By Zubaidah Nazeer

HE felt something sharp poking at his waist from behind. Then someone ordered him and his wife not to turn around.

They were led to a narrow lane where they were stripped of $10,000 worth of jewellery and other items in broad daylight near City Square, Johor Baru, last Sunday.

That is what the two Singaporeans claim.

The couple, who wanted to be known only as Mr Iskandar and Madam Fawziah, said they suffered bruises after being hit repeatedly with the blunt side of a robber's parang.

Speaking to The New Paper in their Bukit Batok home, Mr Iskandar, 30, said they went to JB with their 11-month-old daughter and his parents last Saturday to visit an aunt whom he had not seen for 18 years.

They stayed the night at his aunt's place in Taman Perling, 20 minutes from JB.

On Sunday, the couple, who usually go to JB every two months, went shopping on their own.

Around 4pm, they were walking to a taxi stand when they were held up by two men. Said Mr Iskandar, a forklift driver: 'One man said in Malay 'Don't scream, don't look back, don't try to run. If you do, this knife will be in your stomach'.'

Madam Fawziah, 24, said: 'I felt my knees going weak.'

One man gripped her left arm while the other pushed her husband forward using the sharp object.

They were forced into a narrow lane where they were ordered to squat and surrender their valuables.

Madam Fawziah noticed that both men wore motorcycle helmets without visors.

BEATEN AND WHACKED

Said Mr Iskandar: 'I whispered to my wife and asked if she wanted to run, but she shook her head.

'Since we hesitated, they beat me with the blunt side of the parang so forcefully, we could hear loud 'whacks'. It was so painful. I thought I would be slashed dead too.

'Then one of them put a parang to my neck and said, 'Are you going to remove your chains and bangles or you want us to cut your necks and hands?'

Mr Iskandar removed his gold chain, pendant, bangle and his gold wedding ring worth a total of $6,000, while his wife handed over her two sets of gold chains and pendants, a bracelet, a pair of gold earrings and her diamond wedding ring.

Said Mr Iskandar: 'I pleaded with them not to take our wedding rings but they told us they would slice off our fingers if we didn't remove them.'

They also took his handphone and RM80 ($34) from his wallet.

They did not find $250 that Madam Fawziah had hidden in her underwear.

She said she had a bad feeling earlier, 'so I asked my husband for our $250 and stuffed it in my underwear'.

After the robbers fled, the couple ran after them.

'We shouted for help but people at the main road just looked at us. No one helped,' said Mr Iskandar.

They jumped into a taxi and asked the driver to chase the men. But the robbers managed to get away.

The couple did not lodge a police report there as they did not think it would be useful.

Neither did they see a doctor for their bruises.

Asked why they wore so much jewellery, Mr Iskandar said: 'We usually don't. But this was a special trip to visit my relatives I had not seen in a long time, so we dressed up and didn't think anything of walking around with all of it in JB.

'But now, we regret it.'

This story was first published in The New Paper on June 27, 2008.