KEPALA BATAS: There is nothing unusual about the state government giving out land leases for 60 years or 99 years, Deputy Chief Minister 1 Datuk Mansor Othman said. He said such a move was in accordance to provisions under the law which was also practised by the previous administration. He said that the north Seberang Prai district office had this year renewed 60-year leases on pieces of land in Sungai Lokan, Permatang Pauh to four individuals, who had earlier made way for the Butterworth Outer Ring Road (BORR) project in Bagan Dalam.

With the upward trend in property prices - especially, prime locations in Kuala Lumpur - it has become rather prohibitive to invest in real estate for most people. Nevertheless, there are still desirable and relatively affordable locations to invest in the Klang Valley, which is also known as Greater Kuala Lumpur, with an area of 279,327 hectares. According to the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), the population of Greater Kuala Lumpur now stands at six million and is projected to grow to 10 million by 2020.

In the city of Petaling Jaya, few sections are as well-known and popular as SS2. It has a central location, thriving commercial centre and a bustling night life. (For Google map reference, log on to maps.google.com.my and search for “Kuala Lumpur”.) SS2 is shaped somewhat like a giant banana, long and slender, running from Damansara Kim in the north down to SS1 in the south. This means it shares boundaries with a number of other sections, giving its residents access to internal roads and neighbouring amenities.

The best of Malaysian contemporary architecture was recently showcased in Japan at the Meiji University in conjunction with the 24th World Congress of Architecture (UIA2011 Tokyo). Held from Sept 5-29, the exhibition entitled, ‘Re/Mixed: The Horizon of Sustainable Architectural Design of Malaysia and Japan’ was organised by Meiji University’s Department of Architecture, School of Science and Technology and staged at the university’s museum, Ochanomizu, in Tokyo.