The Star Online: Metro: South & East
The Star Online: Metro: South & East |
- Boon for villagers
- Abdul Ghani condems those who use religious issues for political motives
- Platform to promote Iskandar Malaysia
| Posted: 18 Nov 2012 06:08 PM PST THE proud house owners in Kampung Poh Chee Leng in Skudai, Johor, have several reasons to rejoice these days. Their property value has appreciated almost 10 times — thanks to the good location and rapid development in the surrounding areas. The village with 219 houses is walking distance to the SJKC Pu Sze and the Johor Baru Tengah Municipal Council (MPJBT). Some of the houses in the village could fetch almost RM200,000 per unit these days. But money is not everything to the villagers who have called the place home for four decades. "The environment here is good, and there are quite a lot of plants around "Our neighbours are also very friendly," said Soon Keng Ang, 34. Born and bred in the village, Soon continues to stay in the house with his parents, brother and wife and three children. Extended family, like that of the Soons is common in Kampung Poh Chee Leng. Temple caretaker Koh Yeow Song who cycles to work in a temple nearby daily except on Sundays, said his family had never thought of moving out since they shifted to the village 21 years ago. "This place is very good," he added. The 74-year-old grandfather said he bought the house for RM20,000 more than two decades ago. He now stays there with his wife Lew Siow Mie, 61, three daughters and two grandchildren. Wong Hock Seng, 71, who has been staying in the village for 40 years, said he had spent about RM10,000 to build the house. "The security in our village is very good, and its location is also strategic," he said, adding that Johor Baru city centre is just a 15-minute-drive. Wong works as a receptionist in a hotel in Johor Jaya while his wife, Tan Kah Choo, 66, works at a plastic factory in Senai. "I hope the authorities could improve the roads and drainage in the village," said Wong, adding that there are about 2,000 people staying in the village. Wong's praises for the village was also echoed by his neighbour Haw Hang Soon, 73. Haw, who retired as a construction worker in Singapore 12 years ago, counts himself and his family lucky to be able to have a house in the village since 40 years ago. "It was very hard to get a house then and I spent RM10,000 to build the house," he recalled. Chang Ee Sin, 49, said the living environment in the village was good, despite the villagers only got electricity supply in 1981 and water supply in 1990. He stayed in the village since he was nine years old. Leong Foon Min, 73, felt that it was impossible for him to get a similar house elsewhere which came with such good environment, security and neighbours. But there is certainly more than meets the eye for this serene little village. Former Senai Member of Parliament Woon See Chin said the history of the village could be traced back to between 1972 and 1974 where a man called Poh Chee Leng, had allowed villagers to build houses over two plots of land which he co-owned with his nephew. The total size of the land is 20 acres, he said, adding that 219 houses mushroomed soon after that. Poh charged each house RM10 a month for land rental. Two decades later, Poh sold the land for a total of RM1.6mil to the villagers, though an investor had offered to buy the land from him. Woon, a lawyer by training and instrumental in helping the villagers in the deal, remembered Poh (now deceased) as a nice man who had the villagers interest at heart. He said each household paid between RM9,500 and RM13,500 for their respective plot under the land deal. With the sale, Wong said the entire land in the village was put under the name of four trustees in 1997. |
| Abdul Ghani condems those who use religious issues for political motives Posted: 18 Nov 2012 06:10 PM PST JOHOR BARU: Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman has urged Muslims not to be influenced by certain quarters who use religious issues for political mileage. He said such extreme behaviour would only bring about long lasting destruction. Abdul Ghani said the act of terrorism in several countries worldwide are caused by certain groups who fight for their own narrow-minded agenda. "In our country, we have faced such extreme and obsessed quarters that would do anything to support their leaders. "These groups have even politicised religion just to gain support from the public," he said in his speech during the state level Maal Hijrah celebration here recently. He also said that there are certain quarters that claimed to fight for equal rights without thinking the impact that it may have on communities. Abdul Ghani also added that their approach could only bring disharmony among the multi-racial people in the country. "Malaysia practisedemocratic Islam that have become a modern industry middle income country. "The Government have always stressed social justice where the country's wealth are divided equally to all of the rakyat no matter their race," he said. He pointed out that bigotry and extreme behaviour could only bring actions that would jeopardise the country's future such as street demonstrations that not only cause a rift among the rakyat but also destroy public property. "If we allow such groups to influence our mind then our values and culture that we have built for many years to disappeared," he said. |
| Platform to promote Iskandar Malaysia Posted: 18 Nov 2012 06:18 PM PST JOHOR BARU: President of the Philippines Benigno Aquino and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf) chairman Murad Ibrahim will most likely attend the upcoming World Islamic Economic Forum (Wief). Wief Foundation chairman Tun Musa Hitam said the invitation had been forwarded to them and that the organiser was awaiting their reply. "We hope the president and the chairman would come as it will be good especially for the Bangsamoro following the peace agreement signed between Milf and the Philippines Government,'' he said. The eighth Wief, which would be officiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will be held from Dec 4 until 6, at the Persada Johor International Convention Centre here. The former deputy prime minister said many of the delegates would want to know from the Milf chairman himself on the opportunities that Mindanao could offer them. He said about 1,500 delegates from 50 countries were expected. "With the signing of the peace agreement, it will pave way for Bangsamoro to focus on developing the southern Philippines,'' said Musa. He said Malaysian investors and companies should take the opportunity to be among the earliest investors to invest in Mindanao and assist Bangsamoro in building the nation. Musa said leaders who had confirmed their attendance include Comoros president Ikililou Dhoinine, Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, Qatari prime minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim and Singapore deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. Others likely to attend are Liberian President Ellen Johson Sirleaf, chairman of the presidency Bosnia and Herzegovina Bakir Izetbegovic, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zarzadi, Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Kazakhstan prime minister Serik Akhmetoz. "This will also be the first time that Johor will host a number of foreign heads of government in an international event,'' he said. Musa said it would be good for Johor to promote Iskandar Malaysia to potential investors from all over the world and the opportunities offered by the country's first economic growth corridor. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Star Online: Metro: South & East To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan