Johor Bahru

Tourist offices

Jalan ayer molek, tel. +60-7225-1387. the official johor tourism information centre jotic is a tiny office on the 3rd level in a sprawling yellow building of the same name, a 10-min walk from city square; open mon to fri 8am to 5pm. there are three other tourist offices located at: a. the johor bahru ciq 'tourist information centre' - open daily 9am to 1230pm and 2pm to 6pm, closed 1230pm to 2pm for lunch - you walk about 50m after clearing the malaysian immigration counters coming from singapore b. right at the south end of jalan wong ah fook. c. jb sentral the new train station's 'tourist information centre', just next to the waiting area on level 2. you can get free brochures and maps on various destinations in malaysia, including a free map of jb.

Main post office

Jalan datuk onn, 800m south-west of the ciq or about 10 minutes walk from it. open mon to sat 0830-1700, closed on sundays and the first saturday of the month. besides the usual postal services, it sells first day covers and sets of stamps for collection 'presentation packs'.

Singaporeans like to tell horror stories of crimes in the "wild, wild North" and its former Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew once claimed that Johor Bahru is crime-ridden. As a result of the high crime rate, the number of tourists from Singapore has dropped drastically over the past few years. This could partly be due to the high profile that the Singaporean press gives to crime committed in Johor Bahru against its citizens. Even Johor Bahru citizens took to the streets in September 2007, asking for the city to take action against crime. Although the crime rate in Johor Bahru is still higher than in Singapore and elsewhere in Malaysia, things have become better since the Johor Bahru administration took action to increase the police presence and initiate several anti-crime measures - including the creation of a hotline for tourists to call should they require urgent police assistance. The number is +6072212999.

However for safety reasons, these tips are advisable to be taken:

Do not carry a handbag when walking around town. Snatch thieves have been known to snatch handbags away while their victims are walking on the street, using a motorcycle. If they do manage to grab your handbag, let them have it as some snatch thieves are known to drag their victims along the road with their motorbikes until they release their grip, almost certainly resulting in a painful and unpleasant death.

Keep your passport safe and close to you because it is a highly prized valuable to robbers.

Lock the car door immediately or as soon as you get into the car.

Avoid walking around the city alone. You should walk around the city in groups of preferably 3 or more for safety.

Stay home at night or only go to areas with good security such as malls and private clubs.

Using restrooms in petrol kiosks after sunset is not advised. There are cases of armed robbers hiding within the restroom waiting for victims.

In the event that you DO get robbed, it is likely that the robber would be armed with a machete, or 'parang', in Malay though many Malaysians know English, most do not know the English translation of 'parang'. You are advised to give up most, if not all, of your valuables to avoid putting your personal safety in jeopardy.

Tap water should be boiled before drinking. As a rule of thumb, the general hawker food scene in Johor Bahru is hygienic though certain areas are less so. So keep an eye out for those dirty hawkers who pay very little attention to hygiene.