Living in JB 2 (Johore)

[wuqi256]

Yup. Normally it's a standalone substation. For residential, should be about 22kV. However, some older buildings might have the substation integrated within the building (on ground floor) but it's very uncommon for new developments nowadays. Could be due to new regulatory requirements

Yah those poles are so unsightly. I even saw them in bukit indah developments by setia. Luckily all new developments adopt underground design

Take note that some of these poles are actually telephone cables etc, tho. Normally at the back alley

Yes, old ones have the smaller ones but the big ones are still housed outside. I also noticed that the truly large ones are definitely housed far away.
Yes very, some of them yes but one that a friend of mine was keen on and asked me, it was right infront (not at the back) and definitely its carrying live power current as an electrician friend confirmed. Actually telephone cables can kill as well as it will carry a surge in case of lightning strikes hence i always ask my engineers not to step on any telephone cables and treat all cables as live wires.

 

[Kenken]

No decision made on operator of commuter train in Iskandar

JOHOR BARU: The Federal Government is yet to make its final decision on the operator of the multi-billion ringgit intra-city commuter train (ICCT) service for Iskandar Malaysia.

Iskandar Regional Development Authority (Irda) chief executive officer Ismail Ibrahim said the project was still open to other companies that wanted to develop the rail network.

“Although only one company has submitted the proposal for the project as of to date, it doesn’t mean that the project is exclusive for the company,’’ he told StarBizWeek.

Ismail said Irda still continued to accept any new proposals from other interested parties on the project and would submit their proposals to the Government.

Metropolitan Commuter Network Sdn Bhd (MCN) had submitted a proposal to Irda early last year to develop a RM1.23bil ICCT service for Iskandar Malaysia.

The company had proposed to develop the rail network covering 100km to serve all major suburbs in the country’s first economic growth corridor.

Under the proposal, seven new stations will be built along the route together with 16 halts and the rail network will also include a shuttle service from JB Sentral to Woodlands in Singapore.

MNC is a joint-venture company between KUB Malaysia Bhd and Malaysia Steel Works (KL) Bhd and the company had proposed to construct and operate the rail transit network in Iskandar Malaysia.

“The Johor government and Irda are not involved in the project in one way or another as the final decision comes from the Federal level,’’ he said.

Ismail pointed out that there were some misleading reports that the Johor government had given its approval on the proposal by MCN.

Ismail added the same also applied for the Rapid Transit System (RTS) as the decision came from the Federal level involving the Transport Ministry, Economic Planning Unit and Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD).

RTS refers to the improvement in connectivity and accessibility and human traffic movement between Johor Baru and Singapore via several transportation modes.

This includes extending the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line from Singapore into Johor Baru and from here there would be connection through other nodes in other ares within Iskandar Malaysia.

“The RTS will have to start this year or next as we are targeting for the system to be fully operational between 2018 and 2020,’’ said Ismail.

 

[cathylmg]

No decision made on operator of commuter train in Iskandar

JOHOR BARU: The Federal Government is yet to make its final decision on the operator of the multi-billion ringgit intra-city commuter train (ICCT) service for Iskandar Malaysia.

Iskandar Regional Development Authority (Irda) chief executive officer Ismail Ibrahim said the project was still open to other companies that wanted to develop the rail network.

“Although only one company has submitted the proposal for the project as of to date, it doesn’t mean that the project is exclusive for the company,’’ he told StarBizWeek.

Ismail said Irda still continued to accept any new proposals from other interested parties on the project and would submit their proposals to the Government.

Metropolitan Commuter Network Sdn Bhd (MCN) had submitted a proposal to Irda early last year to develop a RM1.23bil ICCT service for Iskandar Malaysia.

The company had proposed to develop the rail network covering 100km to serve all major suburbs in the country’s first economic growth corridor.

Under the proposal, seven new stations will be built along the route together with 16 halts and the rail network will also include a shuttle service from JB Sentral to Woodlands in Singapore.

MNC is a joint-venture company between KUB Malaysia Bhd and Malaysia Steel Works (KL) Bhd and the company had proposed to construct and operate the rail transit network in Iskandar Malaysia.

“The Johor government and Irda are not involved in the project in one way or another as the final decision comes from the Federal level,’’ he said.

Ismail pointed out that there were some misleading reports that the Johor government had given its approval on the proposal by MCN.

Ismail added the same also applied for the Rapid Transit System (RTS) as the decision came from the Federal level involving the Transport Ministry, Economic Planning Unit and Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD).

RTS refers to the improvement in connectivity and accessibility and human traffic movement between Johor Baru and Singapore via several transportation modes.

This includes extending the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line from Singapore into Johor Baru and from here there would be connection through other nodes in other ares within Iskandar Malaysia.

“The RTS will have to start this year or next as we are targeting for the system to be fully operational between 2018 and 2020,’’ said Ismail.

They better move in on this quick. Else as more and more people move over, the custom immigration is going to get over crowed. And voter's confidence losted.

 

[cathylmg]

RON 97汽油漲價10仙

官方03/04/2012 21:55 Share121 轉寄 列印 字体:.Send to friend
（吉隆坡3日訊）RON 97汽油價格將在明日（4日）凌晨12時01分起價，每公升調漲10仙，即從目前每公升2令吉80仙，漲至2令吉90仙。

　RON 95和柴油則保持不變，分別是每公升1令吉90仙和每公升1令吉80仙。

　政府對RON 97價格採取自由浮動機制，由國際市價而定，在去年RON 97汽油共漲價4次，之后也有下調。

http://www.chinapress.com.my/node/307394

 

[2bFree]

At least the previous price of RM2.80 /L held steady for more than a year compared to the ever changing pump price in SG!

Hmm, very tempting to buy a MY car to move around but the main setback is cannot drive it into SG...

 

[cathylmg]

At least the previous price of RM2.80 /L held steady for more than a year compared to the ever changing pump price in SG!

Hmm, very tempting to buy a MY car to move around but the main setback is cannot drive it into SG...

Yalor. If work in Singapore buy Malaysia car always park at home also ver wasted.

 

[RedsYNWA]

Yalor. If work in Singapore buy Malaysia car always park at home also ver wasted.

MY car cheap cheap mah. RM150K can get you a 2.0L Honda Accord liao. You can buy 2 cars:- 1SG car & 1 MY car. MY car for moving ard in JB after work n on weekends......if you think RM 150K is too ex, get a small proton lor......i tink RM 50k to 60K only?

 

[Funds Transfer]

A bro recently shared with me this statement,

You know, its becoming worse here, sometimes even like cowboy town here as well in some parts. People just dropping like flies from the many accidents and mishaps.

The horrifying video is here http://sg.news.yahoo.com/s’poreans-shocked-by-video-of-woman-run-over-by-bus.html.

 

[rogue1109]

Hi Bro DOA,

Just my two cents worth.

There are two types of life insurance - one with cash value and another without.

Most term insurance (whether MRTA or MLTA) do not have cash value. They are pure insurance and coverage is for a limited period of time.

For those with cash value, you generally pay more for the insurance but the coverage is lifetime and it has a cash value component that grows at like 3% pa (for SG plans, not sure MY). So if you decide give up on the plan after several years, you will get some cash out of it though I won't advise that.

The 'extras' you get from whole life insurance is the cash component, consequently the coverage also increases with time (ie sum assured + cash value)

The 'extras' from a MLTA however is based on the fact that your property loan is decreasing. If the coverage stays level, should you need to claim, you will have left over claims (sum assured - loan balance = pay out to you).

So it really boils down to what you want.

For myself, I keep my life insurance separate from those tagged to my mortgage. Other than paying house loan, you still need insurance for day to day survival needs. I chose a coverage based on the number of years I intend to finance/hold on to the current property. With the flexi loan feature and assuming I am able to make additional deposits into the current account, I should be able to shave off 10+ years from the actual loan tenure.

Anyway since you've asked about this, it made me wonder if it's better instead to get a MRTA in Singapore? Asked my friend who is a FA, and he told me no need to link to property. Might turn out to be cheaper, plus insurance pays you not the bank and admin wise everything settle in SG. Anyway pending his quote and see how it goes.

By the way, how long do you typically wait for loan approval ah? I've waited close to two weeks and feeling quite impatient liao. Haha

Bro. Thanks much for your reply. Yes, it's no longer compulsory. I just accepted my loan without any of these insurances, because my original idea was to have a life insurance.

After doing much research, I know MRTA is not the right product for me because its dead money without "extra" protections. Then I came across MLTA, which from many other sources I gathered, it is quite similar to life insurance because both are term assurance, protecting the full value of the coverage that one desires (higher premium correspondingly of course), and leaving also the "extras" in a manners of savings or double payment in the event of death. This is where I confused myself of the differences between MLTA and life insurance. Until now, I still have no clear answer. Some even claim that MLTA is an alternative name of life (term) insurance but I have a feeling that it's not.

So for your case, whenever u add more properties to your portfolio, u merely increase the assured value of your insurance? I suppose the duration of the policy wouldn't be extended whenever u add more properties right? So, at this juncture, on the assumption that I will repay off my loan in 8 years time (even though the loan tenure is, say, 20 years), would u take up 20 years term insurance, or 8 years and renew again at a later stage? Bearing in mind that I intend to acquire more properties in the future, so I guess full 20 years will be more viable because if I renew at a later stage, I gotta do check up and pay new premium based on my age and health condition at the point of renewal?

Sorry for lengthy questions ... Thanks for your time


P/s: btw, for MRTA, I was quoted 30k whereas for MLTA, the quote was 50k. It's ridiculously high for the MRTA. I don't know why anyone would go for MRTA for the mere price difference of 20k, when the 20k gives much much more protections and returns for MLTA. This is a flaw to me

 

[wuqi256]

The horrifying video is here http://sg.news.yahoo.com/s’poreans-shocked-by-video-of-woman-run-over-by-bus.html.

That is really scary. Best thing one can do is to be vigilant and assume all drivers are out to kill you.
We have finally entered the dreaded age of "defensive crossing" :(

 

[rogue1109]

Hi sky,

Had checked out Park Villa too. The place is really beautiful right atop a hill and the houses are huge! And unfortunately also out of my budget.

However lady there told me that houses under construction cannot be sold to foreigners, only to locals. Foreigners can only buy completed units which currently is the Tulipa... which also out of my budget.

Anyway have fun during your house hunting. =)

Thanks DREAMorACTION. Am checking out Mont Callista, so just feeling my way out. Should be going up to check out their Park Villa .

Hi Wuqi, well deserved indeed and all thanks to you big bro here.

 

[wuqi256]

Hi sky,

Had checked out Park Villa too. The place is really beautiful right atop a hill and the houses are huge! And unfortunately also out of my budget.

However lady there told me that houses under construction cannot be sold to foreigners, only to locals. Foreigners can only buy completed units which currently is the Tulipa... which also out of my budget.

Anyway have fun during your house hunting. =)

Tulipa is nice, if not for my dad back then, i would have had at least one unit there too. Always will defer to my parents.

 

[Funds Transfer]

That is really scary. Best thing one can do is to be vigilant and assume all drivers are out to kill you.
We have finally entered the dreaded age of "defensive crossing" :(

Something to share since we are on this topic waning standards on our island.


http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2012/04/coping-with-shifting-morality-in-our.html

Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Coping with shifting morality in our society...
While we are still on the topic of morality, lets expand it a little to see the bigger picture.

For an oldie like me, being made to witness PDA (public display of affection) on public buses and MRT can be a little uncomfortable. It is not that I think the behavior is absolutely wrong but coming from an era when teenagers holding hands can raise eyebrows, it just shows me how much things have changed in Singapore. If such incidents are not enough to convince you, there are the dramatic stories and scandals that have broken out this year that should convince you that something has fundamentally shifted in in our society's moral values.

If you look for reasons there are probably many factors that contributed to the current state of affairs. Westernization is often blamed but today in China, society is riddled with vice and corruption. Consumerism and materialism - the endless advertising on our media telling us that we should spend our way to happiness. The PAP govt didn't help the situation by building casinos, allowing too many abortions in the past for the purpose of controlling population and pursuing a course of development that seems to put economic growth above everything else. Income inequality is sometimes considered immoral[Link].



Divorce rates have been rising steadily in Singapore. While the rising rates may be caused by other factors such as financial strain on families or other disagreements between husband and wife, infidelity probably has also contributed to the rise. How are we going to cope with the consequences of declining moral values? Can we stop and reverse the tide? Minister of Education Heng has put "values education" as a priority for MOE[Link] is that going to work?

Many years ago, a brave and controversial NUS student union leader decided to give out condoms at a student event. His decision was greeted by opposition from various quarters. He argued that safe sex was necessary to prevent the negative consequences of immoral behavior e.g unwanted pregnancies, diseases etc while his critics argued that his decision sent the wrong message and would encourage bad behavior. At that time I couldn't decide which side was correct. The PAP has a very consistent and conservative approach to this. They discourage 'bad' behavior by making people live with the consequences for the behavior. Single mothers miss out on benefits given out to those who have children, AIDS sufferers do not get subsidized medicine. One Nobel Prize winner was surprised when she visited Singapore because she found that those who contracted HIV have no access to subsidized medicine when even countries like Cambodia offer free treatment.[French expert says HIV infections in Singapore higher than France]. The PAP approach would be considered workable if it yielded good outcomes but it doesn't . For the past 10 years as the HIV infection rates has fallen in most countries including Malaysia but has been rising steadily in Singapore:



In a recent parliament sitting, MPs discussed the plight of divorced parents being forced by the courts to sell their flats and then facing a 30 month (2,5 years) debarment that prevented them from buying or renting a flat from HDB[Link]. While Minister Khaw is sympathetic to the plight of these people, he also said this:


'We must not unwittingly compromise on the promotion of marriage and mutual family support that we have long held " - Khaw Boon Wan.



By helping those who face housing issues due to divorce, he fears that 'promotion of marriage' will be compromised. I wonder how much sense that makes to you? By making divorce more painful by way of housing disbarment, more people will stay married and get married? Couples whose marriage have fallen apart due to infidelity and other reasons will stay together just to keep their HDB flats? By putting these broken families through more strain are we not putting the children at risk? Khaw then went on to say he was willing to help a few genuine "special cases" as if the majority of divorce couples get a divorce so they can abuse the housing system! Look at the divorce chart again and the rising trend, if govt does not become enlightened fast, an underclass among those in broken families will grow.


If govt does not change its approach soon, we are going to lose the battle on 2 fronts. While morality continues to decline and we do too little to mitigate the negative effects declining morality, we will see an expansion of the problems in our society.



1Posting Time 12:57 PM
Posted by Lucky Tan

 

[Funds Transfer]

Hi sky,

Had checked out Park Villa too. The place is really beautiful right atop a hill and the houses are huge! And unfortunately also out of my budget.

However lady there told me that houses under construction cannot be sold to foreigners, only to locals. Foreigners can only buy completed units which currently is the Tulipa... which also out of my budget.

Anyway have fun during your house hunting. =)

How much are they anyway and the size of the houses?

 

[rogue1109]

Was quoted this through an email correspondence in Feb. I think prices might still be the same.

Tulipa II 3,837 Sq. Ft. RM 864,000 (3 Storey Semi-D) (Completed)
Vanda 3,537 Sq Ft RM 828,000 (3 Storey Semi-D) (Completed)
Vanda(With ID) 3,537 Sq Ft RM 978,000 (3 Storey Semi-D) (Completed)

For the Park Villa, smaller build up... i think about 3000 and price RM789K thereabouts if I remember correctly.

How much are they anyway and the size of the houses?

 

[Kindon87]

Tried EDL few times. 10 mins to/fm Taman Molek compared to average 25 mins via Tebrau.
As usual Malaysia customs run out of White Card since few weeks ago. You can go thru without the white card. My advise is to always keep one filled card in your car just in case.

 

[skyziz]

Thanks Rogue for the headsup. Tulipa is HUGE. Need to go look and feel for myself, especially on the distance/road condition/traffic - see if I can bare with it, or trade off with the hilltop living :p

Hi sky,

Had checked out Park Villa too. The place is really beautiful right atop a hill and the houses are huge! And unfortunately also out of my budget.

However lady there told me that houses under construction cannot be sold to foreigners, only to locals. Foreigners can only buy completed units which currently is the Tulipa... which also out of my budget.

Anyway have fun during your house hunting. =)

 

[cathylmg]

MRCB hopes to sell back expressway to Govt
By CHOONG EN HAN
[email protected]

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) is open to selling its Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) expressway back to the Government following the latter’s decision to review the company’s toll concession mooted in 2008.

“I’m sure the Government have many options to consider, and one of them is to impose a levy on Singaporean vehicles, and the other option, hopefully from our point of view is to buy the EDL off us at market value,” said MRCB chairman Tan Sri Azlan Zainol in a briefing after the company AGM.

He said the cost of the EDL was estimated at around RM1.4bil and hoped a decision to be made in May.

“We leave the decision to the Government, and we are in constant touch with the authorities to consult and advice,” he said.

The 8.1km EDL links the North-South Expressway to the Johor Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex, and into Singapore directly at an effective toll rate of RM6.20 per travel

Based on MRCB’s internal projections of about 60,000 vehicles utilisation rate daily for the EDL, it would generate about RM135.7mil in cash annually for the company with increases in toll charges every few years under the old concession agreement.

“We hope that this will be resolved soon as it will impact the company and collections. We had budgeted to start tolling in May,” he said, adding that the EDL had experienced good traffic response since it opened on Sunday.

Recently, the EDL had drawn controversy when it was reported that MRCB would require motorists travelling to Singapore via the Johor Causeway to pay about five times more than the current toll rate of RM2.90.

On Monday, the Malaysian Highway Authority director-general Datuk Ismail Salleh said vehicles would not be charged toll for now as the Government was still finalising the details.

On company’s prospects this year, Azlan said that it would be a challenging year while trying to maintain its profit at its current level.

“For 2013 onwards, we think our profit would be much better as a lot of the projects that we are currently doing would be completed in 2013. We are also steering the company’s direction towards property development,” he said.

He said the property development business offered better profits compared with construction and engineering. Currently property development contributes about 75% to the company’s profit and 40% to the group’s total revenue.

“We have about RM2.7bil in borrowings based on project financing, and we are prepared to try and chew at what we can.,” he said.

Azlan said MRCB would concentrate in the Klang Valley, as it still deemed the area with growth potential, while also looking at land in Johor and Penang.

Meanwhile chief executive officer Datuk Mohamed Razeek Hussain said the company had three mega projects which would keep it busy for the next three to four years.

“We have at the moment five acres in Brickfields worth RM1.8bil in gross development value (GDV), 27 acres in Setapak worth RM1.7bil in GDV and Penang Sentral, along with a small parcel near Jalan Kia Peng worth RM350mil in GDV,” he said.

 

[DREAMorACTION]

Thanks bro for your reply. I just had time to have a quick look at this, but I will need more time to read thoroughly and digest your content.

Just a quick reply on your last query. For me, it was kinda slow. The whole process took me a good 5.5 weeks to get the final letter of offer and signed on the dot last week. They are really taking much longer time now because of the tightened policy. My application went back to the HQ 3 times to appeal to eventually grant all the terms that they promised me in the first place. So lots of time were consumed due to the to and fro of the appeals. If you have no appeals to be done, it should take about 2 to 3 weeks to know the first outcome of your application, even tho they claimed that the outcome can be made known within 5 to 7 working days maximum. Its no longer possible, from my own experience. I know exactly what u r going thru and how u r feeling now. Be more patient yah....

Btw, if u can share which property u have purchased, please do share and update the property list ok? Cheers

Hi Bro DOA,

Just my two cents worth.

There are two types of life insurance - one with cash value and another without.

Most term insurance (whether MRTA or MLTA) do not have cash value. They are pure insurance and coverage is for a limited period of time.

For those with cash value, you generally pay more for the insurance but the coverage is lifetime and it has a cash value component that grows at like 3% pa (for SG plans, not sure MY). So if you decide give up on the plan after several years, you will get some cash out of it though I won't advise that.

The 'extras' you get from whole life insurance is the cash component, consequently the coverage also increases with time (ie sum assured + cash value)

The 'extras' from a MLTA however is based on the fact that your property loan is decreasing. If the coverage stays level, should you need to claim, you will have left over claims (sum assured - loan balance = pay out to you).

So it really boils down to what you want.

For myself, I keep my life insurance separate from those tagged to my mortgage. Other than paying house loan, you still need insurance for day to day survival needs. I chose a coverage based on the number of years I intend to finance/hold on to the current property. With the flexi loan feature and assuming I am able to make additional deposits into the current account, I should be able to shave off 10+ years from the actual loan tenure.

Anyway since you've asked about this, it made me wonder if it's better instead to get a MRTA in Singapore? Asked my friend who is a FA, and he told me no need to link to property. Might turn out to be cheaper, plus insurance pays you not the bank and admin wise everything settle in SG. Anyway pending his quote and see how it goes.

By the way, how long do you typically wait for loan approval ah? I've waited close to two weeks and feeling quite impatient liao. Haha

 

[lastresort]

lots of new posts to read! will be active in end of May! Can't wait to catch up here!!!