Why Malacca Could Be the Next Big Thing
After Iskandar Malaysia
Malacca
Pete Wong is the founder of Awarna
Media with offices in Kuala Lumpur,
Singapore and around the region. He
made his foray into property on both
sides of the Causeway since the early
days - when Orchard Road was still
known as District 9 and Mont’ Kiara
was mostly inhabited by monkeys.
Besides travelling around Asia on
business, he finds time to write about
the property scene, often advising
investors with local insights. Pete
is also the editorial consultant for
Building & Investment magazine and
one of the judges for the SEA Property
Awards.
Pete commented, If you find investing
in local properties too daunting and
Iskandar Malaysia overhyped, you may
want to check out Malacca.
During a recent visit to the
historic city, I was surprised by its
transformation. A few years ago, there
weren’t many tall buildings and one
could basically drive through town
and see all there is to see in less than
15 minutes. Now, not only are there
more buildings, well-known retailers
are moving in and the number of
tourists has shot up significantly.
New hotels like Hatten are running
at close to full occupancy despite it
being just over a year old. Familiar
shops like Esprit, MNG and Charles &
Keith are nearby and you might get
the feeling like you are in suburban
Toa Payoh or Tampines. However, the
difference here in Malacca is that your
hotel rates and food prices are easily
less than half of what you have to pay
in Singapore, thanks to the strength of
the dollar.
One developer credited with
transforming downtown Malacca from
a sleepy town into a respectable retail
hub is Hatten Group. The developer
first came into prominence when it
took over an abandoned project and
re-launched it as Dataran Pahlawan
Melaka Megamall in 2006. Since then,
they have added a string of other
projects including retail malls, hotels
and condominiums, mostly around
Malacca.
Iskandar to Benefit From FilmMaking Industry
nformation, Communiction and Culture minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais
Yatim (third from left) looking at a model of Pinewood Iskandar
Malaysia Studios
Iskandar Malaysia Studios
Sdn Bhd (IMS) is positioning
Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia
Studios as the preferred
location for filming and
television-related activities in
the region.
year experience and global
reach to attract clients from
around the world.
While Johor is one big state and
getting from one location to another
is a long drive, most of Malacca’s
attractions are within easy reach.
Driving from the city centre to
the ancient ruins of A’Famosa, for
example, is only 15 minutes.
Chief executive officer Michael
Peter Lake said growth
prospects in the film-making
industry would be good in
years to come and would
create economic opportunities
for Iskandar Malaysia.
Malacca also has a killer advantage -a UNESCO World Heritage Site status.
The only other place in Malaysia
with a similar status is Penang’s
Georgetown.
“Prospects in the film-making
industry will not only come
from the region but also from
the United States as well as
Europe,’’ he told reporters
following the signing of a joint
venture agreement between
Imagica Corp, a unit of Imagica
Robot Holdings Inc, and
Candelon Ventures Sdn Bhd,
a special purpose vehicle of
Khazanah Nasional Bhd, for the
setting-up of a post-production
facility, Imagica South East Asia
Sdn Bhd at Pinewood Iskandar.
Combine the city’s historical
significance with its compact size,
throw in famous food and restaurants
at bargain prices and a growing retail
scene – and what you get is a winning
formula.
In fact, hotels are not building
fast enough to accommodate the
exponential growth in tourist arrivals,
especially during peak season.
Located almost midway between
Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, the city
attracts holidaymakers and foreign
tourists from both cities.
If you were to invest in Malacca with a
view to tap on the increasing number
of tourists, you may be getting
better returns than anywhere else in
Malaysia.
Signing on behalf of Imagica
were president Yukihiro
Fujikawa and strategic business
development head Shinichi
Noguchi while Candelon
director May Quah Bee Fong
represented the company.
Lake said Candelon and
Imagica would jointly market
the post-production facility
at the studios and the latter
would be banking on its 78-
“It is a win-win situation for
both parties with us having
world-class facilities at our
studios here and our Japanese
partner’s expertise as a strong
selling point,’’ he said.
Lake said Johor Baru could be
the next Bangkok in the postproduction-related services
as Malaysia was now ready to
go all out in the filming and
television industry.
He added that apart from
offering services in film making,
Pinewood Iskandar had a wide
range of facilities, a tank that
could store 10,000 litres of
water as well as facilities to
produce TV series and postproduction work.
Meanwhile, Noguchi said it
would be 30% cheaper by
having a post-production
facility in Iskandar Malaysia,
compared with Japan and
competitive costing would be
the main criteria to attract
clients here.
“Our decision to invest RM9mil
overseas, the first for us in 78
years is largely due to the high
operating cost in Japan and
Iskandar’s strategic location at
the crossroad between East
and West,’’ he said.
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