KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - The sight of his friend's bloody hand prompted Kegan Gan to set up a website dedicated to helping the public keep track of crimes.

"In March this year, a friend of mine was walking home after a workout at the gym when he was approached by three men on two motorcycles. His suspicions were aroused when they began asking him inane questions.

"They attempted to grab his bag but he put up a struggle. One of the robbers then attacked him with a motorcycle lock and while defending himself, his last finger was severed.

"Fortunately, the doctors were able to reattach his finger but it was a traumatic experience for my friend. He posted a picture of his bloody hand with the last finger severed on Facebook and it was a shock to us."

Gan said he realised that it was not possible to keep a distance and "say that crime was something which happened to people we did not know or places far away from us".

"Crime is spiralling out of control and there is a feeling of urgency about it. I set up Malaysia Crime to get people to sense this urgency and the only way to create awareness was to use a map," said the 33-year-old software developer.

Gan said showing crimes on a map helped people to keep track of the number of crimes occurring in their neighbourhood or even in the vicinity of their homes so that they would be aware and take appropriate measures.

Gan's website (www.malaysiacrime.com) sources crime cases and stories from the media and also from the public. This is due to the fact that not all crimes are reported in the media.

"My goal in setting up the website is to fight crime with information through free access for the public to have accurate and timely crime data on the website. For sensitive cases where anonymity is required for the victim to share her experience, that is not a problem."

Gan's vision for Malaysiacrime.com is for it to become the catalyst for awareness among the public about the crime situation in the country.

However, he cautioned that blame should not always be pointed at the police.

"Crimes do not happen because the police are not doing anything. It is committed by criminals and the battle is against them. We should do our part and help to support the police.

Malaysiacrime.com received a big boost on Wednesday when wireless broadband provider Amax formed a strategic partnership with the website to help build a safer society.