Among other things, this Oxford Analytica report (link above) says:
South-east Asian banks will be tested as the eventual end of quantitative easing affects local currencies, capital flows, financial asset prices, borrowing costs and repayment capabilities of corporate and household borrowers. A rise in interest rates and cost of borrowing could prompt a surge in bad loans.
The ‘super-efficient’ Department of the Environment has hurriedly given a conditional approval for the detailed Environmental Impact Assessment for a massive 891-acre land reclamation project under Seri Tanjung Pinang Phase 2, which has alarmed a string of civil society groups and concerned Penangites.
And so it begins. The Edge reports that over the last few months, the ‘promised land’ of the Iskandar region has witnessed a series of mega land deals, including those involving land reclamation, which have “shocked the market and changed sentiment”.
Some 30 personnel from the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) raided a solat (prayer) centre in Jalan Batu Caves used by a group calling itself the Jamaat Ahmadiyya Muslim Malaysia.
Many Malaysians are curious to know more about the off-season mangosteens said to be in the cargo of MH370. And they continue to wonder why mangosteens need to be “collated” in Muar before being sent to KLIA.
The plot thickens. Was it a desperate call? Who was the person using the phone trying to contact? Or did a telco tower just detect the phone? When will we know the real truth?
It would be useful to understand where Malaysia Airlines is coming from. For the nine months to September 2013, Mas posted a higher net loss of RM838m – up from RM482m the previous year.
What else can you say? Volume 1 of the Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (page 39) for Phase 2 of the Seri Tanjung Pinang project states: “The up-market nature of STP2′s mixed development tends to favour the affluent. In the process, the locals would lose out.”
Bidding a final farewell to Irene Fernandez at the Catholic Church in Sungai Petani tonight. The struggle goes on. pic.twitter.com/077XtddQig
— Anil Netto (@anilnetto) April 9, 2014
Residents of Bayan Bay are unhappy about plans for massive development and land reclamation near their area, which is already close to the massive RM10bn Penang World City project. Small office/home office (Soho) projects are creating unease in various ways and that has prompted a freeze on all new projects for now – but that doesn’t mean the project won’t proceed in the future. To placate the residents, they have been told that the height of the proposed buidlings will be reduced.
Meanwhile, Soho buyers elsewhere are disgruntled at having to pay higher commercial rates for assessment even as developers reap handsome profits e.g. by building at a higher (commercial) density.
This Soho mess was easily foreseen by many quarters.
The following press statement was issued by residents in the Bayan Bay area.