The Wave, an upcoming serviced residence development located in Penang Times Square, Georgetown. Extraordinary and surprising facade design, elegant sun protection stripes corrugate around the glazed body, rhythmatically arranged around each floor to give the impression that waves are going over the building.

The residential component comprises 312 suites covering 27 floors while the remaining 11 storeys of podium are made up of car parks, facilities floor and a four-storey commercial component for retailing purposes.

Property Project : The Wave @ Penang Times Square
Location : Penang Times Square, Georgetown, Penang
Property Type : Serviced Residence
Built-up Area: 1,205 – 2,540 sq.ft.
Total Units : 312
Land Tenure: Freehold
Developer : Ivory Properties

DNP Land Sdn Bhd will spend RM10mil on a chic and trendy-looking community clubhouse within its upcoming Jesselton Hills mixed development project in Alma, Bukit Mertajam.

Its northern region general manager K.C. Tan said property owners in the residential scheme would not be charged any membership fee to use the facilities.

“We will only collect a small amount in annual subscription fees from house buyers who wish to use the clubhouse facilities.

“We will also waive their subscription fees for the first two years upon purchasing their unit,” he said during a recent sneak preview of the clubhouse at the DNP Land’s Impiana sales gallery on Jalan Rozhan in Bukit Mertajam.

Believed to Penang’s first stand-alone clubhouse within a housing scheme that is tailored to the needs of its residents, the eco-friendly clubhouse, which overlooks a man-made lake, would be managed by DNP Land itself.

Tan said construction work on the 4 1/2-storey clubhouse, located on a 0.8ha plot of land in the project site, would be completed in two years.

Among its main facilities are a 25m-long swimming pool that is half an Olympic-size pool, a badminton hall with three separate courts, two squash courts and a restaurant that could accommodate 300 people.

Tan said there would also be a multipurpose hall, function hall, gymnasium, Jacuzzi, cafetaria, rooftop terrace-cum-barbeque pit, a skybar, convenience store, clinic, hair salon, library, children’s play area, outdoor fitness station, jogging trails and lake garden.

“We have also allocated rooms to conduct tuition lessons so that residents need not travel far to send their children for such classes,” he said.

Architect Chan Mun Inn from Design Collective Architecture Network Sdn Bhd said the clubhouse was designed to have ample natural light from the sun as well as minimal usage of air-conditioning.

He said the clubhouse layout, which included a basement car park, would be submitted to the Green Building Index under Malaysian Institute of Architects to be certified as a green building.

Chan said that his company, which earlier renovated and turned a double storey link house into DNP Land’s Impiana sales gallery, had won the Malaysian Interior Designers’ Institute’s best design award for the building under the Exhibit and Gallery category in October.

Jesselton Hills, sprawled over a 48ha plot of land, would have 900 housing and commercial units comprising bungalows, semi-detached houses and super-linked housing units.

SOURCE: The Star

WITH less than a month away before Penangites usher in the Year of the Dragon, the state government has called on the public, individuals and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to lend a hand to the upcoming ‘Spring Cleaning @ George Town World Heritage Site 2012’ programme.

Unlike the state’s first gotong- royong programme which covered the entire core heritage zone early this year, state Local Government and Traffic Management Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said the focus would be on the Weld Quay clan jetties this time.

“Spring cleaning is a Chinese New Year tradition and we hope to get some 500 participants to help the residents clean up the clan jetties.

“We are giving the jetties special attention because the area is an important tourism spot,” he told a press conference yesterday.

Spring Cleaning @ George Town World Heritage Site 2012’ will be held on Jan 15 from 8am until noon.

Participants must register at the Chew Jetty community hall on the day itself.

Some 50 Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) workers will also join the group in cleaning up the area.

Chow said the council would also help the residents dispose off their old bulky furniture a week before the programme.

“Items like old sofa and fridge should be left outside their house and the MPPP workers will pick them up,” he said.

Among the activities on that day are an aerobics session and the pruning and planting of trees.

There will also be a lucky draw for participants with prizes including a television set and wrist watch.

Chow said similar gotong-royong activities would be held at four other zones namely Acheh Street, Cintra Street, Padang Kota Lama and the Friendship Park (in front of City Bayview Hotel) on Jan 8.

As part of the ‘Spring Cleaning @ George Town World Heritage Site 2012’ programme, 120 rubbish bins costing RM22,000 will be placed within the heritage zone.

MPPP president Patahiyah Ismail said the programme was aimed at getting the community to come together to clean up their living environment.

“It’s not about the council coming in to clean the area for them — it’s about working together,” she said.

On a separate matter, Chow said the RM1mil upgrading works on the ‘must-visit’ clan jetties was on-going.

He said work on the Lim and Tan jetties had been completed while that of the other five would continue next year.

On the area’s cleanliness, Pengkalan Kota assemblyman Lau Keng Ee said rubbish floating on the water was not the doing of the residents.

“The garbage floats from other areas during high tide and it’s very difficult to clean it up because you cannot use machines. You have to climb down and do the job manually.

“Early this year, the state government allocated RM10,000 for this purpose and I am now waiting for the next round of allocation so that we can do a second cleanup before Chinese New Year,” he said.

He said residents would be paid RM80 per day to do the cleaning once the allocation was approved.

“It’s not an easy job but the residents know the area best and can do the job well,” he said.

For details on the ‘Spring Cleaning @ George Town World Heritage Site 2012’, call Lau at 012-4422511.

Source: The Star

GEORGE TOWN: Christmas may be over but until the school term commences next week, the narrow roads here are expected to be congested with an influx of vehicles from outside the state.

This is because there is an estimated 40% increase in the entry of vehicles, as reported by Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd (PBSB), said Traffic Police Operation and Enforcement Officer Asst Supt Ahmad Ezzely Razali.

A check in several areas here at about 2pm yesterday showed that the major roads leading to tourists spots and landmarks in Penang were jammed.

The roads were Magazine Road (next to 1st Avenue Mall), Penang Road leading to Transfer Road and Burmah Road as well as Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah leading to Lebuh Farquhar and Jalan Mesjid Kapitan Keling.

Traffic along those roads was slow-moving.

“The traffic congestion is expected to continue until school reopens. We have deployed our traffic officers to the congested areas during peak hours from 6am to 8am and from 5pm to 7pm daily. They will direct the traffic flow along busy roads and at tourist spots.”

He said traffic police would be deployed in full force during the festive period.

ASP Ahmad Ezzely said the traffic movement here was monitored in the control rooms of the state police headquarters and the George Town district police headquarters.

He advised motorists to report incidents that could cause congestion such as minor accidents to the control room at 04-222 1722 or 04-218 1822.

A company driver who only wished to be known as Ali said that it took him 30 minutes to get from Komtar to Anson Road where his office is.

“On normal days, it takes me about five minutes or less,” he said.

Sundry shop assistant, R. Surenthar, 19, said he had noticed a traffic crawl at Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling in front of his shop.

“It is the same each year during the school holidays,” he said.

Figures from the portal penangeconomicmonhtly.com, which quoted the Road Transport Department, show that there are some 800,000 registered motorists along with a million registered motorcycles.

Source: The Star

A PIECE of land covering the peak of Pearl Hill in Tanjung Bungah and its surrounding area in Penang will be transformed into a park with a viewing point for tourists.

Tanjung Bungah assemblyman Teh Yee Cheu said a 6.07ha piece of land where a Tua Pek Kong Temple is located near the peak of the hill had been identified for the project.

He said the park would be loca-ted some 152.4m above sea level.

It would provide tourists with a panoramic view of the sea, Tanjung Bungah, Tanjung Tokong and Batu Ferringhi, he said.