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FESTIVE GLOW Posted: 23 Oct 2011 10:35 AM PDT 2011/10/23 By Chuah Bee Kim Little India, in Jalan Ungku Puan, pulsates with excitement as booths offer festive goods at bargain prices in conjunction with Deepavali JOHOR Baru's popular Little India, along the stretch of Jalan Ungku Puan, is once again pulsating with excitement as various Indian associations have established booths in conjunction with the Festival of Lights, or Deepavali. Among these associations is Persatuan Peniaga Kecil Textile Penghiasan Johor Baru, which has 42 booths this year. Association president J. Theyatarajan, who is also the event organising chairman, said the stalls, which went up on on Oct 5, would remain until Deepavali day. "Shoppers are attracted to the vast variety and bargain prices," Theyatarajan said. Murad Hussein, 45, who owns an Indian apparel shop in Kipmart Tampoi, Johor Baru, is a regular face at Deepavali bazaars. This is the sixth year he is participating in a bazaar. "My Punjabi suits are imported from Madras, Bombay and Pakistan. The price range of the punjabi suits is from RM60 to RM300," said Murad. Another familiar face is V. Sumathi, 37, who runs Vanavil Cookies, a bakery in Pasir Gudang. Shoppers have a choice of 52 types of homemade cookies priced from RM18 to RM28 per container at her booth. Sumathi, who has been in the business for more than 14 years, said her pineapple tarts, almond chocolate, chocolate berry and makmur cookies were her bestsellers. Another regular name at the bazaar is Punjab City Bazaar in Plaza Seni, Johor Baru. Rajwyender Kaur runs the booth offering crepe fabrics imported from Bombay and Pakistan, which are ideal for baju kurung, sari or Punjabi suits. R. Rajevsh, the owner of Laveesa Boutique in Taman Nusa Jaya Mas in Skudai, Johor Baru, is among the first-time participants. She sells an array of beautifully embroidered materials imported from India that can be made into sari. "Sales have been encouraging so far. There are many Singaporeans who come to the bazaar," Rajevsh said. Besides the choice fabrics and apparel, glittering costume jewellery, murukku and sweetmeats, the bazaar there are also teppakulam, supprapatham stones and frames that make excellent home ornaments. Loud music blaring from speakers add to the bazaar's carnival atmosphere. A bazaar highlight is the stage performances by local artists at 8.30pm every night. N. Thiagu, 25, who also sells homemade cookies there, said the performances were popular with visitors. "Shoppers get to enjoy the music while giving their feet a rest on the seats provided near the stage. It is common to find men sitting on the chairs while their wives shop," Thiagu said. Another association participating in the Deepavali bazaar is the Johor Baru Indian Petty Traders and Small Industries Business Association. Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Property investors look south for good buys Posted: 23 Oct 2011 06:44 AM PDT 2011/10/23 by Ben Tan bentan@nstp.com.my Over the past year, Johor Baru has seen many new property launches, with several developers taking part in the property fairs and offering large savings on new properties. — Picture by Zain Ahmed RECENTLY, I received a call from an old friend in Kuala Lumpur whom I had not met for more than two years. It was good to hear from her as we used to hang out with each other before she married and settled down in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya. After some small talk, typical of two old friends, the conversation then turned to how Johor Baru was for me, adding that it must be good to be back in my home state after many years in Kuala Lumpur. I told her that Johor Baru was not as glitzy or sophisticated as Kuala Lumpur or even Petaling Jaya, for that matter. But I was surviving and there are advantages, as well as disadvantages, for me here. To cut the story short, she then went on to enquire about the property market in Johor Baru and the growth area known as Iskandar Malaysia, saying that she was interested in investing in a property here. "It's more for investment, actually as the prices in the Klang Valley is expensive and way out of my budget," she said, adding that she was now 36 years old and ready to invest on a second property to expand her investment portfolio. At present, she said, Johor Baru, with the Iskandar Malaysia project taking off, seems like a good place to invest in a condominium for the long-term purposes as the prices are lower compared with what she can get in the Klang Valley. "The reason is that I came across some Johor Baru-based properties being promoted by developers in Kuala Lumpur," she said. My friend, who works for a local airline, said she was interested to buy property in other states as well, but Penang is beyond her budget, while she already has a family home in Ipoh, Perak. "After doing some checks and research, Johor does come across as place that has a high-growth potential compared with other states in Malaysia," she said, adding that the proximity of Johor Baru to Singapore also made it more attractive for her. In many ways, my friend was right as the property market in Johor has regained momentum after experiencing a slowdown more than two years ago. This was due to the global economic downturn at that time caused by the spillover of the sub-prime crisis in the United States and the European financial crisis. Over the past year, Johor, especially in Johor Baru, has seen many new property launches, with many developers taking part in the property fairs and offering large savings on new properties. And what makes this more enticing is a list of proven developers from the Klang Valley coming to Johor to expand their projects. Among them are Bandar Raya Developments Bhd, SP Setia Bhd, Sunway City Bhd and also Uda Holdings Bhd, which have been successful in their Bandar Baru Uda and also Bandar Uda Utama in Johor Baru in the past. Due to that and the improvement of the economy last year, the banks were also offering enticing interest rates to home buyers. Most property development is being focused in the Nusajaya area which is the new state administrative capital located more than 40km from the city centre. However, there are others as developers unlock their land banks in the areas such as in Pasir Gudang, Gelang Patah, Bukit Indah, Pasir Pelangi and also Tiram. As a way forward, the Johor Government's massive infrastructure projects to connect Iskandar Malaysia has taken off after the past few years, despite some minor glitches and inconvenience to the public. The road connectivity and public infrastructure in the south of Johor have in many ways led to the opening up of new suburban developments here. For example, the Tiram township, which was once known as Ulu Tiram, now has a highway which is nearly completed and goes straight to Kota Tinggi. The area is developing at a quick pace. What was once a sleepy backwater has now changed into a semi-modern township that is self-sufficient with its own mega shopping complex, hypermarkets and also commercial areas. With that, there has also been a surge of Singaporean investors eager to cash in on residential properties here as the property market in the island republic had gone beyond what the average Singaporean can afford. All this talk has also made my friend realise that investing in property here is a good deal. "In the past, I had never even thought of visiting Johor Baru, much less buying a property there. Johor Baru was only a place I had to past through when driving to Singapore from Kuala Lumpur," she said. My friend ended the conversation saying that she was eager to spend several days in Johor Baru to see the area before making her decision to buy a condominium here or not. Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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