YOU knock. Three slow knocks on three separate glass panels.

Almost immediately, a metal door, barely wider than a man's shoulders, swings open.

Inside, a monitor flashes images from hidden CCTV cameras placed along the corridor to prevent those inside from being surprised.

The chubby man operating the showroom said in Malay as this reporter entered the room: 'We saw you coming from far.'

You step inside the shop, the size of an HDB master bedroom.

Thousands of DVDs line the shelves along three of the room's walls.

There's an elderly couple and four male customers browsing.

At the centre of the room, two workers sort DVDs into plastic sleeves at a table.

A small collection of pornographic DVDs is stashed in boxes on a smaller table.

Welcome to the new hide-and-seek world of DVD piracy in Johor Baru.

It's covert. It's 'efficient'. And most significantly for the customers, it's cheap.

Each DVD costs a mere RM5 ($2).

Before the recent police raids, the pirated DVDs were being delivered to addresses in Singapore for about RM20 each.

Now, to attract more Singapore delivery orders, the pirates charge as little as RM8 a disc, with a minimum order of 20 titles.

And there are further discounts for loyal customers who buy in bulk.

As one DVD tout put it: 'We also have our own Great Singapore Sale.'

Four years ago, press reports stated there were 20 pirated DVD shops at this particular mall. This week, only five remained.

Two of them operate hidden DVD showrooms.

And while the discs were previously sold openly or from under-the-counter shelves in the shops, the pirated discs have all been moved elsewhere, to another shop usually on another level at the same shopping mall.

So all you get when you visit the usual shops now are legit DVDs and software titles.

No false walls or drawers to hide pirated DVDs and no more touting.

Until you mention to the stallholders that you are a Singapore shopper looking to buy 'the latest movies'.

Once they are convinced you are a genuine shopper, a staff member will take you to a nondescript shop some distance away.

Careless old-school practices have caused many DVD pirates to sink, said one shop manager.

NOT ALL INVITED

Now, not every buyer will be invited to the pirated DVD showroom.

Some buyers will be told to wait at the stall while the stallholders get them the pirated movies they want from their hidden stash.

We learnt that one of the showrooms was a three-minute walk from the stall.

It is located in a section of vacant shop units, and few people seemed to know of its existence.

Customers are not allowed to enter the shop, unless escorted by a staff member from the first shop.

Said one staff member: 'This way, we are in control and nobody can try to sneak in.'

Even if attempts are made to enter the showroom, the people inside would have had advance warning, courtesy of the two hidden cameras covering the entrance and the long corridor leading to the showroom.

Said a shop manager: 'We work with this new style because of the raids. Others have been caught, but our methods make it hard to get caught. We are more careful now.'

Asked if it was still safe for a Singaporean to purchase DVDs, after the simultaneous raids in Singapore and Johor Baru, the man said: 'Don't worry, police can raid the shop below but they will not find anything.

'That raid didn't disturb our delivery service. Many Singaporeans still use our delivery service.

'We have been doing this for so long, getting caught only happens when you are 'suay' (unlucky in Hokkien).'

The man bragged that an alert staff member had prevented them from being caught in the July raid.

SURVEILLANCE ON EACH FLOOR

Aside from lookouts on every floor of the mall, one lookout, sitting at the only exit along the corridor, had spotted suspicious characters and sounded the alarm.

The showroom was locked and the staff walked away.

Since their close call, the man said the lookout has now been placed further away from the exit in order to see further.

Added the man: 'It's hard to trust people these days, but we are safe and dependable. Our website has continued to stay open for business since last year.

'It only shows you can trust us.'

The man later admitted that some Singaporeans had been spooked by the raid.

Others were upset that deliveries had momentarily stopped.

He added: 'Business is a little quiet now, but we will give Singaporeans discounts for this period only. Please tell your friends in Singapore that we have not run away.'

New customers are given a card with the shop's website and a password for orders.

When we exited the corridor, a lookout nodded and said in Malay: 'Thanks. See you again.'

Nabbed and charged after raids

THE 'new' arrangement is a response to the recent coordinated raids by both Malaysia and Singapore police earlier this month.

Acting on information, the authorities in Johor Baru caught three persons and confiscated 4,000 pirated discs at a mall.

At the same time, a runner who was engaged to deliver 300 discs to Singapore buyers here, was also nabbed by Singapore police on 3 Jul.

The Malaysian runner, 37, was charged in the Subordinate court on 5 Jul for breaking the Copyright Act.

Three individuals in Johor Baru's Holiday Plaza were arrested together with 4,000 pirated movie DVDs.

This story was first published in The New Paper on 20 July 2008.