Pubdate: Sun, 20 May 2001
Source: Straits Times (Singapore)
Copyright: 2001 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.
Contact:  http://straitstimes.asia1.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/429
Author: Reme Ahmad, in Kuala Lumpur

ADDICTS' HAVEN IN CHOW KIT

Its notoriety as a drug addicts' haunt came into the spotlight after 
reports of a heroin addict who brought along his child to get his daily fix

A MAN in tattered clothes beckons cars which pass by to park near where he 
stands.

Identifying himself as Lim, the man gets loose change from owners of the 
cars who park their vehicles at the roadside in Lorong Haji Taib.

Looking like he had not taken a bath for weeks, he said this was how he 
funded his heroin addiction.

'What else can I do? I have to get money to get my fix,' he said, hobbling 
away quickly as he saw a few people starting to gather around.

The backlanes of Lorong Haji Taib are the capital's best-known dirty 
secret. Its notoriety as a haven for drug addicts came into the spotlight 
after news reports about a heroin addict who brought along his 
three-year-old daughter to get his daily fix in the area.

At any time of day or night, drug addicts, prostitutes and transvestites 
congregate there to carry out their nefarious activities.

Located in the downmarket shopping streets of Chow Kit in an old section of 
the capital, city folk routinely tell visitors not to roam alone into those 
lanes after dark.

The dirty, narrow lanes of Jalan Haji Taib and Lorong Haji Taib 1 to Lorong 
Haji Taib 5 are surrounded by two- and three-storey old shophouses.

'This place is good for them because there are many dark lanes, dead ends,' 
said a police officer manning the Haji Taib Police Post.

In a swoop on the area on Friday, police rounded up about 120 people, all 
suspected drug addicts. Drug paraphernalia were also seized from some of them.

'The police conduct operations to pick them up from time to time using 
lorries. But others keep coming and after a few days, the place is full of 
addicts again,' said the officer.

With the overcrowding in Malaysia's rehabilitation centres, it could take 
months before an addict is brought in by the authorities.

To provide help and counseling for the addicts and sex workers, a halfway 
house run by Pink Triangle Malaysia, a non-government organisation, is 
located in the area.

In the daytime, the streets of Lorong Haji Taib bustle with normal 
commercial activities.

Schoolchildren walk through the area to get to bus stops.

Locals and Africans can be seen visiting the shops selling watches, spare 
parts, electronic goods and leather products.

Many of the shops are also used as store-rooms, with the stored products 
stacked up to the ceiling.

Carpark space is hard to find. This makes it a lucrative business to those 
who operate as jaga kereta, the part-time carpark attendants who expect a 
ringgit or two just for pointing out an empty lot to you.

Restaurants are found at the corners, doing thriving business as the 
high-rise offices surrounding the place pour out hundreds of hungry workers 
daily.

The well-dressed workers easily outnumber the few addicts who go about the 
area in the daytime.

'The addicts don't disturb us, although they sometimes come to the back to 
get empty boxes to sell or to rummage for waste food,' said Madam Ng Wai 
Lien, a stall operator at one of the restaurants.

Near the restaurants, prostitutes stand outside the doors of cheap 
guest-houses.

The mix of women and transvestites in gaudy make-up are keen to perk the 
interest of passers-by, doing a little jig at times to attract attention.

But at night, the character of the place changes dramatically.

For one, a pasar malam springs up every evening, brightening up the main 
streets with neon lights.

It is patronised enthusiastically by locals and tourists seeking bargains 
from fake jerseys of top soccer teams to pirated VCDs, copy watches and 
fresh fruits.

The pasar malam is safe to visit, but the lights do not reach the murkier 
alleyways.
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MAP posted-by: GD