Safety in Malaysia
 

We are in the final planning stages of an independent trip to Malaysia for 25 days in February for me and my husband. I’ve just read an article from the New York times mentioning the soaring crime in Malaysia, especially in urban areas. See link below:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/20/wo...-surprise.html

It is true that some times things get exaggerated in the press but I would like to ask fodorites who’ve been recently in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Melaca their opinions and how much the NYT article approaches reality for visiting tourists. We fully understand that petty crime exist in every big town around the planet and one should always be cautious but since this article describes something different and more serious I’d appreciate hearing your views.

I've been to Malaysia twice. The most recent about 2 months ago. The story you have linked, that I flicked through, is mostly talking about residents in particular neighbourhoods.

I have never felt unsafe in Kuala Lumpur in the tourist areas. Hubby and I walked around a lot of places that we had no idea where we were going. We tootled down side streets and zig zagged through and behind malls as well as walking in the main streets.

I took the usual precautions one does anywhere i.e. not walking along with your handbag swinging open and your purse on show.

Two things I tend to take with a giant pinch of salt are statistics issued by governments and anything written by 99 % of journalists. That's not to say that they are not based in fact but rather manipulated to exaggerate or play down any particular situation.

I have visited Malaysia and KL many times over the last 20 odd years and have always felt perfectly safe any where in both urban centres like KL and some extremely remote rural areas and have not experienced any problems whatsoever. I haven't been to Malaysia for around 3 years so it must have changed drastically if this report is accurate. My son and his wife returned from KL a last month an found it to be perfectly fine.

If you are nervous of going then avoid it, but where else would you go?

According to the article the US embassy issued a an advisory to tell visitors not to carry their bags on the roadside. Common sense really but probably not the most important safety tip. Have a look at http://www.lonelyplanet.com/africa/t...articles/76192 for more comprehensive advice ( all just common sense really).

The UK FCO also mentions the motorcycle bag snatching https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-ad...y-and-security but I have never seen or heard of it happening. It was pretty comoon in Saigon in the early nineties. I am at the start of planning a long trip around Asia and will certainly be spending tiime in Malaysia. Indeed, from a safety perspective it is probably the country that concerns me least.

I was in Penang earlier this year and felt safe there. No one warned me about being careful of thieves, hiding stuff in rooms, etc. I think for tourists it is just like everywhere else these days, where you use a bit of common sense and don't flash money around, keep your eye on your valuables when out, etc.

We spend a bit of time each year in Malaysia and Indonesia for business purposes. In 40 years we have never had an unsafe moment.

In February we are returning to Penang for our 40th wedding anniversary. We expect all will be as peaceful as usual.

However, people above have talked about bag-snatchers, and that is an issue everywhere in Asian cities. Motorcycles run up behind you on the footpaths, the pillion guy makes a grab, so you always must have your bag slung across your chest and the strap held by your hand.

Also, you need a small pocket knife open in your hand while you're in the street. I always have one just to cut a hand that's going for me, my husband always has a larger and sharper blade, because he's Army and knows a lot more about how things are done.

PS, One of my cousins working in Manila for a charity organisation is coming home to Australia. She says it's too dangerous there now. I'd have thought PNG was worse, but apparently not.

PNG is the unsung tourist destination, if you have the funds and the fortitude. Then the Solomons, Vanuatu, Samoa and the Cooks. Paradise in the Pacific.

"Also, you need a small pocket knife open in your hand while you're in the street. I always have one just to cut a hand that's going for me, my husband always has a larger and sharper blade, because he's Army and knows a lot more about how things are done.

That is possibly the most irresponsible piece of advice I have ever read on Fodors. What next, tourists carrying AK47s?

@crellston. i totally agree with you on this knife carrying comment. if you go armed into the world you are indeed looking for trouble. most likely such ideas as hers are driven by ignorance and fear both which can be addressed by education.

An open knife? That has to be one of the stupidest things I've read this year. What if you trip? A far more likely occurrence in most of Asia than an attack.

Violent crime is very rare in Malaysia. And things like pick-pocketing are much less frequent than in big cities in Europe.

Like others, I find the advice to carry an open pocket knife to be highly irresponsible. And the idea of her husband carrying "a larger and sharper blade, because he's Army and knows a lot more about how things are done." is nothing short of appalling. Violent crime isn't a problem in SE Asia, but if people follow mare's advice, it may become a problem - not because of violent locals but because of violent visitors.

Let's not forget said poster's propensity for exaggeration. Last year, airplanes were falling out of the sky on a daily basis in Burma because of one plane crash.

I appreciate everyone’s input and suggestions. My husband and I have been traveling around the world by ourselves for the past 18 years and have only been “victims” of a petty crime once back in the late 90’s, and that was completely our fault. We’ve been to parks, dark alleys and deserted side roads always with caution. If you want to see the world, mingle with the locals and understand someone’s culture you cannot but go to places fearless.

I totally do not agree with the idea of carrying a knife or any other type of “ammunition.” If one looks for “sheltered lives” then he should never leave home.

The question on my original post was very specific regarding the NYTimes article. Of course petty crime exists everywhere. But let me just mention that you have more chances to get pick pocketed in the Athens metro than in down town HCMCity, a city I’ve felt very safe.

Thank you all.

Wow mareeS55 you and your husband are "unique"! Did you guys hunt "abo" as well?

Also, by 1985 Pol Pot and his regime were gone from most of Cambodia. The Vietnamese had invaded and most of the Khamer Rouge took refuge in Thailand. Are you sure you got your year right?

None of these "colorful" stories (even if true) are relevant to the OP's question, or, indeed, to almost all travel in Asia. They also seem seriously dated, in case this paranoid poster hasn't noticed, the Vietnam War/War of American Aggression has been over for decades.

This just gets more and more bizarre. Anyway, as I have nothing further to add to help out the OP iI am off to do some Xmas shopping. Just waiting for the bodyguards to bring the armoured personnel carrier around. Its a dangerous world out there and you can't be too careful..

scousoula, I agree, I find SE Asia safer than the US or Europe in terms of petty crime.

While maree's reports are of dubious veracity, even if true, traveling alone on a yacht through the waters around PNG is pretty different from traveling in peninsular Malaysia.

I've been travelling to Malaysia every year since 1999 and have never had problems. Not even when I would go out at night to get large amounts of cash from ATMs. The worst that has happened was taxi drivers (usually ethnic Indians) cheating on the fare.
But this summer my (Malaysian) wife asked me to get a bottle of pepper spray for her, to carry with herself on the yearly trip to Malaysia. Apparently she was feeling unsafe. Then it turned out that aircraft carriers do not allow you to carry this pepper spray with you, so she didn't bring the thing with her.

amln - did your wife say why she was feeling unsafe?

She keeps reading the Malaysian news on the web and is always a bit scared. She has been telling me for years that criminality in Malaysia is on the rise, because supposedly the economy is bad, that I should be careful etc.