Rasah MP Anthony Loke was rudely awakened early this morning by five parang-wielding robbers who broke into his Seremban home and tied him up, along with his elderly parents.

The 4am incident took place after the robbers cut through the front door lock, and woke the occupants in the double-storey terrace house in Taman Yoon Chan, Seremban, by switching on the lights.

NONE "They barged into my bedroom and switched on the lights. They pounced on me and tied me up.

"My mother and father, who are in their 70s and were sleeping in another room, were also rudely awakened and brought to to my room," Loke ( left ) said, adding his parents were also tied.

"The masked robbers spent about 30 minutes ransacking my house," he said.

They took away about RM3,000 in cash, a television set, his laptop, Blackberry phone and liquor.

The Rasah MP, who is also the Lobak assemblyperson, said the robbers tied them using the telephone charger cables.

NONE Loke estimated his total losses to be RM10,000.

Loke said this was the first time such an incident had taken place in the 16 years his family has been staying in Taman Yoon Chan, although his parents had once experienced a break-in at another house.

Mother freed herself

Loke, who is also the DAP Negri Sembilan chief and Dapsy chairperson, said his mother managed to free herself about half-an-hour after the robbers left, and then released his father and him.

"I do not think the robbery was politically motivated," he said, adding that he didn't know whether the robbers were locals or foreigners.

He has lodged a report at the Seremban district police station.

NONE Fellow MPs Teo Nie Ching and DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang expressed shock over the incident in their Twitter postings.

Lim also questioned the truth in the crime index, asking whether it had truly declined, and called for a Twitter poll to get public feedback on the crime rate in the country.