Compared to Indonesia, Malaysia was completely safe. In Indonesia you couldn’t walk on the street if you were American. In Malaysia if you got drunk enough, a condescending local would point you back to the ship.
A few years ago I think someone posted an article here at FR explaining certain differences between Indonesia and Malaysia, and in particular economic ones, on the basis of Indonesia’s having adopted a Civil Law system through the Dutch while the Malaysians, thanks to the British, went with the Common Law.