Why is Sabah supposedly unsafe but Paris not?

Sipadan Island is still full of tourists despite the negative publicity. Filepic

“Crime and terrorism can happen anywhere and anytime. It is a global issue and not exclusive to Sabah.” Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) inbound vice president Datuk Tan Kok Liang was expressing disappointment at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s actions in raising the terrorism threat level for the islands off Sabah from “general” to “high”.

According to Tan, the travel advisory, which was based on a high-profile kidnapping in May last year, was not really fair or balanced. “For example, a group of terrorists killed 130 people and injured another 368 in Paris last November, but there was no travel advisory against visiting France or the capital city, and rightly so. We had issued a press statement ‘Matta in solidarity with people in France’ and Paris was back on its feet in no time.”