Crime
 

Hi everyone,

wife and i hoping to live in Malaysia later in 2012..she originally from there, me English.When she phones her mum once a week , mum often tells her horror stories of bag snatching and house break-ins etc.

I'm honestly forming the opinion that its an every day occurrence, and that we are certain to be robbed/mugged/murdered !

was just wondering what are the realistic chances of becoming a crime victim in M'sia? higher than in uk?

Thanks
Ken

Re: Crime
 

I would imagine it is an everyday occurrence in Malaysia. Also USA, UK, France, Japan... It is not a daily occurrence for 1 person, across the country though it probably happens every day.

It is difficult to tell but it seems like crime in general is probably less than Europe. House break ins for landed property is likely be higher. And maybe purse snatching is higher (I don't know). but in general it seems like crime is less.

Singapore makes pretty much everywhere on earth look crime infested by comparison. It seems like a significant part of the limited violent crime is, just like Europe and the USA, criminals fighting among themselves. It isn't Singapore, but pretty much nowhere is (maybe Japan? and I am sure a few other places).

The biggest risk is probably that it is more difficult to know what is risky in a place you are unfamiliar with. My guess is statistically you are safer in Malaysia. I also figure it could well be possible that it is more dangerous the first year as people learn what is dangerous and what isn't (but I don't know).

People talk about Singaporean cars being stolen in JB like it is an epidemic. In a recent news article the Singapore car insurance companies said 9 total cars were stolen last year and they believed several of those were fraud by the Singaporean owners (not really stolen, the owners just said they were to collect money).

You can't trust rumors. You can't totally trust data that governments provide either (every government has an incentive to bias the data to the extent they can) but it is a better source than rumor and if you can get things like insurance reports added to government data that is the best. That newspaper reporter was very smart. The Malaysian government should be trumpeting those figures (unless they looked into it and they were not as good as that).

My Dad was a visiting professor in London. His car was stolen a week after they arrived. The police said, you will never get it back, "the car was in France before you woke up." They were right about the car never showing up again. This was decades ago.

My mom was worried when my brother went to study in China (she was glad he did, but still worried). I said, you should have been worried when he was a student at Georgetown. There were probably more people murdered in Washington DC when he was there, than in all of China (and given the disparity in population that is quite a bad statistical place to be). Now granted, all you Europeans can be shocked at the amount of violent crime in the USA :-|

Re: Crime
 

The notion that Singapore is anywhere near crime free is a fallacy nowadays.

The fact that Singapore is litter free is a bigger fallacy.

I never saw any crime in JB when I lived there although an American who worked with me got badly beaten up for trying to take over a Malaysian's girlfriend.

We are very careful when we cross the causeway these days. Careful where we park careful to lock car doors at traffic lights, careful about where we go at night, but we luv JB and my missus has no compunction about going there just with her friends.

Do we feel safer in Singapore, JB or UK.

Well Singapore is tops but not like it was and it's a close run thing between JB and UK.

Re: Crime
 

but despite the crime rate are high as you think and heard in malaysia, but the chances to solve the crime also high in malaysia....so what do you think...?

Re: Crime
 

central KL seems fine, have walked all over it without any hint of an incident, people are generally friendly albeit reserved until the ice is broken (no bad thing IMO, better than the Thais with inane smiles and knife ready behind their back). But I dress down and wear some steel capped boots which will break knee-caps if someone attacks me - never had to use them but I think I exude the possibility so it keeps the thugs at bay (touch wood).

If you want to feel danger in the air then somewhere like Manila will get your adrenalin going!

Re: Crime
 

My experience is Malaysia is a far safer country than the UK by a long long looooooong way.

(Caveat - I'm from NE Birmingham so that is my comparison)

Of course there is crime, just like there is everywhere in the world, but my experience is it is a lot less in Malaysia.

I worked in mobile comms & on many occasions I have had to visit city tower blocks after midnight to access the roof. Many of these places there were no lifts so I had to walk up the stairs & on many occasions I passed large groups of young youths. I always approached them armed with a smile & a friendly hello & was greeted with the same in return.

What do you think of my chances to do the same in the UK inner city tower blocks & escape with my nose straight & wallet intact???

This has given me the confidence to go anywhere in Malaysia & so far (maybe I've been lucky) I've had no problems whatsoever. I've even been to some of the Dangdut nightclubs where westerners very rarely tread & never had any problems with anyone.

As someone observed in an earlier post if you mess with someones girlfriend that is completely different, but I think that's the same the world over.