The Iskandarian E-Paper December 2019

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The Iskandarian Iskandar Malaysia’s Official Newspaper, is an effort by True Soul Media PLT & IRDA’s Social Development Division

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Fighting Diabetes One Step at a Time

Pulai Jaya Interchange Is Finally Open

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TIMA Tackles Climate Change Impact on Health

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Is There A Place Left For Print Media?

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A Greener Johor with ‘malaysiaGBC’

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ohor Education, Human resource, Science and Technology Committee chairman Aminolhuda Hassan has recently officiated the Johor Green Expo & Conference 2019 with the theme innovation and green development that aligns with the state government’s wish to make Johor a progressive and sustainable nation along with the government’s goals in Sustainability Development Plan 20192030 that was launched a year back.

The seminar created awareness in a collective effort on having responsibilities towards

environmental sustainability while sharing the development and latest innovative and green technology product.

Aminolhuda in his speech expresses his gratitude to the attendees and expo exhibitors citing a wish that what they have gained through it in terms of green initiative would then be further implemented at work and daily lives. He congratulated malaysiaGBC Southern Chapter as the joint-organiser for holding a platform to share knowledge and putting up an expo to have an exchange of ideas.

“My support on these

activities that we call as ‘Community Empowerment’ will always be there,” he added. malaysiaGBC is an nongovernmental organisation (NGO) established back in 2009 with its HQ in Kuala Lumpur. Its main goal is to provide a platform for the community to gather and network in planning and ensuring the sustainability of building and green municipality.

Johor is the 4th state in Malaysia with the most numbers of registered and accredited green buildings. Done mostly voluntarily, this fact is a proof that developers

‘

Kempen Beli Barangan Malaysia 2019’ or Buy Malaysian Made 2019 campaign is a carnival that was held nationwide to promote domestic brands, and Johor Bahru was made the campaign’s final leg on 2nd November 2019 at Dataran Angsana, Johor Bahru.

Organised by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP), Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said, “The objective of organising the carnival is to boost domestic spending by encouraging consumers in the country, especially in Johor and the southern region and Singapore to buy Malaysianmade goods while raising awareness and patriotism among the people in helping local entrepreneurs to promote different

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and building owners in Johor are proactive in taking positive steps to ensure sustainability in the state. - by Norfy Shafeq TI

TNB Ready for Action

Championing for Local Products at Kempen Beli Barangan Buatan Malaysia

Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Wan Azizah relaying her speech during the launch of ‘Kempen Beli Barangan Malaysia 2019’ carnival

Aminolhuda at the Johor Green Expo & Conference 2019 seminar

types of goods, locally made products and services.”

Officiating the closing of the carnival campaign is Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail who in her speech has said, “The campaign to boost domestic economy needs to be intensified and strengthened more broadly as the challenges of globalisation of business are increasingly contributing to the purchase of goods from abroad.”

“These sales exposures are also in line with the government’s aspiration to address the cost of living of the people, which is also one of the main focuses of the government’s initiative. Through National Action Council for Cost of Living (NACCOL) chaired by myself and the involvement of various ministries, it would be one of the government’s leading platforms in discussing and finding solutions to cost of living’s issues,” she added.

The carnival in Johor Bahru saw exhibitors from food and beverage industries, hypermarkets, farm’s goods, the oil industry and many more. Lines of local food trucks were also found outdoors and many activities like concerts performed by Malaysian artistes were held during the 5-day carnival campaign. - by Norfy Shafeq TI

“

We are prepared and ready to tackle any power and electrical related reports this monsoon season,” said Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) Johor Head of Customer Service, Datuk Hj. Baderul Sham bin Saad at a press conference held at TNB Tower in Johor Bahru.

Datuk Hj. Baderul said that the state utilities exco as well as various departments such as the Department of Irrigation and Drainage will monitor water levels, and town councils – on ground support, also supported this preparation.

He also mentioned that TNB Johor has 42 mobile generator sets (above 300kVA) and 55 portable generator sets (5kWh) on standby to power up and compensate any power outages around the key areas that may be affected by the monsoon season flood.

Targeted areas that will be monitored include five districts in Johor, namely, Segamat, Kota Tinggi, Muar, parts of Batu Pahat and Johor Bahru.

The TNB hotline (15454) as well as personnel will be on 24-hour standby and ready to respond to reports.

“The public can call us

anytime and we will respond within 30 minutes of the report, depending on the weather and traffic,” Datuk added.

TNB would also like to remind the public to take precautions not only during the monsoon season, but also at all times. Some of the simple yet effective actions that can be made to prevent any electrical mishaps include checking and maintaining household appliances regularly, put or store appliances at higher levels, making sure all appliances are unplugged whenever you have to leave home, and be alert on first action or aid whenever an accident happens.

The utility body has also performed various preventive and corrective maintenance works across the state such as the fixing of 32 damaged or faulty power substations and electrical poles.

TNB would also like to remind the public that they could get updates, billing information and pay bills via the myTNB app that was launched last year. The app can be downloaded via Google Play or the App Store. - by Harish Mustak TI

Ecolife Challenge 2019 Saved and Generated a Whooping RM158,194

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skandar Malaysia Ecolife Challenge 2019 (IMELC), a programme to create awareness on sustainable development in environment comprising of Low Carbon Emission (LCC) and saving on resources (Water and Electrical usage) returned this year with a new batch of winners.

IMELC 2019 has recorded a high number of expenditure saved on water and electrical bills while also generating income worth RM158,194 combined involving 47,000 students from 475 primary schools around Johor.

The income came from various recycling activities by different schools.

Officiating the event is Local Government, Urban Wellbeing and Environment Committee chairman, Tan Chen Choon who remarked that since its inauguration in 2013, IMELC 2019 has created collective awareness among young students and their teachers while also spreading to the family at home then to the local community they are in.

Prof Dr. Ho Chion Shiong from UTM explained that EcoLife

Challenge is a model originated from Kyoto, Japan and adjusted to be localised, and Iskandar Malaysia is the first to have it implemented in the whole of Malaysia. The Ecolife Challenge requires student to calculate their daily carbon emissions, trash reduction, water and electrical expenses in both school and at home. Reports were sent by the schools to a band of different agencies to perform their evaluation before deciding the winner.

In total, 908,402 kilogramme of carbon dioxide was successfully

saved from being emitted through this programme, while RM18,953 of water bill and RM97,139.69 in electrical bills were saved. Moreover, RM42,102 was generated in total through recycling activities and a grand number of 185 tonnes of recyclable items were collected through the 475 schools.

The programme is supported by strategic partners of IMELC including MBJB, IRDA, UTM, TVET, JPNJ, SWM Environment, SEDA, JAS and AEON Mall Bandar Dato’ Onn. by Norfy Shafeq TI

Published by True Soul Media PLT [No.51-B, Jalan Impian Emas 5/1, Taman Impian Emas, 81300 Johor Bahru] Printed by Percetakan Osacar Sdn Bhd [No. 16, Jalan IDA 1a, Industrial Desa Aman, Taman Desa Aman, Kepong, 52200 Kuala Lumpur] Copyright of articles, contributions and photos which are published by The Iskandarian is the property of True Soul Media PLT. The Iskandarian does its best to ensure the authenticity and accuracy of its contents, the publisher cannot accept any responsibilities for errors, mistakes and inaccuracies. The publisher reserves the rights of this product and no part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of the publisher.

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Johor Sports Council (MSNJ) and Exertus Puts up Digital Blueprint Another of MSNJ’s Transformation Plan’s agenda materialised

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ohor Sports Council (MSNJ) has materialised one of its goals to digitalise under their very own Digital Action Plan on 11th November 2019.

The comprehensive action plan and work frame that was developed together with MSNJ’s tech partner, Exertus Sdn Bhd would be the first to be implemented in any Sports Councils in Malaysia.

MSNJ Director, Mohd Gadaffie Abd. Aziz said the Digital Action Plan is part of MSNJ’s Transformation Plan to increase the progress of MSNJ’s administration in terms of skills and management efficiency.

The digital action plan is one of the steps that MSNJ took to transform to better the performance and quality of competency in administration and finance management that would then further ease the document collection process in departments where the system would be a reference for the coming generation in any management in regards of MSNJ’s administration.

Gadaffie added that, “It is important to equip (ourselves) with technology

MSNJ Director, Mohd Gadaffie Abd. Aziz with Exertus Sdn Bhd CEO, Asmizar Abd Wahab during the launch

that matches with competent staffs in order to achieve the objective to make Johor a hub of Malaysian sports. We need a thorough system to support our development.

We have specific offerings and therefore, the effort to assimilate digital technology would definitely help us in achieving the objectives in the future”.

The Digital Action Plan would be executed in phases and MSNJ right now is in the phase of executing the system. The first phase would be focusing on preparing the systems before SUKMA Johor 2020. The second one is to focus on the staffs’ competency to ensure they are adapting to the new

system at the highest level and also to prepare them for Top Quality Management (TQM).

Exertus Sdn Bhd CEO, Asmizar Abd Wahab said, “It is our priority to ensure each system that our client would use to have the IR4.0 ecosystem like centralised, integrated, cloud-first and mobile ready. This is to ensure the system we introduce would be easy to use, flexible and efficient for our client,” The work frame would be for six months with additional one year for a continuous upgrading purpose. It is expected to be ready by end of the year and start running by early 2020. by Norfy Shafeq TI

Project Kim Kim Initiated by Schools around Pasir Gudang Teach For Malaysia promotes grass-roots awareness on sustainable practices to preserve the environment

A project to reuse plastic bottles to beautify the school with botanical decorations

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ollowing the unfortunate and hazardous events that unfolded at the Kim Kim River, which affected the surrounding communities, a group of 14 teachers from schools around Pasir Gudang initiated a pilot project called Project Kim Kim. The teachers activated students from various schools around Pasir Gudang and neighbouring affected areas to dig deep and scrutinise the pollution of the Kim Kim River.

Using problem solving techniques, they were able to find the cause and formulate action plans to prevent and act on any future mishaps.

One of the efforts that the teachers and students have discovered and implemented

in their schools and communities are the 5R concept (Reuse, Reduce, Recycle, Refuse, Rot) which can solve just about any environmental problem they are facing. The students have reduced the use of single use plastics, produced their own organic compost, and even come up with campaigns to promote sustainable practices.

The teachers who were also fellows of the Teach For Malaysia organisation witnessed how the toxic crisis affected their communities, in particular, their students. Collectively, the project aims to provide students with tools for them to lead the way in organising grassroots movements.

Project Kim Kim also hopes to be able to help students to become aware and motivated beings in the name of safekeeping the environment. It allows the students to learn about the Whys and How’s to which negligible actions can cause catastrophic consequences to the environment.

This project is part of the Fellow Initiative spearheaded by the Teach For Malaysia organisation whereby teachers are provided a platform to address specific problems within their school or their communities. - by Harish Mustak TI

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news TinDAK! Butterfly Virtual Run Campaign by JEWEL

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"George & Dragon Cafe is a great venue for all your Festive Season celebrations like Christmas and New Year.”

Book now for your festive party, we have a selection of exciting menus and wines at great prices for you.

o mark World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse, JEWEL (The Johor Women’s League) had organised a virtual run to create public awareness on JEWEL’s child sexual abuse campaign called TinDAK! (Tindak Demi Anak Kita). The TinDAK! Butterfly Run is supported by Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat Negeri Johor.

Since it’s a virtual run, supporters of the cause ran the designated 3km anywhere, anytime during the two days of the campaign held from the 22nd to 24th November 2019.

The main message of the campaign is for the community to have renewal of commitment to prioritise prevention of child abuse, hear the voice of the child, hold abusers accountable, improve access to justice for victims, share collective responsibility for tackling child abuse and neglect, zero tolerance of abuse and violence against children and work for the dignity,

Some participants have taken the initiative to organise the virtual run in the form of group runs in neighbourhood areas like Horizon Hills, Iskandar Puteri

best interests and rights of the child.

It’s heartening that several supporters took the initiative to organise mini running or walking groups of 3km and beyond in multiple places like Horizon Hills, Hutan Bandar Mutiara Rini, Taman Merdeka, Marlborough College Malaysia, East Ledang, and even as far as Phuket, Thailand! It was inspiring to know that many of the virtual run participants have never joined a run before and that too with a meaningful cause to spread awareness.

TinDAK! Virtual run

organisers Alexys Wills and Julia Ong expressed that, “The TinDAK! Butterfly Run is not a race. It’s an awareness run - you are consciously undertaking this run with a cause in mind. The cause here is to give voice to children who may be suffering in silence. What could be more important than that? We must unite to take a stand against child abuse!”

Founder of JEWEL, Thanam Visvanathan-Suresh thanked the community for the excellent response of 500 sign-ups and she hopes to make the virtual run a yearly event. - by Steffi Tan TI

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ort of Tanjung Pelepas Sdn Bhd (PTP), Johor Port Authority (JPA) and Pelepas Terminal Inland Services Sdn Bhd (PTIS) collaborated for a collective effort in building and handing over a container library to Sekolah Kebangsaan Ladang Pendas (SK Ladang Pendas), Gelang Patah, Johor as a part of their joint CSR educationbased project for 2019.

Aiming to bring reading and studying in a comfortable and conducive setting possible for more than 80 students mostly comprising the Orang Asli community, the project was initiated after PTP and JPA found that the school is in need of a proper functioning library seeing they only have racks of books placed outdoor that were often damaged by heavy rains and wind.

The handover event took place at the school and was officiated by Aminolhuda Hassan, Johor State Education, Human Resource, Science and Technology Committee chairman who represented the Johor MB with the presence of Sr

More than 80 students would benefit from the Container Library that can be converted to Audio/ Visual room as well

Dzulkefly Ahmad, Johor Housing, Communication and Multimedia Committee chairman, Rosnan Fathlal, Chairman of JPA, Marco Neelsen, Chief Executive Officer of PTP and Mario Alberto Martinez, Managing Director of PTIS. “Instead of giving money directly to a contractor to build the library, we built it ourselves by paying for the materials and getting our people to collaborate with more than 100 volunteers from JPA and PTIS to build the library,” said Marco

Neelsen. The project began in August 2019 which then received further boost from PTIS with their expertise in workmanship and repairs.

The library was decorated by members of Page One Academy, and is equipped with air conditioning system, complete with book racks, chairs and tables and a wide range of publications suitable for children. The 40x40 container library is able to fit a maximum of 30 children at once. - by Norfy Shafeq TI

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Is There A Place Left For Print Media?

From cover

The world is changing rapidly and so does necessities

T

he hot take on cashless culture going on nowadays somehow reverts back to going paperless, and talking about paperless, it’s hard not to think of newspapers that we consume as our reading pleasure on a daily basis. It’s also becoming hard to find broadsheet ones what with a lot of major newspapers changing their publication to tabloid size or simply going digital.

It is at least 10 years back, when we have collectively stopped depending on print media. Everything is on digital side now, be it news or entertainment, its available at your fingertips.

Furthermore, we don’t have to wait for certain issues of magazine that usually prints monthly to find the information that we want, especially when we could easily type in some terms in

the search engine and voila!

Everything is there on the World Wide Web. All of these boils down to one question, is there a place left for print media in Malaysia?

While change is inevitable and might seem like it happens overnight, but in reality, it takes some time before this can actually happen.

One of Malaysia’s first tastes of digital news was in the late 90s with search engine and email interface featuring latest news. But consumers at that time still preferred print as browsing the internet was limited to bulky computers with slow connections.

Laptops and notebooks was hardly affordable back then too.

The widespread use of PDA (Personal Device Assistant) and Blackberry later in the 2000s opened up new ways to consume

media. The explosion of smartphone release in 2007 was when the media industry started seeing the shed of interest and decline of demand in their physical publications.

Catching up and saving themselves from drowning in the change, major media agencies in Malaysia decided to either go tabloid or fully online.

Dawama, the printer signed under Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) had to go out of business in 2011.

NST printing plant in Senai, Johor closed down in 2016, followed later by its branch in Ajil, Terengganu. Classic comic books printer, Tora Aman publications had to shut down in 2017.

The change took effect within 2 decades since the mobile technology and internet merged into one.

Taking this as a measure, for print media to

entirely be left forgotten it might take even more years to come as consumers still value news clipping from newspapers, magazines and archives to make physical memorabilia. Moreover, you can be assured that major newspapers carry insightful news compared to viral and fake news that are rampant on social media and websites.

Despite news being available at fingertips with a click, it is notable that physical newspapers were wiped clean on the day after Malaysia changed its government in May 2018.

Senior citizens still prefers prints to hold and read as devices and gadgets are deemed too small for them to read at ease. Book fairs like Big Bad Wolf and Pesta Buku Antarabangsa Kuala Lumpur that are held annually still has thousands flocking by in hopes to find

Big Bad Wolf 2019 book fair where visitors are seen pushing trolleys to get prints of their choice

prints of their interest in discounts.

We spoke to some citizens who shared that they still prefer print media anytime as nothing beats reading news from a paper regardless of its size.

However, some netizens do prefer browsing the net for quick reads but agrees that not all the news they read online is reliable at times and somehow the charm of newspapers and its news, ads and relevant information it carries does catch their attention.

Although print media may be on the decline; however, the demand is still there. It can definitely sustain and its leverage to do so is by merging specific demographic, technology and major interest of that demographic which might vary with every publication. Having said this, The Isk andarian would like to thank its readers for believing in it to bring quality news and information. - by Norfy Shafeq TI

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Gleneagles Hospital Medini Johor Celebrates its 4th Year Anniversary

Ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the 4th year Anniversary of Gleneagles Hospital Medini Johor

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leneagles H o s p i t a l Medini Johor (Gleneagles) launched its new and exclusive single-bedded ward in conjunction with its 4th year anniversary, offering bigger and better room facilities for the comfort of patients. At the same time, the hospital announced that it is now the first and only private hospital in Johor to offer Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS), an advanced form of radiation therapy where high doses of radiation are delivered to small targets within the brain and spine. SRS is a noninvasive

procedure that require no anaesthetic or incisions.

To meet the increasing demand for higher quality healthcare from the Southern Region and medical tourism in the region, Gleneagles has added 22 new exclusively designed single -bedded rooms comprising one Presidential Suite, two Junior Suites and 19 Single Deluxe rooms.

Each room comes with a microwave oven, water filter machine, a fridge (in line with the hospital’s efforts in going green and in reducing the usage of plastic bottles) and a convertible sofa set for patients’ family members to rest. The rooms are priced

from RM330 per night.

In addition to the new ward, the introduction of the new radiotherapy services is part of Gleneagles’s continuous enhancement for the recently launched state-of-the-art Cancer Centre in June 2019. The SRS procedures are delivered through the Elekta Synergy Radiotherapy with C-RAD system that is available at the Cancer centre. This cuttingedge technology enables more precise, accurate and shorter treatment period to achieve a better clinical outcome for patients and faster recovery so that they may quickly resume their normal daily routine while enhancing overall quality of life.

“Leveraging the strength of our Gleneagles brand and our track record in performing complex procedures with positive outcomes, we believe our hospital will further boost the attractiveness of Iskandar as a healthcare destination,” said JeanFrancois Naa, CEO, Gleneagles Hospital Medini Johor. - by SMay Tan TI

Tzu-Chi International Medical Association Tackles Climate Change Impact on Health

Dr. Aman Rabu receiving token of appreciation from TIMA JB Group Leader, Dr. Chua Mei Ping

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he annual Malaysia Tzu-Chi International Medicine Association (TIMA) Conference 2019 held its 9th conference at Tzu-Chi Johor Bahru Liaison, the first time for Johor Bahru. TIMA is an organised global service network of over 5,500 licensed doctors and nurses who serve as volunteers. To date, it has approximately 800 members under its wing.

Under the theme ‘Climate Change: Impact to Human Health’, around 80 health professionals and healthcare providers attended the first day of the conference with 39 of them being medical personnel from both government and private institutions.

The theme emphasised on enhancing public awareness on climate change and to improve the understanding of its influence on human health. A panel of speakers from Malaysia, Taiwan and Singapore gave their inputs on climate change’s impact on human’s health.

Officiating the conference was Dr. Aman bin Rabu, Director of Johor’s Health Department who remarked that climate change effects on human’s health is real before further explaining the data that shows spike of diseases and sickness that tallies with the change of climate. He calls for the health industry especially among medical practitioners to be aware of this change and make sustainable practice a priority.

Dr. Tang Kiat Beng, Malaysia TIMA’s person in charge, in his opening speech mentioned that 10% of carbon emission in the world is produced by the healthcare industry. He said that TIMA’s mission is to create more awareness to healthcare providers to curb the climate issue. Mother earth has been tortured by the hands of men. The problems caused by global warming affects all areas including human beings. He gave an example that when the temperature raises, the number of patients that went to see doctors also increases. - by Norfy Shafeq TI

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news JB Hainan Association’s Heart Health Former MBIP Mayor Took Oath as MBJB Talk Benefits the Community Mayor

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he Johor Bahru Hainan Association had recently organised a talk on Heart health called “The Silent Killer” by Dr Ng Kim Fong, who is a Clinical Cardiology Specialist from Hospital Sultanah Aminah and the President of Persatuan Doktor-Doktor Johor (PDDJ) at its

Dr Ng Kim Fong with Johor Bahru Hainan Association committee members

activity centre in Taman Pelangi.

The heart health talk was very relevant and beneficial as it was recently reported in The Star that ischaemic heart disease continues to be the main cause of death in Malaysia for the 14th year in 2018.

More than 100 people attended this enlightening talk, and they were shown first-hand what a Stent, Pacemaker and a Balloon Catheter looked like.

The talk was complimentary and open to the public. It was the first community service project organised by the Socio-Economic Bureau of the Johor Bahru Hainan Association which was set up this year to help improve the well-being of

its members and the community.

The new Socio-Economic Bureau is headed by Datuk Seri Teo Shiok Fu JP and his team consisting of Loo Chuan Kiat (Deputy Head), Jo Wong, Priscilla Tan, Goh Shu Ching and Nyam Kee Han. The Association’s President, Foo Suan Soo is the Bureau’s Adviser.

Datuk Seri Teo hopes that the Johor Bahru Hainan Association’s future projects will help improve the well-being of its members and the community at large. Future projects would include more health talks for the community, an annual career talk and an annual mini medical camp for its members and their families. - by The Iskandarian TI

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he 12th Johor Bahru City Council (MBJB) mayor, Haji Adib Azhari bin Daud has taken his oath at Dewan Jubli Intan Sultan Ibrahim Johor Bahru. He was previously the Iskandar Puteri City Council mayor since November 2017 and before that he had served as the Mersing District Officer.

In his speech, Haji Adib stated the importance of enforcing ‘Back to Basics’ in four main categories, Infra Server, Environmental Care, Social Development and Public Service.

He mentioned the need to complete MBJB’s Strategic Plan for 2016-2020 citing it is vital to align it with the vision that Johor Bahru

is a city that is global, cultured and sustainable. He calls upon the MBJB office to pick up speed in order to materialise the said vision.

Attending as witnesses during the sworn in ceremony is Menteri Besar Johor Datuk Dr. Sahruddin Jamal, Johor State Secretary, Azmi Rohani, Johor Urban Wellbeing and Environment Committee chairman, Tan Chen Choon and Johor Tourism, Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman, Liow Cai Tung.

The former (11th) MBJB mayor, Haji Amran bin A. Rahman, is currently serving as the Chief Executive Officer of YPJ Holdings Sendirian Berhad. by Norfy Shafeq TI

A Whole New Ballgame with RM500,000 Sponsorship

A

basketball court sits in almost every neighbourhood parks but it doesn’t mean the amateurs have had access to being a professional basketball player. Therefore, the Johor State Basketball Association (JSBA) has been holding basketball competitions to select the best players to be a part of their team to represent the

state, and the country.

However, coaching costs are not easily affordable.

The cost of training and coaching could mount up to RM60000 per competition.

VF Group founder, Dato Vincent Koo Seng Yong, being a basketball enthusiast himself, understands this and under the real-estate company decided to sponsor RM100,000 per year for five

years to the association. This sponsorship will support the development of the sports, improve their infrastructure and facilities, and coaching for players under the age of 17.

The signing ceremony was officiated by Cheo Yee How, State Assemblyman of Perling, Dato’ Ou Kwee Hua, Vice President of Johor State Basketball Association,

First International School in Pengerang to Open by 2022

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reen Target Group has signed an MOU with Dwi Emas International School at Taman Rengit Sentral, Pengerang, Johor for southeastern Johor’s very first international school.

The event was attended

by Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Dr. Sahruddin Bin Jamal, who also witnessed the signing ceremony between the parties and became the honorary guest to officiate the opening of INNOCITY project sales gallery.

This will mark the 3rd international school for Ace Edventure Group, where Dwi Emas International School operates in Shah Alam & Petaling Jaya. Johor marks as the 3rd establishment of Dwi Emas International School for Ace Edventure Group here.

D at u k Ta n H o ng Lai, Managing Director & CEO of Green Target Group said, “The signing of the MOU brings multifaceted benefits not just only for INNOCITY development but to the region and the local community as well.

By virtue of having affordable high

quality education available locally, parents do not have to send their children abroad. This means we will be able to stem the Ringgit outflow to other countries and retain it for the local economy.”

The campus will be situated on an 8-acre land within the INNOCITY township project and would be able to accommodate up to 1,800 students. Dwi Emas International School, the first entrepreneurial school in Johor, will carry the ACE Edventure Programme which provides a rich and wellrounded education for its students.

Dwi Emas International School is slated to be completed and operational by 2022 and will cater not just to the local market but also to foreign students, particularly from Singapore.

INNOCIT Y is a 500-acre mixed township development between Green Target Group and YPJ Palm Plantations Sdn Bhd with a projected GDV of more than RM3 billion. Phase 1 of the development is targeted to be launched in Q2 of 2020. - by Norfy Shafeq TI

Gadaffie Aziz, Director of Johor Sports Council, and Vincent Koo, founder and sponsor from VF Group.

Following this sponsorship, the JSBA, which has attained impressive track records and performance over the years, also aims to go all out and achieve four gold in basketball at the upcoming SUKMA 2020. - by Salamahafifi TI

Signing between JSBA and VF Group, witnessed by Cheo Yee How, State Assemblyman for Perling and Johor Sports Council Director Gadaffie Aziz

Baby Blues Begone!

E

xpecting couples will be pleased to hear about the newest delivery package offered by KPJ Johor. Held at KPJ Johor Specialist Hospital on the 16th of November, the launch was hosted and endorsed by three resident veterans of obstetrics & gynaecology medicine; Dr Shahrifah Shahirah, Dr Mohanraj Krishnasamy and Dr Lim Keng Joo who shares more than 25 years of experience from the United Kingdom, Malaysia and Australia between them.

Having been in operation for 38 years in Johor, “KPJ’s aim has always been to be the premier healthcare provider in the region, being the first choice after the government hospital for those seeking to welcome their new baby,” said Mohd Azhar Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer of the Johor Specialist Hospital.

By taking into consideration the current climate of the economy, the delivery package aims to be affordable to all levels of income and prioritises safe delivery complete with professional care for soon-to-be mothers and infants by qualified physicians and staff members.

The launch saw a positive

turnout with 28 soon-to-be an exclusive KPJ membership parents who were excited about discount card for infants, a the delivery package with a RM50 voucher for a baby birth lucky few bringing home gifts certificate, a supply of Drypers such as baby mattresses, baby diapers and Johnson & Johnson blankets and a manual breast baby wash. The first 30 couples pump through the lucky draw to sign up will also receive a organised. An antenatal class complimentary baby car seat. was also organised and held by Interested parties must make a Dr Mohanraj after the launch RM500 deposit.

Expecting parents must to further assist parents going note that the package does not through the pregnancy period.

The Delivery Package is include coverage for follow up split into two different categories. consultations after delivery, One being a normal delivery referral to other consultants, and the other, a lower segment hospital stays for more than 3 days caesarean section (LSCS) delivery or additional tests, injections and priced at RM3000 for a 2 Day 1 procedures. More information can Night stay and RM8800 for a 3 be found by contacting KPJ Johor.

Day 2 Night stay respectively. - by Evan Lim TI Both packages offered includes a double bedded room, a hearing test, a blood test, a BCG injection, a Vitamin K injection and a Hepatitis B vaccination.

On top of that, a 6 month Takaful life and total disability insurance The resident obstetricians and CEO of KPJ coverage for new officiating the launch of the package mothers alongside

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drill

MO N T H LY DR I L L Director

Dr Ding Eng Li graduated from Universitas Padjadjaran in Bandung, Indonesia with a Medical Degree in 2006 to pursue her dreams of not only becoming a doctor, but also to help people in an incredibly significant way. She found herself starting her career in medicine at a busy general hospital in Kuala Lumpur before being transferred to Hospital Sultanah Aminah Johor Bahru a year later as a medical officer in surgical and pediatric surgical before she took the opportunity to venture into the private hospital industry at Columbia Asia Hospital – Iskandar Puteri (CAH-IP) under Columbia Asia Group in 2010. She was promoted to Chief Medical Officer of Accident & Emergency (A&E) where she not only treated patients but also managed the department. Dr Ding was promoted to the General Manager position after serving nine years in the hospital’s A&E department, where she can contribute more significantly and make a difference in the medical industry.

Tell us more about Columbia Asia HospitalIskandar Puteri (CAH-IP) and its unique selling points.

Columbia Asia Hospital Iskandar Puteri (CAHIP) is a mid-sized hospital located near a residential area in Bukit Indah. Columbia Asia as a group offers optimum and affordable medical services through its hospitals and clinics equipped with modern amenities and highly-trained doctors and nurses, making quality private healthcare more accessible and efficient for patients.

The hospital may be smaller in comparison to other private hospitals but the concept behind its simplicity leads the way towards healthcare trends in the future – efficient, accessible and cost-effective. As such, its objective is to provide communities with effective healthcare at excellent value, and to be the preferred choice for families and businesses.

Recently, CAH-IP was named the winner of The BrandLaureate World BestBrands Award 2019 in HealthcarePrivate Hospital category. The award was presented to Puan Rahani Yaacob, Columbia Asia Regional General Manager (Southern)

by BrandLaureate Chairman, Tan Sri Rainer Althoff during the gala dinner and awards ceremony in Singapore on 31st October 2019.

What is the most important element in running a hospital?

I would say that what is most important is the patients’ experience and safety.

From appointment bookings to collecting medication, we strive to provide excellence care by our specialists, nursing team and support staff.

We also try to keep the hospital facilities up-to-date to meet the demands of our patients.

What are among the facilities provided?

CAH-IP is a 135-bedded multi-specialty hospital offering exceptional inpatient and outpatient services. It was built in accordance

e Exclusiv w Intervie

Dr Ding Eng Li

G ener a l Manager C olu mbi a Asia Hospit a l- Isk an dar P uter i ( CA H - I P )

with the Columbia Asia prototype community hospital design.

It is equipped with four state-of-the art operating theatres, an endoscopic unit, four delivery suites, cath lab and an ER. Staffed by 27 resident consultants and nine visiting consultants, the team is supported by more than 400 nursing and support staff.

CAH-IP is also accredited by the Malaysian Society for Quality of Health (MSQH) in 2017.

The specialist services available here include Cardiology, Internal Medicine, Ear, Nose & Throat, Neurology, General Surgery, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedic, Radiology, Rheumatology, Anaesthesiology, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Paediatric, Urology, Psychiatric, Dental and Plastic Surgery.

How do you manage expectations from the public? Private vs GH

One of the most important factors is the waiting time. The perception and expectation of the public with regards to private versus general hospital is that they do not have to wait so long to get treatment or collect medication.

We try to improve and optimise processes to be more efficient for patients and caregivers to have a better experience.

Earlier, Columbia Asia Group introduced a smartphone application called the Columbia Asia Mobile App, which promotes easy-booking, manages doctor appointments, provides easy access to your medical reports and most importantly, keeps track of your health trends and many more.

What are the CSR activities conducted by CAH-IP?

Every year, we host a charity run for a special cause. We also host Breast Cancer Awareness Campaigns in collaboration with the Breast Cancer Welfare Association (BCWA) every year, to raise funds for the association.

This programme is part of CAHIP’s social responsibility initiative aimed to provide awareness and education to the

community on the risk factors and symptoms of breast cancer and the importance of seeking medical evaluation. Early detection of breast cancer is vital to improve survival, lower morbidity rate and reduce the cost of care.

Apart from that, we are active in organising Basic Health Screenings and Health Talks by our Medical Officers & Consultants in and around Johor every month in an effort to spread awareness on health-related matters to the public.

Next year, we are planning to host a medical camp and a series of basic health screenings/health talks in conjunction with our 10th anniversary.

What advice would you give to aspiring medical students?

I must say that medicine is extremely challenging. There must be focus and diligence in school and study. Students must optimise their learning journey to obtain the basic knowledge of medicine in order to build a strong foundation as a physician.

From that strong foundation, students may reinforce their knowledge by reading journals and keeping themselves updated with the evolution of medicine. Experience is also key in medicine. The more you see patients, recognise the signs and symptoms, the more you will be able to identify your patient’s ailments.

What is your take on alternative medicine or TCM?

In my honest opinion, I am not a fan of alternative medicine, especially the ones you have to consume because some might be detrimental to your health.

Alternative medicine may interfere with conventional medicinal treatments. It can be very dangerous too if it’s used in place of conventional treatments, and be even lifethreatening. This is partly because you’re not getting proven treatments for your condition.

Therefore, is very important for the patient to seek advice from their physicians.

Some herbs, supplements, and vitamins also have potential side effects.

These substances aren’t regulated by the government in the same way that drugs are.

And, although many claim to be “natural,” this doesn’t always mean they’re safe. Ingredients, dosing, and manufacturing processes can vary widely from product to product.

What do you do in your free time?

Being a mother of three beautiful children while juggling a full-time job at a hospital is not an easy task. During my free time, I will always try to spend time with my family.

Ideally, if I have some free time to spare, I enjoy gardening or baking. And if I have the opportunity and extra time, I would love to go for a hike or perhaps scuba dive, as I am a licensed diver. TI

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PEGGY LOH

MY JOHOR STORIES Our resident writer, Peggy Loh, actively writes in her blog www.peggyloh.com about matters that are close to her heart.

She can be reached at write2peggyloh@gmail.com

Celebrating 20 years of Petrosains

A poster that charts the 20 Years of Wonder in the journey of Petrosains since its Discovery Center started in 1999

W

ith cars parked on both sides of the road, the traffic was congested along Jalan Yahya Awal during the weekend especially with buses stopping for students to alight or board in front of the Johor Public Library.

This was because the entire carpark in the Library compound was transformed into the festival ground for the Petrosains Science Festival 2019 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Petrosains since its Discovery Centre was opened in Kuala Lumpur in 1999.

To mark its 20th anniversary, the celebration was extended to all four Petrosains PlaySmart centres located in Kota Kinabalu (Sept 28 & 29), Kuantan (Oct 5 & 6), Kuching (Oct 12 & 13) and Johor Bahru (Oct 19 & 20), with the main event held from 1st to 3rd November at Petrosains Discovery Centre, Suria KLCC and the Esplanade, KLCC Park.

This annual festival was organised to engage and inspire the community, particularly the younger generation, on the wonders and importance of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in our daily lives.

This year’s event tagline, Meet the Future, brought STEM to life through a diverse mix of activities that range from interactive to innovative workshops, interesting exhibitions, educational talks, fun science shows, entertaining performances and other exciting activities.

Through the festival, which was open to the public free-ofcharge, Petrosains the corporate social responsibility arm of PETRONAS, aspires

to make science a culture in the nation and help to produce a future generation of scientifically literate and critical thinking people through an engaging, interesting and accessible learning platform.

In short, the festival simply aimed to introduce STEM by presenting it in a fun and approachable manner through the joint effort of the science and technology community and participating partners.

The festival provided a unified platform where partners from corporations, industry players, government linked companies and agencies, academics and institutions worked together to inspire and instill an appreciation towards STEM in the community.

Among the partners involved in the festival held in JB were the Johor Public Library as the venue provider, Bank Simpanan Nasional, UBTECH, Young Scientists Network Malaysia, UiTM Music Faculty, Tourism Malaysia and The British Council.

Held in conjunction with Petrosains’ 20th anniversary, this year’s festival was all about celebrating STEM and curated with a focus on STEM related content and activities that were geared towards showcasing the wonders of these fields while looking at the scientific and technological advancements of the future.

“For the past 20 years, PETRONAS has grown to become a locally and globally recognised institution that provides informal learning of STEM and regarded as an important supporting component in the nation’s education landscape,” said Petrosains Chief Executive Officer, Fedora Zulkifli.

news

“Through the festival, we want to bring STEM even closer to the community and provide more credible and interesting learning in STEM directly to the masses.

With Johor Bahru among the five venues for the Petrosains Science Festival this year, we hope to benefit the community in Johor by sharing meaningful and impactful learning experiences while providing a fun and enjoyable time to visitors,” she added.

At the entrance, visitors were given a programme flyer with information on the list of activities with times and locations planned from 10am to 6.30pm daily, so that visitors could plan their route around the festival ground in the outdoor and indoor sections.

There was a carnival atmosphere as busloads of students, ranging from preschoolers to teenagers, escorted by teachers and helpers were coming and going, while families with young children in strollers were among the visitors here.

I spotted long queues waiting to experience two of the fun activities set up in the Futuristic Room, equipped with hightech gadgets that would change our lifestyle forever, and the Infinity Room where visitors had fun snapping selfies and we-fies to a mirrored backdrop for ad infinitum images.

An outdoor stage was set up under a canopy with benches arranged for the audience to watch shows being staged at various times in the schedule.

I was pleased to catch two particularly

An explosive end to the Cryogenic show held in the outdoor section of Petrosains PlaySmart, Science Festival 2019 in Johor Bahru

informative shows; one that educated visitors on the use of drones in medical emergencies and the other on the wonders of Cryogenic in an exciting series of scientific demonstrations which culminated in an explosive end.

I peeked into the various stalls and booths to watch how students were expressing wonder and delight at the powers of gravity, robotics, telephone microscopes and levitating water drops, among other thrilling experiences.

The Petrosains PlaySmart gallery is housed within the Library premises and equipped with interactive displays for visitors to have their own hands-on experiences to learn and understand a range of scientific principles and concepts.

In a separate section, workshops were conducted in a schedule and I was on time to join participants in learning to build an

A student observes the wonder of how gravity works in this demonstration

electrical circuit using dough.

All the equipment and ingredients were provided so participants – the youngsters being helped by adults – followed instructions issued by the facilitator to complete the project step-by-step.

Admissions to the workshops were on a first-come-first-served basis so the late-comers were turned away and advised to wait for the next workshop listed in the schedule.

Other interesting workshops included a project to assemble a hydraulic lamp, a LED Light Box, a Mini 3-D Projector and Aqua-phonics at Home: Using LED Lights in gardening.

There was something interesting for everyone to enjoy and experience besides observing scientific demonstrations like joining Zumba exercise activities, listening to talks about the Science in Banking and taking part in a quiz hosted by Tourism Malaysia.

The Petrosains Science Festival had certainly come a long way in the past 20 years since the first festival was celebrated in 2013 at the Discovery Centre in KLCC. Since 2018, the annual science festival was brought to Petrosains satellite centres in Kuantan and JB and this year, the festival was also held at Kota Kinabalu and Kuching.

Petrosains PlaySmart Johor Bahru in the Johor Public Library is located at Jalan Yahya Awal, 80100 Johor Baru. For enquiries, Tel: +607 – 224 5498 or email: psmartjb@ gmail.com TI

Participants in a Science Workshop to build an electrical circuit using dough

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D E C E M B E R 2 0 19

INSIDE Your Dosage of Music, Movies Travel & More!

DEC 2019 | Page 2

The Iskandarian | WAVES Lifestyle

editor’s W note

elcome to the final month of the year and the end of this decade! I’d like to share with you Carl Bard’s words…

“Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending”. So make your December good for you before the New Year starts.

Singaporean breakthrough artiste Yung Raja has created waves of success for himself as a rapper, songwriter, and actor.

Since his emergence as a rapper, Raja has been dubbed as hip hop’s next avant-garde bilingual artiste with his tasteful unification of English and Tamil lyrics. Check out his

Priya Manikam waves.lifestyle@gmail.com

newly released single and music video called “Mad Blessings”.

We’ve got two good movies this month – Jumanji is back with a sequel and new adventures with the gang, and Lucasfilm brings us the conclusion of the Skywalker saga in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

If you’re bored of the same old food, head to Istanbul: Ottoman Turkish Restaurant in Horizon Hills for authentic Turkish cuisine served on exquisite tableware in a cosy ambience that will set any diners’ mood right.

Our travel tales takes us to the city this time to Capri by Fraser hotel residences.

This stylish hotel is situated in an excellent location that can fulfill your shopping and sightseeing needs downtown.

As always, for those wishing to share their fashion collection, travel tales, or like us to review your restaurant/hotel for a staycation, drop me an e-mail at waves. lifestyle@gmail.com and be featured. For more news, do access www.theiskandarian. com The Iskandarian wishes all celebrants a Merry Christmas!

Priya

Music Updates

Yung Raja Releases Celebratory Single and Music Video ‘Mad Blessings’ Catchy tunes and bilingual lyrics that will surely make your head bob up and down!

“

Mama said shine on them all”… Yung Raja is back with a joyous new single and music video, “Mad Blessings”! This marks the multitalented Singaporean artist’s first release under the newly incepted partnership between MADEYOUFAMOUS and regional hip-hop powerhouse Def Jam South East Asia.

Lifting the veil on his new single, Yung Raja gives the world a fantastic reminder of why he is poised to become not just one of the biggest names in the ecosystem of Southeast Asian hip-hop but an esteemed ambassador of the multicultural

future of hip-hop itself.

Showcasing his bilingual English-Tamil flow – which has won him legions of fans throughout Asia – the song is a loud and proud celebration of heritage and identity. In hip-hop, you never forget your roots and you represent where you come from. That’s why ‘Mad Blessings’, produced

by Singaporean hitmaker Flightsch, is an homage not only to Raja’s upbringing but to all the roads our ancestors have travelled to cement our identity as South East Asian citizens of the world.

The universal appeal of

‘Mad Blessings’ is apparent in Raja’s dashingly charismatic flow, which merges deeply personal revelations with exquisite punchlines of micdrop impact. At the glorious intersection of English and Tamil, Raja’s words testify to the transcendence of the come-up, to the importance of self-belief in helping make one’s dreams a reality.

Mad Blessings is a celebration of just how fantastical life can be and the timeliness in which things unfold. “With Mad Blessings I really wanted to give everyone a peek into the gratitude I have

By Universal Music Singapore

for everything amassed in this life -- experiences both good and bad. I hope this single can shine a light on listeners, especially when we’re living in times where things are often taken for granted”, is Raja’s take on this anthemic banger.

In the music video, directed

by Jasper Tan of Vadbibes, Raja’s happiness, gratitude and charisma (of course) are palpable. Amidst kinetic, colouristic scenes with his actual mother and father, Raja rejoices about how blessed he’s feeling and how thankful he is to be at this point of his life.

“Stay Blessed” has

become an idle social media catchphrase but now, Yung Raja, one of the most vital rappers in the region, has unleashed a mantra on what it means to really be blessed.

Heed his words.

Born and raised in Singapore, Raja found viral success in Malaysia and Singapore following the release of his debut single Mustafa. Known for his formidable command of English-Tamil rap, Raja continues to confront the industry with his seamless bilingual delivery and distinct cultural references. TI

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live

What are Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists?

C

hild and adolescent psychiatrists are medical doctors who specialise in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental disorders affecting children and adolescents (up to 18 years old), and their families.

They deal with various mental health problems, including emotional, behavioural and psychiatric problems. Much of the work is to recognise these problems and counsel on what may help.

Roughly, half of all mental disorder surfaces before the age of 14 years old, and 75% by 25 years.

Thus, early recognition is very important.

• • • • • • • • • •

•

General and specific learning problems Feeding and toileting difficulties Attachment disorders Disruptive behaviours Childhood/ teenage depression Childhood/ teenage anxiety Self-harming behaviour Schizophrenia (psychosis) Eating disorder Conduct disorder (stealing, running away from home, hurting others) Trauma or other stressrelated disorders

•

Non-organic physical symptoms (such as headache or stomach pain) which is caused by stress or other environmental factors

If your child is suffering from any of the problems described above, consult a child and adolescent psychiatrist to seek medical support. Medical support may be sought at Columbia Asia Hospital – Iskandar Puteri by booking an appointment with Dr. Nor Rahidah Abd Rahim, Visiting Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at 07-233 9938 TI

Your child might see a child and adolescent psychiatrist if you think your child has the following example of cases: • Attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) • Autism spec trum disorders

Fighting Diabetes One Step at a Time Johoreans gather to kick off “WALK: SIHAT JOHOR”

H

undreds of Johoreans recently gathered outside the Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru (MBJB) building to par ticipate in the combined campaign of “WALK When Active Living Kicks” and “JB WAKE UP! Car Free Day” in conjunction with international diabetes day.

The campaign was initiated by the Health Ministry in November 2018 and endorsed by the Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad in an effort to reduce inactivity in Malaysians to 10% by the year 2025 in line with recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO) for healthy living which outlines a recommended 60 minutes of physical activity a day.

What is alarming is that the National Health & Morbidity Survey (NHMS) held in 2015 revealed that 1 in 3 Malaysians were severely lacking in physical activities which has led to an increase in obesity, a precursor for many health issues. The survey also showed that almost half of all Malaysians are overweight with women having higher rates of obesity and lack of physical activity than men. Amongst teenagers and adolescents age between 5 to 19 years of age, Malaysia ranks 2nd in

ASEAN in terms of obesity - a figure that dangerously requires attention.

The hundreds of participants were treated to busker performances, a Zumba session, aerobic exercises, food trucks and a “FUN Walk” that circled downtown Johor Bahru. Non Communicable Disease (NCD) kits were also given out to the people in line with the Menteri Besar’s vision of every family having the means to monitor and detect health issues.

The Johor portion of the campaign was orchestrated by Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Dr Sahruddin Bin Haji Jamal, who was unavailable to attend the event but appointed Mohd Izhar Bin Ahmad, Assemblyman from Larkin as the official representative who went on to address the public, gave out NCD kits, officiated the opening ceremony and joined the public in the Zumba workout.

In support of the initiative, several NGOs and organisations including KPJ, Econsave, Book Doc, Caring Pharmacy, Redfox, Johor Sports Rope Skipping Association, X Fitness, Smoke-free Johor and several others set up booths to raise awareness and provide support for health related problems that the public might have had and to participate in other forms of physical activities. - by Evan Lim TI

Something Big and Fresh Awaits You at

B.I.G.!

Find the best of the best at Ben’s Independent Grocer (B.I.G.) in Toppen Ground floor, Toppen Shopping Centre, Taman Desa Tebrau, Johor Bahru, Johor

A useful map to explore the ins and outs of the B.I.G. Toppen outlet

Endless selection of dairy products

People hustling and bustling in and out of B.I.G. Toppen

Fresh from the farm only at B.I.G.

G

o BIG and enjoy a fresh new experience of food and shopping under one roof at Ben’s Independent Grocer (B.I.G.) in Toppen Shopping Centre.

B.I.G. Toppen is the second B.I.G. outlet to open in Iskandar Malaysia. It wasn’t long ago that B.I.G. Mall of Medini opened its doors to the community in Medini, and now, the community in Tebrau can enjoy a new experience too!

Established with an idea to be a one-stop EAT.DRINK.SHOP.

Just Booze it

Looking for cold cuts and frozen foods?

Get your freshly grounded and pounded spices at the Malaya Kitchen

avenue, B.I.G. is where people can shop for quality international and local grocery, wine and dine with family and friends, or even just enjoy a cuppa at their in-house joints. Independent Coffee and Crumbs serve up some great coffees and pastries, and for something bigger and heartier, The Grocer’s Kitchen is your choice.

Moving to the groceries, B.I.G. has everything for everyone.

Botanical is where you can get the freshest produce and

upon request, you may get a customised fruit basket too.

For the best cuts of meats, Barn Butchery is the go-to section for your needs while Bay Seafood surfs up the best catches of the seas.

Big on organic? Then you should head over to B.Organic where there are over 200 organic alternatives that you can choose from for a healthy diet and don’t forget to add some local flavours to your meals by getting your local spices and herbs at Malaya Kitchen.

A whole section for all those organic junkies

If that’s not enough, check out the Japanese and Korean Delicacies for a different option. There is also a nonhalal section stocked up with other selections of meat and of course, wines from across the world to go with your dining experience. For a bit of zing and refreshments, Juicebox serves a great range of fresh-pressed juices.

If you ever need any assistance, the friendly B.I.G store associates at the B.I.G Help

counter will be more than happy to assist you any way they can.

Check out B.I.G.’s Opening Promotion that is ongoing from 13th November to 12th December 2019 and don’t forget to register and become a BITES member where you could be rewarded by simply having a good time and shopping at B.I.G. Ben’s Independent Grocers operates daily from 9.00am – 10.00pm. For more details, please visit www.big,com.my. - by The Iskandarian TI

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DEC 2019 | Page 3

The Iskandarian | WAVES Lifestyle

Release and Align for Mental Wellbeing – Part 2

H Rose Osman is a Certified Human Design Professional.

She’s a guide for Living Your Design Workshop and coaches others on self healing for anxiety via E-courses and group workshops

yourpersonalmotivator BucketOfRoses www.roselifecoach.com

ealing begins in every individuals. Aside from treating mental illnesses clinically, we can explore the dormant traumas that we keep in our body and psyche. It is essential to release the trauma, guilt, shame and fear before it manifests into mental and physical illnesses. There are many ways to alternative healing. I’ve tried two methods for many years but please take note that this alternative approach is not a sole recovery for mental illness. Please seek professional help and only use

these resources as enhancement in your healing process.

Releasing Method Releasing commonly involves muscle testing or pendulum and affirmation in releasing past traumas. Even though the method of releasing seems simple, the presence of a healer is necessary.

The healer’s job is not just to assist the releasing process but to be the observer that holds the higher ground for the person to heal. A releasing healer knows the correct statement of words for

the individual to affirm. You can check out the power of releasing or transcendental dowsing for more information.

Frequency Alignment through Human Design System If you are looking to realign your body’s frequency, you can give Human Design a try. The main approach in self-healing is Decision-Making Strategy.

Each time we make a decision, it can affect our energy and auric frequency. When one changes his auric frequency, one changes the

collective frequency. Human Design also provides understanding for depression, fear, stress, anxiety and emotional nervousness. You can explore your design through the ‘Nine-Centres’ energy framework.

Although this is not a quick fix for trauma and mental-physical illnesses, frequency alignment is worth it for long term wellbeing and for the collective. As a Human Design professional, I’ve seen how it changed my life and others in many ways. You can visit the Human Design Malaysia Facebook page or my website for more information. TI

Discover your True Self, Inner Power, Potentials and Purpose with Human Design. Visit Facebook Page : Human Design Malaysia for more info.

Genre: Action / Adventure

Genre: Action-Adventure

Release date: 13th December 2019

Release date: 19th December 2019

Directed by: Jake Kasdan

Directed by: J.J. Abrams

Written by: Jake Kasdan & Jeff Pinkner & Scott Rosenberg

Written by: J.J. Abrams & Chris Terrio (credit not final)

Produced by: Matt Tolmach, Jake Kasdan, Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia

Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, Michelle Rejwan Executive Producers: Callum Greene, Tommy Gormley, Jason McGatlin

Executive Producers: David Householter, Melvin Mar, Scott Rosenberg, Jeff Pinkner, William Teitler, Ted Field, Mike Weber, Chris Van Allsburg

Cast: Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Anthony Daniels, Naomi Ackie, Domhnall Gleeson, Richard E. Grant, Lupita Nyong’o, Keri Russell, Joonas Suotamo, Kelly Marie Tran, and Billy Dee Williams

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, Awkwafina, Ser’Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner, Alex Wolff with Danny Glover and Danny DeVito

I

n Jumanji: The Next Level, the gang is back but the game has changed. As they return to Jumanji to rescue one of their own, they discover that nothing is as they expect. The

Source:

players will have to brave parts unknown and unexplored, from the arid deserts to the snowy mountains, in order to escape the world’s most dangerous game. TI

Sony Pictures Malaysia

L

ucasfilm and director J.J. Abrams join forces once again to take viewers on an epic journey to a galaxy far, far away with Star Wars: The Rise of

Source:

Skywalker, the riveting conclusion of the seminal Skywalker saga, where new legends will be born and the final battle for freedom is yet to come. TI

The Walt Disney Company Malaysia

DEC 2019 | Page 4

The Iskandarian | WAVES Lifestyle CALENDAR OF EVENTS

travel

DECEMBER 2019 30th Nov – 1st Dec Iskarnival Eko @ Puteri Harbour

1st – 9th Dec Mount Safa Roadshow @ Angsana Mall JB

1st – 26th Dec Christmas Wonderland @ Gardens by the Bay, S’pore

2nd – 6th Dec

Make Capri by Fraser Your Next Staycation Choice

Capri by Fraser hotel residences is set to add some good competition for visitors to Johor Bahru Business Lounge on 40th Floor

By Moazan Emran waves.lifestyle@gmail.com

19th Milo M’sia Youth U-16 Volleyball @ UTM Johor

4th Dec Asia Golf Explorer @ Horizon Hills Golf & Country Club

7th Dec • •

EduCity Uni Run 5km @ EduCity Sports Complex IJNF-UTM Run & Ride 2019 @ Azman Hashim Stadium, UTM

8th Dec 4km Charity Walk @ Green Haven Service Apartments

11th Dec

View of Johor

A

s Visit Johor 2020 is just around the corner, a lot of hotels have started prepping for the influx of travellers they are about to receive. Capri by Fraser hotel residences is one such hotel, opened recently in February 2019, they are about to add a solid amount of competition to the more

14th Dec

•

of food and drinks, such Blue cheese Salsa, Egg Mayo Croissant, Deep Fried Dim Sum and many more, but being someone with a sweet tooth my favourite dish from the selection was the Pound Cake Trifle, a decadent layered dessert.

After such a sweet tea session, I

Apple Run 2019 @ EduCity Sports Complex Laksamana Run 2019 @ Dataran Mahkota Iskandar Puteri

14th – 15th Dec International Anime Game Festival @ Forest City Sales Gallery

16th Dec In Conversation with Barrack Obama (Live) @ S’pore Expo

19th – 20th Dec

established hotels in Johor Bahru.

Recently, I was given the opportunity to spend the night to experience their hospitality and dining options. I was not disappointed. As soon Spin & Play Laundry Area

25th Dec Christmas Day

•

Mount Safa Open Day

25th Dec • •

New Year’s Eve Marina Bay Singapore Countdown Block your dates for this month!

If you need more information on the above mentioned events, drop us an email at: waves.lifestyle@gmail.com

Grilled Saba Fish Fillet

Fully Equiped Gym

SSO Pops: The Music of Star Wars @ Esplanade Concert Hall

•

not to expect much with in-room dining, but I was pleasantly surprised with the speed of the preparation and quality of food. I ordered a mix and match of different items such as pizzas, soups, and snacks including nachos and sweet potato fries.

I really enjoyed the Mushroom soup and nachos as a late night snack.

The next morning, I checked out the gym and the pool before heading down to the breakfast buffet which had a nice mix of local and international dishes, with an egg station and waffle station. I did find the addition of a cheese platter quite refreshing. Guests with access to the Executive lounge may also have their breakfast buffet at the 40th floor.

When it was time for lunch, we had a chance to test out the Business set lunches, which is 3 courses set at RM48++.

I really enjoyed this menu as it had some really unique options at good value. I had the Spicy Tomato soup, Roasted Garlic Pasta and Sago Gula Melaka while my

Spacious Rooms

Equine Seminar 2019 @ UTM Johor •

as I checked in, I was greeted by warm smiles and I was looking forward to check out the rooms and its amenities. As most hotels tend to have small and crampy rooms, such was not the case with Capri as the rooms itself had ample space with a beautiful view.

We started our F&B experience with cocktails at the Club lounge on the 40th floor. With a modern and spacious design, you’ll feel like it’s your own private space where you can enjoy the view with a couple of drinks. They had an ample choice

Blue Cheese Salsa and Deep Fried Dim Sum

was ready for a savoury dinner. I had a friendly conversation with the chef and the service staff, followed by a delightful local dinner consisting of Lamb Rendang and Ayam Percik Pangkor. I’m usually not too impressed with local food served in hotels and have always preferred it at the local stalls, but nevertheless it was a respectable attempt. The Lamb Rendang was well flavoured and very tender but I personally preferred the Ayam Percik Pangkor, which was really well-seasoned with local spices, and grilled perfectly.

After a few hours’ rest, it was time to test out the in-room dining service, I tried

partner had Cream of pumpkin soup, Grilled Saba Fish Fillet and Ais Kacang. I was very impressed with the overall set for the price you pay. The spicy tomato soup was nice and mild, not overpowering, and the Roasted Garlic Pasta, while vegetarian, had ample servings of mushrooms and cheese.

The pumpkin soup was well flavoured and creamy, just the way it should be. The Saba Fish was moist and grilled to perfection.

As much as I wanted to continue my stay, it had to come to an end. Anyone who is looking for an F&B experience in a quiet place of town with a beautiful view should definitely check out Capri by Fraser, with their friendly staff and amazing dining services, you will not be disappointed.

For longer stay, they have one bedroom apartments that has a kitchenette and dining area and there is the Spin & Play laundry service too for convenience. For reservations, call 607 277 0800 or email reservations.johorbahru@capribyfraser. com TI

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live

Spot the Sea Hares! under the skin. This ‘shell’ hides the animal’s gills and heart.

Sea hares have tentacles at the front of their head near their mouth which they use to

I

f you have a chance to explore an intertidal seagrass habitat, one of the more magical creatures to find is the sea hare.

a seagrass meadow.

When alarmed, the sea hare will release a purple ink that is known to irritate other animals that might prey on them. Some studies indicate that dogs that have eaten sea hares died – the animals can be toxic depending

Serina Rahman Serina Rahman is the cofounder of Kelab Alami and a Visiting Fellow at the ISEASYusof Ishak Institute, Singapore

more information log on to kelabalami.weebly.com. TI Sea hares are a kind of sea slug; a mollusc that has evolved from a full snail shape to having no external shell as an adult. These creatures have wing-like flaps that cover the centre of their body. When in deeper water, some sea hares seem to flap these ‘wings’ to swim. Sometimes in shallow water, the centre of their body is revealed when they do this – this is when you can see their evolved ‘shell’ usually a beautiful but thin calcium patch just

feel around for food. They also have rhinophores (they look like tiny horns) slightly further back on the head. Sea hares eat seaweed and algae – many adopt the colouration of the food they eat and often you need a sharp eye to find them in

on their preferred food and are not recommended for human consumption!

Kelab Alami conducts guided seagrass walks – for

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work

Are Police Reports a Public Document That Can Be Circulated?

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ave you ever lodged a police report in your life? A police report can be defined as a physical record or documents of any incident and/or fact and it is taken and/or recorded by a representative of a police department and filed accordingly. A copy of such report will be given to the maker of the report.

It is the general duty of a person to lodge a police report whenever you see an

offence committed or if you are the victim of a criminal or civil act. At this point, being a millennial you would likely want to post the police report in social media and/or circulate it in your WhatsApp group.

Do note that as per the Evidence Act, documents can be divided into two categories; public and private. According to Section 74 of the Evidence Act 1950, public documents are documents forming the acts or records of the acts of

the sovereign authority, official bodies and tribunals, and of public offices, legislative, judicial and executive whether Federal or state or of any other part of the commonwealth, or of a foreign country. As such, it can be said that police report is a public document as defined by section 74 of the Evidence Act 1950 (EA).

H o w e v e r, a p o l i c e report is also a confidential document of the maker of the report and it is an offence to circulate or publish it without prior permission or consent obtained from the maker of the report. Only the maker of the report has the rights to go public with the report that he or she has made. However, it does not mean that the maker can publish or circulate his or her own police report without being accountable for any defamation action against them.

The Federal Court had ruled that the maker who lodges a police report could be held accountable for defamation if

he or she repeats the contents of the report to the public. Justice Tan Sri Azahar Mohamed said that subsequent publication of the contents of a police report by its maker to the public would not be protected by the defence of absolute privilege save where the contents of the report were made in or in connection with judicial proceedings. As such, a maker of the police report shall demonstrate the necessity for him or her to publish and/ or circulate the contents of the police report to the public at

Nurul’Ain Bt Mohd Ali Huzairy Graduated with Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). She is now an associate in Law Chamber of Vin Sa & Ian.

large.

Having said so, action such as circulating and reproducing a police report and publishing it on social media and public channels without the consent of the maker is an offence according to laws of the Penal Code. This offence is punishable under Section 203A of the Penal Code for “disclosure of information” with a year’s imprisonment or a fine not exceeding RM1 million or both if the offender is found guilty.

It is necessar y and important to note the balance of freedom of expression against the interest of an individual. We should not extend the ambit of freedom of expression and take matters into our hand. TI

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Accumulating Wealth Tips & Tricks

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Eight Investing Lessons I’ve Learned in 2019

ear 2019 is ending soon and I’d like to share with you the eight investing lessons I have learned in 2019:

• Stay Invested Since 2018 until now, we have experienced huge market volatility. While many have chosen to cash in and stay on the sideline, some have opted to stay invested with more caution.

What I have learned is this is tough situations do not last, tough people do. The best time to strengthen our muscle is in challenging times and I deeply believe that if you can survive in tough years, you will thrive in good years.

• Split your Capital Season investors say that if you want to make quick money, do trading; if you want to make serious money, invest. I would say, if you want both, do both. Therefore, split your capital into two portions, one for investing and one for trading. In this case, you can make side income via trading while letting your business grow via investments. Along the way, you may adjust the fund proportion accordingly as it would make execution flexible.

• Read Market News as Entertainment This is especially so when the market is flooded with negative news. The more you are engrossed with it, the more you feel afraid and it leads to unfounded decisions. Don’t get me wrong, we still need to know the economics’ data such as the GDP, unemployment rate and interpret them rationally. However, stay away from provocative news that stimulates fear. Your life can be much easier once you have learned how to filter market noise.

• Buy Uptrend My definition of uptrend is that the latest price candle that stays above the MA50 line and this line is trending upward. This is especially useful for trading. The momentum would lead to further uptrend and it will allow you to sell at a higher price.

Having said that, since the uptrend is not a straight line, a better entry point is during price correction while the uptrend pattern remains intact.

Tey Bin Yuen Binyuen is the founder of BY Enrich Resources and the author of ‘Life beyond the Comfort Zone’ and ‘Profit from Share Investment’. His books are available in major bookstores in Malaysia, Singapore or online http://www.teybinyuen.com/ profitfromshareinvestment .

• Regular Portfolio Review with Action Whether you trade or invest, do review your portfolio regularly maybe once per fortnight or once a month. There is a need to do this because things could change. For example, the uptrend has turned downtrend, the company prospect is no longer as good, or you have found a better company to invest in.

If you review your portfolio regularly, you will be able to grab the opportunity and switch accordingly.

• Be Risk Averse Risk comes from not knowing what you are doing. Being risk averse means avoiding businesses that you are not familiar with. In addition, buying a good business that you know well does not necessarily mean it has low risks. You need to buy at the right price.

Therefore, get to know the company’s valuation and its growth prospect to reduce risks.

• Keep on Discovering In uncertain times, many investors tend not to invest because of some company’s values that have surfaced. You can detect this from reading their quarter and annual reports, or by observing the chart.

Be open-minded too. For instance, you can hunt for companies where their share prices have plunged tremendously.

There could be a turnaround opportunity there.

Hope the above investing lessons would help you in a certain way. Before we end this article, let us have a look at our portfolio on 14th November 2019:

Disclaimer: The companies or strategies mentioned in this article are meant for study purpose only. It doesn’t constitute any ‘buy’ or ‘sell’ recommendation. Please consult your financial professional if you want to make any decision.

• Invest in Growth Stocks If the company’s earnings are improving, it would lead to higher share price and uptrend.

When the market turns volatile, its share prices would plunge too. However, once the market cools down and the so-called bad news does not affect the company’s fundamentals, the uptrend would continue.

Furthermore, the company can be more resilient if it pays regular dividend while growing at the same time.

The portfolio above has showed a gain of 263% since November 2015, which is encouraging.

Last month, we sold Homeriz at 0.69 after it reached our profit target. Our new cash level is now at RM93521.

Conclusion Investing is a lifelong journey, so let me end this article with a quote by Steve Jobs. Regardless of the market condition, let us always “Stay hungry.

Stay foolish.” TI

invest

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Keeping the Community in Mind

M

soduku

So, which line do we follow

every month The Iskandarian shares what you should and should not be doing in your communities !

Scan QR Code

for the solution

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DOODLE

aslee Express Tampoi (Taman Kemas) has relocated their inaugural outlet to the new row of shops just a stone’s throw away from the old outlet to Jalan Cengkerik 1 at Pusat Perdagangan Kempas.

The old outlet has served the community for 24 years since 1995.

The opening of the new outlet was a muchanticipated move as the new location will be able to serve more customers as well as cater a wider range of products. Apart from the products, customers also get better access with ample parking available.

“The prices of the products will be the same as the previous outlet and the range of products will be more holistic. Our priority is to ensure that every shopper gets value for money products at an affordable price,” stressed General Manager Gan Hiong Huat.

Staying true to their ‘My Neighbour’ concept, Maslee has also signed up for the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPHNHEP) i-KeeP Programme. i-KeeP or Consumer Economic Shop

Initiative ensures that outlets stay committed to offer a wide range of everyday necessities at economical and reasonable prices. i-KeeP Strategic Partners play a role in distributing and marketing a wide range of consumer daily necessities based on ‘i-Keep’s recommended price’ which is the maximum price set for each item agreed by all Strategic Partners, civil servants and KPDNHEP. At this recommendation price, all i-KeeP Strategic Partners market all types of i-KeeP products at prices below or equal to the recommended price.

The main focus of goods sold at i-KeeP premises is the basic

controlled goods such as sugar, cooking oil, wheat flour and rice. In addition, i-KeeP also offers over 100 other branded daily essentials in partnership with manufacturers and Strategic Partners such as canned foods, sweetened creamer, evaporated milk, sauces, soy sauce, food and beverages and cocoa malt powder.

“Maslee has committed six outlets to the i-KeeP programme, namely our new Tampoi oulet, Taman Dahlia Outlet and four of our Pasir Gudang outlets. Our participation in the programme that mainly targets the B40 is a clear message that we are truly a socially conscious grocer who walks the talk,” said Gan. - by Edey Suresh TI

Bigger and better Maslee outlet to serve the community

Dine Like The Sultans of The Ottoman Empire Istanbul: Ottoman Turkish Restaurant invites you to savour and bask in the ambience of good people and authentic Turkish cuisine

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henever I think of h a v i n g kebabs or rice pilaf, the first thing that pops up in my mind is, “let’s go to that Arab place!”

In Johor Bahru, generally the Arabic restaurants are known for their typical rice and roasted meat dishes, which is authentic and reasonably priced.

However, little do people

know that rice pilaf and kebabs is also a staple in Turkish cuisine.

Turkey, as many would know and are aware of, used to be one of the capitals of the world where cultures would cross and clash, and even commune to form one of the largest empires known to humankind – The

down a winding and boring history lesson, but essentially in summary, Turkey became a melting pot of cultures, and literally of food. The Sultans would get food

The Iskandarian was privileged to have been received at the opening of

For appetisers, the Mezze or dips with bread

Lamb shank soup The world famous Kunefe!

Sultan Pilav – a dish fit for a Sultan that needs to be preordered 2 hours in advance

Must try, authentic sand box heated Turkish coffee

Ottoman Empire or The Ottoman Caliphate.

Not to take you

produce and ingredients from all across Europe and Asia through the Balkans and Caucasus to experiment and fuse flavours together to which evolved the dynamic and delicious Turkish food.

Istanbul: Ottoman Turkish Restaurant in Horizon Hills that serves truly authentic Turkish dishes prepared and served by chefs from Turkey.

Open for lunch (12pm to 3pm) and dinner (6pm to 11pm), Istanbul lets us experience the intricate cultures of the

people living in the Turkish cosmopolitan. Cosy and comfortable seating with cushions and tables cloths imported from Turkey, a perfect place to lean on after a Turkish meal.

Some of the highlighted dishes include cold and hot Mezze and Ekmek (appetizer or dips with flat bread), Salatalar and Chorba (salads and soups), Kebabs and Rice dishes like the Sultan Pilav

(a dish fit for a Sultan that needs to be preordered 2 hours in advance).

Finish your meal with popular Turk ish desser ts such as the Turkish Delight, Kunefe and Baklava with a cup of Turkish Tea or Coffee (made the traditional way using a sand box heater).

Menu prices at Istanbul range from RM20 to RM200 according to size and portion. Space is limited so booking is encouraged through WhatsApp at +6016-761 5824 or call +607509 5484.

Istanbul: Ottoman Turkish Restaurant is located at 7, Jalan Hijauan 3, Horizon Hills. - by Harish Mustak TI

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Development should not just be on housing, it can include tourism as well - Tai Ee Fan, Organising Chairman of the REHDA Youth pg 25 Study Tour PROPERTY

PROPERTY INSIGHT

@ home

RESIDENTIAL PROJECTS

APARTMENTS

VILLAS

CONDOMINIUMS

OFFICE/RETAILSPACE

United Malayan Land Berhad (UMLand) Launches its latest freehold development - Amber Heights in pg 24 Seri Alam

Read this article on our website

Fed up of the condition of your residence?

Mah Sing Group Berhad Involved in CSR activities for the wellbeing of the community

Connect with us on Facebook

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@home

Are You Frustrated by The State of Your Condominium, Apartment or Flat? Exercise Your Rights as an Owner - Part One

Damaged fire rated door

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ou’re back home after a long day’s work and are driving around the development looking for a parking bay as the car park bays are not assigned. Finally, you find a parking bay in a secluded location.

As you are walking to the lobby, you nearly fell in the drain because the drain covers have been stolen and the area is not well lit. You reach the lobby and find the lifts are faulty. You have to walk up 15 storeys to your unit. As you go up the stairs, you find the staircase is filthy with dirt and cigarette buds and it stinks from urine smell. It’s very dark as many of the lights are faulty too. The fire rated door

knobs are missing and its left open as the door closers are faulty. The railings are so rusty and it’s a matter of time before they break.

You’re sweaty and frustrated; you head to the washroom to shower.

As you’re applying soap, you feel something dripping on your head. You turn up and find water dripping through the ceiling from the unit above!

This is not a fictional story. This is the sorry state of many stratified developments in Johor. We work very hard to pay the monthly mortgage commitment and all we want is peaceful enjoyment of our home and its amenities. As landlords, we renovate the property extensively and put it up for rent.

But it’s almost impossible to find a tenant primarily because of the state of the facilities. As a result, the market value of the property continues to drop. Who is to be blamed? Instead of pointing fingers, let’s do something about it.

Do you know that as an owner of a stratified development,

you are part owner of the common area and common facilities too?

S t ra t a Legislations & Authorities Before we discuss about exercising our rights, let’s first understand the existing legislations and authorities i nvo l ve d. A l l s t r a t i f i e d properties are governed by Strata Management Act 2013 (Act 757) and its Regulations for Maintenance & Management and Regulations for Strata Management Tribunal which came into force in June 2015.

Strata properties comprise of high rise or low rise residential buildings, commercial buildings

Missing drain covers

UMLand Launches Amber Heights at Seri Alam Township Amber Heights is the latest freehold development at UMLand Seri Alam

KK Wong showing the scale model of the development to the VIPs

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nited Malayan Land Berhad (UMLand) has launched its latest freehold development - Amber Heights. This is a new edition to the various developments that have been introduced by the award winning developer, featuring stunning designs, tranquil living spaces and competitive pricing.

Estimated to be completed in Q4 of 2022, the first section of Amber Heights development comprising 120 high-rise residential

units will be open for sale.

The development comes complete with almost all practical amenities within a beautiful and peaceful enclave of greenery.

“Building and development are necessary for us to move forward as a nation, and infractions advancement allows us to quickly modernise our fast changing landscapes.

However, do not forget about the delicate balance of greenery and construction.

When we integrate our

developments into the surrounding greener y, it produces an amazing effect that complements each other. Therefore, we are always finding more sustainable methods when it comes to our future projects,” said KK Wong, Group Director of Townships, UMLand.

Amber Heights comes with five built-up variants ranging from 844 sqft to 1,053 sqft. Each unit is Internet ready and offers generous room height and a panoramic view of the surroundings.

The five variant units are priced from RM288,799 to RM392,799. Interested buyers are able to own their very own home with a monthly installments as low as RM1,200 and also enjoy a waiver on legal fees for the SPA and loan agreement.

For more details or to book a unit, please contact the Amber Heights Sales team at +607-3881111. - by Harish Mustak TI

including retail, offices, malls and mixed developments. It also includes landed stratified developments. In layman’s term, stratified property means a land under a particular lot subdivided into parcels. The parcels can be built vertically upwards or/and below ground or horizontally.

The Strata Management Act is very comprehensive and wide ranging, covering almost every aspect of strata living with the primary objective of regulating the control, management, administration, use and enjoyment of the strata development.

The administration of the act is led by the Commissioner of Buildings (COB) (Pesuruhjaya Bangunan). Each Local Authority has its COB division which is headed by the Mayor (Datuk Bandar) or Yang Dipertua (YDP).

There are 15 Local Authorities in Johor and around 85% of the strata properties fall under the jurisdiction of 2 Local Authorities, namely Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru (MBJB)

Sr Terence Nathan & Dr. Kam Hui Wen Sr Terence was formerly a Finance Manager based in Singapore who switched his career to Property Surveying. He’s the CEO at Invenio Potential. Dr. Kam has PHD in Facility Management & Degree in Building Surveying and she is leading the Defect Management & Procurement Departments at Invenio Potential. Sr Terence & Dr. Kam are licensed Property Managers and they can be reached at terence.nathan@ invenioptl.com / hw.kam@ invenioptl.com

and Majlis Bandaraya Iskandar Puteri (MBIP).

The Strata Management Tribunal was established under the purview of the Housing and Local Government Ministry in mid 2015 except in Johor which was established about 1 year later.

Strata Management Tribunal is a cheap and speedy alternative to filing a civil suit. In the next issue, we’ll discuss further on your rights as an owner.

Delay No More: Pulai Jaya Interchange Finally Opens The Johor Bahru - Pontian interlink reduces traffic congestion up to 40%

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he much awaited opening of Bandar Pulai Jaya highway interchange route is finally open to the public.

Launched by Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Dr. Sahruddin Jamal and organised

by Kulai Municipal Council (MPK), the launch saw quite a number of attendance among the local residents especially to witness the historic launch.

Costing at RM84.5 million, the project which previously experienced a three-year delay was supposed to be opened in 2016.

Reasons for it delays consisted of problems in the final phase of acquiring the lands and relocation of utilities around the area.

Constructed by Extreme Consolidated Sdn Bhd, the interchange would link Jalan Johor Bahru - Pontian to the Second Link Highway. Dr. Sahruddin in his officiating speech said, “This would reduce the travelling time from Bandar Pulai Jaya and Taman Pulai Indah areas to Jalan Skudai interchange from 45 minutes to about 25 minutes.” The intersection would reduce traffic congestion along Jalan Johor Bahru Pontian by 40 % and an estimate of 100,000 road users would benefit from the route.

Rapid development and economic growth in the surrounding areas of the intersection is expected upon its completion and launch.

The MB also emphasised on the issue of facilities and infrastructures development such as road works as one of the important agendas under the Johor state government’s

Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Dr. Sahruddin Jamal cutting ribbon to release the balloons during the Pulai Jaya interchange officiation

Comprehensive Development Plan that runs from 2019 until 2030 which comprises of eight thrusts. This would in turn help maneuver Johor to be a much more developed and high performance state based on a development model that is more progressive, inclusive and sustainable.

Also present at the opening ceremony were state Public Works, Transpor tation and Infrastructure Committee chairman Mohd Solihan Badri and state Housing, Communication, Multimedia Committee chairman Sr Dzulkefly Ahmad, state International Trade, Investment and Utilities Committee chairman Jimmy Puah and State Secretary of Johor, Azmi Rohani. - by Norfy Shafeq TI

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BaseConf 2020: Iskandar Puteri’s First Ever Regional Tech Conference

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new dawn for startups in Johor commenced when BaseConf 2020 was launched, aiming to be the first ever regional technology conference in Iskandar Malaysia. Organised by startup ecosystem builder, START Malaysia joint-organised with Techsauce, Southeast Asia from Thailand-based leading source of tech and business news, the conference is aiming to enrich homegrown startups by opening the world to them.

The objective of this conference is to be a platform as a catalyst to empower local

entrepreneurs and provide them with the right exposure at regional level. At the same time, this conference assisted in accelerating the entrepreneurial momentum in the southern region of Malaysia.

Attending as panelists for a discussion entitled “Johor As The Next Startup Power House “were Jimmy Puah Wee Tse, Johor International Trade, Investment and Utility Committee chairman, Engku Ahmad Kamel, Director of Economics & Investment, Iskandar Regional Development Authority,

Nukman Abdul Rahman, Head of Digital, Iskandar Investment Berhad, Azryain Borhan, Advisor for Business Continuity Management, Johor Corporation and moderated by Feng Lim, CEO of START Malaysia.

BaseConf 2020 would be hosted in Iskandar Malaysia next year tentatively from 15th - 16th January 2020 at Iskandar Malaysia Studios, Iskandar Puteri.

Expec ting 1,500 attendees, 100 companies, 50 regional speakers, coming from 15 cities worldwide, BaseConf 2020 will feature highly curated

activities designed for the local and international community which includes Corporate Innovation, Ve n t u r e Investment, Star tups War Stories, Digital Transformation, Future Technology, and E-Commerce.

Other activities and showcases planned include Keynote & Panel Discussions, Tech Exhibitions, Workshops & Masterclasses, a Pitching Competition, Business & Investor Matching as well as a networking session and after party. More details may be found via https://baseconf. com. - by Norfy Shafeq TI

RUN FOR C.A.R.E at CI Medini

Ivy Tan (2nd from right) with Thomas Ong (4th from right), Takeshi Matsukata (5th from right), John Tok (6th from right) and other representatives from various groups at the Press conference for Run For C.A.R.E.

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n 14th December 2019, get your running shoes ready and run for a cause at the “RUN FOR C.A.R.E (Children Awareness Responsible Environment)” happening at CI Medini, Iskandar Puteri from 7.30am to 10.30am.

Jointly organised

by Kiwanis Club of Taman Sentosa, CI Medini and Master Paw Feng Shui Consultancy, the fundraising charity run is targeting to raise RM250,000 for special needs children who have autism, Down Syndrome and learning disorder, among others.

40% of the amount raised will be channelled to

Kiwanis Careheart Centre in Persisiran Sutera Danga 1, Taman Sutera Utama, Johor Bahru, while 30% will be allocated for the purchase of Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus (MNT) vaccines from UNICEF, and the remaining 30% is supposed to be channelled to Sopheak’s Friendship School (SFS) in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

However, SFS representative Thomas Ong, a popular Singaporean actor announced that SFS will donate its entire 30% per cent quota to Kiwanis which is more in need.

Eve nt o rg a n i s i n g chairman John Tok said this is the first time an NGO is organising a fundraising charity run that will benefit

underprivileged children across the globe regardless of race and ethnicity.

Kiwanis Club of Taman Sentosa president Ivy Tan said that there are currently 67 special children studying in the Kiwanis Careheart Centre. “The centre spends about RM50,000 every month. We will provide different types of assistance based on the economic situation of each family. The minimum fee is RM400 per month. Therefore, we need public assistance to maintain and run the centre.”

Also present was CI Medini Managing Director Takeshi Matsukata.

The charity run features two categories; 5 km and 8 km.

Registration fee is RM60 for adults, RM30 for children aged 7 to 12, and free for children under 7 years old. School or college with more than 10 participants may sign up at a special rate of RM40.

Those who wish to sponsor or participate in the event may visit Kiwanis Club of Taman Sentosa Facebook Page or call 019-711 3383, 012-779 8156, 012-772 7736 for further enquiries. - by The Iskandarian TI

Techsauce Southeast Asia’s Amarit Charoenpan with START Malaysia’s Feng Lim after their agreement signing witnessed by Jimmy Puah Wee Tse, Johor International Trade, Investment and Utility Committee chairman, Engku Ahmad Kamel, Director of Economics & Investment, Iskandar Regional Development Authority, Nukman Abdul Rahman, Head of Digital, Iskandar Investment Berhad, Azryain Borhan, Advisor for Business Continuity Management, Johor Corporation

Mah Sing Uplifts & Enhances the Wellbeing of Surrounding Community

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eading property developer, Mah Sing Group Berhad (Mah Sing) continues to reinforce its commitment to uplift and enhance the wellbeing of the surrounding community by organising its annual company-wide Corporate Responsibility (CR) initiatives recently.

Mah Sing’s workforce comprising senior management team and its employees, as part of M’Power, the Group’s volunteer platform were involved in various community-based activities at 5 different locations nationwide namely at Perumahan Awam (PA) Seri Kelantan in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur; Kuala Sungai Buloh River; MS Academy @ Wisma Mah Sing, Kuala Lumpur; Penang National Park @ Teluk Kampi and Desaru Beach, Johor Bahru.

Mah Sing’s Founder and Group Managing Director, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Leong Hoy Kum said, “As a responsible property developer, it is our aim to perform our social duties by giving back to the society through sustainable initiatives that is aimed at enhancing the wellbeing and livelihood of the surrounding community, which is in line with our tagline, ‘Reinvent Spaces.

Enhance Life.’ It is imperative to inculcate and foster a culture that champions the spirit of volunteerism. We are proud to have dedicated employees making positive change to the community.”

“It is our commitment to empower our people towards personal and professional growth through continuous learning, whilst constantly caring for the people, community, and environment. This is our second year organising such initiatives and I am delighted to see our employees including the top management coming out to give back to the community. Our employees from all three regions that we are present in such as Klang Valley, Johor, and Penang were involved in this year’s initiatives – carrying out various activities at 5 different locations in total.”

Downsouth, Mah Sing’s Southern M’Power members spent the day cleaning up the white sandy beaches of Desaru, where approximately 80kg of trash were collected.

Mah Sing’s Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Ho Hon Sang said, “We witnessed encouraging participation from our employees nationwide, which is a testament of the dedication and commitment from our employees to perform our social duties for the betterment of the surrounding community. We hope to see this joined effort to continue every year and getting more of our employees to participate in not only the annual company-wide CR programmes but also various other programmes under Mah Sing Foundation.” - by The Iskandarian TI

Youth Builders Study Township Development in Johor

I

n line with REHDA Youth’s objectives to educate and champion sustainable in the property development arena, REHDA Youth brought a group of delegates down to Johor Bahru recently particularly to visit ThinkCity, Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), Menara JLand, Sunway Iskandar, The Astaka and other points of interest in Johor.

Speaking to the participants of the REHDA Youth Study Tour, State Women and Tourism Development

Committee chairman, Liow Cai Tung mentioned that their presence here in Johor is quite timely as the state is gearing up to welcome Visit Johor 2020, along with the national efforts to boost Malaysia’s tourism sector via Visit Malaysia 2020.

Liow added, “We’re feeling positive for year 2020 where we aim to achieve our target of 18.4 million domestic and international tourists.”

With the state government’s continuous efforts to promote Johor to the international and domestic

tourists alike, there is an increase of 6.85% in visitor arrivals in the first eight months of this year. From January to August, Johor recorded 11.03 million visitor arrivals compared to 10.28 million during the same period last year.

The number of tourists who spend at least one night at a hotel in Johor has increased. The data collected by Tourism Malaysia shows that Johor welcomed 1.78 million overnight tourists from January to March this year, a rise of 3.54%

compared to 1.72 million in the consecutive period in 2018.

According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, businesses remain optimistic on their business performance for the third quarter of 2019. The confidence indicator increased slightly in the third quarter to 3.1% compared to the 2.8% recorded in the previous quarter. Moreover, with the Federal Government’s go-ahead for the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link project,

the property sector is set to benefit greatly as well.

“Johor’s economy has been outpacing that of Malaysia as a whole in the past decade. As Johor’s economy grow, the landscape of the city also developed greatly.

We especially see many new infrastructure developments taking place here in the Iskandar Malaysia region. The effects of tourism are expected to bring positive impacts to the local housing market,” Liow concluded. - by Harish Mustak TI

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@home

Marvellous Living at The Maris in Desaru Coast Explore a contemporary, modern and tranquil lifestyle at the southern east of Johor

“

Maris” is the name of a rare seashell that could be found in Desaru Coast and as its name suggests, The Maris is a strategic partnership development between UEM Sunrise Berhad, the master developer in Iskandar Puteri and Desaru Coast, a rare home that gives you more than just a neighbourhood.

It’s a lifestyle.

Escape the mundane and ordinary and find comfort that is made just for you and your family by exploring marvellous living at The Maris in Desaru Coast, with a garden home at a residential resort. Every day feels like an endless vacation as you wake up to start your daily routine.

Visualise yourself

Coast offers you a residential resort at your preferred landscape. If your eyes are at ease with much more greens, find a home that oversees the International Standard Golf Course offering both valley and ocean course, where two clubhouses offer luxurious service.

Love to take on adventure and a much playful view? A residence that is near to a theme park should be what your eyes would love. Take your family to experience the exciting Water Theme Park nearby with the biggest wave pools in the world or join in fun water rides and slides suitable for the whole family to enjoy and have a great time.

You may enjoy the longevity that you can earn from beautiful, serene surroundings and great exciting activities in your neighbourhood while also keeping your lifestyle at its best. It is a great bet to seek long term returns in your future.

Engage with your work and business at ease

Four and Five surrounded

by Taman Mutiara Desaru, Lotus Desaru Beach Resort & Spa, Sand & Sandals Desaru Beach Resort & Spa, Desaru Tunamaya Beach & Spa Resort, The ELS Club Desaru Coast (Valley Course), The ELS Club Desaru Coast (Ocean Course), The Westin Desaru Resort, Desaru Coast Adventure Park and Hard

Type B

Type C

in your home, looking out from the balcony and feast your eyes to layers of green grass as far as your eyes could see, white sandy beaches horizontals on top of it and just a little above it is the bluest sky with fluffy white clouds on a bright, pleasant, sunny day. A home that caters this sort of dream is right here, the peace that you can only find at The Maris in Desaru Coast.

The Maris Desaru

If your heart lies with the love for vitamin sea, get in touch with nature and dunk your feet in the white sandy beach of Desaru.

Everything is within reach of your home with its 17km beachfront. Depending on your preference, you can also opt for a green garden, pool or lake view too. All the endless possibilities to materialise your dream is right here at The Maris Desaru Coast.

when you make Desaru Coast your permanent residence for it is a premium integrated resort that is located within the high growth corridor of Southern Johor and is tremendously well-connected by major international airpor ts and highways. Senai International Airport to Desaru is just a 45 minutes’ drive and driving from the city centre of Johor Bahru to Desaru Coast takes about 60 minutes.

Retreating from the hustle and bustle is possible with the unique resort living destination whether you are with family or individuals looking for that peace of mind. The Maris Desaru Coast boasts five residential grounds, Precinct One, Two, Three,

Rock Hotel Desaru Coast.

Precinct 1 comes as 2 storeys which are Cluster and Semi-D, with a builtup area from 2,059 sq. ft to 2,666 sq. ft on a land area of 2,100 sq. ft to 3,200 sq. ft. 260 units are available right now and low density of 9 units per acre, ensuring muchneeded privacy as you enjoy the sunny vacation days.

Type A, Cluster Intermediate, with a lot size of 30’x70’ on a built up area of 2,059 is limited to 178 units.

The expected completion date for the residential units is 2021, 2 years from the first date of SPA signing. Prices start from RM748,000 for Phase 1 - Type A. Resi One is only 12km away from Tol Penawar.

Type A1 comes in 32 units lot size 44’ x 70’, 2,131

Aerial View

Type A

sq. ft each Cluster Corner, Type B with 34 units Cluster End Lot, the size of 35’ x 70’, 2,305 sq. ft, Type C1 of Semi Detached with 6 units, the size of 6 34’ x 80’, 2,666 sq.ft, Type C2 Semi Detached with 4 units, the size of 38’ x 80’ and 2,666 sq. ft and Type C3 Semi Detached with 6 units, the size of 40’ x 80’, 2,666 sq. ft.

For more information and appointment, visit The Maris Sales Gallery at Unit F2 & F3, Desaru Coast Riverside, Jalan Pantai, Desaru Coast, 81930, Bandar Penawar, Johor or call 07-886 1811.

Grab this oppor tunit y to live your dream in a secure, sustainable and liveable environment at The Maris Desaru Coast by UEM Sunrise Berhad today.

Neighbourhood park

UEM Sunrise Berhad is one of Malaysia’s leading p ro p e r t y d e ve l o p e r s and master developer in Iskandar Puteri, one of the five flagship zones of Iskandar Malaysia, set to be a key investment, financial and business hub in Southeast Asia.

UEM Sunrise Berhad is renowned for its numerous award-winning high-rise and landed residential, commercial and mix-use developments in Iskandar Puteri, Kuala Lumpur, Cyberjaya, Shah Alam, Bangi and Seremban.

Internationally, UEM Sunrise Berhad’s presence extends into Singapore; Vancouver, Canada; Melbourne, Australia and it retains a landbank in Durban, South Africa. - by The Iskandarian TI

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