54th Merdeka-Raya twins

By Laura Lee, Photo by Anthony Tan

1 September saw me at Tropicana Medical Centre (TMC) in Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya to have a glimpse of the Merdeka babies born to two mothers at TMC Life Sciences Bhd’s flagship hospital.

At the car park on the way to the hospital’s lobby, I saw a Malay girl bringing some fanciful balloons as if she was going to a party or some celebration.

I found out later she is the sister of the happy couple, Faizal Harris Mohamad Kamal and Norzainab Paee, who had given birth to a pair of twin girls, conceived via the In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) technique on Merdeka Day.

The proud father informed me that Dato’ Dr Colin Lee had facilitated in the early stages of his wife’s pregnancy.

I had interviewed Dr Lee in the mid-90s, who was gaining fame as gynaecologist and obstretrician in helping childless couples to conceive using IVF when I was a journalist with the New Straits Times (NST).

He founded the Damansara Fertility Centre Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Damansara Women’s Specialist Centre Sdn Bhd, which in turn is 100% owned by TMC Life Sciences.

Despite the disposal of his shares in TMC Life Sciences August last year and subsequent resignation as managing director in this public-listed company on 31 August 2010, I was told Dr Lee only left the outfit two months ago.

He is now with Alpha International Fertility Centre and Women Specialist, which is also in Kota Damansara.

Back to the twins, Kayla Fara and Kaysha Zara, weighing 2.35 kg and 1.59 kg respectively, I was told it is not uncommon for their weights to be different.

They were delivered via Caesaran by Dr Leong Wai Yew.

Faizal said they were two weeks overdue and showed no signs of contraction.

The couple, both 38, had decided on 31 August to bring them into the world taking into cognizance the significance of it being the 54th Merdeka Day and the second day of the Hari Raya celebration.

This is their third attempt to have babies after 11 years of marriage. As I chatted with Faizal, I discovered that he was an ex-NST staff in the information technology department.

The other mother who delivered a Merdeka baby, Nicholas Yeow Tze E weighing 3.87 kg, was Agnes Yap Voon Kean from Perlis (pic). It is the first born son for the couple.

Both mothers and their babies received hampers from TMC.
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80% take-up for Mah Sing’s i-Sovo units

By Laura Lee


After making two wrong turns and no thanks to one misleading signboard, which asked me to turn Ieft just the project site (I was using the Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong or LDP and coming from Kepong), I finally made it to Mah Sing Group Bhd’s spanking new Icon City’s show gallery, which was officially launched last Sunday (17 July 2011).

It showcases Mah Sing’s flagship commercial project in Petaling Jaya, Icon City, which will be developed over three to four phases.

Sited at the intersection of the LDP highway and the federal highway, the project enjoys high visibility.

It is located on the former Panasonic land which Mah Sing bought in 2009 for RM89 million or RM102 per sq ft.

Unlike CIMB analyst Terence Wong, I’m not surprised by the turnout and good take-up rate its i-Sovo or small office versatile office units considering Mah Sing’s track record and previous successful launches and previews.

Where I live in Kepong Baru, we had flyers were distributed to our homes regarding its Icon City’s launch of these units on Sunday.

Explaining this new concept at the press conference, Mah Sing managing director and group chief executive Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum said i-SoVo are commercial suites with modern and yet practical layouts.

Comprising two towers, the units come in built-up of 745 sf ft and 1,094 sq ft with prices ranging from RM599,000 to RM745,676.

Ambitious to change the landscape of Petaling Jaya with its RM3.2 billion Icon City project, Leong announced that the group would have 14 new ramps in place to ease the congestion of this area and improve the connectivity or accessibility.

Owing to the good response towards its first tower's i-SoVo units, in particular the larger size units which were sold out on Saturday (where some 60% of sales were clinched), Mah Sing, which was supposed to offer a total of 283 units from the two 31-storey towers, changed the total number of units to 410.

The two towers will now have 198 (Tower 3) and 212 units (Tower 3A) respectively.

This was made possible by making available more units with smaller built-up which small and medium sized enterprises can afford to own.

Also, they will be able to obtain loans of up to 90% for these units. The residential loan to value restrictions does not apply here.

Andy Chua, chief operating officer of Mah Sing Properties Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mah Sing, said these duplex i-SoVo units are not your typical office.

They are flexible and can be used as a music studio, art gallery and design house.

If you plan to use it as your private hangout, take note that no piping and gas are installed for these units, which sit on a three-storey podium car park with level 4 as the main lift lobby.

Levels 5 and 6 is where the proposed business or secretarial centre will be sited with video conference facilities as well as an executive club with gymnasium, Jacuzzi pool and sauna amenities.

From level 8, the i-SoVo units will enjoy double volume high ceilings while levels 11, 18 and 23A will feature sky gardens.

The i-SoVo units will also be equipped with WiFi/high speed broadband.

Mah Sing had an 80% take-up rate with sales totalling RM426.5 million for its i-SoVo units over the weekend.

Conceived with sustainability in mind, Icon City, will be certified with Malaysia’s Green Building Index, Singapore's Green Mark and the United States’ Leadership in Energy and Environment Design.

The Icon show gallery, which had violinist Joanne Yeoh performing on Sunday, is open from 10am to 6pm daily.

Face off between Ariff and Zakariah over MIER’s 5.2% growth forecast for 2011

By Laura Lee

With Malaysia’s industrial production index (IPI) down since April to May, doubts have been raised about Malaysian Institute of Economic Research’s (MIER) 5.2% gross domestic product (GDP) growth projection for 2011.

This disturbing negative trend about the IPI was pointed out by its former executive director (ED) Professor Datuk Dr Mohamed Ariff during the question and answer session after the Malaysian economic outlook for the second quarter 2011 (2Q11) presentation by the institute at its 26th National Economic Briefing in Kuala Lumpur on 14 July.

Ariff did not think it was possible for MIER to maintain its 5.2% growth projection unless Malaysia posts improved second half (2H) year performance.

The IPI fell 5.1% year-on-year (y-o-y) in May on lower output in mining and electricity.

It fell 1.7% y-o-y in April while on a monthly basis, the IPI dropped by 1.3% (-7.2%: April ’11)

Malaysia’s 1Q11 GDP growth slowed to 4.6% y-o-y with all sectors down except for agriculture.

MIER ED Dr Zakariah Abdul Rashid said 2Q11 growth would be lower than 4.6% but at most would be above 4%.

He cited low consumer expenditure and slower export growth versus imports as the contributing factors for the poorer growth performance for the past few quarters.

Given the European sovereign debt problem, poor prospects in the United States and problems in China such as rising inflationary pressures, Zakariah does not expect Malaysia will not able to get much help externally.

Our only hope lies with the domestic elements. As such, he said MIER will maintain its 5.2% growth projection as the country has “powerful domestic driver of growth that will push our economy in the 2H”.

Earlier, Deputy Finance Minister Donald Lim Siang Chai announced his ministry would be asking government ministries and departments to step up their public expenditure in the 2H.

Whether this will happen is yet to seen. This includes the government’s initiatives to drive the economy via domestic demand and the implementation of its economic transformation programme (ETP).

At the National Conference on the 10th Malaysia Plan: Transformation Towards A High Income Advanced Economy on 18 July at Seri Pacific Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Zakariah will present a paper on The Economic Impact of ETP on the Malaysian Economy by 2020: An Input-Output Analysis.

This paper, done in collaboration with MIER deputy director Ahmad Fauzi Puasa and research officer Raja Zarina, will show among other things the marked structural gap between Malaysia and other countries in terms of input-output.

Currently, we are 38% behind South Korea, 28% behind Poland and 10% behind Japan.

If we are equipped with these countries’ structural outfits, possibilities of us generating bigger output, household income and employment as well as a high income economy appear bright.

Don’t miss this conference which is co-organised by MIER and Universiti Utara Malaysia.

Other speakers include former Bank Negara Malaysia deputy governor Professor Tan Sri Dr Lin See Yan on Hope, Enterprise and Change.

GBI presentation at CIMA Green Sustainability Conference 2011

By Laura Lee

Green Building Index (GBI) will be one of the many topics that will be discussed at Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Green Sustainability Conference Asia 2011 which begins tomorrow (12 July 2011).

Malaysia Green Building Confederation vice president Looi Hip Peu will deliver the GBI presentation at 11am under Session two entitled Certifiably Green – What and How? at the conference which will be held at Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel, which is also a venue partner of this event.

First phases of GBI Tools Launched Todate
Following the launch of the GBI Township Tool and Residential New Construction Tool on 29 March, the GBI Industrial New Construction Tool and Industrial Existing Building Tool were subsequently launched on 7 June.

These initiatives are in line with the government’s strong advocacy in promoting green buildings and sustainably built environment and Malaysia’s green agenda.

The Low Energy Office (LEO), which houses the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water, was the government’s first energy-efficient building which won the ASEAN Energy Award in 2006.

The Green Energy Office (GEO), which houses the Malaysia Green Technology Corporation, was the first building to receive the GBI certification followed by The Energy Commission’s Diamond Building, which received the platinum certificate under GBI on 31 May.

Several fiscal incentives for green technology development in Malaysia have been introduced by the government.

In the building sector, the 2010 budget had announced incentives for buildings awarded with the GBI.

Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water Datuk Sri Peter Chin Fah Kui had said at the recent launch of the GBI Industrial New Construction Tool and Industrial Existing Building Tool that building owners obtaining GBI certificates from 31 October 2009 until 31 December 2014 would be entitled to income tax exemption equivalent to the additional capital expenditure in obtaining such certificates.

“Buyers purchasing buildings with GBI certificates from developers will be given stamp duty exemption on instruments of transfer of ownership.

“The exemption amount is equivalent to the additional cost incurred in obtaining the GBI certificates.”

Apart from this, he said incentives in the form of pioneer status, investment tax allowance, import duty exemption and sales tax exemption are available for initiatives on energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Chin had also announced that his ministry was finalising the Low Carbon Cities Framework and Assessment System.

“This assessment tool will enable local councils, developers and other users to assess their carbon footprint levels, suggest strategies to be taken and then helps them to assess their carbon footrprint levels once the strategies have been applied.”

Todate, almost 180 building projects have applied for GBI certification. Of this, 25 projects have received GBI provisional certification while two projects have obtained the GBI certification.