Penang property market slowing down

PEOPLE are more cautious about buying pro-perty with the current economic situation but the market should see a quick recovery when the economy picks up again.

Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (Rehda) Penang branch chairman Datuk Jerry Chan Fook Sing said property sales had weakened noticeably since the third quarter last year following the fuel price hike, and deteriorated further in the fourth quarter when the global bad news came out.

“This has affected the market but the population is still growing and people who need to buy houses will still do so except that they will be more cautious.

“We won’t see a need to rush out to buy houses,” he added.

He said those keen to buy property as investments, however, would take their time.

“The greatest issue is job security. As long as people feel they have job security, they will invest their money. And property is one secure investment.

“Property prices do not crash like other forms of investments, such as shares. While it is true that transactions will be reduced when there is a downturn, prices go up very quickly when there is an upturn because of the reduced supply of buildings during the downturn,” he said.

I have the opportunity to talk to one of the property evaluater from Henry Butcher last week, and according to him with his vast experiences, the market might be slowing down in the first part of the year or even beyond, but however, there won't be any price drop as long as properties in the Penang island are concern. Both of us agreed that, the main criteria for a property selection be it for accomodation or investment will be the location apart from the price. So potential buyers out there, please take into conderations regarding this before making you move... just my 2 cents :)

Nadal rewrites history, Federer's wait continues...

Rafael Nadal has thwarted Roger Federer’s quest to equal Pete Sampras’ record of 14 Grand Slam singles titles after defeating the Swiss 7-5 3-6 7-6(3) 3-6 6-2 in a breathtaking final of Australian Open 2009 on yesterday night.

Yesterday’s match-up was the 19th between the pair and their seventh Grand Slam final, with Nadal now enjoying a 13-6 win-loss against his Swiss rival, including winning their last five meetings. Nadal is now 6-3 in Grand Slam finals, while Federer falls to 13-5, all five of those losses coming to the Spaniard.

Well, to be frank, I'm quite down after watching the match finale as my favourite Roger didn't managed to claim what would be the record 14th slam tying Pete Sampras's all time record. I started watching the match at 4+pm right up till the end and it was really heart-pumping with both players going shots for shots. I have to admit that Rafa's cross court shots was really superb with such accurate angles and marvellous speed. Well to Roger, I will continue to root for you and hope 2009 will be the year you can finally stand tall again with the all time grand slam record....Keep on pushing, c'mon Roger !

Hokkien New Year (Thni Kong Seh) tonight

Later tonight will be the 9th day of Chinese New Year. And since Penang is full of hokkien people, expect lots of firecrackers that will wake you up from your sleep. The reason? It's Thni Kong Seh !!!

The folk tale has it that the Hokkiens escaped mistreatment by ruthless army in ancient China by seeking refuge in a sugarcane plantation. They emerged unharmed on the 8th day of Chinese New Year. The birthday of the Jade Emperor. Hence the New Year of Hokkiens.

Major morning markets on Penang island like Kimberly Street, Perak Road and Air Itam are lined with sugarcane stalks and other Chinese traditional cakes for the preparation of the celebration at the stroke of midnight tonight.

Hmm...I really hope I can have a good sleep tonight without waking up since I'm pretty tired working for the first day after so long of holidays...

Just in case if you are boring at home and not praying but planning to join the fun, do head to Chew Jetty at Weld Quay for the mass celebration. Details are as follows:

Thni Kong Seh (Jade Emperor God’s birthday)

Date: 2nd February 2009

Time: 9pm to midnight

Location: Chew Jetty

Penang CNY Open House Today 1st Feb 2009

Chinese New Year Open House 2009

Date: 1st February 2009 (changed of date from 31st Jan 2009 to 1st Feb 2009)

Locations: Amernian Street, Cannon Street, Chulia Street, Soo Hong Lane, Ah Quay Street, Quay Street, Kampong Kolam

Organizer: Penang Youth Clan Council

Contact: Leong Ho Fai 012-4052934, Lim Hock Chuan 012-4052465 or Ang Tong Kai 019-4138738

So if you are free today, get up and join the Chinese New Year celebration at Penang Unesco Heritage site along the historical GeorgeTown. It's from 12pm to midnight tonight at 12am. I wanted to go, but since tomorrow is the first working day after the long break and also considering the road closure and traffic jams for sure, I better enjoy my day at home watching the great tennis final between Nadal and Federer. Hope you enjoy yourself out there with the celebration :)

Serena Wins Australian Open Women's Single to move into 10 Slam wins

Serena Williams routed Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-3 Saturday to win the Australian Open for her 10th Grand Slam title and a return to the No. 1 ranking.

It was total domination for the second-seeded Williams, who looked at ease in winning back-to-back majors — she won the U.S. Open championship in September — and was moving fluidly on the court.

Williams' near-perfect performance was in sharp contrast to No. 3 Safina, who was tight from the start. Later apologizing to the crowd for her performance, Safina said Williams was just too good, leaving her feeling like a ballboy.

I didn't even continued with the match after the middle of second set, simply because I don't feel Safina can fight her way back and also I wanted to go for my badminton session although I would prefer Safina to capture her first ever slam title in her 2nd grand slam final appearance. Let's hope she can rise up again in 2009 and be finally 3rd time lucky if she enters into another slam title match :)

A boost for Penang : B Braun to invest RM300m more in Penang plants

At a time when manufacturers in almost all sectors are cutting back due to the global slump, German healthcare group B Braun Medical Industries Sdn Bhd (BMI) is bucking the trend. Yesterday, it announced a RM300 million plant expansion plan in Penang to be undertaken over three years.

BMI chairman Dr LG Braun said the additional investment was aimed at meeting demand from the growing healthcare market, in line with its multi-faceted growth master plan over the next 15 to 20 years.

For the expansion project, BMI, which currently has six plants in Penang, acquired a 9,000 sq metre site from the state government fronting one of its facilities in Lebuh Sungai Tiram in Bayan Lepas.

Since the company came to Penang 37 years ago, it has invested over RM1 billion here and created 4,700 jobs. Today, the firm's Penang operation is one of BMI's largest manufacturing sites ouside Europe.

The Penang operations boast production plants for medical devices such as injection needles, shielded intravenous catheters, surgical blades and instruments, sutures, intravenous solutions and administration sets.

Braun said the company, being in the resilient healthcare sector, was relatively shielded from the global financial crisis.

Movie Review: Inkheart

I might not be the best to do a review for this movie, however as I do not often patron cinema for movies, guessed I will just pen a few words based on my own judgement.

In my mind before watching this movie, I assumed that this is a adventure, triller or action movie with lots of suspence scene and exciting moments. However, much to my disappointment, it wasn't really up to what I have though about. The storyline was just so so, nothing really special. The cast, led by Brandon Fraser ( I hoped I got his spelling correct ) was relatively unknown to me and I must admit apart from the leading male actor, I do not know any other stars in the movie (pls pardon me).

The movie was around 1:45 hours, and with a happy ending. I do not have any special memory of the movie as I felt it was just a normal movie. Perhaps the settings and casts were good, but the storyline definitely needs to improve a lot!

ps: At the night of the very same night, I watch another movie in my laptop, Superman Returns and I must say this was a much better movie, seriously worth my 2:30 hours watching it :)