Top 10 Most in-Demand Areas in Kuala Lumpur. Is your current area one of them?

I have grown to love Kuala Lumpur. It’s vibrant and I have so many options when it comes to short holidays too. I moved here over 6 years ago when my daughter just started to crawl. This year, she started primary 1.  Opportunities abound when population growth is always a few hundred thousand every year. Every time friends come visiting, they see changes.

More homes are needed every year and if the new population could not buy, they will still have to rent. So, do you have a favourite spot as in area which you love the most? If based on portal demand; visits to
iproperty.com.my
 then here are the top 10 most in-demand areas with a Kuala Lumpur postal code. The below is based on iProperty.com.my Malaysia’s Subsale Residential Property Demand Trends For 2019 which was released on 17th January 2020 in conjunction with the opening of
iProperty.com.my
 Home & Property Fair 2020 at Mid Valley Megamall Kuala Lumpur.

Source: iproperty.com.my

Do not be too alarmed if you stay in Cheras and you are thinking why is Cheras NOT in the top 10 most in-demand areas in Kuala Lumpur? General Manager of Customer Data Solutions, Premendran Pathmanathan explained this top 10 list has the HIGHEST Unique Views per listing. In brief, every listing within these top 10 areas has the MOST number of unique people looking at them. This does not mean there are more transactions between the seller and the buyer okay.

The median pricing for these areas are as follows, together with capital growth versus a year earlier. As we could observe, many of these areas have median prices which are above RM1 million. In other words, MOST of the homes in these areas have the prices which are 7-figure in nature. For example, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Damansara Heights, Desa Parkcity and Bangsar. Titiwangsa is also very near, at RM916,944.

Only one area has price which is sub RM300,000. It’s Pantai with RM235,000. The rest of the top 10 in-demand areas are Taman Desa, Batu Caves, Keramat and Sentul. Do take your pick yeah.

Source: iProperty.com.my

It’s important to still look at what we really need okay. Just because a lot of people love to view them does not mean it’s the best choice for us yeah. Happy understanding.

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Top 25 largest economies in the world

Top 25 largest economies in the world

Okay, Malaysia is not within this list, yet. The list below is as at 2020. Perhaps we could be if we meet the forecast from
PWC for top 25 largest economies come 2050.
   USA is still number 1. China is number 2. Japan is number 3. As for more, do read on.

This is their commentary for the economies in 2000 versus 2020.

Source of info: investopedia.com
 Compared to the top 25 economies in 2000, our
research
 has found that only two countries in the top 25—Thailand and Indonesia—weren’t there before. That said, there have been some big movers within the list. China and India moved up into second place and fifth place, respectively, having been in sixth place and 13th place in 2000. Further down the list, Indonesia, one of the two aforementioned newcomers to the list, vaulted forward from the 27th largest economy in 2000 to 16th in 2020, while Thailand leaped from 32nd place all the way to 24th.
1

Here is the list by them.

For more readings, here are the full list with a lot of details:
Source of info: investopedia.com

Happy travelling to all these countries to also feel their growth. From the top 10 list, I have visited 7. Not too bad. Have not yet visited USA, India and Canada. Hopefully USA within 2022, 2023 or 2024. I do have the opportunity. We shall see. I will write about it if I do visit.

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Press Release: Top 3 preferences when buying a property

Press Release by PropertyGuru:  Malaysians’ Top Property Considerations for 2017

— start —

KUALA LUMPUR, MARCH 20 2017
 – As Malaysians continue to adjust to market realities and make a gradual return to the property market, PropertyGuru, the leading online property group in Malaysia and South East Asia,
revealed that consumer’s top considerations when buying property have changed in the last six months.

Malaysians top three preferences are
Location, Safety / Security, Size in that specific order.
This resembles a
marked difference compared to 2016 when location, PSF and future developments in the area
 were deemed top considerations when making a property purchase decision.

Other important factors were availability of infrastructure and amenities, developer’s reputation and future developments in the area – ranked 4
th
, 5
th
 and 6
th
 respectively. Surprisingly,
rental yield, only reached 13
th
 on the list – a potential indicator of more owner-occupiers in the market than investors.

According to PropertyGuru Malaysia Country Manager, Sheldon Fernandez, the changing factors are a reflection of the current mind-set and expectations of property buyers.

“The results provide insight into the minds of potential property buyers in 2017. As people look to new areas outside of the city centre that meets their budget, location remains a priority but with safety and security growing in importance. Living further away, people generally want the benefit of space. Hence, the emergence of these three factors at the top,” shared Fernandez.

“But importantly, foremost on the minds of Malaysians is to secure a property; to get a roof over their heads whereas before they would probably also be thinking of potential rental yields and capital appreciation. There is certainly a mind-set shift in 2017,”added Fernandez.

He also added that the survey results are consistent with the increased number of searches PropertyGuru has seen over the past six months for properties on the outskirts of Selangor and the city centre.

Emerging Property Hotspots in Suburban Selangor

According to the PropertyGuru Consumer Sentiment Survey, the outskirts of Selangor is gaining traction with 29% of potential homeowners (25% in 2016) now regarding the location as their preferred choice. This indicates the emergence of new property hotspots in suburban areas of Selangor – between 20-40km from the city centre such as Rawang, Sungai Buloh, Semenyih, Ulu Kelang, Ampang and others.

Not surprisingly, high-rise strata homes consisting of both apartments and condominiums are the top choice followed by landed terrace homes. Demand for bungalows and semi-Ds however continue to dip.

Average Property Budget in 2017

With regards to budget, close to 40% of respondents intending to buy within the next six months indicated they would spend between RM300,001-RM500,000 in 2017 to buy a property. Higher priced properties of RM700,001 to more than RM900,000 are likely to see fewer buyers with only 18% of respondents looking at these niche segments.

“It indicates the sweet spot of what the majority of Malaysians are willing to fork out for a home. This is consistent with market trends, where properties priced RM300,000-RM500,000 have done well. Properties priced between RM500,000-RM700,000 will also see some movement. But 2017 is unlikely to see a recovery in the higher-end market. Properties closer to the RM1 million mark will generally be hard to sell though there will always be exceptions,” said Fernandez.

Overseas Property Demand Declines

On a separate note, the survey also showed a continued drop in appetite among Malaysians to acquire overseas properties despite Brexit and other global developments. Australia remains the top choice for overseas properties with high rise homes being the top choice, followed by landed houses. Among the top reasons cited for overseas property buying were for retirement (43%), better environment / surroundings (42%), capital appreciation (38%), rental yield (37%), suits migration plans (36%) and children’s education (36%).

The PropertyGuru Consumer Sentiment Survey measures property sentiment and expectations amongst Malaysians with regards to the local property market. It polled 1013 respondents online. Similar surveys are carried out concurrently in Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. The goal of the Survey is to help consumers gain an insight into the local property market to make better business and buying decisions. The survey was conducted in collaboration with Intuit Research Consultants, a well-respected international research agency.

— end —

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Top 6 cities with potential for property bubble bursting

Which are the top 6 cities in the world which are at risk of a property bubble? Sorry, Singapore is not one of them. Kuala Lumpur is nowhere in the list too. In fact not even a single city in South East Asia made the list. Let’s heave a sign of relief. As per UBS’ Global Real Estate Bubble Index, the top six cities are as follows: (In order of severity. No. 1 means most likely) Full
article in The Telegraph here.

Vancouver (Canada)

London (Britain)

Stockholm (Sweden)

Sydney (Australia)

Munich (Germany)

Hong Kong (China)

It also stated that house prices in London is 15 percent higher than the 2007 market peak but incomes are 10 percent lower. (Unsustainable property prices is definitely a major cause. Earlier article here:
Spotting signs of a property bubble, 3 points (Updated)

Hong Kong is however even more unaffordable than London when taking into account the house prices increase versus average earnings. (In Hong Kong, even taxi licenses become a prized investment. Read here:
Even taxi licenses are over RM4 million
)
According to the report, last year only Hong Kong and London was in the list of risk for a bubble. This year, there are 6.

Currency exchange aside, looking at just the number. Do google for ‘Vancouver’s median price’ and get very surprised. It’s easily over
1.1 million in Canadian Dollars.
(RM3.4 million) ,
London’s average home price
 is at £600,625 (RM3.09 billion) ,
Sydney’s at AUD1,021,968
 (RM3.26 million) and Hong Kong’s prices, well not that important.
Mosquito flats
(163 sq ft) are already HK$4 million per unit. (RM2.16 million). Okay, enough of general knowledge about the property market for today. Happy following.

written on 13 Oct 2016

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Next 5 years, better invest in Malaysia – Fortune.

Recently, it has been mostly negative news if any when it comes to Malaysia. From oil prices affecting the economy to oil prices affecting the currency and to oil prices affecting even the Malaysian economy, everything is about how oil prices is wrecking havoc. Even with the decreasing petrol prices, all the restaurants have shown that once prices are up, nothing will come down. Yet, as usual, these popular places continue to be patronised by the so-called ‘poorer’ Malaysians.
Fortunately, FORTUNE
 magazine released its latest top 7 best markets to invest in the category of emerging economies. Malaysia is ranked in these top 7 countries and they include others like India, Indonesia, Mexico, Colombia, Poland and Kenya.

This is what they said about us. The current government scrapped fuel subsidies and will introduce a 6% Goods and Services Tax in April which will improve the fiscal position of the country. More foreign investors will be enticed with Najib’s Economic Transformation Program through further tax incentives for foreign investors. The manufacturing and the financial services sector will be liberalised further. As the slowdown is continuing in the region, especially China, the Malaysian government will have to continue spending to boost infrastructure, education and health care. Balancing the budget continue to be on the agenda with a final target of a balanced budget by 2020.

Okay, assuming Fortune is right and they managed to also convince some of these foreign investors to think Malaysia, what should we do? Well, I think it’s time we think harder on where we may want to invest our money in. Properties? Probably. Share market, most probably. Other investments? Yeah, as long as you believe that it would give you better returns than just leaving the money in savings account or even Fixed Deposits which will remain low because Bank Negara Malaysia is likely to maintain the borrowing costs until end of 2015. If you do not believe Fortune’s selection of Malaysia? Well, there are still another 6 other countries which Fortune is touting as worth a serious look. Of course, if these 6 are also not your cup of tea, there are still over one hundred countries in the world which we can move our money to. Just have to choose a few and stick to it for these 5 years and change later. Happy investing.

written on 31 Jan 2015

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BURSA top picks – Buy and keep in 2016?

Two research houses gave their outlook for 2016. Looks promising if what they are predicting comes true. They are CIMB Research and MIDF Research. As usual, not everything that the research houses predict will come true.The actual analyst doing the research may be someone slightly better qualified and has more information than us. The person may not however predict all the different circumstances which is beyond their analysis coverage. For example, another financial crisis originating from the west? Believe or not if up to individual but do take actions accordingly. Let’s summarise what they said.

CIMB Research: FBM KL Composite Index (FBM KLCI) to hit 1,900 points by end of 2016. It ended 2015 at 1,692.51. The potential is for it to grow around 12 percent more. Healthy double digit potential based on 12 months return.

MIDF Research: Target remains at 1,800 points and this is based on PER of 16.34 percent. Actually, PER of 16.34 percent is not low. I would personally not invest in any company whose PER is above 12. (Except for special cases).

CIMB Research is optimistic that a more promising year is coming, after the  numerous domestic and external headwinds. (yes, all of us know what are they…)

MIDF Research as that 2016 would see a resumption of corporate earnings upcycle. In brief, more companies should be reporting better results in 2016.

CIMB Research: “Foreign shareholding is relatively low and most foreign funds are very underweighted in Malaysia; the negative impact of GST (goods and services tax) on consumption should start to wane and companies that benefit from a weaker ringgit, including exporters, tourism and those with overseas earnings, could enjoy a windfall.”

MIDF Research: “The consensus 2016 FBM KLCI earnings growth is estimated to return to a healthy, and more normal, level of 9.1%. The anticipated forward-year performance is in stark contrast to the prevailing ‘earnings recession’ as attested by current year earnings growth estimate of -6.6% as well 2014 and 2013 growth figures of 1.9% and -5.1%, respectively.”

MIDF Research also said something which I personally agree fully. If the global money starts to return to emerging markets, Malaysia is definitely one of the better ones for them to park their money. It’s even cheap for them to do so.

MIDF loves the following sectors: aviation, construction, glove, healthcare, insurance, plantation, port, shipping, technology, power and oil and gas. (I love healthcare, technology if it’s the one I understand. The rest seldom appeal to me thus far)

CIMB loves these: banking, construction and small-cap stocks. (I personally love small-cap stocks too. Not banking or construction, I think they are many times quite fully valued) It gave a few names as follows: RHB Capital Bhd, Gamuda Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Bhd. For the small-caps, they are MyEG Services Bhd, Prestariang Bhd and Only World Group Holdings Bhd.

If you can read until here, I think you may have interest. There’s no need to park everything you have got into whatever these two research houses said. Just do a deeper analysis by ourselves and then decide. Reminder to only buy businesses that we understand. Else, it’s still just simply following.For that, then you need best wishes from me. Happy buying and keeping stocks for 2016.

written on 2 Jan 2016

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Top property stock pick, right pricing and exposure

I have 1,300 units of Mah Sing’s stocks, I think for the past 11 months. Not typo, it’s just 1,300 units. At current price, this is only worth RM1,846. My aim is nothing more than just earning some dividends or if the price appreciated over 25%, will sell and go for a good family dinner. It’s also to ensure I get a copy of their financial result on a timely manner. Yes, this is one counter which I believe is worth buying and holding. One famous bank research house just validated my purchase. Macquarie Research picked Mah Sing as its top pick for the Malaysian property market.

The reason for this ranking is because Mah Sing has managed to place itself in the affordable segments and is currently hugely exposed in the Central region. This has given it good support from buyers, especially in the central region. Macquarie Research said, “We think, going forward, the affordable segment with a pricing point of around RM500,000 per unit will continue to drive the sales numbers for property developers.”

Nevertheless, it believes developers with high-end segment offerings are not going to do well because of the slump in oil prices. Main reason is because they believed that the high-end segment buyers used to be the oil and gas players, both expats and the locals. With layoffs and even expatriates being sent back to their base countries, this segment would have less potential buyers. It said that some developers may still do well. For example, Eco World Development Group Bhd which has lots of loyal followers of its chairman, Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin.

Mah Sing’s shares closed at RM1.42 today. (18th Dec 2015). As per
http://klse.i3investor.com/
 a famous stock related website I visit on and off, there are some potential for this stock. Take a look at the image. Do note that the property market is still slow at this moment and buying property stocks now may require some patience unless there are some huge corporate exercises or the property developer suddenly report an amazing profit. Happy investing.

written on 18 Dec 2015

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Toppen, JB. Family friendly (especially for kids), definitely.

Entrance. TOPPEN.

kopiandproperty.com was invited to the opening of Toppen but we were not able to make it.
Toppen opens with 90 percent tenants open on same day
  I am here, a few weeks after that day and let me tell you my views about this new mall; Toppen. One word? Friendly. Two words? Family Friendly. Three words? Great for everyone. It’s huge enough. 1.25 million sq ft.  As comparison, MidValley mega mall is 50 percent bigger at 1.7 million sq ft.

Parking space.
 I was here on a Saturday and there were still availability of car parks in P2. P1 was nearly full. There were many options to get into the mall from the car park. I really hate it if there were just few entrances and everyone has to walk a long way if they parked at some spots far away from those few entrances.

Retail lots are ALL open.
Okay, I think it’s true that 90 percent of all the retail lots are open. I only see a few here and there where the shop is still not open. Lots of clothing, food, carts here and there and more importantly, there are a number of brands I have not seen before in some other malls. Look at the images below for one of it.

Kids, Kids and Kids.
  I think I have to reiterate, kids related stuffs is the most powerful ‘weapon’ a mall needs. Toppen has many indoor playground for kids. Plus that very enticing playground with water features on the top of the mall. Just go up via the cinema escalator and you will see the entrance.

OLYMKIDS.  Fun and play if parents pay.

Kids – The Parenthood @ Toppen

I think I shall not write too much. Just refer to the photos and go visit the Toppen when you need to visit a mall in JB.

Toppen Shopping Centre. Airy, contemporary and pleasant.

Toppen Garden on “Topp”

The shopping mall scene continues to be vibrant, especially in KL and JB. This should be good for the competitive ones and going to be affecting all the ones without anything special to attract visitors again and again. Keep showing all the less competitive ones with our lack of visits and all those we love ones with more visits. Do not worry, online shopping cannot replace all these experience for the couples, family and kids. Happy visiting TOPPEN @ JB.

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Tough to do business these days; malls too many

After a good friend read my latest article, she Whatsapped me and told me that there are just way too many malls these days. She owns two clothing stores and she said retail business is getting slower these days and most of the time, only those big name clothing stores are doing well. Especially those from overseas and spending huge amounts in advertisements. They could do this because these are chain stores and the cost of advertisement can be covered by the volume of business by all the different stores.

The only slightly better businesses would be those in the food and beverage ones. She agreed with me though that Starbucks seems to be okay, perhaps due to convenience as well as a very successful marketing campaign. Furthermore, nearly every mall would be spotting similar brand names! Thus, those who are not managed well would have to shut down in the near future. Looking at the smaller and not so popular ones like eCurve, it will be affected even more when Empire Damansara opens. Both she and I agreed though that Publika is a good and differentiated mall. If only all the malls can be this different, then perhaps more would survive and prosper.

Her friend’s store in Quill City is also not faring much better. The crowd is still mostly look, see, eat and window shop and thus her friend may also be moving out in the future. Truth is, the number of malls are CRAZY because the buyers LOVE to pay quite a lot of premium for condos nearby, next to or even above malls. Thus, even developers who has never operated malls are building them so that they can sell their properties with a premium price. I am worried for these buyers who expects every one of these malls to be successful. Some would definitely fail. It may be prudent to pay more attention to whether the developer has such experience before buying, even if the developer is a big brand. Yes, I think KL can still support more malls in future BUT if these malls are way too near each other, then only the fittest would survive. I wish my friend and her friend all the best in their businesses. Happy buying cautiously.

written on 5 June 2015

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Tough times for some high salary Malaysians………….

When we earn a higher salary, somehow our expenses may also automatically go up. That thought of. ‘Now I earn more, of course I deserve to pamper myself once in a while.’ Well, just remember that pampering ourselves once in a while would still amount to a huge number after a couple of years. While my friends continue to buy new smartphones, there are also many
who complain of expensive food

and then later blaming it on inflation. Well, no comments lah but for food, don’t we ever wonder why some people can still sell nasi lemak at RM1 and some at RM1.50 while the same pack of nasi lemak in upscale neighbourhood’s roadside would be RM2? Haha. Anyway, it’s a tough time for a few thousand Malaysians who are earning over RM10,000 per month. They needed the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) scheme. They applied for it and one was even earning RM12,000 per month. This was revealed by the Second Finance Minister. Full article in
TheStar
 here.

As for who would qualify, the lead family member shall receive RM 1,200 for family with household income below RM 3,000. Family with household income between RM 3,000 and RM 4,000 shall receive RM 900 aid. A RM 450 aid will be given to single individuals that are over 21 years old. In brief, anyone earning higher than the above does not qualify. On a yearly basis, at least 300,000 people who earn more than RM5,000 apply for BR1M. 260,000 applicants earn RM5,000 monthly while about 40,000 applicants earn between RM6,000 and RM8,000 a month. Total rejected applicants number almost 600,000. Total recipients for BR1M 2017 is 3,242,048 households earning RM3,000 and less a month, while RM900 is being given to 291,918 households earning between RM3,001 and RM4,000 a month, and RM450 is being given to 2,786,803 individuals earning below RM2,000 a month. Checks are done by the finance ministry, the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) and the Employers Provident Fund (EPF). First the National Registration Department checks if they are Malaysian, then the EPF checks their payslips; and this would be followed by the (National Audit Department) verifying their earnings.

For individuals attached to the private sector, a check would be done with IRB and Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) will look into pensioners. Payments started in 18 February. So, do check your accounts if you are one of the approved recipients. My wish? I hope the economy gets even better this year and minimum income level is raised perhaps next year? At least for Klang Valley.

written on 9 Mar 2017

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Hotels closing down. End of the tourism industry with COVID-19?

Someone showed me the few viral articles about hotels closing down and says that it is the end of the road for the tourism industry. I asked, ‘you mean for a period of time?’ He answered, ‘no… just look at all these hotels, they are all closing down. NO MORE.”

I think it’s okay, everyone can have their own views. I prefer to ask all of you who are reading this article now. “Will you stop travelling in the future, when travelling is allowed again?” An image below show what you may miss if you stop travelling… The answer is a direct reflection of whether these hotels which have closed down would reopen in the future. The hotel may not even be reopened by the same owner but someone else would reopen these hotels once the demand comes back.

This is a simple business demand and supply question. Continue to open when the demand is so slow and we could not see the light at the tunnel yet is not a clever business decision. Closing it down and doing something else first and then make a comeback in the future when demand returns is a good business decision. It’s okay, I am just a blogger. Let’s listen to what the consultants say. They will even provide a survey result too.

Photo by James Wheeler on
Pexels.com

Press Release by Knight Frank Malaysia.

Knight Frank Hotel Survey reveals positive sentiments as investors remain optimistic towards Malaysian hospitality sector

2 February 2021, Malaysia
 – Knight Frank Malaysia, the global property consultant, launches the Malaysian Hospitality Investment Intentions Survey. The survey analysed the investment perspectives of hotel owners, operators and owner operators, providing an insight on investment demand, investor preferences and pricing. The survey also shares how COVID-19 has impacted the sector and what measures could be taken to provide some much needed relief. The survey was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2020.

The survey reveals that 14% of the respondents anticipate buying hotel assets within the next two years, whilst 16% look to make an acquisition even sooner within the next 6 months despite the pandemic.

Source: Page 4
,
Malaysian Hospitality Investment Intentions Survey 2021

James Buckley, Executive Director of Capital Markets, Knight Frank Malaysia,
 says, “Well capitalised, shrewd investors are looking beyond the pandemic and see this as an opportunity to acquire prime hotel assets at more reasonable pricing. We believe prices for Malaysian hotels that trade will reflect a 10-30% discount from their pre-COVID values.”

In Southeast Asia, Malaysia ranked 3
rd
 as the most attractive country for hotel investment, after Thailand and Singapore. Several criteria were highlighted as important factors when choosing to set up a hotel operation in a country. 89% of the respondents indicated that tourist arrivals and flight accessibility is crucial in their investment decision making process. This was followed by friendly government initiatives which play an important role in motivating hotel operations and investments as it cushions the impact of market sentiment.

James Buckley
 adds, “Tourism is an important sector as it is the third largest contributor to the economy and employs about 3.6 million people. Before the pandemic hit, it contributed a total of RM86 billion in tourist receipts from about 26 million international visitors in 2019. Upgrading / expanding and improving direct international flights to Penang and Langkawi in particular would provide a real boost to tourism.  Langkawi is a fantastic tourist destination with great potential to grow its international tourist arrivals and receipts and compete on the same footing as Phuket, Bali and the Maldives. To achieve this, it needs to improve its regional flight accessibility. Before the pandemic hit, there were only direct international flights from Guangzhou, Singapore, Phuket, and Doha.”

Location is considered the most important factor by respondents when investing in a hotel. Hotel performance is highly driven by guests who value hotel locations. The next factor considered by 72% of respondents was the expected return / yield. Many investors are now seeking higher returns to offset the risk of investing in the sector during the pandemic with 36% of respondents targeting a net yield of above 7%.  As a consequence in 2020, the volume of hotel transaction across Malaysia fell by 36% compared to the 10-year annual average. The availability of bank financing for hotel transactions has been significantly curtailed which has also played a factor.

Source: Page 7
,
Malaysian Hospitality Investment Intentions Survey 2021

Justin Chee, Executive Director of Valuation & Advisory, Knight Frank Malaysia,
 says, “During these challenging times, investors are increasingly looking for yield accretive assets and as shown by the sentiment survey; majority of respondents (36%) expect a net return of above 7% from the hotel asset class. It is important to note that based on the past few hotel transactions (in the past 5 years) hotels in Malaysia were generally transacted at net yields of about 4% to 6% and there is definitely a mismatch between the expected return and the selling prices of hotels.

What we may possibly see during this pandemic and the fallout of the COVID-19 impact on the hospitality sector is the bridging of gap between the two as vendors are getting more realistic with their hotel values and asking prices.”

Malaysian Hospitality Sector Outlook in 2021

Almost half of the respondents remain positive about the hospitality sector outlook in the next 12 months with 45% feeling that the sector is on its way to recovery, albeit contingent on the progressive roll out of the vaccine and opening up of international travel restrictions.

The Malaysian government has provided wage subsidy to the hotel sector to cushion the impact of COVID-19, however the industry has put forward other ideas to assist the sector. These ideas include temporary reclassification of electricity tariffs, tax cuts and temporary moratorium on quit rent.

Judy Ong, Executive Director of Research & Consultancy, Knight Frank Malaysia,
 says, “However, with the country now under MCO 2.0 with exception of Sarawak following resurgence of COVID-19 cases, the road to recovery for the battered tourism industry will be long and hard. Government measures and incentives to support the industry may be too little and too late as we continue to hear of more hotels shutting down either temporarily or permanently.

“Hotels that are still in operations are aggressively promoting staycations and attractive ‘work from hotel’ packages as well as food delivery service to stay afloat and support employment.

Moving forward, once interstate travel is allowed, we believed that domestic tourism will lead the way to recovery supported by the recently launched National Tourism Policy 2020 – 2030, which aims to position the country as among the top ecotourism destination.”

— end of the press release —

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Fitch Ratings says Asia Pacific tourism recovery will be slow. I disagree.

Vacations are restarting

It took my sister over 2 and a half hours to drive from Penang to Ipoh yesterday. It was Saturday, so naturally there are more traffic. Traffic was slow on some stretches of the North-South Expressway. There were many cars. Usually, it’s 1 hour and 30 minutes. It’s just 148km by the way.

It took my brother-in-law close to 2 and a half hours to drive from Penang to Ipoh today. It is Sunday (26th December 2021)  Naturally there are fewer cars versus Saturday. As usual, it’s 1 hour and 30 minutes on a normal weekend. The reason it took longer despite it being a Sunday is because there were many cars on the road.

Simple conclusion? People are travelling again. They just want to take a break after such a long time being stuck at one state. This will not be limited to just Malaysia by the way. Just need to look at the Visa Travel Lane (VTL) for some clues to get what I mean. Singaporeans are also trying to leave their country for a holiday after Sentosa, Sentosa and Sentosa…

Now… we listen to a prediction from an international rating agency about tourism recovery in Asia Pacific.

Article in nst.com.my
  Fitch Ratings says that international tourism across Asia Pacific will only be recovering slowly in 2022. This is despite higher vaccination coverage and stepped-up reopening efforts for many countries. Fitch Ratings said the emergence of Omicron had thrown a spanner into into reopening plans for some countries.

It said, “Japan has prohibited foreign visitors since late November, while Thailand tightened quarantine-free entry applications for inbound travellers for a two-week period in mid- December, with the exemption of the ‘Phuket Sandbox’ scheme initiated in July 2021. Singapore has temporarily suspended flight ticket sales for the “vaccinated travel lane” scheme. Please do read the article in full here.
Article in nst.com.my

Recovery will be fast and furious

By the way, this was what the most recent report says about Omicron, even if it does seem that it spreads faster than Delta variant. UK Health Security Agency says that people catching Omicron are 50-70% less likely to need hospital care compared with previous variants.
Full report for reference here.
  This is significant because as soon as Omicron is under control, the recovery is likely to be even faster than the earlier variants. Of course, we also need to hope there are no further faster infection and stronger Covid-19 variants after Omicron.

As soon as international travel is allowed within Asia Pacific, the number of people travelling is not going to increase by 10%, 20% or even 30% yeah. It will be fast and furious and it will be sudden. Flights will suddenly be fully booked… Hotels will suddenly receive huge number of bookings. Tourist spots will suddenly be full.

If everyone travels like me when we can travel

I personally do not think it (the tourism recovery) will increase slowly. I told my wife that when we can travel again, I intend to travel to cover back what we have lost. In other words, even if just half of everyone thinks like me, the intensity and frequency of travel within 12 months will be equal to 18 months or more. By the way, I do not think I belong to the group who’s considered the top 25% frequent travellers.

Let’s hope I am right yeah. Happy travelling!

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Full tourism recovery for ASIA only by 2024? Following vaccination schedule.

This is about tourism recovery. Super important for many economies including Malaysia which used to have over 26 million tourists per year in 2019.

My very last overseas trip before COVID-19 should be the one where I flew to Phuket and then drove to Krabi and flew back from Krabi. It was a very relaxing trip despite me being the driver and we enjoyed lots of great food, never ending trips to the beach and the kids, well the kids only needs the hotel swimming pool and they could stay there for hours. Haha. What was your last overseas trip? Would you want to travel again IF that country and Malaysia has a travel bubble arrangement?

If we looked at what happened when Singapore and Hong Kong wanted to start a travel bubble, the flight and hotel bookings shot up through the roof. Of course it got cancelled but I am very sure it will be back soon as both Singapore and Hong Kong should achieve sufficient COVID-19 vaccination coverage by end of 2021. I am very sure Singaporeans love to visit Hong Kong and Hong Kong people really do need a change of scene from just Victoria Peak, Repulse Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui. Well, the below would be the prediction of Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA). Briefly, not so soon.

Article in webintravel.com
.
 The image shows Asia’s COVID-19 vaccination timeline.

Image source: webintravel.com

Against such a scenario and looking at the near-term outlook of airlines with forward bookings pointing to increased weakness in demand (chart below), AAPA is projecting a rebound to 2019 levels by 2024 – and some might say that’s on the optimistic side.

Image source: webintravel.com

Please do read the full article here for even more comprehensive reporting.
Article in webintravel.com

Recovery as per AAPA

AAPA says recovery to 2019 levels will only happen in 2024. I hope they are conservative. I am not sure if many wants to stop travelling for the next 3 years. 🙂 For me, I think travelling will restart at least to the countries with full vaccinations. Both sides need to have the agreements and also the SOPs in place. If there’s a need for quarantine if 14 days either side, then forget about any travelling recovery.

Travel bubbles between some of these countries may start to spur travel and as usual, if these show positive results; more travel and no increase in number of COVID-19 cases, then more countries would soon follow. ASIA is home to 4.47 billion people. This is a wow. Okay, if we look a little deeper, ASEAN is home to 655 million people. Let’s just get 1% of these people to travel and that’s still 6.5 million people. Everyone spends just RM1,000 for their travel? That’s RM6.5 billion! Multiplier effects of 4? RM26 billion! Quite a wow for a start.

I do hope all the countries keep to their vaccination schedules. This year may be too soon but 2022 may just be that year when travelling around starts to become common again. I say, START. I did not say it could return to 2019 levels yeah. Happy following.

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Sadly, one hotel closes. Hopefully, another may take over and restart.

Ipoh is my hometown, so as usual I will receive all the Ipoh related news. One particular one was about the Tower Regency Hotel which will be closing down by end of April 2020. An article said that the Movement Control Order (MCO) was that final nail in the coffin for it. In other words, MCO has affected it badly. So, will all other hotels be closing down due to COVID-19? Let’s look at some details in the article first.

Article in thestar.com.my
 .  As per the article based on a circulated Whatsapp, the hotel which started in 2009 has suffered ‘millions’ in losses in the last 3 years as it tried to keep the business running.  Actual sentences, “The hotel has tried to make plans in the past few years, but could not predict the market demands and economic uncertainty in the industry. It is with a heavy heart that the hotel needs to take the drastic step of stopping its operations.”

Its hotel managing director Simon Leong replied to a query via Whatsapp. “The hotel industry has been adversely affected by the ‘unfair competition’ from home stays and other unregulated accommodations for some time.  The hotel industry needs more and urgent support from our government to survive, and we hope Tower Regency will be able to open our doors again should the situation improve in the near future.”  Please do read the full
Article in thestar.com.my

Whenever I travel with my family, my first choice would still be hotels and then only followed by homestay is the homestay has been a very popular one and someone has stayed there before and has recommended it.  The hotel should be preferably one with kids room and a pool because of my kids. It may just be me but I still think a fully functioning hotel will offer me more safety and assurance compared to a homestay in a newly completed condominium.

Many months ago, I spoke in an event and the developer provided me accommodation for my family and I in a homestay very near to the event place. The pool was amazing, the kids play area was superb and the views were mesmerising. The only issue? Coming out from the lift and along the whole corridor walking back to my unit, only ONE unit was occupied; my unit. I am a human person, so I need more interactions.

So yes, I do think hotels would continue to play an important role in my travel. Well, my wish is simple. Another operator should come in and take over the Tower Regency Hotel. Perhaps some rebranding and reopening after the COVID-19 is totally over and everyone feels it’s okay to travel again. Ipoh is a nice city with lots to offer and hotels should definitely be welcoming more visitors too. Happy staying at home.

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Coming soon, a tower in Dubai taller than Burj Khalifa

Burj Khalifa is 828 metres and costs US$1.5billion to build. It was completed in January 2010. That’s so tall that you can see a view as per the image. Petronas Twin Towers is only 452 metres. Read here:
Petronas Twin Towers still tallest in the world*
  Entrapment, a move starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones was shot in Petronas Twin Towers while Mission Impossible IV starring Tom Cruise was shot in Burj Khalifa. Entrapment may have been long forgotten but Mission Impossible IV may join it in the future because a tower taller than even Burj Khalifa would soon be built in Dubai. It will cost around $1 billion (RM3.97 billion).

The actual height would only be revealed when it’s completed before 2020. Yes, just 3.5 years away, maybe closer! Accordong to the owner, Emaar chairman Mohamed Alabbar said that his company would like to present the tower as a “gift to the city before 2020.” It will be designed by Spanish-Swiss architect Santiago Calatrava Valls. It will have observation decks, in addition to 18 to 20 mixed-use floors that will host restaurants and a boutique hotel. The tower will be slender, evoking the image of a minaret, and will be anchored to the ground with sturdy cables.

Currently, Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding is building a tower in Jeddah which when completed would be 1,001 metres. That’s over 1km. Sometimes I really do admire all these engineering marvels which seem impossible previously. Anyway, the more the merrier, right? At least which ever country we may drop by in the future, we still get to take a picture of the tallest tower in the world, even if it has been surpassed by another. Why are these countries striving to build the tallest towers? Look at all the races in the Olympics. Very few could remember the second fastest runner or swimmer. They would always remember the winner. I know, these countries would also tell you that the building is needed for hotels due to tourism, for more offices and more potential movie spots. Happy building more.

written on 10 Apr 2016

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Press Release:
Expo To Celebrate Town Planning in Malaysia Happening in November

City makers and managers, investors, professionals, tech companies, academia and the public are invited to learn more and contribute to urban and regional planning at
City Expo Malaysia 2021.

KUALA LUMPUR, 20 July 2021
: The rapid urbanisation of our cities certainly requires for a range of city stakeholders to occasionally pause to take stock of what has been achieved so far whilst keeping one eye towards the future.

With one of the highest urbanisation rates in Asia, Malaysia is certainly a worthy subject of study by urbanists, given its ranking of 54 out of 194 countries surveyed recently, where its urbanisation was rated at 77.2%, with room to grow to 88% by 2050.

For citizens and planners alike, increasing urbanisation brings with it a host of challenges, such as environmental degradation, rising inequality, unsatisfactory public hygiene, other than governance structures resulting in unsatisfactory outcomes caused by overlaps or gaps.

This year is a good time to look at where Malaysia is now, and more so since this is the 100
th
 year since formal town planning was introduced to then Malaya. For history buffs, Charles Compton Reade was appointed the first Government Town Planner for the Federated Malay States in 1921.

Relooking Town Planning

Modern town planning is no mere feat, given the large number of stakeholders involved in city planning, design, development and management. For example, there are multiple government agencies working on smart cities, with each city or municipality having different priorities, budgets, and capabilities.

To bring everyone closer to the same page, the Malaysian Institute of Planners (MIP) and Nextdor Property Communications, together with the support of Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT), PLANMalaysia (Federal Department of Town and Country Planning), and the Commonwealth Association of Planners (CAP) will jointly present and celebrate our past, recognise current challenges facing our cities and prepare for the future at City Expo Malaysia 2021.

It is an expo that will draw attention to the importance of best city planning and give our visitors and exhibitors the platform to share ideas and solutions to solve the most pressing issues facing our cities to showcase good planning practice and solutions for sustainable development.

As a fully online event with a single entry point, CEM 2021 will bring together multiple stakeholders to share ideas and solutions for city challenges in the first and largest virtual expo on town planning and development in Malaysia.

The activities surrounding the virtual event will be month-long, starting from the World Town Planning Day on November 8 followed by five days talks and conference.

This packed programme includes events such as the National Planning Congress, Young Planners Forum, Commonwealth Association of Planners Awards, Placemaker Awards ASEAN 2021, and Mayor’s Forum.

An event open to entire world for free to discover, experience and learn more about urban planning

According to MIP President, TPr Datin Hajjah Noraida Saludin, everyone can join in a meaningful way through a public exhibition that seeks to educate and inform Malaysians and a wider global audience on the importance of town planning and development.

“This inaugural event is timely as we hope to draw the public’s attention to the importance of good town planning and its impact on urban development, the progress we have made through the years since 1921 as well as the challenges confronting our cities today and what we can expect in the future,” said Noraida.

“The Covid-19 pandemic, while affecting lives and livelihood, has also impacted cities and has caused many to rethink the usage of urban spaces in future planning and development,” added Imran Clyde, Director of Nextdor Property Communications, the co-organiser of CEM 2021.

On a deeper level, as the first locally organised expo on town planning and development, CEM 2021 provides an opportunity for participants from Malaysia and the world to share their concerns, ideas and engage with stakeholders across a variety of industries related to our cities.

The expo comprises 16 urbanism themes – Smart City, Compact City, Walkable City, People Orientated City, Transit Oriented Development, Green City, Healthy City, Liveable City, Dynamic City, Smart/Green Mobility, Low Carbon City, Eco City, Resilient City, Smart/Green Infrastructure, Mixed-Use Development, and Placemaking – which are currently being adopted in various forms or styles by city managers across the country. This is the ideal space the explain what these concepts are and how they impact our citizens and businesses.

Noraida added: “The exhibition component showcases solutions, be it from a technological perspective or otherwise, related to sustainable urban development and new urban concepts in line with the New Urban Agenda and the International Guidelines on Urban and Territorial Planning.”

The exhibition, themed
100 Years Advancing Our Cities
, explores current policies and issues in urban planning and large-scale urbanisation, infrastructure development, and strategies to address rapid urbanisation without neglecting the preservation of heritage and culture.

Call for participation

Beyond the 30-day virtual exhibition a number of side events will be taking place including an international conference which will see participation from leading professionals from a cross section of professions related to urban management and development from both the public and private sectors from Malaysia and the region, said Clyde.

The invitation to participate is open to government agencies, private corporations, urbanists, developers, technology companies, and not-for-profit organisations to procure virtual booths at CEM 2021 to share how their products, services, ideas and solutions can contribute to better cities for all.

“In this spirit, we call on companies to come on board and showcase their solutions on urban development against the backdrop of presentations that will look at best practices, inclusivity and sustainable development to improve the resilience of our cities,” Clyde added.

Visit
http://www.cityexpomalaysia.com
 or call +6017 402 5316 for more details.

— end of press release —

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Trade surplus Malaysia? 224th CONSECUTIVE months

Too many negative news. So, I must share some positive notes even if there’s that little possibility of the first trade deficit within the next 1 year. Read here for an earlier article:
Summary of the potential twin deficits for Malaysia
 As per reported in a few medias, Malaysia’s
export sector has reached the 224th consecutive months of trade SURPLUS. Yes, we are definitely not like many which are already in deficits long time ago. Within H1 2016, the total trade surplus was RM41.79 billion and this is higher than even the H1 2015 at RM41.69 billion.

International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) further shared in a statement that the country’s trade in H1 2016 grew by 1.3 per cent to RM704 billion and again, this was higher than the RM694.98 billion recorded in H1 2015. Never mind that it increased by just marginally. Just look at the world today.
Of politics, IMF and global GDP forecast

Miti said exports of manufactured goods for the January-June 2016 period grew by RM16.31 billion or 5.6 per cent to RM309.17 billion compared to the first six months of 2015. The main exports include electrical and electronics (E&E) products, manufactures of metal, machinery, equipment and parts, optical and scientific equipment, chemicals and chemical products as well as processed food.

Coming back to why
I am pro-ASEAN.

Malaysia’s exports to ASEAN nations grew by 6 percent in H1 2016 to reach a value of RM110.04 billion. This is nearly 30 percent of our total exports! It’s not easy as ASEAN comprises of many countries but exports to ASEAN is higher than to the US, at RM67.45 billion. It is also very slightly higher than the trade with China, at RM108.85 billion. Within H1 2016, there are three nations where there were significant increase in exports from Malaysia.They are Mexico, Nigeria and Bangladesh. (RM1.15 billion, RM1.06 billion and RM1.03 billion respectively). Some claps please. Happy following and believing.

written on 7 Aug 2016

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The ongoing saga of a ‘brainless trade war?’

The war has not yet started but the warnings are already there.
It’s not just the wine and the planes from the U.S. that may be affected.
It has now been reported in media that the returning ‘slap’ from China for U.S. companies would include citrus (orange and lemons) and even pork produced in the U.S. too. Oh yeah, China is the world’s TOP consumers of pork. (due to population also lah, not just habit / preference).
 The report in CNBC.com here.
 In the article, it pointed out a few companies which may be affected by China’s retaliation. Well, hopefully these companies have started planning where else to export to if the tariffs do start making their goods uncompetitive suddenly versus those from other countries. Some countries may gain from the loss of U.S. producers. Here are those largest
 few exporting countries in the world for orange and lemon.
Perhaps some European countries could fill the gap…

There was even a study on those companies most exposed to China.
Here’s the list in cbsnews.com
 There are familiar names because the companies were also operating here in Malaysia. So, what are the chances that the companies may choose to ramp up their productions from Malaysia instead? 🙂  We have no idea what may happen when the ‘war’ really starts. As at now, it’s mostly battle cries from both sides. Oh yeah China is the largest buyer of soybeans from the U.S. buying one third of all the production! Hmm… Oh yeah, there’s an interesting
 article in TheIndependent.co.uk
 (I used to read this newspaper everyday when I was studying in Bristol, UK.) The title of the article?
‘There will be no winners from Trump’s brainless trade war.’
The writer ends the article with this sentence, “Trump, as we know, preens himself as a “winner”. But from an economic perspective the old truth still applies: in a trade war everyone loses.” (I do agree with Ben Chu, the writer. Just look at how the stock markets for some clues. It’s hard to see any winner when there’s a trade war)

European nations did not feature in Trump’s tariff plans yet but the leader of the European Union (EU), Germany’s Chancelloer Angela Merkel has this to say, “We consider these tariffs unlawful,”
Full article in cnbc.com here.
 Clemens Fuest, president at Germany’s IFOInstitute says, “Past experience with tariffs is that if one country starts then there is retaliation and the overall impact is negative for everybody.” Another developed nation, Australia is the U.S.’s closest security ally and it counts China as its largest trading partner and thus it is in the middle of this potential tariff war. As at now, Australia gets exemption from the steel tariffs but the U.S. says it will MONITOR this closely so that Australia is not used as a backdoor gateway into the U.S.
Here’s the article from the SydneyMorningHerald

Hopefully everything will be settled in the next few weeks. If it heats up further, I will write another article yeah.
The earlier one here.
Happy following.

written on 24 March 2018

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Trading with local currencies instead, now it’s TH, MY and ID.

I always see ASEAN as an awesome place. Nearly 30 percent of Malaysia’s trade is with ASEAN. (
Source: Matrade.gov.my
) Reason is simple. Better be integrated, else we will allow the other world of economic groups take charge while we continue to lose out individually. Some time back, the central banks of Malaysia and Thailand agreed on a framework of cooperation to promote local currencies. In brief, when business trade between both countries, they will use local currencies instead of US$ like what is always happening today. Now, Indonesia has joined too. In other words, trades between Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia would be conducted in our local currencies instead. It reduces volatility because there is no longer a third currency which actually plays no part at all beyond just facilitating it. Our Bank Negara governor Datuk Muhammad Ibrahim said, “We can expect continued episodes of volatility to occur in the periods ahead, driven by a combination of policy uncertainties, negative sentiment and speculative activity.” Full article in
NST here.

In brief, I think he meant this is for real business trades. This is NOT for currency speculation activities. I personally think most economists would agree that countries with huge trade surplussed should have a stronger currency versus another
country with huge trade deficits.
 Else, the world goes haywire. (Like today…..) The three forward-looking central bank governors who signed the bilateral MoUs are Bank Indonesia governor Agus D.W. Martowardojo, Bank Negara Malaysia governor Datuk Muhammad Ibrahim and Bank of Thailand governor Veerathai Santiprabhob. I am wondering when would Ravi Menon and Amando Tetangco be following as well. Go and google for who are these two people yeah. 🙂  Oh by the way, “the arrangement has been expanded to include clearly defined protocols and operational frameworks in a broad range of areas, including financial market development, supervision, surveillance, payment arrangements and crisis management.”

written on 25 Dec 2016

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Traditional media still dropping, latest update

Many years ago, newspaper was something I could not miss. I ordered them daily. I ordered The Star. On Sundays, I sometimes buy NST. However, 9 years ago, I stopped ordering them, preferring to buy them on days that I feel I want to feel the hardcopies, it’s easier to read than Ipad without any doubt, for me. These days, it’s not even on my mind at all to buy a newspaper. I would go online to read, it’s more convenient. Some time back, in my previous role, I shared this story which is so true! ‘Imagine you suddenly thought of buying a property. Would you stand up, rushed to the nearest convenience store to buy your newspaper, flip through all the pages and view the properties you want to buy? Or would you just go online, check out a few online property sites which has many times more listings, many times more information and many times more up to date?’  The world has changed or you have not yet noticed that Google is now far larger than General Motors?

The latest (Audit Bureau of Circulation) ABC circulation numbers continued to reaffirm this. Newspaper actual circulation has continued dropping for many year and it dropped again last year. However, of course if you INCLUDE the ONLINE portion as well, then the circulation seemed to have gone up a bit. Actual hardcopy number wise for daily weekly, it has gone down from over 300,000 to 290,566 in H1 of 2012 to the latest H2 2013 at 289,611. If I remember correctly, many years ago, it was much higher! If you think this is happening in Malaysia because of politics, please grow up. Newspaper circulation has been dropping throughout the world. Malaysia is happening slightly slower, that’s all.

Nevertheless, all these newspapers are on the right direction. They are pushing towards online as can be seen from their aggressiveness in going online. In fact when you take up the offline today, they would ask you if you would like to go online as well and the rates are amazingly low. Let’s just say however that this strategy will worsen over time because the truth is, they are trying to value offline higher than online. This is not true. As soon as online wins the war which it will, this strategy would suddenly backfire. Yes I know, they do not agree. We shall see.

Written on 5 June 2014

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How fast can a train ‘fly?’ Over 600km per hour.

When I was in Japan for the second time a few years ago, I travelled via their bullet train. The journey was smooth most of the time and it was also considered very quiet. The future technology is going to be noiseless. Yes, Maglev (Magnetic levitation) trains. It’s totally silent because the train and the track do not touch one another. The maglev hovers 10 centimetres above the tracks and is propelled by electrically charged magnets. Scary? Well, this is no longer a new technology and just few days ago, Japan demonstrated a world record breaking feat with its maglev train technology. It went over 600km per hour. As a comparison, even F1 race cars on a straight road can only reach speeds of around 300km per hour.

Oh yeah, 600km per hour meant that the journey from Penang to KL would take just slightly over half an hour. How cool is that? Well, the first one to test this might be the High Speed Rail project between KL – Singapore, if the maglev technology from Japan wins the project when tender is called. Tokyo is now trying its best to sell this to the world via its Prime Minister’s business trips. Perhaps its major partner, the US may be the first to have such technology. Before I forget, according to the test run leader for the maglev, the higher the speed that the train runs, the more stable it is! Of course, this 600km per hour is only for testing. Typical speeds that the trains would run would be 500km per hour. Still an awesome speed by any standard.

What would this mean for the property market? Well, not much really unless Malaysians suddenly got fond of living in Penang and working in Kuala Lumpur and can pay huge fare everyday to take the train. The usual bullet train ride may cost a few hundred Ringgit between the Japanese cities. In other words, sudden attractiveness of properties along the route cannot suddenly happen. In fact, I think the cost of this technology is going to be huge because majority of all developed countries have not even started to use this on a major scale, not even Japan which still relies on bullet trains. It runs at speeds of 320km per hour operationally today. Happy reading.

written on 22 Apr 2015

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Train from KL to China. What do you think?

KL to China by train

One major advantage of train versus plane is that with the train, the journey itself is an adventure. It’s really possible to visit 10 different places with a train journey of 1,000km versus a typical 1.5 hours journey via a plane and it’s just from destination A to B. Of course, the total duration via the train could be one whole day or more but that’s the beauty yeah. We have the convenience of visiting places along the train journey with every stop along the way.

My very own experience tells me this is going to be lots of fun

I have taken the bullet train from Tokyo all the way to Fukuoka. It was a very wonderful experience indeed. I passed cities like Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka and even visited the Toyota manufacturing plant too. I definitely could not do it by flying.

I have also taken the train across many European nations because they have a great network too. Buy ticket in one country and get to travel in all the other countries too. I think it benefits all the countries when people drop by, spend money and continue dropping by and spending money along the way.

Hey, we may be able to do so too. Take the train from Malaysia and continue to stop by along the way to China! In fact it could be from Johor Bahru all the way to Kunming.

Article in nst.com.my
  Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the ambitious rail network connecting Malaysia and China would need further collaboration from Thailand and Laos to discuss ways to partner in building a railway linking the two countries. It is likely to start from Johor Bahru all the way to Kunming in China.

He said, “Building this network is possible, and I call upon the Chinese government to help facilitate these exchanges.

“And hopefully, China can play an important role in helping to convince other countries, such as Laos and Thailand, so that we can one day have seamless rail services between Southeast Asia and China.”

“I look forward to this collaboration. And it is not only for the transportation of goods but also passenger train service between Malaysia and China.” Please do read the full article here:
Article in nst.com.my

Please get this plan up and going. It will benefit all.

I will continue to follow this news and if there are new developments, I will also report here. I do think our Transport Minister would be able to do wonders. This is a very long term plan and this is the reason it has to start asap. China would definitely be the lead in this yeah. Meanwhile Thailand and Malaysia should use this to link us even closer to one another. Prosper Thy Neighbour is still applicable yeah.

I am super sure there are many Malaysians who just want to take weeks of holidays to enjoy every city along the railway line. This includes me too. I think I can try to travel during the school holidays with my kids. I think if we split it into a few trips, we should be able to cover the rail from Johor Bahru all the way to Kunming. What an adventure it would be.

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Tram and flood does not mix well in Penang.

Penang’s traffic jam is getting worse. I know because my brother, sister and even brother-in-law is still staying and working in Penang. I have been working there from 1998 to 2013 before I moved to KL. Thus, there are plans to push more people to take the public transport and less people to drive their own cars. Well, here’s an earlier article about building the public transport versus people actually taking it.
Financing, constructing and behaviour changing.Three different things really.
  We know there’s a TRAM proposal for Penang which is against the LRT proposal. Earlier report here:
LRT vs Tram. May the best wins for Penang
 However, no decision has been made even if our Transport Minister Anthony Loke revealed that LRT may not be the best proposal for Penang. Earlier article here:
Penang’s LRT not best choice

Latest news as below.

Reported in NST:
At-grade train system not suitable for flood prone Penang
  Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said, “Trams run by electronic systems which are usually installed at the base of the tracks, so during floods it will be exposed, short circuit and be damaged. Imagine when the tram is stuck, this is one of the reason why we proposed for an elevated LRT (light rail transit) system for Penang.” He also explained the importance of having a LRT system in Penang, as per proposed in the multi-billion ringgit Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP). LRT will connect KOMTAR to Bayan Lepas with several stations. LRT will also have faster trains and improved operational reliability and also sufficient capacity for increased ridership demand from Penang International Airport (PIA) and Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone expansions. He further explained that the issue of utilities relocation and stations would be a major hurdle in implementing the tram system. He said, “Relocation of utilities also involves costs, the stations would also be an issue where people have to cross the road from one side to another to reach the stations.”
Full article in NST here.

Frankly, I think the tram system in Melbourne was friendly enough when I took it a few times recently. It was on time as well. Perhaps it’s because there’s no flood issues in Melbourne. I think it’s time that all parties outline the ways that Penangites will be ENCOURAGED to take the LRT / Tram. Where the stops would be, who will most likely be taking it as well as how will they get there? Transit buses? Parking stations? Walking distance? Perhaps even making Penang a cycling state? Hopefully more details will come soon from the Transport Ministry too. Since the final decision seems to rest with the federal government and not state. Here’s state’s request:
With RM1 billion,PTMP will be carried out much faster

Happy following.

written on 18 Sept 2018

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Trams vs LRT or Monorail by Penang Forum

I think it’s clear that I support any
transport masterplan for Penang
. As long as the plans would contribute to the growth of Penang, by all means please do it. Jams are starting to get annoying and a close friend who had just moved from Penang to KL told me that she needs lesser time to travel to work these days. I told her that I had the same situation. Maybe it’s also because in Klang Valley, there are more choices which are nearer to the working place. She is staying just a few kms away from her office.

In Penang, there’s now a proposal for an alternative plan to the existing Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP). The NGO is Penang Forum and its member included Dr. Lim Mah Hui who is also aPenang Island City Councillor. The group proposed a combination of modern trams and bus rapid transit and thus following the recommendations of Halcrow. It said that this alternative plan is better for the environment, quieter and even more flexible
should an expansion
 be needed in the future.

He shared, “For example, our calculations show that for the George Town-Bayan Lepas route, the
construction cost per km
 for a tram system would come up to RM80mil compared with RM220mil for an LRT system As a comparison, the total construction cost for the same route for the tram vs the LRT would be RM1.6bil for the tram and RM4.4bil for the LRT. Dr. Lim also shared that since objective of the PTMPis to shift demands from cars to public transport, all strategies and measures should be guided by this same objective. Their website is here:
www.bettercheaperfaster.my

I think many Penangites would agree with me. Alternatives are great but let’s really focus on getting it started. If this is better, then the
current PTMP

needs to be tweaked accordingly. If it is not, this is a very good time to share the reasons why LRT would be a better choice when compared to trams or BRTs. After all, these public transport systems are already pretty common around the world. Surely all the disadvantages and advantages can be outlined for the public to see,view and decide which is better for the future of Penang. Happy reading and deciding.

written on 20 July 2016

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Sometimes, the transacted price may not be the median price.

Are property prices on a downtrend for the past few years? Depending on who we ask, some will tell us that prices are dropping. They will give quite a number of examples in some ares which used to be priced higher and is now priced lower. In fact some real estate negotiators are now selling new units with rebates of 20 percent. They say this is the ‘final opportunity’ to own such ‘cheaper’ units. Their pitch may be true because once all these units are sold and the units happen to be completed during a boom market, chances are the buyers may gain from their buy. The reverse is true too, what if the units were completed during a downtrend? Statistically however, property prices are still inching upwards but it’s no longer double digits like a few years back. Image attached. Do transacted price ALWAYS reflect the prices for the whole neighbourhood then?

A few years ago, my brother bought a semi-detached home in Ipoh from the secondary market. It’s on the next lane but it’s linked to the units on the same row as my parent’s home and the advantage is that it’s actually just  two units away from my parent’s home. He paid RM540,000 for it. Of course the rental is nowhere near the mortgage but that’s not the main reason he bought the place. My parents bought their unit for RM85,000 when I was only 12 years old. That’s like 29 years ago. Today, my mother told me about the corner unit on the same row being sold for RM880,000. It’s certainly a great news for every other unit on the same row because this RM880,000 is now the highest transacted. Will this now be the standard selling price? To be objective, it is not going to be the median price. This is a corner unit renovated not too long ago for a few hundred thousand ringgit. The good thing is that it was tastefully designed and yes, I like the interior too.

Many times, I have come across owners who told me that the market price for their home is now much higher because they heard of a recent transaction which was way above what the typical market price. Naturally, when they tried to sell their unit at the newly transacted price, it will take forever unless of course the new buyer has some special reasons to buy the unit. We can usually view the transacted prices in
brickz.my
 Do pay attention to the median price because this would usually tell us the most transacted prices for the units in the same neighbourhood. In mature neighbourhoods, the prices will usually rise as and when there are transactions because very few units are up for sale at the same time while people who wants to move into these neighbourhoods usually have their particular reasons too. Thus, their willingness to pay a higher price is stronger than if the neighbourhood is a new one and the availability of units are at higher numbers. Happy buying and selling.

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written on 31 Aug 2018

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Finally, the transaction value for property market Malaysia is DOWN

Every few days someone would ask me if the property prices would fall further. When I asked them back about their views about the worst that could happen, not even one said the property market will crash. I also do not believe it will crash and I seriously believe that with a more sane buyer and seller market, the property prices should stay stagnant or move downwards. The reason is because the rental for the luxury units even those nearby KLCC has started softening. This is especially for the oder units which suddenly faced lots of newer condo units. Read here:
Luxury condominiums oversupply in Kuala Lumpur

With a softer rental market, of course the sellers would have to also loosen their grip on asking prices too. For the potential sellers, read here:
Ready, Steady, Grab the opportunity (KLCC area)

Reported in TheStar, the total property market transaction value has fallen by 8 percent to RM149.9 billion in 2015. This followed the decline in transaction volume of 5.7 percent to 362,105 units in 2015. The fall in number of units transacted has been ongoing for many quarters but MIDF Research said that the fall in value is first in the past six years. In Q4 of 2015, the House Price Index (HPI) grew 5.8% year-on-year to 227.5, significantly lower than the 5-year average growth of 9.6%. To be exact, this is over 34 percent drop even if it is still showing an increase. Among the more major states, Johor grew by 5.6 percent, Penang by 5.8 percent, KL by 6.4 percent and Selangor at 6.2 percent.

MIDF is more confident with the outlook in greater KL because of the urbanisation factor. Still asking why is it still on the way up? Well read here:
Hard for property prices to go downlah

Based on the latest Bank Negara statistics, the numbers for “Applied Loan for Purchase of Property” fell 4% year-on-year in February 2016 to RM17.83bil. Do note that household debt versus GDP remains elevated. Read here:
Households Malaysia: Financial assets up RM97.6 billion versus RM70.4 billion up in debt
 On a monthly basis, the data was 18% lower due to seasonally lesser property loan in February. However, MIDF said that consumer’s appetite on big ticket items such as property remains low due to high household debt coupled with elevated cost of living. I think it’s more sentiment than anything else because the demand should be strong if the confidence in the market starts recovering. Do note that with urbanisation, more people would need homes, whether they actually own them or rent them. My focus remain secondary market within Greater Kuala Lumpur currently. It may not provide the best returns but I think it’s pretty safe and solid where potential is concerned. We shall see. Happy buying.

written on 11 Apr 2016

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Transparency equals moderating prices?

When it comes to speed of doing things, I like Singapore. In a news report, it was announced that net prices of each individual units sold by developers would now have to be disclosed! Yes, in other words, if a buyer somehow gets a much higher discount or freebies or exemptions than all the rest, now everyone knows. In fact the world knows. So, if you are not getting the lowest possible discounts or freebies or exemptions, the developer better be ready to explain. Why is this so important one may ask. This is important because it makes every buyer equal and the access to critical information is now no longer hidden. Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said that this change will start within the first half of 2015. It is mentioned that once the URA releases all the net prices of individual units, the buyers would be able to have far more information in order to make their decision on. It includes even furniture vouchers given out by the developers! Oh yeah, we may now ask, what if the developers give out such vouchers but do not disclose it? I wish them best of luck because once found out, they may be facing a harder time than if they disclose and just give everyone the same vouchers in the first place. I repeat, this is Singapore. Don’t try.

Everyone knows during slower times, lots of things may happen. For example, first block might have been sold during better times and when the second block was launched, it was during a slower period. Cutting the prices of the second block is not advised, you may have hundreds of angry buyers at your office suddenly, from the first block. Thus, the developers would give some ‘special deals’. Furnitures, renovations, monetary exemptions and more. This is actually unfair to the buyers of the first block, right? Yes, this is the reason for this full disclosure based on individual units. Another reason for this disclosure is also for a better assessment of the actual market condition. It may be worst than what was thought but the developers would not want to tell you for fear of negative sentiments. Fortunately, it applies to only new sales. In other words, for the current ongoing ‘special’ deals, the developers can still proceed without any full disclosure yet.

There are lots of things we can learn from Singapore, when it comes to higher transparency. I certainly know of many ‘special’ deals given out to buyers from certain developers which I feel is unfair simply because the developers wanted to close the deal and the buyer happened to be someone who knows how to negotiate better or some other reasons. I do not mind if everyone pays the same but I certainly mind if the buyer of the next unit to me paid something lower and I found out later. Perhaps this piece of news should be reported more widely by the media in Malaysia. Alert the right people of this right measure which they can adopt in the near future. Please do not look at this as a just a pro-buyer move. In fact this move is also pro-developer because all the developers would now be on equal footing and no developers would have a slight advantage over others when it comes to attracting buyers. This kind of transparency may be what is needed to moderate the price increases as per reported thus far. In fact, the average prices being reported currently may not be true if it did not include the discounts, freebies by the developers. Happy buying, after checking the net prices.

written on 28 Dec 2014

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Transparent land transactions moving forward?

We can debate until the cow comes home (after one day of eating grasses) on some issues or we can decide to make things work transparently in the future. We are talking about land deals involving the Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) over the past few years. The total transactions numbered 97. The total plots of lands involved numbered over 100.
This is the article in StraitsTimes of Singapore.
  This was what the new Federal Territory Minister Khalid Samad said, “our goal wasn’t to determine elements of corruption but to ensure that the deals don’t cause City Hall any losses. He said, “Since we have no access to investigate bank accounts of those involved, we’ve focused on whether those lands were sold at a reasonable price or not.”

Khalid shared that some RM149 million has been recovered after the government renegotiated terms on 16 land deals with the developers. “The government was also able to get back 5ha of land valued at RM113.8 million,” he added. He also said that 43 of the scrutinised deals were, nevertheless, allowed to proceed because they involve affordable housing projects. The investigation found that developers could buy land cheaply by promising to build affordable housing on it under the FT Ministry’s Rumah Wilayah Persekutuan (Rumawip) programme. (concluded under the previous Barisan Nasional government.) Please refer to the
StraitsTimes Singapore for the full article as reference.

There were no mention about what’s going to happen moving forward. Perhaps it’s best to really push for full transparency in all land deals involving DBKL from now onwards? Perhaps it’s best to publish all the affordable plans to the public for some consultations instead? The land parcels belong the DBKL which in turn are supposed to protect the interests of the people. Frankly, for the cases where it is now in the court, this will be taking a very long time. I just hope buyers of some of these affordable home projects are not the ones who suffer. As for the future, it’s simple. Let’s do it more systematically (know if there are real demands first) and transparently (the highest bidder wins) through public auctions perhaps. It’s like that in most advanced property markets; open tender / public auction.

written on 20th Oct 2018

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One Travel Bubble starts next week. Surely more to come. What bubble?

I have never been to New Zealand. I have been to Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. I do think I want to go to New Zealand sometime in the future and I would definitely want to go to Brisbane, Canberra, Tasmania and more. These two countries will allow travels between one another starting next week. Yes, both have managed to control the COVID-19 pretty well and even though vaccinations have not yet covered a significant portion of the population, they do believe it’s now safe enough for travels between both countries.

Article in nst.com.my
.
 New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, “I can confirm that quarantine-free travel will begin in just under two weeks at 11:59pm on April 18.” She shared that that New Zealand had just 26 deaths due to COVID-19 in a population of five million and Australia has fewer than 1,000 deaths in a population of 25 million.

She said, “I cannot see or point to any countries in the world that are maintaining a strategy of keeping their countries Covid-free whilst opening up international travel between each other.”

She added, “That means in a way we are world leading.” Please do read the article in full here:
Article in nst.com.my

What’s the situation here?

Malaysia’s number of new COVID-19 infections are still above 1,000 and according to some statements, we should only see it going down to a few hundreds per day in May. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this forecast would come true and then perhaps we could see us going back to just hundreds of cases in total by July? Now, we are at over 1,000 new cases PER DAY. Image below shows the new number yesterday, new recovery and total number of cases too. Image source is
thestar.com.my

 What about travel bubbles between Malaysia and Singapore, at least?

Sabah’s State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Jafry Ariffin said, “We are in discussions with Sutera Harbour Resort (SHR) and Sutera??@??Mantanani to provide a separate, safe travel route from Singapore directly to Kota Kinabalu and Mantanani island (Kota Belud).”
News here.

Tourism Malaysia DG Zulkifly Md says that MALAYSIA is in the process of establishing travel bubbles with several other Asian countries, including Singapore, Brunei, China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, while the discussions with Indonesia for the same purpose are ongoing. This is essential to revitalise the tourism and culture industry as the country recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic.
News here.

Means nothing concrete at the moment

I guess the situation will have to be dependent on new cases etc. As a Malaysian, I also do not wish to have international tourists coming to Malaysia and potentially causing a new strain of COVID-19 and I am sure the other countries also would not feel secure enough if they could see the number of cases in Malaysia is still over one thousand everyday. However, it’s good that discussions start now versus only starting later when everything is back to normal which is quite impossible, not even in 2022 that we will be back to the normal situation like before COVID-19.

What’s sure is that the outlook for this year is by far better than that of 2020. Vaccinations are ongoing and I do think Malaysia is considered quite efficient in this aspect thus far. Just need to make sure this does not slow down because while COVID-19 doses are needed, the registrations for people taking the vaccination injection should also go up faster too. PLEASE do encourage everyone you know to register for the vaccination. Thank you.

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Travel Bubble is not easy. Here’s one which has burst.

This bubble which has been planned and postponed has burst. It’s between Singapore and Hong Kong. Do not think too much. It’s travel bubble yeah. There are no other bubbles between Singapore and Hong Kong. Definitely nothing about the property markets too. The major reason is because of a difference in the Covid-19 strategies.

Singapore has started to reopen its international borders on the premise that Covid-19 numbers are to be managed. Hong Kong meanwhile prefers to keep those numbers extremely low or none if possible. With both having a totally different thinking about how best to handle Covid-19, they have decided not to continue speaking about this travel bubble.

Article in todayonline.com
  Singapore Ministry of Transport (MOT) on Thursday said that (Aug 19) Transport Minister S Iswaran and his Hong Kong counterpart Edward Yau have agreed not to pursue further discussions on the air travel bubble.

This travel bubble would have allowed people to travel between the two cities without serving quarantine, had been postponed twice. It was first postponed in November last year delayed due to a rise in the number of coronavirus cases in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong authorities said this about the bubble plan. “All along, it was premised upon similar anti-epidemic strategies adopted by the two places, aiming to reduce local caseloads to a minimum. With Singapore currently moving towards a new strategy of building a ‘Covid-resilient’ nation, the basic premises that underpin the air travel bubble have changed.” Please do read the full article here:
Article in todayonline.com

Travel Bubbles are important as not all are at the same stage for Covid-19

Today, on average, 32% of the world population has received at least 1 dose of Covid-19 vaccination jab. 24% are fully vaccinated. However, in low income nations, this number falls to just 1.3%. This is a sad reality and hopefully the rich and advanced nations can start doing more because no one is safe until everyone is safe.
All the info quoted is from ourworldindata.org

Thus, for countries where Covid-19 is under control or their vaccination numbers are already reaching over 50% fully vaccinations, then economy becomes that next important stage. When the economy is unhealthy, it will affect livelihoods of the people and soon this will start to impact lives as well because no income means no food on the table for many.

Some of these countries or regions could choose to start a travel bubble. This will help to jumpstart the economy as more people could travel and thus consumption of goods and services will restart. In the European Union for example, they are already travelling freely between nations. In fact, the number of spectators in the stadium for football matches are back to normal for some.

ASEAN or ASIA is a little far away from this ‘reopening fully’ stage but we can definitely continue to plan following the vaccination progress. Let’s see when we can at least travel within ASEAN again. Please do your best yeah, Bangkok. See you next Songkran… 2022.

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Travel Bubble Langkawi: 400,000 tourists expectation is really a wow.

If you are a reader of kopiandproperty.com and you are now in Langkawi or you are going very soon, please do send us more updates. It’s great to know from the actual person on the ground. How’s the actual situation, are the SOPs being followed very strictly, how are the prices and whether the all the shops are now open for tourists. Let’s look at some numbers which has been projected by the Langkawi Development Authority (LADA).

Article in malaymail.com
  The Langkawi Development Authority (LADA) is expecting the arrival of about 400,000 tourists over a period of three and a half months starting from 16 September to 31 December 2021.

Its chief executive officer, Nasaruddin Abdul Muttalib said with the arrival of this number of tourists, Langkawi was expected to receive about RM165 million from the money spent by these tourists.

He said, “Based on a study conducted by LADA and USM (Universiti Sains Malaysia), the average per day expenditure of a local tourist on the island is around RM412. The expenditure includes on accommodation, food, transportation and entrance tickets to the tourism centres in Langkawi.”

Nasaruddin also said that on the first day of Langkawi’s reopening to tourists, there would be five flights from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Selangor.
Article in malaymail.com

Hopefully all goes well, then we are going to have more destinations soon

Remember yeah, after Phuket’s sandbox experiment went well (there were still infection cases yeah), now Bangkok will be the next to be reopened to vaccinated tourists too.
Bangkok Reopening for Tourists in October 2021.

Thus Travel Bubble Langkawi will be the catalyst or the stop for all future potential destinations. Please do it very well and to all the travellers, if you cannot follow SOPs, please just stay home. Looking forward to more good news very soon after this full weekend in Langkawi. 16th September is just a beginning.

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