhaps our material loss is insignificant in comparison to the huge amounts and many lives injured or lost nationwide owing to robberies being committed by foreign nationals. The case in question raises some very serious and fundamental issues that cannot be continued to be tolerated or even sidelined.

The government of the day owes the citizens an obligation. Ensuring the safety and security of citizens is a right that cannot be denied, dismissed or worse, left in the citizens' own backyards.

Looking at the numerous reported cases nationwide these past years, enough is enough. Malaysia is one of the few countries where we citizens barricade our homes with metal grills, padlocks, chains and alarm. In some cases CCTV is the in-thing. The question is, why should we be doing so? Is it not the duty of the authorities to keep potential crime checked?

We all know that the spate of robberies is - in most cases - the work of foreign nationals especially in housing estates. Telling the public to be extra careful and to invest in all kinds of security measures is just absurd. It is tantamount to telling us that nothing can be done to weed out robbers from our own yards.

It is about time politicians rose to the challenge and stood behind the citizens' right to a safe and secure environment. Being robed by foreign nationals has just gone on for far too long. The onus is on the leadership to address the problem.

Otherwise, perhaps the citizens must rally for a mass protest nationwide to demand a very basic right. It is about time.