My opinion: There is truth in Guan Eng's thought and opinion about the state of security in Johor. Before the implementation of Iskandar project, the state of security was the worst (with cases of kidnap, snatch theft, gang activities, etc that is not unheard of, though I can't say how frequent). But with the planning and implementation of Iskandar project, the government could no longer afford to have the status quo and effort was made to increase the security level of Johor. It somehow reduced the crime rate and what a relief.
I wouldn't blame Guan Eng for his personal conversation to an investor, as he is merely trying to promote his state's security to the investor and he conveniently used Johor as comparison. It might be inappropriate BUT it is not wrong. It might be offensive to some BUT considering that the conversation was not official, no one was supposed to be offended. What is unbelievable is that someone prepared transcript of the conversation and this act showed some sophistication in executing espionage.
