He was quoted as saying in Sin Chew daily that the list did not paint the real picture of the situation in Malaysia.

Travel and world geography website worldatlas.com had last month listed Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Klang and Johor Bahru as being among the 10 most dangerous places in Asia. It said snatch thieves, scammers and pickpockets often targeted locals and tourists in these cities, and that heavier crimes such as rape, robbery and murder were common in KL.

Worldatlas claims: “Kuala Lumpur suffers from high crime rates as well, and is considered as the second most dangerous city in Asia.”

It said gangs were active in Klang and PJ.

Khalid said the crime rates in the country were no different from those in other Asian countries.

“I don’t agree with the list, which is lopsided. Tourists who have visited Malaysia will attest to the fact that we are a safe country.

“We don’t deny that there have been cases where tourists have fallen victim to crimes, but that is not enough reason to put us predominantly on the list,” Khalid was quoted as saying.

Karachi in Pakistan tops the list. Other cities which made the list are Quezon City in the Philippines, Dhaka in Bangladesh, Ulan Bataar in Mongolia, and Gurgaon in Haryana State, India.