A master plan will be drawn up to turn southern Johor into a world-class tourism, education and financial hub.

Khazanah Nasional, the investment arm of the Federal Government, will play a central role in putting together the ambitious plan. A key feature will be a waterfront tourism project, backed by international expertise.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said there was a pressing need for a master plan to ensure there was no duplication or overlapping of projects.

"The projects here will take into regard the needs of the Johor people and tourists," he said, adding that funding was not an issue as private investors were keen to invest here.

"What is happening here should complement new developments in Singapore," Abdullah said, in an obvious reference to plans for resort developments with theme parks and casinos recently announced by the republic.

Although he did not name the projects, they include the RM800 million Customs, Immigration and Quarantine complex and proposed new bridge to replace the Causeway.

Also part of the southern Johor scheme is the 5km-long waterfront development along popular Lido Beach here.

One component of the plan is Danga Bay — a major attraction to locals and Singaporeans.

Another major development is the RM1 billion Bandar Nusajaya in Gelang Patah, where the new state administrative centre is being built.

Plans are also afoot to develop a theme park in Bandar Nusajaya.

Abdullah said this after a closed-door briefing on plans for southern Johor. His visit to the south was the third leg of his nationwide tour, after Perak and Selangor.

He said although Johor’s proposed massive development projects were world-class, they would not be only for the rich.

“It is important that the projects are of high quality but accessible to people from all walks of life,” he stressed.

Asked about competition from Singapore, the Prime Minister said: “We are not thinking of Singapore... these projects are in the best interests of the people of Johor.”

To a question about Disneyland investing in a project in Johor Baru, Abdullah said: “It is up to the State Government to decide on this. I have no objection if the State Government decides to do so or if Disneyland shows interest in coming here.”

Earlier, the Prime Minister spoke to some 3,000 civil servants in Muar and told them that life-long learning and human capital development was crucial for Malaysia.

“I have stressed on human capital development on many occasions.

“This is because many people are ignorant of its importance but more fond of using infrastructure and industrial development as the index to measure a country’s state of development.

“Physical and economic development are not enough,” Abdullah said.

“We want to be known to the world as people who are hard-working, well-mannered, disciplined and with a high sense of integrity.

“These are virtues which are still lacking in society.”

I'm so bodoh! :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash:
Could have opened under "Just message and new things..."
Mabye a mighty moderator can move thread? :bow:
But maybe it's also worth having a JB project thread ;)

A master plan will be drawn up to turn southern Johor into a world-class tourism, education and financial hub.

To a question about Disneyland investing in a project in Johor Baru, Abdullah said: “It is up to the State Government to decide on this. I have no objection if the State Government decides to do so or if Disneyland shows interest in coming here.”



Disneyland :eek2: Can I laugh now :lol: Gawd. I am so mean :rofl:

Why? I could imagine this would be very popular. The Singaporeans would love it. Tropical Disneyland. :cool:

wau!Go JB!Actually i heard bout the Disneyland news few years back.Hope they will build:D CAn't imagine we c a Mickey Mouse infront of the gate saying,'Saya Mickey Mouse!Mari mari mari!Bermainlah dengan gembira!':P

CAn't imagine we c a Mickey Mouse infront of the gate saying,'Saya Mickey Mouse!Mari mari mari!Bermainlah dengan gembira!':P

Ha..ha... :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

TOP PARKS
In Asia 1. Tokyo Disneyland (Tokyo, Japan): 13,188,000 (estimated attendance last year)
2. Tokyo DisneySea (Tokyo, Japan): 12,174,000
3. Universal Studios Japan (Osaka): 8,811,000
4. Everland (Kyonggi-Do, South Korea): 8,800,000
5. Lotte World (Seoul, South Korea): 8,500,000
6. Hakkeijima Sea Paradise (Yokohama, Japan): 5,300,000
7. Ocean Park (Hong Kong): 3,000,000
8. Huis Ten Bosch (Sasebo City, Japan): 2,840,000
9. Seoul Land (Kyunki-Do, South Korea): 2,802,500
10. Suzuka Circuit (Suzuka, Japan): 2,705,000

Never been to any of the above :cry:

Never been to any of the above :cry:


You think only yourself ar? Me also! :cry:

WOW! Last time they planned to have a Universal Studios at Bandar Nusajaya but since the deal fell thru and not possibly it would be in Singapore.........I would LOVE to have Disney here :D

In fact Disney is a bigger draw than Universal Studios and of course a larger investment ;)

I am also a HUGE Disney fan :D :D :D

You think only yourself ar? Me also! :cry:

Who cares about you if you dont go at all :lol:

Who cares about you if you dont go at all :lol:


Wah.....so much for caring Malaysians :cry:


:D

Who said Malaysian people are caring community ;)

At least I think you are :lol:

Well...its a propaganda made by media ler...honestly..I dont think so IMHO

Good one... The Danga Bay development itself has half turned my initial impression on JB... if Disneyland built a park in JB, the city would definitely be my top choice for domestic travelling next!

Yay Disney!
I just got back from Orlando last month. Hopefully it will be on a grand scale like Disney World. I stayed at the Disney Yacht club and it was very convenient - just take the boat to the theme parks. To tell the truth there are good and bad side. The good part is that the economy of central Florida got a huge boost. And the area is really clean because of the high expectations of Disney visitors. But the down side is that there was lots of plastic commercialism as well. Huge open car parks, dull strip malls, faceless hotels. Apparently Orlando can accomodate 100,000++ visitors at a time! I do hope Disney comes, but hopefully it will be done in a more environmentally sensitive and have an artistic and aesthetic effect on the surrounding community instead of the "pave parking lots and throw up cheap buildings" effect that went on in Orlando.

^^^ Yea......sad but true. Americans aren't fans of multi-level carparks especially at their malls :(

Faceless hotels? :D At least the Disney ones are good! :lol:

When I was there I stayed at the Vistana. But Orlando is really clean but downtown can be a bit dead after working hours.......

What about Universal Studios? They were talking about that a few years back but nothing ever seem to materialize. There have been a few theme park projects in Johor that never seem to get off the ground???

I guess because American malls which are similar in size to the ones here are built on 50 acres of land or more and they have plenty of space to build horizontally. The parking is always FREE too. Unlike here where the developers are so kedekut and allocate less then 10 acres for the malls. Maybe we should learn from the Americans?



^^^ Yea......sad but true. Americans aren't fans of multi-level carparks especially at their malls :(

Faceless hotels? :D At least the Disney ones are good! :lol:

When I was there I stayed at the Vistana. But Orlando is really clean but downtown can be a bit dead after working hours.......

What about Universal Studios? They were talking about that a few years back but nothing ever seem to materialize. There have been a few theme park projects in Johor that never seem to get off the ground???


Well.....Renong Group is supposed to bring Universal Studios to Bandar Nusajaya. But we all knew what happened to Renong :D

Well.....Renong Group is supposed to bring Universal Studios to Bandar Nusajaya. But we all knew what happened to Renong :D

It will turn into something like "merenong" bulan. :lol:

I guess because American malls which are similar in size to the ones here are built on 50 acres of land or more and they have plenty of space to build horizontally. The parking is always FREE too. Unlike here where the developers are so kedekut and allocate less then 10 acres for the malls. Maybe we should learn from the Americans?


Well......the US had a much higher landbank compared to Malaysia to begin with. Land here (and even in the US) are not 'given' so there are always limit to the land the mall are located on. I dun think the developers here are kedekut lah cos we're not Americans which love sprawling malls which aren't as environmentally friendly and efficient as stacked-up malls. We must also take into consideration that most malls in the US are single storey with of course the exception of some big ones and also those downtown in a city.

And parking is free because the Americans are a noisy lot if there are such charges. Furthermore open-air parking require minimal construction cost thus there isn't any need to charge for carparks. Open-air carparks in Malaysia like those of Tesco, Makro and Carrefour which adopt the Americanised concept have no charges for parking too. But one can't expect well-managed carparks like those of Berjaya Times Square, Lot 10 and KLCC to do the same as the maintenance is much higher for multi-level carparks. We must also look at the ROI for these carparks. I personally preferred malls with smaller footprint and have multi-level carparks because it is less sprawling. I do not like walking for 'miles' to my car. Furthermore our tropical weather isn't that suitable for outdoor carparks ;)

Seriously....parking here is very very cheap compared to many countries. During the weekend, the most expensive parking in the city is just RM5 & 6 per entry (KLCC and Bkt Bintang area). So I dun think we should rant about not having free parking especially when our cars are shaded and sheltered. And how many times you go to a mall in a week? :D

I just do not think the American system is suitable for Malaysia ;)

american system is unsustainble and bad for the environment.... bigger doesnt mean better... all u do is damage the environment... and den its so big tat it makes it very hard for us to get from one place to another... therefor needing to drive... look at europe which i think is much better than US... everywhere is just walking distance...
so the americans has much more to learn.... they have lived a very good and wasteful life... its time for them to do something about it before its too late... btw i have been to america and i have lived in europe for more than 10 yrs now and i have lived in malaysia before so i do know wat i am talking about.... well the exceptions in america is the north east part around new york

Ah Sheikh - you must be a recent grad from an American U? I was like that too when I first finished college in the states. But I don't think Malaysia can afford to have car parks like the US - it will trap too much heat and we already cut too many trees down. But I must say I did enjoy the free and ample parking during my time in the US.

"europe which i think is much better than US"

You mean the old parts? It's not really fair to compare Europe which is like thousands of years old to the US. The old parts of US are pretty intimate too - as you mentioned Manhattan, San Francisco, Boston, Charleston, New Orleans, Savannah all are great for pedestrians. I think the new suburbs of Europe are just like American suburbs where you have to drive everywhere and with strip malls.