The Star Online: Metro: South & East
The Star Online: Metro: South & East |
- Johor Baru has emerged out of the shadows of Singapore to be a thriving centre
- SK Cherana Puteh to gain from The Star NIE programme
- Khaled: Suit a political gimmick
| Johor Baru has emerged out of the shadows of Singapore to be a thriving centre Posted: 22 Mar 2013 01:19 AM PDT JOHOR BARU: Johor Baru has always been associated as the "place beside Singapore" but the growing metropolitan is slowly emerging out of the shadows where it has been hiding for many years. The Johor Baru parliamentary area which consists of Tanjung Puteri and Stulang state seats has come a long way especially after the inception of the country's first economic growth corridor Iskandar Malaysia on Nov 4, 2006. Johor Baru or fondly known as JB among Johoreans was founded in 1855 as a small Malay fishing village known as Tanjung Puteri. The area is however, far from a village now with multiple shopping complexes, entertainment outlets, residential areas and multi-billion ringgit mixed developments which have been attracting many foreign and local investments. The city itself is a unique blend of the old and new with multi-storied office buildings and shopping complexes built alongside pre-war shophouses and coffee shops, which is still a favourite hangout spot for locals. Many residents in Johor Baru reap the benefits of the steady growth in the city with escalating property prices and new developments but several problems still need to be ironed out. Convenience shop owner Khoo Eng Keng, 56, said he had noticed many positive changes to the Johor Baru area in the last 20 years. "There have been major improvements to the roads, public transportation and general outlook of the town area itself," he said. He however, added that some places especially older housing areas were still quite filthy. "For example, my shop is located in Stulang here and we have a major problem with rubbish dumping in the area. "I have noticed the authorities including council officials coming along and cleaning up the piles of rubbish but unfortunately the people themselves seem to be dumping rubbish wherever they want," he said. He added that maybe on top of conducting gotong-royong and cleaning works, the authorities could look at how to conduct awareness programmes to educate the people on the importance of keeping their surroundings clean. Accounts executive, M. Vimala Devi, 36, said she was happy with the improvements to the outlook of the city centre. "I noticed significant improvements especially with how the local council had maintained the foliage and kept the streets in town clean. "Unfortunately, more needs to be done to upkeep the back alleys which are often crawling with rats and infested with mosquitoes," she said adding that this was especially important following the state government's plans to upgrade the whole town area under the multi-billion ringgit Johor Baru transformation project. Vimala also added that efforts needed to be done to reduce traffic congestion especially along roads leading to Singapore. "I notice many motorists illegally park around the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantive Complex (CIQ) which causes a bottle neck for motorists using the road," she said. Rene Mohd Nasir, 22, who runs an eatery in Stulang here said he had not noticed any major changes to the Stulang area itself. "Cleanliness is a major concern especially for business owners like myself. "Customers often complain to me about the foul smell which emits from the clogged drains and mounds of rubbish which are dumped at the side of the roads or in the alleys," he said. He added that to make it worse, his eatery was located right beside the duty free zone area where alcohol is sold at a cheaper price. "Because of this, we have many drunkards who hang around here and cause trouble for the rest," he said adding that petty crimes including snatch theft and gang fights were a common sight in the area. Rene hoped that the authorities would heighten security around the area, as it is also a place where many foreigners frequented. Retiree, Mohd Norazman Firdaus, 65, said he was concerned with the growing number of beggars and illegal parking attendants in the city area. "They hassle me when I am eating and forcibly collect money whenever I park at a public parking spot in the city," he said adding that the authorities should clamp down on such activities. Mohd Norazman said the authorities should also look at upgrading some of the existing facilities especially within the older housing areas within the Johor Baru parliamentary constituency. "The authorities should upgrade the parks and playgrounds to ensure that the people can benefit from them," he said adding that a lot of attention was being focused on areas such as Nusajaya and Setia Tropika while the older housing areas were forgotten. Communication executive, Liza Goh Keng Swee, 25, said she was happy that the state government was highlighting many cultural events including the yearly Johor Baru Arts festival. "Apart from progressing it is important for us to embrace our roots as well as appreciate the local arts and cultural performances," she said adding that she was especially happy with the weekly activities held along Jalan Tan Hiok Nee. Liza said previously she was forced to travel across the causeway to watch cultural and arts performances and hopefully higher quality acts would be brought to Johor Baru in tandem with the progress taking place in Iskandar Malaysia. On a negative note, Liza hoped that the authorities would look into the mushrooming of prostitution rings and gambling dens especially in the Stulang Laut area. "It is worrying to see such activities openly taking place and it is more alarming to notice youngsters including those in school uniforms frequenting the area," she said. |
| SK Cherana Puteh to gain from The Star NIE programme Posted: 22 Mar 2013 01:16 AM PDT ALOR GAJAH: A sizeable number of orang asli pupils at SK Cherana Puteh here will be the biggest beneficiaries in The Star NIE programme that was extended to the rural school situated close to Malacca/Negri Sembilan border. The school's senior assistant Rusita Mohamad said the advent of NIE to the school is seen as a step forward for the orang asli pupils to sharpen ther vocabulary and command in the language. "We are delighted with the presence of The Star NIE that has reached the rural areas like Cherana Puteh," she said after a mock cheque presentation for The Star's NIE programme sponsored by Agrobank here, recently. Agrobank sponsors 20,000 copies of The Star NIE that will be distributed to 33 rural primary schools throughout the country. Agrobank embarked on the initiative as part of its ambitious step in spearheading its corporate social responsibility to cover multiple aspects especially in the field of education apart from focusing on development of agricultural sectors. Agrobank president and chief executive officer Wan Mohd Fadzmi Wan Othman said the bank in its drive to heighten the quality of education was concentrating on improving English literacy among the primary pupils from the rural schools. "Hence, the bank was keen in The Star's Newspaper in Education (NIE) programme that was seen as an appropriate platform to promote and intensify pupils' command in English by utilising the newspaper as a teaching tool. "NIE is a unique way for schools, businesses and The Star to work in a partnership that subsequently would benefit the pupils in the future," he said. The event was also witnessed by Agrobank's acting chief financial officer Asmuni Sudin, acting chief operation officer Subri Mohd Noh, head of consumer banking Noor Azlan Abd Manan, head of corporate communications Roslan Baba, section head of branding and promotions, Suriani Osman, Agrobank's Alor Gajah branch manager Rahmah Hashim. Wan Mohd Fadzmi said Agrobank believed that the programme was loaded with stimulating and useful activities that could lead to the improvement of English Language proficiency amongst the students. "It also injects fun into lessons while helping pupils develop better writing, reading and speaking skills as well as listening and presentation abilities," he said. |
| Khaled: Suit a political gimmick Posted: 22 Mar 2013 01:13 AM PDT PASIR GUDANG: Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's decision to sue Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd and Sistem Televisyen Malaysia Bhd (TV3) for linking him to the Sulu group intrusion is merely a political gimmick. Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said if Anwar truly did not have links to the incident in Lahad Datu, he should have filed a similar suit against several foreign media who reported the incident first. "All he is trying to do is to defame the credibility of the local government and media," he said after officiating a community engagement programme by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) here on March 9. Mohamed Khaled, who is also Higher Education Minister, said this was all a political tactic by the Opposition who were insinuating that the Government themselves were responsible for the clashes in Lahad Datu. "Maybe Anwar does not want the public to know the truth and that could be the reason why he did not file a suit against those who originally came out with the reports," he said. The reports in Utusan Malaysia and TV3 were however based on an earlier article by a leading Phillipine daily on March 1. The Philippine Daily Inquirer had run a news piece based on Filipino intelligence sources which had linked a Sabah politician allied to Anwar as among "external factors" responsible in instigating heirs of the Sulu ultanate to reclaim Sabah. |
| 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