Having a lot of negative relatives didn't help our move here more than a year ago. There are really still a lot of people who think the houses we stay in for JB are all run down and lined with leaves. My relatives exclaimed, "wow tiled roofs" when they saw our place, not kidding here. Though some are rich and haughty as they are, unfortunately most have never been away from our little island.
As for crime, we have friends who are so worried about our safety, some even asked us to leave a JB number in case. Safety is relative, just be smart, be aware of your surroundings, lock your door when stopping at unknown place or if you have to wait. I was amongst the greatest sceptic of them all, just have this to say, go and see for yourself.
Crime is everywhere, not limited by country or state, just need to maintain vigilance. Don't travel at night if you can avoid it and always have something legal like a long steering lock in your car. Not to actually bang someone on the head but for the deterence value. Always get something you can handle though and not too big or cumbersome.
Don't be afraid to use your car horn and high beam if need be and if you are walking alone and sense danger, kick the nearest car, in fact, kick several so that the car alarm in one will be activated.
Avoid Johor Jaya, Tun Aminah, Taman Sentosa areas in the evening. Rest of the areas, normally should be fine(but never let your guard down). With the increases in road blocks, etc, i can actually see a lot more people out and about in the parks nearby, even flying kites in some of the fields till late. I saw businesses opening later now with 24 hour clinics and coffeeshops opening around.
All these were rare a year ago.
