Is it safe to travel to Malaysia when the General Election 2013 is coming up? What about the Lahad Datu Standoff?

A few colleagues and I had an open discussion on this as we all have plans traveling to Malaysia these few weeks. For those who are not aware of it, the Malaysian General Election 2013 will be held on the 5th of May 2013.

My Indian colleague from Mumbai who has little knowledge of Malaysia popped that question and we all had a talk on this.

Malaysia is a peaceful country with no bloody riots for decades. In spite of the sex scandals and the ordinary slandering that politicians are embroiled in, there are no signs of aggressive riots. It is not uncommon to prejudge given that a lot of other countries get a little out of hand when the elections are nearing but Malaysia is not one of those countries, based on the past elections.

When the Lahad Datu standoff first transpired, many posted on Tripadvisor to ask if it is safe to visit Kota Kinabalu (which I visited last month and that's how I got to know about the discussions on the safety at East Malaysia at Tripadvisor.com) and guess what? I went and it was all safe! The standoff happened in Lahad Datu which is located at the Eastern of Sabah and Kota Kinabalu is considered considerably far away. I had a lovely trip and my local friends thought it was absolutely safe to visit Kota Kinabalu back then. Of course you avoid Lahad Datu at that time since the militants were attacking that territory. Why get involved in a bloody standoff? Taxi drivers and restaurant owners whom I talked to confirmed that they realized a decline incoming tourists due to the Lahad Datu Standoff.

So what would visiting Malaysia like during the this period? I just paid a visit to the northern of the Peninsular Malaysia and had a lot of delicious food which I will write about later. There were a lot of flags from the contesting parties and posters everywhere! Regardless of how merry it was - being flooded amidst flags and posters- I didn't think it negatively impacted my stay in Ipoh at all! Everything was great. I still manage to tour around with my husband without the slightest inconvenience.