Malaysia’s population stands at 32.66 million, males outnumber females
Malaysia’s population for the first quarter of 2019 is estimated at 32.66 million, with the male population now outnumbering females, according to the Statistics Department. The male population stands at 16.86 million, compared to the female population at 15.80 million, at a ratio of 107 males per 100 females. Selangor had the highest population of 6.54 million, while Putrajaya had the lowest of 92,640 people. While the number of Malaysians below age 14 has decreased, the population of those between the ages of 15 and 64 (working age Malaysians) increased from 22.51 million in 2018 to 22.80 million in 2019. This trend shows that Malaysia is moving in line with developed countries, towards an ageing society. (The Sun Daily)

Hannah Yeoh proposes plan to bypass TTDI park in controversial condo project
Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh has come up with a counter proposal to the “scaled down” plan for the controversial Taman Rimba Kiara condominium project proposed by Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad, to be presented to the cabinet for its decision. If the project goes through with her proposal, it should not encroach into the Taman Rimba Kiara park, she said. Khalid had previously proposed a scaled down plan which would see 1.6ha of open space taken up for development, compared with 3.2ha in the original plan, and include a 29-storey block with 350 units meant for Bukit Kiara longhouse residents. However, the move did not get the support of Yeoh and the TTDI residents association, who said that they were not against longhouse residents from having new housing, but that the project should not use the longhouse residents to justify encroachment into a green lung. (The Edge)

(Photo from The Star Online)

Only a fraction of houses insured against fires
Last year, about RM3.31bil worth of property was destroyed in fire-related incidents, according to statistics from the Fire and Rescue Department. “What is even more alarming is that only two million out of eight million homes in the country are insured,” said its director-general Datuk Mohammad Hamdan Wahid. He said the 6,301 cases the department dealt with last year was because of human error. These included short circuits from old wiring, overloading electrical appliance usage, indiscriminate disposing of cigarette butts, smoking in bed and usage of candles, were the main contributors behind structural fires. This was compounded with low awareness on the need for fire detection and extinguishing systems and escape procedures. (The Star Online)

MIDA wants transit-oriented development along ECRL corridor
The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) has set up a dedicated team to facilitate, evaluate and review the implementation of the Economic Accelerator Projects (EAP) along the East Coast Railway Link (ECRL) corridor. MIDA’s team will engage facilitate development of industrial parks, logistics hub and transit-oriented development along the ECRL corridor. After a year of renegotiation, the new 640km ECRL alignment will now skip Bentong and Gombak. It will pass through 20 stations from Kota Bharu in Kelantan to Port Klang in Selangor, and the journey will take four hours. MIDA described the ECRL project as a East-West rail transport network designed to stimulate commercial, logistic, trading and tourism development. With foreign and domestic investments in TOD, MIDA hopes the ECRL would help bridge the development gap between the east and west coasts of Peninsular Malaysia. (NST Online)

Singapore’s CDL unveils US$1b China property deal
Singapore-listed real estate firm City Developments (CDL) said on Wednesday it intended to invest nearly US$1 billion in China including the purchase of an indirect stake in Sincere Property Group. The main deal, comprising equity and debt worth up to 5.5 billion yuan (US$800 million), will see CDL acquire a 24% indirect stake in Sincere Property Group via its offshore investment vehicle. It had also entered a deal with Sincere to acquire a 70% stake in a property in Shanghai’s business district for 1.2 billion yuan. The deal is CDL’s single largest investment in China to date. (The Edge)