Alibaba Cloud, which set up a datacentre in
Malaysia last year, is considering a second one to further develop a
local ecosystem, its president Simon Hu said. — Reuters
https://youtu.be/MwixREUJOI0
Jack Ma's Life Advice Will Change Your Life (MUST WATCH)
https://youtu.be/lYGGpc2mMno
KUALA LUMPUR: Alibaba Group will set up a traffic control system harnessing artificial intelligence for Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur, its first such service outside China, as the e-commerce giant pushes to grow its cloud computing business.
Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, said on Monday it plans to make live traffic predictions and recommendations to increase traffic efficiency in Kuala Lumpur by crunching data gathered from video footage, traffic bureaus, public transportation systems and mapping apps.
It is partnering with state agency Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and the Kuala Lumpur city council to roll out the technology, which would be localised and integrated with 500 inner city cameras by May.
The partnership comes after Alibaba founder Jack Ma and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak launched an "e-hub" facility last year, part of an initiative aimed at removing trade barriers for smaller firms and emerging nations.
Alibaba Cloud, which set up a data centre in Malaysia last year, is considering a second one to further develop a local ecosystem, its president Simon Hu said on Jan 29.
He declined to elaborate on the company's total investments made and planned for in Malaysia, but said it was "no small amount" and that the investments would continue if there was demand for cloud computing technologies.
MDEC's chief executive officer Yasmin Mahmood said there was no estimate of City Brain's impact on traffic in Kuala Lumpur yet. The traffic management system in the Chinese city of Hangzhou had resulted in reports of traffic violations with up to 92% accuracy, emergency vehicles reaching their destinations in half the time and overall increase in traffic speed by 15%.
Najib has forged close ties with China in recent years. Last year, the Malaysian leader announced a slew of infrastructure projects, many funded by China, as he worked up momentum towards a general election he must call by the middle of this year. — Reuters
KUALA LUMPUR: The Government has vowed to end “crony capitalists” whose wealth came at the cost of ordinary Malaysians, said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
The Prime Minister said lessons had been learnt from past mistakes in planning Malaysia’s economic transformation, after confronting many “legacy issues” along the way.
“Some of the country’s development under a former leader came with an unnecessary price tag, in the form of a class of crony capitalists,” he said in his keynote address at Invest Malaysia 2018 yesterday.
Citing public transport as an example, Najib said massive overhauls had to be done to rectify the issue.
“For decades, public transport was neglected. It was incoherent, with different owners, different systems and certainly no integration
“One man’s obsession with the idea of a national car – which is now being turned around under international joint ownership – led to Malaysia lacking an efficient public transport system.
“This was a serious obstacle to achieve high-income status and for Kuala Lumpur to be a world-class capital,” he said.
Although no name was mentioned throughout his speech, it was an apparent dig at former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Najib also said that during this time, the Government had signed independent power producer concessions that were lopsided.
“Consumers had to pay far more for energy than they should have, even for energy they were not using.
“This was a real burden to the people, so we renegotiated these concessions – and determined that in the future, we would not allow private companies to earn excessively at the expense of ordinary Malaysians,” he said.
Najib also pointed out that the ringgit had been pegged against the US dollar for “far too long”.
“Investors and global markets lost confidence in us, and it took a long time to win that back. That was a very heavy cost to the country,” he said, stressing that the Government would never repeat that measure.
He also spoke on the challenges at state-owned institutions, such as 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), which were amplified and used as a tool to suggest that Malaysia’s economy was collapsing.
“I’m not going to brush over this issue. There were indeed failings at the company, there were lapses of governance. There was a valid cause for concern.
“This is why I ordered one of the most comprehensive and detailed investigations in Malaysia’s corporate history, one that involved multiple lawful authorities, including a bipartisan parliamentary body.
“Their findings were taken on board and the company’s board was dissolved, its management team changed and its operations reviewed,” he said.
On another note, Najib rubbished claims that Malaysia was welcoming foreign direct investments (FDIs) by selling out the nation’s sovereignty.
“My Government will never sacrifice an inch of our sovereignty,” he said, adding that while RM63bil in FDI stock came from China and Hong Kong, there was more from Japan at RM70bil.
“You don’t hear anyone warning that we are selling our country to the Japanese.
“Of course not. They are most welcome here. So are investors from Africa, the Americas, China, the European Union, India, Saudi Arabia and around the world,” he said.
Malaysia continues to improve in three key areas
Moving forward: Najib attending the Invest
Malaysia 2018 launch together with (from left) Bursa Malaysia Bhd CEO
Datuk Seri Tajuddin Atan, Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd
Irwan Serigar Abdullah, Chief Secretary Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa, Finance
Minister II Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani, Bursa Malaysia chairman Tan
Sri Amirsham Abdul Aziz and Malayan Banking Bhd chairman Datuk
Mohaiyani Shamsudin in Kuala Lumpur.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will continue to develop three key areas – transparency, accountability and efficiency – to attract more investments, said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
The Prime Minister observed that the country’s excellent economic and financial fundamentals had greatly benefitted local and foreign investors, providing them with stability, strength and certainty.
“We will continue to make our country even more business- and market-friendly, which means we are always working to improve transparency, accountability and efficiency.
“The Securities Commission, Bursa Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia and the Finance Ministry have continuously introduced and supported measures to increase the dynamism of our capital market.
“Towards this objective, I can assure you that we can expect further measures in the near future,” he said in his keynote address at Invest Malaysia 2018 here yesterday.
The two-day annual event is jointly organised by Bursa Malaysia Bhd and Maybank. A total of 61 local companies, with a combined market capitalisation of RM767.6bil were featured in the event.
The Prime Minister also cited figures that justified the confidence in Malaysia shown by investors and global institutions.
“Our total trade grew strongly by 20.8% between January and November last year, while in November alone, gross exports reached double-digit growth of 14.4%, with the highest receipts ever recorded, at RM83.5bil.
“Last year, foreign net fund inflow recorded a positive RM10.8bil, the highest since 2012, while corporate bond and new sukuk issuance reached RM111.2bil for 11 months of the year, close to 30% higher than the whole of 2016,” he said.
Najib also observed that Malaysia has enjoyed years of strong growth, with figures that most developed economies “could only dream of”, even during times of economic uncertainty.
“In fact, last year Malaysia exceeded all expectations, with the World Bank having to revise its estimate for our growth upwards not once, not twice, but three times – to 5.8%,” he said.
Najib added the World Economic Global Competitiveness index for 2017 and 2018 rate Malaysia very highly out of 137 countries.
The country is ranked third for Strength of Investor Protection, fifth for Pay and Productivity, fifth for the low Burden of Government Regulation and 14th for the Quality of Education System.
“The International Monetary Fund has also praised our sound macroeconomic policy responses in the face of significant headwinds and risks.
“The World Bank also recently confirmed that it believes Malaysia is on track, and that we are expected to achieve high-income status in the next few years,” he said.
China's 'sponge city' projects may be worthwhile examples for Malaysia.
"Only about 20~30% of rainwater infiltrates the ground in urban areas, so it breaks the naturual water circulation.- Wen Mei Dubbelaar"
Last week, it was the turn of Petaling Jaya, Gombak and Sungai Buloh to
be the latest major urban areas in Malaysia to suffer flash floods (Flash floods wreak havoc in PJ - Nation).
Scenes of cars and buildings submerged in muddy water are now almost an
everyday thing. The focus should now shift from the bad situations to
the solutions.
It was also last week that I attended a briefing organised by civil
society groups for Penang and Seberang Perai municipal officials and
members. The briefing was on the recent floods.
Later, I came across several articles on how China is turning 30 of its
flood-prone areas into “sponge cities” to prevent floods and retain
rainwater.
The Chinese plan big and fast. It launched the sponge city project only
in 2015, but it aims to retain 70% of rain in 80% of urban areas by
2020. The sponge concept is set to spread rapidly as part of global
efforts to reduce the impact of increased rainfall and floods, and
climate change.
The concept figured prominently at the briefing chaired by Penang state
exco member Chow Kon Yeow. Scientist Dr Kam Suan Pheng introduced it
when explaining the floods.
She contrasted the present situation when rain falls with what used to
happen. In the past, 50% of the rain seeped through the natural ground
cover (trees, grass, etc) and into the ground. There was 10% water
runoff (to rivers and drains) and 40% evapotranspiration (water going
back to the atmosphere).
The trees and green spaces act as a sponge to absorb the rainwater
that infiltrates the soil, preventing the water from building up into
flash floods.
Due to urbanisation, the green spaces have been paved over with
cement and concrete. Now, only 15% of the rain infiltrates the soil,
while the runoff has increased to 55% and evapotranspiration is 30%. The
sponge now absorbs 15% of the rainwater compared to the previous 50%.
Dr Kam quoted former Penang Water Authority general manager Kam U-Tee as
saying that the October 2008 Penang floods were caused by conversion of
the valleys into “concrete aprons that do not retain water”. As a
result, the water immediately flowed into streams, causing flash floods,
even with moderate rainfall.
Given this analysis, a key part of tackling the floods is to reverse the
loss of the sponge. In recent decades, Malaysia has seen the conversion
of a lot of farms, parks, trees and grass areas into concrete jungles
of roads, houses, commercial buildings and car parks.
There now has to be high sensitivity to the valuable environmental and
economic roles of trees, gardens, fields and grasslands, and parks. The
aim of garden cities is not just to be pleasing to the eye but to be a
very important part of development as well.
Now comes the role of sponge cities. The world is applauding the Chinese
initiative to counter floods and improve water security by building up
the natural cover (or sponge) in its cities.
In 2010, landslides during flooding killed 700 in three quarters of
China’s provinces. Last year, rains flooded southern China, destroying
homes and killing around 60 people.
In 2015, China launched the Sponge City initiative, which now covers 30
cities, including Shanghai, Xiamen and Wuhan. The target: by 2020, 80%
of its urban areas will absorb and re-use 70% of rainwater.
The many types of projects include:
> Constructing permeable roads that enable water to infiltrate the ground;
> Replacing pavements on roads and parks to make them permeable;
> Building wetlands to absorb and store rainwater;
> Constructing rooftop gardens (for example, 4.3 million square feet in Shanghai);
> Plant trees on streets and public squares;
> Build community gardens and parks to expand green spaces; and
> Build manmade lakes and preserve agricultural land to hold water.
“In the natural environment, most precipitation infiltrates the ground
or is received by surface water, but this is disrupted when there are
large-scale hard pavements,” said Wen Mei Dubbelaar, water management
director at China Arcadis, in words similar to Dr Kam’s.
“Now only about 20-30% of rainwater infiltrates the ground in urban
areas, so it breaks the natural water circulation and causes water
logging and surface water pollution,” said Wen in an interview with The
Guardian.
In Shanghai’s Lingang district, the streets are built with permeable
pavements. There are rain gardens filled with soil and plants, buildings
feature green rooftops and water tanks, and a manmade lake controls
water flows, reports The Guardian.
Prof Hui Li at Tongji University said the first thing is to preserve or
restore natural waterways as that is the natural way to reduce flooding
risk.
The problem in Wuhan is that a lot of small rivers were filled in during
building. But Lingang still has agriculture land and a lake to hold
more water during heavy rain.
What about the cost factor? So far the cities have received over
US$12bil (RM47.4bil) for sponge projects. The central government funds
15-20% of costs, and the rest is from local governments and private
developers.
But compare this to the US$100bil (RM395bil) of direct economic losses
due to floods in China between 2011 and 2014, plus the human lives lost.
Sponge cities are the way to go for the future. Our own governments –
federal, state and municipal – should study this option seriously, as
the public braces itself for more floods ahead.
- Global Trends by Martin Khor
Martin Khor is executive director of the South Centre. The views expressed here are entirely his own.
THE year has barely started, and already we have so many reports of weather and climate-related events.
Heavy wind, snow storms and below-freezing temperatures paralysed cities
in the United States’ East Coast. New York’s John F. Kennedy
International Airport was in chaos with hundreds of flights suspended.
Yet, just weeks previously, big fires linked to a heat wave were
sweeping through parts of California on the West Coast, burning
112.000ha of forest and threatening lives and homes.
Colder weather in one place and hotter temperatures in another are signs
of global climate change, which can also cause heavier rainfall and
drought in different regions.
While it is difficult to pin down any particular incident as a direct
result of climate change, it is recognised scientifically that climate
change generally exacerbates extreme weather events and may cause some
of them.
We can expect the weather, and more broadly the environment, to figure prominently this year.
The alarm bells sounded long ago on the environmental crisis. But it is
not easy to achieve a continuous high level of concern among political
leaders.
After a calamity and public outrage, there are pledges to correct the
situation. However, the interest fades after a while, and not much
action is taken, until the next disaster happens.
In Malaysia, people are now looking at the sky constantly to anticipate whether it is going to rain.
Heavy rainfall has been causing floods in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang,
Johor, Negri Sembilan, Kedah, Selangor, Sabah and Sarawak.
In Penang, severe state-wide flash floods seem to be occurring every
few months, with localised flooding in several areas in between. The mud
brought down from eroded hill-slopes into overflowing rivers and then
into houses, makes floods an even worse nightmare for those affected.
For some unlucky ones, hardly have their houses and furniture been
cleaned than they are under one metre of water again through a new
flood.
Heavier rain and more floods is the new normal in Malaysia. There has
been an increase in rainfall for most parts of the country in 2000-2009
compared to 1970-1999, with the major increase in 2005-2009, according
to a 2012 paper by Yap Kok Seng, then the head of the Malaysian
Meteorological Department (MMD), and his colleagues.
The global temperature increase has led to changes in weather including
major wind patterns, amount and intensity of precipitation, and
increased frequency of severe storms and weather extremes, according to
the paper, Malaysia Climate Change Scenarios.
In Malaysia since the 1980s, there had been increasing number of days of
extreme rainfall events, extreme wind events and annual thunderstorm
days, added the paper.
Unfortunately the situation will worsen. A study published on Jan 10,
whose authors are affiliated with Germany’s Potsdam Institute for
Climate Impact Research, predicted that millions more people will be
affected by river flooding as global warming increases severe rainfall
in the next 20 years.
In Asia, the most affected region, people at risk from floods will rise
to 156 million from the present 70 million in the next 20 years.
Global warming increases the risk of flooding because rain during an
extreme downpour “increases exponentially” as temperatures rise, the
institute’s Anders Levermann told Reuters.
“We have to adapt to global warming. Doing nothing will be dangerous,” he said.
Countries will have to act urgently and make major investments in flood
protection to boost their flood defences, according to the report.
This advice surely applies to Malaysia as one of the countries already
being affected by heavier rainfall and extensive river flooding.
Flood mitigation measures must be increased, including de-silting,
widening and deepening rivers, improving urban drainage, strengthening
river banks, redirecting water flows, constructing tidal gates, and
pumping excess water into ponds.
Even more important is flood prevention. A main cause of the floods
is deforestation, leading to the loss of the forests’ valuable roles in
soil and water retention and climate regulation.
It is really short-sighted and irrational to damage and destroy forests, especially forest reserves and water catchment areas.
Exposed soils are swept by rain into rivers, clogging up streams and
drains with mud and causing floods downstream in the towns and villages,
while also depriving us of much-needed water supply.
There is a great deal of public concern over recent developments that threaten forests and hill lands in the country.
These include the de-gazetting of the Ulu Muda water catchment area in
Kedah; the de-gazetting of hill lands in Penang that previously were
protected under the Land Conservation Act and which are now being
“developed” with the aid of higher permitted density ratio; the
conversion of 4,515ha forest reserve to cultivate oil palm plantations
in Terengganu (being opposed by WWF-Malaysia); and protests over the
imminent loss of a forested park in Taman Rimba Kiara in Kuala Lumpur to
make way for housing.
Federal, state and local governments should give priority to
environmental rehabilitation of damaged forests and hills, prevent
damage to the coastal ecosystem including mangroves, and take
comprehensive flood prevention and mitigation measures.
They should stop approving environmentally harmful projects in ecologically sensitive areas.
They must make major financial allocations to protect and rehabilitate
the environment, and implement finance measures to prevent and manage
the floods.
As so many scientists are warning, and as more and more local
communities and citizen groups are demanding, the time to act on the
environment is now. Let us hope that in 2018 these calls will be heeded.
Global trends by Martin Khor
Martin Khor is executive director of the South Centre. The views expressed here are entirely his own.
PETALING JAYA: Barisan Nasional should not be blamed as it is DAP’s own
doing that “sabotaged” the Penang undersea tunnel project, said Gerakan
vice-president Datuk Dr Dominic Lau (pic).
He added it began when the DAP-led Penang government failed to provide
feasibility reports on the project, which were supposed to be completed
by April 2016.
“You missed the deadline and in October 2017, the special purpose
vehicle (SPV) said there is no more urgency to complete the reports.
“Based on the original timeline, the first phase of the project was
supposed to start construction in the first quarter of 2015 and
completed by this year.
“As of now, this first phase has not even started construction,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Despite the multiple delays in the reports and the construction starting
date, he said the Penang government did not appear to have penalised
the SPV.
He said when the project was awarded, a statement was issued stating
that shareholders of the SPV consortium are China Railway Construction
Corporation (CRCC), Beijing Urban Construction Group (BUCG), Zenith
Construction, Juteras Sdn Bhd and Sri Tinggi Sdn Bhd.
“But today, CRCC, BUCG and Sri Tinggi were no longer listed as
shareholders while Juteras Sdn Bhd is listed as winding up – leaving
only one (Zenith Construction) out of the four shareholders in the
agreement.
“Despite a material change of the financial and technical strength
promised during the award and what it is now, the Penang government
still does not appear to want to cancel the project or penalise the
SPV,” he said.
“Even five years after the contract was awarded, the SPV still only has
paid-up capital of RM26.5mil – way below the RM381mil minimum paid-up
capital required by the Penang government to deliver the project.
“Meanwhile, the SPV is on course to make billions in two property
projects valued at RM800mil and RM15bil respectively,” he said.
Meanwhile, Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications deputy director
Datuk Eric See-To said the agreement shown to the media by Penang Chief
Minister Lim Guan Eng was different from the one MCA deputy president
Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said was not stamped.
The agreement shown by Lim in a press conference on Friday was between
the Penang state government with Consortium Zenith-BUCG; and not between
the state and CRCC.
Previously, the Penang state government had shown a copy of a letter of
support from the CRCC to prove that it is a party to the SPV awarded to
undertake the undersea tunnel project.
On Tuesday, Dr Wee’s statement noted that the Acknowledgement of
Commitment signed by the state government with CRCC was not a legally
binding document and was hence not stamped.
