Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) participants stranded abroad have been allowed to return to the country since May 14, following the easing of movement restrictions.

Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said there were 253 MM2H participants and their dependents who had requested to return to Malaysia.

“While the government is concerned and shared the plight of the stranded MM2H participants abroad during the Movement Control Order (MCO), we hope they understand the challenges faced by the government in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The government’s priority is to protect the people, including the MM2H community from Covid-19, as well as secure Malaysia’s borders from the virus,” she said in a statement today.

Nancy said all returning MM2H members must comply with the MCO requirements, which include undergoing a medical screening at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, observe a 14-day mandatory quarantine, and bear the accommodation cost at the respective quarantine stations.

Source: NST Online

Penang expects to welcome tourists by third or fourth quarter of this year following the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.

Penang Tourism, Arts, Culture and Heritage Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin said despite Penang being a green zone state, the state is still working to rebuild the tourism industry.

“We can only accept tourist in the Q3 or Q4 of this year as we are in the planning to rebuild the industry. Now, we do all the strategies and planning for us to prepare for Q3 and Q4,” he said during an online forum titled “Next Normal for Business Events Penang – How Business Events Penang Will Charter Post-MCO World” here today.

Panellists for the conference include Penang Convention and Exhibition Bureau chief executive officer (CEO) Ashwin Gunasekeran, Malaysia Association of Hotels (MAH) Penang Chapter chairman Khoo Boo Lim, Institute of Landscape Architects Malaysia (Ilam) honorary secretary Charles Teo and the event moderator, who is also Place Borneo CEO Mona Manap.

Yeoh said the state government is implementing the Penang Gradual Recovery Strategy (PGRS) with very strict standard operating procedures (SOP) to allow more businesses to begin their operations.

“We have to do it gradually. If we go too extreme on the industry, we will kill the people and if we get too extreme on health then we are jeopardizing the industry,” he said.

Meanwhile, for the hotel industry, Khoo said new SOP is currently in place for hoteliers with comprehensive guidelines for hoteliers to follow during this period.

“We came out with four main control measures for the hotel to follow when they start operation which are crowd management, queue management, sitting management and interaction management,” he said.

Khoo also urged the event organiser to review their SOP for holding hotel events in order to prevent large gathering.

Source: EdgeProp.my

Penangites will be able to dine in at all eateries in the state from Monday (May 18).

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow (pic) confirmed this during his press conference via Facebook on Friday (May 15).

“This was decided at the state exco meeting on Wednesday (May 13).

“We have decided to allow dine-ins at all food and beverage premises in the state.

“The local authorities, together with the local government exco and state health department, will need to issue guidelines for this second phase in allowing dine-in services, ” Chow said.

According to him, Penang was now fully implementing the conditional movement control order (MCO) with this move, and all sectors of the economy that had been permitted to operate by the National Security Council (NSC) were now open for business.

Food and beverage outlets in shopping malls, hotels and fast food chains in Penang had already been allowed to open for dine-ins from Friday following an announcement by the state government on May 12.

Chow said he hoped everyone would adhere to the standard operating procedures (SOP) set by the local authorities as announced on May 13.

Source: TheStar.com.my

One of the first few developments proposed after the relaxing of MCO in Penang. This newly proposed residential development by Wismas Dayamas Sdn. Bhd. will be located along Jalan Teluk Kubar, approximately 2km away from Penang International Airport. Neighboring communities include Platinum III, D’zone Condominium, Saujana Heights Apartment, Emerald Residence, and the latest low-density development – Valencia Residence by Aman Setia Group.

This development comprises a 29-storey condominium building, featuring 820 residential units with multi-storey carpark.

The project is still pending for approval. More details to be available upon official launch.

Project Name: (to be confirmed)
Location : Teluk Kumbar
Property Type : Condominium
Total Units : 820
Land Tenure : (to be confirmed)
Indicative Price : (to be confirmed)
Developer: Wisma Dayamas Sdn. Bhd.

Location Map:

IJM Land Bhd will restart work on the stalled RM4.5bil The Light City project, which is located next to the Penang Bridge, in August.

IJM Perennial Development Sdn Bhd general manager Tan Hun Beng said the construction work was supposed to start in April.

IJM Perennial is a joint-venture company between IJM Corp Bhd and Singapore-based Perennial Real Estate Holdings Ltd to oversee the project.

“But because of the movement control order (MCO), we have to postpone it to August, ” Tan added.

According to Tan, the details of the contract for the project are now being finalised.

“The contract should be awarded in July to the group’s construction subsidiary, Jurutama Sdn Bhd.

“The time is right to start the project because the drop in fuel price will lower the construction cost, ” he said.

Tan added that the project, scheduled for completion within a four-year period, might take longer because of the new SOPs that needed to be adhered to in light of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Last December, IJM Perennial signed with OCBC Bank Bhd, RHB Bank Bhd, CIMB Bank Bhd and MALAYAN BANKING BHD for a loan facility of over RM1bil to finance the project.

Initially, IJM Land had planned to start work on The Light City in 2018, but given the property market slowdown, the group held back the implementation of the project to revise the plan.

“We made revisions so that the project could be launched in two phases, according to the pace of market demand.

“The new plan can now accommodate more food and beverage outlets and possibly, an experiential themed park in phase two, ” Tan said.

In the revised plan, the first phase will have a mall with a 680,000-sq-ft net lettable area, the Penang Waterfront Convention Centre, a four-star hotel with 500 rooms, offices and the Mezzo residential condominiums.

The second phase will have a 300,000-sq-ft mall, a five-star hotel with 250 rooms, offices and the Essence residential condominiums.

“The work on the first phase should create some 1,000 jobs for the local construction industry.

“The first phase is scheduled for completion in 2024, ” Tan said.

Tan said the sales of the Mezzo condominiums and the occupancy of the mall would determine the commencement of the second phase.

“If the response to the condominium and the mall is good, we will start the second phase as soon as possible, ” said Tan.

“The retail mall and the hotel business would be well supported by the convention centre, which is expected to bring in the crowds.

“The meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition market will drive the demand for the convention centre space.

“Our location is well-centralised around the airport, free industrial zone, George Town city and the mainland. This is also an added advantage, ” he added.

IJM is one of Malaysia’s leading conglomerates with businesses in construction, property, plantations, industry and infrastructure. It has operations in 10 countries, with the primary focus on Malaysia, India, the United Arab Emirates, China and Indonesia.

Perennial is an integrated real estate and healthcare company headquartered and listed in Singapore.

As a real estate owner, developer and manager, Perennial focuses strategically on large-scale, mixed-use developments.

It has operations in China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Ghana with a combined portfolio spanning over 65 million sq ft.

Source: TheStar.com.my