The Star Online: Metro: South & East
The Star Online: Metro: South & East |
- Christmas deco transforms shopping centres in Johor Baru into fairyland
- MBJB building pump house in Jalan Thompson and upgrading two others
- Students receive RM70 voucher to buy school necessities
| Christmas deco transforms shopping centres in Johor Baru into fairyland Posted: 23 Dec 2012 05:45 PM PST JOHOR BARU: Reindeer, Santa Claus and Christmas trees of all shapes and sizes are aplenty at most of the malls here with many going all out to bedeck their complexes with all sorts of decorations in line with the festive season. One standout would be the decorations at Johor Baru City Square, which features a large gingerbread house outlined with huge candy canes. The decorations aptly themed "A Very Gingerbread Christmas" has a whimsical atmosphere with dozens of green and red candy cane Christmas trees, large red an while lollypops and even oversized three dimensional gingerbread men which rotate. Other than taking pictures of the colourful decorations at the main foyer, visitors can also pose for pictures at a place-your-face cut-out depicting a group of gingerbread men. Another mall that has standout Christmas decorations is Sutera Mall, which has an enormous six feet tall Santa Claus right in front of its entrance. The Santa, which can be seen from quite a distance, greets visitors by revolving from left to right while accompanied with traditional Christmas carols. Walking into the mall is also a delight as two rows of white Christmas trees lead visitors to the main entrance, which is guarded by two large toy soldiers with wide grins. Another interesting decorative element in the mall is a Santa Claus riding gleefully on his sleigh pulled by six reindeer, which hangs above the main foyer. Other malls including The Zon Johor Baru and Plaza Pelangi also feature colourful decorations including large Christmas trees, hanging snowflakes and wreaths decorated with pretty ornaments. Besides the malls, Legoland Malaysia also has a special Christmas tree and fairy lights lining its entrance to add to the festive cheer. The Lego made tree stands at nine metres tall and is made out of 427,695 Duplo Lego bricks. In December, the theme park has a special lighting ceremony for the tree daily where one lucky child will be picked among the crowd to light the tree by pressing a special button. Other than that, the theme park also organises special Christmas story telling sessions and Lego ornament-making sessions at designated times. The operating hours for the theme park is also extended for the whole of December and only closes its doors at 8pm so that visitors can enjoy the sight of the lighted Lego-made Christmas tree at night. |
| MBJB building pump house in Jalan Thompson and upgrading two others Posted: 23 Dec 2012 03:36 PM PST JOHOR BARU: The Johor Baru City Council (MBJB) is in the process of constructing an additional pump house along Jalan Thompson to alleviate flood occurrences during the monsoon season. As a solution to overcome the problem in the long run, the council is not only building a new pump house but also plans to upgrade the two existing pump houses in Jalan Kampung Mohd Amin and Jalan Kolam Air. Johor Baru mayor Burhan Amin said the total current expenses for the three pump houses is about RM2mil and are expected to be completed by April 2013. He added that the council hoped that the constant maintenance and upgrading works would end the flood problems in the city. Burhan said that there is a 24-hour flood operation centre located at Dataran Bandaraya here to monitor flood occurrence and to provide immediate transport and logistics assistances to those in need during floods. "The council has alerted the city's contractors to ensure the maintenance and cleanliness of the rivers around the city to avoid litter traps in the river," he said during MBJB full council meeting here recently. He also said that some irresponsible citizens who cemented the drains outside their business premises were part of the reason for the occurrence of flood around the city. "The council received a total of 62 complaints from the public stating that many shoplot owners had covered the drains with cement, which then affected the flow of the rainwater. "According to the law, those who had covered the drains could be imposed with a RM500 fine," he said. He urged the public not to make such renovations without the consent of the council. Meanwhile, MBJB is also confident of collecting 100% payment of taxes by the end of the year. Burhan said that they had received about RM120mil which amounted to 99% of the total taxes payable and 170% of the estimated non-tax revenue was collected. "The council has estimated about RM72mil to be used in expenses for the development of the city next year," he said, adding that many development projects would be taking place around city in 2013. |
| Students receive RM70 voucher to buy school necessities Posted: 23 Dec 2012 05:37 PM PST JOHOR BARU: Some 200 schoolchildren received a RM70 gift voucher each and went on a back-to-school shopping spree with their parents at a local hypermarket here. The group arrived as early as 10am on Dec 16 at the Southern City Giant Hypermarket and shortly after made their way to the entrance to begin their shopping spree. Housewife Halijah Abdul Aziz, 49, said the donation from Puteri Umno helped to reduce her financial burden, as her husband — a grass-cutter — does not earn much. "I am thankful to Puteri Umno for easing my burden on expenses for my five schooling children aged between seven and 14,"said the mother of 12. Eight-year-old student, Siti Nuraishah Maisarah Rosli described the event as seronok (fun) as she had the chance to shop for uniforms and shoes with other children. "The fact that Puteri Umno reached out to needy children yearly was really good and I'm grateful that my two schooling children were also recipients of the voucher," said bank officer C. Andrew Wilson, 38, adding that he hopes the organisation will continue to help the community. Secondary school student Maizatun Nasir, 13, said she appreciated the financial help from Puteri Umno. However, she suggested that secondary school students should receive a higher value of voucher. "The prices for secondary school uniforms and shoes are much higher compared to primary school pupils, and I believe it's only fair that we (secondary school students) receive a voucher of higher value," she said. Johor Baru member of parliament Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad attended the event that was organised by Johor Baru Puteri Umno and supported by Care United Johor Baru. Johor Baru Puteri UMNO head Datin Azura Mohd Afandi said the programme was held annually and it was the fifth year running. "The number of recipients increased yearly, and this year there was an additional 50 students. "All 27 branches of Puteri Umno in Johor Baru, and two other clubs – Fishermen Club and Kelab Kebajikan Parliament Johor Baru — were involved in this back-to-school programme," she said. She added that she appreciated the support from Care United Johor Baru that contributed the vouchers and stationery and hoped that Care United will continue to support and steadily increase the number of recipients yearly. |
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