Misconception about Moscow

I was called upon to write this entry after reading a "short comment" about russia on http://wenkt.com/blog/ ( he's a very good fren of mine thou! ) Before I start - to wenkt , this is nothing personal , just being professional - will always love u as a fren no matter what!

He mentioned in his blog that it's totally unsafe to go out at nite in moscow - the fact that , if u do that , u'll be beaten up by the skinhead for sure. At first, I laughed at his comment - knowing that he's never been here ( moscow ) and he must be listening to the classic news instead of reading the current newspaper. On second thought , I think that his comment would give a misconception about moscow

I'm not saying that moscow is as safe as Geneva or Zurich. Those 2 cities are exceptional in safety wise. But, when we talk about moscow safety nowdays - it's no different compare to Paris , Milan , Madrid or Lille :P . It just that , if u go to the wrong place - at the wrong time - u might end up with big trouble - regardless in which country u are. I'm sure wenkt would agree with this one :)

I've been living in moscow for 6 years. I was here when the one way city bus ticket costed only 3 rubbles ( around rm 0.50 ) and I'm still here when the one way city bus ticket costs 25rubbles (rm3). I've seen a lot of changes in moscow. 6 years ago - I would totally AGREE with wenkt comment about moscow. It was unsafe to go out at nite back then.

Nevertheless - as fast as the russian economy is moving foward , the russian government also made big changes in the safety aspect. If u go anywhere in moscow city, u will see the police cars or the policemen in charge at least every 200m. There is always at least 1 policeman at every metro station entrance every time. Meaning, if the metro station has 4 entrance, the metro should have at least 4 policemen.

Some said, the russian policeman is the last person u would trust. Well, I dont blame them for that. Russian policeman may not be the friendliest police in the world ( they might be the last one! ) , but with their presence - it does make u feel safer. Plus, with the new russian government under the new president - Mr Dmitrey Medvedev , I'm sure it will get better here in moscow in every aspect.

I'M NOT saying here that there is no more skinhead attacks in moscow. There were/are a few and there are still skinhead in moscow. The fact is, they are all over the world. But, it's under control in moscow nowdays. It's safe to go out at nite in moscow - if u go to the right places. If u purposedly go and wait the back alley at 11 pm at nite - that's ur own problem. If u are a lady - goes out at nite, wearing sexy expensive clothing , lots of jeweleries , with a bottle of beer in ur hand - walking alone at 1 am at a small alley behind an old building ..... what would u think will happen to her let's say if she does that in ... Madrid or New York??? or even in Kuala Lumpur nowdays.

Even in KL nowdays, if a group of foreign students , drunk , shouting around, and flirting with local girls at the road side at nite and suddenly a group of MAT REMPIT passes by.... what do think will happen to those foreigners???

So, the conclusion is - moscow isnt that bad after all . At least , moscow is moving foward in the safety aspect and I'm sure the russian government is putting more and more effort toward that. Skindhead, robbery , rapist.. it's a worldwide problem and it happens everywhere. It's more like ur "LUCK". Nowdays - If u are unlucky , u'll end up in trouble.

I'm not writing this entry because the russian government is paying me or I'm trying to promote russia. ( but they better start paying me! ) , I just write this entry because I believe moscow deserves a better judgement.

I DO NOT critising ppl who have bad impression about Russia. Cant really blame those who have not been to moscow recently and still believe that moscow is still the same as 10 years ago. The first thing that ppl remember Russia about is the "USSR" , "the soviet" , the "communism," the " skinhead", the "dirty" policemen. Yeah, that's totally russia rite. However, thing has changed - a lot. Come to moscow and see it for urselves. I met a lof of ppl who reached moscow with a really bad impression and they were really impressed and suprised when they left moscow. The economy is really booming, the ppl is a bit more friendlier ( some) and there are 10 Bentley official authorized dealer in moscow city itself. The "soviet" thingy is slowly fading and the new russia is emerging...

Therefore, I hope - those who read this entry , could open their eyes about moscow. However, should u be beaten up in moscow by the skinhead or whatsoever, it must be ur unlucky day and I felt sorry about that. The truth is, u dont have to come all the way to moscow to be beaten up by the hooligans /skinheads/ terrorist. In our dearest country itself ( malaysia, negaraku ), ppl even got beaten up to death for being "accused" of peeping... what the heck rite...

To my dear fren wenkt - no hard feeling dude.. still love u as a fren even thou we have a diff view about the world :P PLEASE COME to moscow and I'll show u the moscow nite life. I'm sure u'll take back ur words after that...