Money in housing, cautious optimism in industry

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PETALING JAYA: The property market is expected to remain cautiously optimistic in 2023, with the gradual increase in the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) since last year likely to affect market activity, particularly on residential demand, says the Valuation and Property Services Department.

The outlook of the workforce in the construction sector and the increase in the price of building materials will also affect supply.

Department director-general Abdul Razak Yusak said internal and external factors, such as economic and financial developments both globally and in the country, would also have an impact on the real estate sector and the sentiment of industry players.

“Looking at the national economy which is projected to grow by 4% to 5% in 2023, supported by continued resilient domestic growth prospects, the property market is expected to remain cautiously optimistic in 2023,” he said.The first quarter of this year alone saw over 89,000 transactions worth RM42.31bil, which was higher than those recorded in pre-pandemic years, he said.

“The seasonal factor in house purchases, which is usually low at the beginning of the year, the increase in OPR and the decline in Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI) are among the factors that contributed to a decline in residential market activity in particular,” he said.

New residential launches, said Abdul Razak, were also indicating a cautious sentiment among developers, with the number recorded at nearly 4,700 units, which was less than those in previous years, while sales performance was moderate at 25.7%.

The decrease in new launches was in line with the decrease in the number of developers’ licences and advertising and sales permits of new housing sales and renewals approved by the Local Government Development Ministry from 5,641 in January and February last year to 2,911 during the same period this year, he added.

Johor recorded the highest number of new launches at 2,077 units or about 45% of the nationwide total with a sales performance of 24.9% while Selangor had the second highest at 791 units or 17% share with a sales performance of 37%.

Abdul Razak said in line with the cautious sentiment among developers, construction activity had slowed down in the first quarter of 2023.

“This is seen as a positive development to balance the unsold supply in the market,” he said, adding that the residential and serviced apartment overhang status continued to be positive.

“The number of overhang units has decreased to 26,872 units worth RM18.31bil in the first quarter of 2023 as a result of market absorption in all states, except Selangor. The volume and value of residential overhang decreased by 3.2% and 0.5% respectively compared with the fourth quarter of 2022,” he said.

Selangor recorded the highest number and value of overhang units, with 4,995 units worth RM4.47bil, followed by Johor at 4,759 units worth RM3.94bil, Kuala Lumpur with 3,423 units worth RM3.13bil, and Penang with 3,138 units worth RM2.48bil.

The purpose-built office (private) and shopping complex segment in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, said Abdul Razak, should be given attention as there was a surplus of space, which was also expected to be severely affected by the inflow of new supply this year.This is as Kuala Lumpur recorded the highest available private purpose-built office space at 2.53 million square metres involving 290 buildings, followed by Selangor with 1.40 million square metres involving 192 buildings.

For the shopping complex segment, Selangor recorded the highest available retail space nationwide at 0.79 million square metres with 146 buildings followed by Kuala Lumpur at 0.56 million square metres with 97 buildings.

“Developers need to be more thorough and cautious before planning any new development and local authorities need to evaluate in detail before approving each new project,” said Abdul Razak.

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Unwelcome visitors: Officials removing snakes and a monitor lizard from houses in Penang

 

 

GEORGE TOWN: They come, they see, they hide.

It is not just humans who are seeking shelter from the scorching heat.

Reptiles, too, are coming out of their natural habitat to take refuge.

Snakes and monitor lizards were the most common to have encroached into homes, garages, parking areas, drains, toilets and other areas of late.

Penang Fire and Rescue Department director Saadon Mokhtar said during this period, there had been an increase in cases of snakes and monitor lizards entering homes.

“Most of them entered the kitchen area.

“The snakes would then hide behind the fridge or behind cupboards.

“Some would coil up behind the washing machine or inside the bathroom which is cooler.

“For monitor lizards, they have the tendency to enter and hide in the kitchen and in drains behind housing areas,” he said.

From January until April this year, the cases have almost doubled compared to last year, added Saadon.

“This year, there have been 427 reports of snakes entering various premises compared to 238 during the same duration last year.

“There were 73 sightings of monitor lizards this year compared to 47 last year,” he said.

Meanwhile, northeast district Civil Defence Force officer Captain Muhammad Aizat Abdul Ghani said on average, they could catch three to six snakes a day.

“This is only in our district, I am sure the others have more.

“Usually, the snakes hide in dark spaces either in the garage, parking areas, drains in the housing compound or sheds.

“It is not too often that they are found inside houses as it is usually too bright for them.

“There are, however, a few cases where they are caught inside the house.

“It is not only during the current heatwave that snakes are seeking shelter at housing areas and other premises, but also during the rainy season when we have caught some,” he said.

Captain Muhammad Aizat said Penang has plenty of snakes and they usually come out from the river or big drains.

“This is why houses and schools near rivers or drains are usually prone to snake intrusion.

“We received calls about the sightings of monitor lizards as well, but not as many as for snakes,” he said. 

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China's rising clout in the spotlight

TOKYO: The weekend gathering of finance chiefs from the Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies leaves signs that the world’s second-largest economy will loom large at this week’s summit in Hiroshima.

Efforts to grapple with China’s growing global presence were evident at the three-day G7 finance chiefs’ gathering in Niigata, Japan, during which they held their first outreach in 14 years, aimed at winning over emerging nations.

The meeting with Brazil, the Comoros, India, Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea primarily tackled issues such as debt and high-level infrastructure investment, in a tacit counter to China’s Belt and Road initiative, according to analysts.

“What’s going on at the G7 is reflecting changes in global order following the loss of the US dominance,” said Masamichi Adachi, economist at UBS Securities.

“No one is being able to draw up a grand design with shifting of power.”

G7 host Japan persuaded its G7 counterparts to launch a new programme by the end of 2023 to diversify supply chains for strategically important goods away from China.

The G7 comprises the United States, Britain, France, Japan, Italy, Germany and Canada. But the finance chiefs’ closing communique did not mention a US-proposed idea for narrow restrictions on investment to China, a potential rift among the grouping on how far they should go in pressuring Beijing.

A Japanese finance ministry official at the gathering, who declined to be named because of he sensitivity of the matter, said the idea was discussed in Niigata, but declined to elaborate.

China is among the biggest markets for most G7 countries, particularly for export-reliant economies such as Japan and Germany.

China-bound exports account for 22% of Japan’s overall shipments. Japan and the United States want to try to win over countries, including those in the Global South, with promises of foreign direct investment and aid, analysts said. — Reuters

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SERDANG: A rise in sexual cases involving those who are underage is a cause for concern and could possibly be due to a lack of knowledge of the law among the people, says the state’s top cop.

Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the last four months of the year saw around 155 such cases including statutory rape, with most of the victims being female students.

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While no direct statistics were shared, he noted that the number was higher than the corresponding period last year.

Of the reported cases, 33 suspects were still students themselves, he added.

He revealed this while speaking to the media after launching the Seri Kembangan police station hall here yesterday.

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Asked about the reasons for the high statistics, Comm Hussein said a lack of knowledge regarding statutory rape laws could be a contributing factor.

“In some cases of ‘suka sama suka’ (consensual relations), it was possible that the suspects did not know that statutory rape is a big offence. The poor understanding of the country’s laws could contribute to cases such as these.

“If the victim is below 18, it is an offence regardless of consent,” he said, adding that reports were generally lodged by the victim’s parents, guardians or teachers once they find out.

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Comm Hussein said some cases involved people who had only known each other for days and the youngest victim identified was only 13 years old.

“We also believe that this increase in sexual cases is due to social media and the easy access to pornography online,” he said.

He warned that the unsupervised use of social media applications could lead to unwanted incidents such as these.

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“What I am worried about are these students that are below 18 who are then sentenced to prison for years and years. 

“The victim, too, even if it was consensual, their future could be affected due to mental and physical health issues,” he said.

While more public engagements at schools can be conducted, Comm Hussein said efforts must also come from the parents themselves to ensure their children remain safe.

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Chinese modernization leads to Age of Great Majority: Martin Jacques

Martin Jacques: China has achieved a great deal in the past years

 

We are at a historic moment. Until very recently, modernity was virtually synonymous with the West. Indeed, the West believed - and still does - that there was only one form of modernity and that was Western modernity. There was just one path: modernization was a process of westernization. This story has a long history. Modernization starts with Britain's Industrial Revolution in the first half of the 19th century. It provided the wherewithal for Britain's vast colonial empire, which came to embrace a quarter of the world's population, in the second half of the 19th century. By 1900, modernization had spread to the US and much of Europe. Apart from Japan, it was an exclusively Western phenomenon. Western-style modernization divided the world into two: the rich world, that was the West; and the great majority, most of whom were colonized. The turning-point came in the second half of the 20th century. The Chinese Revolution in 1949 and decolonization created the possibility for modernization to spread to the great majority of the world's population.

China was to prove the decisive factor in this new possibility. Its demographic size, its sense of independence and identity, its rich historical inheritance, and a remarkable political leadership enabled it to achieve a Chinese path to modernization. It was not the first East Asian country to do so, but it was by far the most important. And its success has greatly enhanced the ability of other developing countries to undertake the process of modernization. We now find ourselves at a great historical juncture. Hitherto modernization was the preserve of a small minority of privileged countries in the world, with the great majority of the world excluded. Now modernization is no longer for a tiny sliver of humanity but is increasingly accessible to the great majority.

We stand on the eve of a very different kind of world. China has been the author and architect of this possibility. It has been the exemplar of what it is possible for the developing world to achieve - huge reduction in poverty, extraordinary economic growth, the transformation of the lives of the people, an economy to match that of America - who would have thought in 1950 that the economy of a former semi-colony, virtually stagnant for the best part of two centuries, could have reached such a point in, historically speaking, the blink of an eye?

When we think of modernization, we think, probably more than anything else, of technology. When we recall Britain's Industrial Revolution, we remember the steam engine and railways. China's remarkable technological advances - WeChat, high-speed rail, 5G, space exploration, quantum computing, AI and its electric cars that are about to take the world by storm - are a source of great pride not only for China but the whole developing world, a demonstration of what can be achieved. And, of course, they are the compelling evidence that China now stands on the verge of becoming the world's technological leader.

But modernization is about much more than economics and technology. Let us return to what Western modernization meant for the world. It paved the way for colonialism, it divided the world into two, one part very small and rich, the other very large and poor. Chinese modernization promises something very different. While the West colonized large tracts of the world, China, in contrast, offers them a win-win relationship and the Belt and Road Initiative. Or take global governance. The Western-made world is a minoritarian world, a global order dominated by a small oligarchy of rich countries in the G7 representing little more than 12 percent of the world's population. For the first time in modern history, we can now see the possibility of a majoritarian form of global governance based first and foremost on the peoples of the developing countries, including, of course, China, which together account for over 85 percent of the world's population. Such a prospect would have been unimaginable in 1950, let alone 1900. While the Age of the West was the Age of the Small Minority, the Age of China will be the Age of the Great Majority. The whole world will be enfranchised.

But it will mean much more than that. There will be a new kind of respect for countries and cultures. Countries will be encouraged to pursue their own path based on their own distinctive history. Western modernization required them to follow a Western path and pursue a Western-style modernity. One of the tragedies of colonialism (and neo-colonialism, indeed) was that it sought to undermine, eliminate, and destroy the indigenous traditions, customs, and practices of those who were colonized. In the process, much of the history and continuity of these societies was lost. The present-day Western hostility to the idea of civilization is because the very term is testament to, and an acknowledgement of, independence and difference, which the West sought to excise in the name of modernization and Westernization. On the contrary, civilizations and civilizational difference need to be recognized, honored, and respected in the manner articulated in China's Global Civilization Initiative. China as a civilization-state has a deep understanding of the value of civilizational difference.

It seems highly likely that the era of Chinese modernization will coincide with a dramatic new phase of technological innovation which will transform the world in ways far greater than anything we have ever seen in the past across a range of fields from artificial intelligence to medical science. While the potential dangers and pitfalls are many, the future holds huge hope for humanity.

The author is a visiting professor at the Institute of Modern International Relations at Tsinghua University and a senior fellow at the China Institute, Fudan University. Follow him on Twitter @martjacques. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn 

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