Now that Halloween, All Saints’, and All Souls’ days are behind us, there is nothing stopping us from going all out in preparation for the Christmas season.
In issuing the tips, the Red Cross said Christmas-related fires and robberies have regularly marred the otherwise festive occasion.
’Tis a time of party marathons, reunions, shopping, and late nights. But there’s a downside to the revelry: The Yuletide is a time to guard against house fires, robberies, and fraud. Coupled with near-certain holiday fatigue, and any incident will break the camel’s back.
This checklist will help you determine if you have everything covered in safeguarding the following:
Your Home Against Fire:
- Only buy Christmas lights and lanterns inspected and approved by the Department of Trade and Industry.
- Put your Christmas tree and lights away from curtains, paper, books, and other flammable materials.
- Switch off the lights overnight.
- Do not let candles burn out unsupervised.
- Avoid octopus connections.
- Spend on quality extension cords.
- Do not run extension cords under a carpet.
- Unplug appliances by grasping the plug head, not by yanking the cord.
- Put up little signs for appliances with non-standard voltage, for the benefit of visitors.
- Check if your fire extinguisher is expired, or
- Use that Christmas bonus to get a fire extinguisher.
Yourself Against Theft:
- There’s no need to wear jewellery when shopping.
- Try not to use your phone in crowded areas.
- Install GrabTaxi and Uber on your phone and
- Study Uber’s scheduled booking service:
- Note down the numbers of as many taxi companies as you can and keep them in your wallet.
- When boarding a flagged taxi, make a show out of giving a friend the plate number.
- Take selfies with the driver. Tell them it’s for Facebook.
