How to change a tyre… and escape a stun-gun attack

Laura Bridgestock
WVoN co-editor

Following a rise in the number of women speaking out about being attacked in Malaysian car parks, online magazine VenusBuzz has launched a microsite devoted to helping women stay safe while using the country’s roads and car parks.

Many of the topics covered on the site could apply to women (and men) the world over – guides to changing a flat tyre and jumpstarting a car, a checklist of useful things to take on long distance journeys, tips on choosing a safe car parking spot.

What most people would not expect is a guide on what to do if faced by someone pointing a stun gun at you.

This is the subject of an article published by the CARing project on 15 July, following reports that a woman had faced just that situation in a busy car park in Petaling Jaya.

Sadly, this was not an isolated incident.

Over the past few weeks, several women in Malaysia have spoken out on Facebook about their experiences of being attacked in car parks.

On 28 May, Chin Xin-Yi wrote about her experience of being attacked by two men with a meat cleaver, who attempted to abduct her.

She described how she managed to escape, and advised other women: “Try not to go anywhere alone. If you need to walk to the car park and you’re alone, get a guard to go with you.”

The same advice is given in this VenusBuzz article, which also advises women to hide anything that might indicate that their car is driven by a woman, such as cosmetics.

The magazine’s ‘CARing project’ also allows users to rate specific car parks located across Malaysia, giving scores out of five on a series of different security indicators.

These include presence of CCTV, visibility of security guards, well-signed entry and exit routes, and whether or not there are parking spaces reserved for families.

The founder of the Rate Our Carparks tool, Anna Chew, has said that if a car park receives a particularly bad rating, the owners of will be notified.