Street market a new attraction in JB
The newly-developed commercial tourism centre called B5 Johor Street Market will focus on attracting local tourists.
Damansara Asset Sdn Bhd executive director Yusaini Sidek the street market will serve as an option for locals to come with family and friends to enjoy an array of Johor cuisine at the bazaar.
“Covid-19 has made many cancel or postpone travels abroad. We hope they will come here instead, ” he said, adding that the virus had affected the flow of foreign tourist into the state.
“The market was initially planned to tap into Visit Malaysia 2020 and Visit Johor 2020 campaigns.
“We had lined up various arts and cultural activities for the tourists who visit, ” he said after giving media members and tourism industry players a tour of B5 Johor Street Market at Jalan Dato Muthuthambi here.
Yusaini added that the street market, a centralised retail tourism centre, was the first of its kind in the country with all of Johor’s unique features gathered in one place.
The commercial tourism centre is spacious and has reached its full occupancy of 219 traders.
“Travel agents can help promote this place to tourists, both local and foreigners.
“We have four cultural performance every day and the attractions change every festive season and during school holidays.
“Tourists can take part in cultural activities, enjoy local food and buy local souvenirs, ” he said, adding that they were targeting between five and six million visitors in the first year of the street market’s opening.
Yusaini said the market had also reached its full occupancy of 219 traders, with 40% offering food and beverages and 60% in the retail and culture sectors.
“Entrepreneurs are divided into three groups, retail bazaar, box park kiosk and retail lots rented out at a reasonable rate.
“The bazaar will offer different items during the day and night, ” he added. The B5 Johor Street Market was developed by Johor Land Berhad (JLand) and is managed by Damansara Asset Sdn Bhd - a wholly-owned subsidiary of Johor Corporation (JCorp).
The groundwork started in February 2018 and was fully completed in February this year with a total development cost of RM40mil.
“We expect a return of investment of three to four percent during this first year and see it increase to six to seven percent subsequently, ” he said.
The B5 Johor Street Market will be operating daily from 10am to 10pm.
~The Star~
Hidden gems aplenty in Johor
Green glory: A picturesque cafe in Taman Merdeka, Johor Baru, that has become a hit with visitors.
In Johor Baru, Malaysia Tourist Guides Council president Jimmy Leong said the state government and tourism industry players had to work together to highlight Johor’s beauty and boost local tourism.
“I think this is a good time to venture into tourism attractions that include our rich history, culture and heritage,” he said.
He cited hidden gems such as Kampung Makam in Kota Tinggi as potential tourist attractions.
“The village houses several historically significant tombs, including that of Sultan Mahmud Shah II, the last ruler of Johor descended from the Melaka Sultanate.
“Kota Tinggi is known as Johor Lama (Old Johor). It has dozens of interesting historical sites and I think we should focus on highlighting such places,” he said.
Johor-based travel blogger Marlin Md Noor said Putuo Village, which is located 10km from Kulai town, was one of the lesser known but interesting places to visit.
“The best thing about the village is its bamboo forest, which has a calming vibe and is the perfect background to take photos.
She said there was also a cafe in the village where visitors could relax while enjoying the view of the bamboo forest.
~The Star~
Pisang goreng (fried banana in Indonesian/Malay) is a snack made of banana or plantain, covered in batter or not, being deep fried in hot cooking oil, and is popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei.
Pisang goreng is most often associated with Indonesia, and indeed the country has the largest variety of pisang goreng recipes. However, this fried banana snack is also considered native to neighbouring countries; particularly Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore.
It is consumed as a snack in the morning and afternoon. In Indonesia and Malaysia, pisang goreng is often sold by street vendors, although some sellers have a storefront from which to sell their wares.
~Wikiepdia~
COVID-19: Johor mulling lowering theme park entertainment tax for foreign tourists
Johor will study if there is a need to lower entertainment tax rates on foreign tourists at theme parks following the spread of the COVID-19 infection.
State Tourism and Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Liow Cai Tung, however, said every decision and approach on the matter would be taken after the economic stimulus package to reduce external economic impact following the COVID-19 outbreak, to be announced by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on Feb 27.
“I have received feedback from them (theme park industry players) on the entertainment tax that will be imposed on foreign tourists.
“I have also raised this issue at the state executive council meeting and we will examine the decline in the number of tourists (after that) then we will make a decision,” he told a press conference after the closing ceremony of the Tourism Recovery Action Committee Town Hall here today.
Liow said this when asked if there were any tourism industry players in the state who had proposed the tax relief to the state government following the COVID-19 infection.
Meanwhile, in his speech at the event, he said industry players needed to change their strategies, strive and focus on the domestic tourism sector and devise creative and special packages to attract local tourists.
Liow said the state government had taken several steps to attract tourists.
“The state government has launched a publicity roadshow with Tourism Johor for the Visit Johor Year with the 2020 Johor Malaysian Games (Sukma) Secretariat in the focus area in Perak this month and several states to promote Johor next month.
“Tourism Johor has also taken a joint approach with bloggers and local social media influencers to promote (more) interesting places in the state. These are among the efforts taken to attract tourists,” he said.
-- BERNAMA
Gridlock at Causeway
Slowdown: A view of the congestion at the Causeway, with Johor in the foreground.
The usual traffic congestion at the Causeway here has worsened due to the health screening at the entry points of both Johor and Singapore.
Frequent travellers passing through the Causeway have expressed their frustration over the congestion, which has gotten from bad to worse during peak hours, especially on Fridays and weekends.
Singaporean policeman Abdul Haniff Abdul Hamid, 38, who was passing through the Causeway to enter Johor at about 1pm, said that he noticed traffic started to build up at about noon on Friday.
“The Causeway would normally still be empty at that time and will only start to get congested at around 3pm on Friday,” he said.
Another traveller, Malaysian S.Sathia, 36, who works as a security officer in Singapore, said that temperature screening on those entering Malaysia started a few days back.
“After the temperature checks started, the traffic seems to be slower than usual.
“Previously you would only see three or four cars queuing up to enter Johor at 6am, but now I can see a lot more than that number,” he said.
Meanwhile, cafe assistant Asilah Manof, 27, said that while the congestion was bad, it was something that many frequent travellers were used to.
“The traffic on the Causeway was pretty bad today but it is normal for it to be congested as it is a Friday.
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“Many people will be entering Johor to spend the weekends on Friday,” she said, adding that she expects it to be far worse this weekend.
She added that the temperature checks have also contributed to the congestion here.
Singapore raised its alert status level from yellow to orange on Feb 7 due to heightened risk of infection as four cases of infected patients in the country had no known links to China or the people who were already infected.
This means that the Covid-19 (coronavirus) could be spreading in the community.
Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Lorry Operators Association secretary-general Alvin Choong questioned if the Singapore government would quarantine lorry drivers who register a high temperature reading while travelling back to Malaysia
“Obviously there are a lot of lorry drivers now getting very worried because if they go into Singapore and are detected with (high) temperature, I don’t know if the government will hold them back for quarantine.
“That’s why right now it is a very uncomfortable situation,” he said.
Choong said the majority of the lorry drivers mainly deliver food items to Singapore, adding that they would also carry cargo back from the Singapore port.
The Federation of Livestock Farmers’ Associations of Malaysia adviser, Datuk Jeffrey Ng, said so far it has not seen any differences in the delivery of goods into Singapore by the authorities.
“They (the Singapore government) have not sent out any new instructions to us. So, if there is no new instruction, it should be status quo.
“Usually if there are any changes, Singapore will inform us early.
“The whole thing about this Covid-19 is that it is human to human, and up till now, Singapore’s status is only yellow to orange (alert status). They are not sealing their city or town, so I think everything is still normal,” he said.
Under Dorscon, or the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition, the orange alert status means that the outbreak has a moderate to high public health impact.
The yellow alert status refers to a mild infection or a severe infection but it is not spreading.
This is only the second time that Singapore has activated the orange alert status since the swine flu (H1N1) outbreak in 2009.
Singapore has so far seen 58 people being infected with the virus while Malaysia has 19 confirmed cases.
~The Star~
Chingay festival held on smaller scale due to COVID-19
The annual Chingay festival here was held on smaller scale today in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Checks by Bernama found devotees thronging the Xing Gong temple in Jalan Ulu Ayer Molek here as early as 3 pm. The temple is the first location for the procession of five deities of the religious event.
The Tiong Hua Federation, which is the organiser of the festival, was also seen taking added precautions by stationing health staff to monitor body temperature of each visitor to the temple.
Face masks and hand sanitisers were also distributed to visitors and members of the public witnessing the festival.
The two-hour procession from 7 pm over eight kilometres around the city this time only comprised five floats as compared to 17 last year.
Entering its 150th year this year, the festival marks the solidarity of five Chinese dialect groups, namely the Teochew, Hokkien, Hakka, Guangsiew and Hainan.
Prior to this, the Johor state government had advised organisers of major events to postpone or hold them on a smaller scale due to the new coronavirus problem, which originated in China but has since spread across the globe.
Malaysia has recorded 19 cases of COVID-19 to date, while 67 cases have been reported in Singapore which is just across the causeway from Johor
-- BERNAMA
Singapore to stop accepting Malaysian collective travel documents next year
Singapore will stop accepting the Malaysian collective travel document (MCTD) at its international entry points, effective from Jan 1,2021.
“This is to strengthen the security and efficiency of immigration clearance at Singapore’s checkpoints, ” said the republic’s Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in a statement Wednesday (Feb 5).
According to the ICA, the MCTD is a travel document issued by the Immigration Department to groups of five to 20 Malaysian nationals, in lieu of passports.
However, the ICA said the MCTD poses security concerns as it facilitates the sharing of one travel document by multiple unrelated travellers.
Other than the MCTD, the ICA said it does not accept any other countries’ collective travel documents.
The ICA said the MCTD also requires manual data entry of all travellers’ details, leading to longer clearance times as the authority moves towards automation and biometrics clearance.
“MCTD holders are also unable to use our automated lanes. As such, we will no longer accept the MCTD for immigration clearance at our checkpoints from Jan 1,2021, ” it said.
The ICA urged Malaysian travellers currently issued with an MCTD to apply for passports if they plan to travel to Singapore from Jan 1,2021 onwards.
It added that it has informed Malaysia’s Immigration Department of its plans to cease recognition of the MCTD for immigration clearance, and will work with the department on the implementation. – Bernama
Malindo Air suspends KK, JB flights to China
Johor Baru–Guangzhou–Johor Baru, effective Feb 11–Feb 29
The airline operates three weekly scheduled flights between Kota Kinabalu and Tianjin; and three weekly flights between Johor Baru and Guangzhou.
Malindo Air has advised passengers affected by the suspensions to contact its call centre at +603-7841 5388 for further assistance.
The airline had earlier announced the temporary suspension of its thrice weekly services between Kota Kinabalu and Wuhan, effective Jan 24.
~New Straits Times~
