Thursday, May 10, 2012

Iskandar Malaysia Youth Gathering


Iskandar Malaysia Youth Gathering
Date:May 17 - 20 2012
Venue:Plaza Angsana Johor Bahru
Johor
Organiser:Johor State Youth & Sports Department
Phone:+607 - 223 2614
Fax:+607 - 223 4487
 

In conjunction with National Youth Day, Johor State Youth & Sports Department is organizing the Iskandar Malaysia Youth Gathering from 17-20 May 2012 at Plaza Angsana. The objective  of the event are to promote unity and encourage beneficial activities among youth in Malaysia.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Singaporeans drawn to spacious JB Homes


Singaporeans drawn to spacious JB homes

For the price of a HDB flat, you can get a bungalow with your own garden, parking space and use of an exclusive club house. Impossible? Not if you’re buying property across the causeway – in Johor Baru.
Home to educator Denyse Tessensohn had always been Singapore. But two years ago, her family uprooted from their five-room Zion Road flat to settle in Johor, Malaysia, instead.
Ms Tessensohn, 60, and her husband Steve Hogan, 62, refer to their 9,000 sq ft home as a ‘modest bungalow’. Spacious as it is compared to their former HDB flat, it is the second smallest home in the Ledang Heights estate in Nusajaya, west of Johor Baru city. For the $400,000 price tag, they have four bedrooms, a garden, parking space and membership in the estate’s clubhouse which has a pool, gym and restaurant.
More Singaporean families have gone to live in and commute from Johor. They are attracted to its up-and-coming residential cities such as Nusajaya, where big houses and a quality lifestyle can be had on middle-class incomes.
Taken at the iProperty.com Expo: International Collection, Marina Bay Sands Expo Centre, March 5 - 6
Take the figures at East Ledang and Horizon Hills, two estates in Nusajaya where expatriates make up half of the residents. Of the foreigners, 80 per cent are Singaporean.
From the sky, Nusajaya resembles a city in progress. Patches of construction areas and swathes of virgin greenery make up the bulk of the 9,308ha landscape.
There is access to the highways bound for Johor Baru city or the Tuas checkpoint, both 20 minutes’ ride away. Nusajaya is said to be on the way to becoming one of the most sought-after residential cities in Johor.
It is part of the Iskandar Malaysia project to develop Johor into an economic powerhouse. The area, including regions such as Johor Baru city, Senai and Pontian, is three times the size of Singapore.
Taken at the iProperty.com Expo: International Collection, Marina Bay Sands Expo Centre, Oct 2010
In Nusajaya itself, various hubs are in the pipeline. There is EduCity, a 242ha collection of brand-name colleges and research centres, including Britain’s Newcastle University and Singapore’s MDIS. Newcastle’s medical college will be ready there by this year. A transport hub has also been planned for the area, with a coastal highway due to be ready by next year.
Residential enclaves have already sprung up. Each estate touts itself grander than the next. Nusajaya’s Horizon Hills, for example, features an 18-hole award-winning golf course.
Despite the premium pricing for houses in Nusajaya -starting from RM700,000 (S$292,000) for terrace units with about 5,000 sq ft in built-up space.
Mr Steven Wong, 40, a manufacturing firm manager who has a weekend home in Setia Indah estimates that food items in Malaysia are two to three times cheaper, thanks to the currency conversion.
The expanses of land in both developed residential projects and uncompleted ones can lead to security issues, though.
At East Ledang, tall ‘anti-climb’ fences enclose entire residential developments, while guards patrol 24/7 within and closed-circuit television cameras scan the perimeters for intruders.
Local media said the crime rate dipped by 22 per cent after the authorities stepped up patrols and crime prevention campaigns. The Malaysian government has also allocated RM140 million to build a district police headquarters for Nusajaya.
Recreation for Australian writer Kaz Augustin, 45, and her family includes visiting the Ledang Heights estate’s clubhouse and restaurants. They also take walks in the park in the estate, or enjoy the nearby lake in their motorised speedboat. Bukit Indah, which is about 10 minutes away by car, has supermarket chains such as Jusco and Tesco, and shops.
But there are so me things in Singapore that are hard to beat. ‘I miss the libraries there. There is no library close to us to take the children to,’ said Mrs Augustin.
Life in Johor can be slower in other ways, too. Ms Tessensohn said the Internet connection at her home is ‘laggy’, as are many services there.
Residents there are awaiting the completion of Legoland and Puteri Harbour, a waterfront development. Till then, they spend their free time around the usual places in their gated communities, and however far their cars can take them out of Nusajaya.
Source: The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

PM to launch multi-billion Desaru tourism project

PM to launch multi-billion Desaru tourism project


JOHOR BARU: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will launch the multi-billion Desaru tourism development plan next month.
Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said the plan would transform Desaru into an international enclave for leisure and tourism.
He said among the components in the plan include four luxury hotels and a world class golf couse.
Ghani said this at the launch of Bio Desaru Food Valley in Kota Tinggi on Thursday.

**Source from The Star Online