PERANCANGBerita

KDN PP 10805/5/2005 August 2006

Akta Warisan Kebangsaan2005/National Heritage

Act 2005The much anticipated NationalHeritage Act received the Royalconsent on 30 December 2005. Itwas 'launched' by Minister ofCulture, Arts & Heritage in a grandceremony at Sheraton ImperialKuala Lumpur on 30 June 2006.

The event saw the Minister briefingthe invited participants, comprisingofficers from Federal agencies,State and local authorities, districtofficers, enforcement agencies,NGOs and the general public. Thenewly appointed Commissioner ofHeritage, Prof Dato’ Siti ZurainaAbdul Majid, the renownedarchaeologist who was formerlywith USM, was also introduced tothe guests. Prof. Zuraina headsthe newly created JabatanWarisan Negara. It was thenfollowed by a briefing session by apanel of officers from KementerianKebudayaan, Kesenian & Warisan(KeKKWa or Ministry of Culture,Arts and Heritage) on the keyelements of the Act.

It is no doubt a very importantmilestone for the country, andspecifically for the planningprofession. The Act was arguablybased on the initial draft preparedby JPBD for KementerianPerumahan & Kerajaan Tempatan(KPKT, Ministry of Housing & LocalGovernment) as an amendment tothe Town & Country Planning Act.The main addition to the KPKTdraft is the inclusion of “intangibleheritage”. Heritage as defined bythe Act covers both cultural andnatural heritage, includingunderwater cultural heritage. Ineffect, the new National HeritageAct amalgamated the provisions inthe Antiquities Act 1976 and theTreasure Trove Act 1957. The

latter two Acts were repealed whenthe National Heritage Act cameinto force on 1st March 2006 (withexception to States that do notadopt Part XI of the new Act).

Heritage conservation is now onthe concurrent list of the FederalConstitution, thereby giving it ajoint legislative jurisdictionbetween the Federal and StateAuthorities. The National HeritageAct applies to all the States inPeninsular Malaysia, Sabah andSarawak.

The Act created a heritage registerwhere any member of the publiccan propose to the Commissionerthe designation of any site whichhas natural or cultural heritagepotential. Literally, you can proposeyour neighbour’s property or evensomeone else’s property in aremote jungle in the TitiwangsaRange to be listed as a heritagesite. The Commissioner can servean Interim Protection Order on asite pending the decision onwhether or not the site will bedesignated a heritage site. TheCommissioner will also establishand maintain a National HeritageRegister containing the list of itemsregistered under the Act.

The powers of the Commissionerconferred by the National HeritageAct seem very wide for theconservation of heritage. However,there is a potential weakness inthe enforcement of the Act by thefact that it will require full co-operation from both the State andLocal Authorities for it to be fullyeffective. Consent from therelevant State Authority is requiredbefore any designation is made.Written permission from the State

Authority is also required beforeentry to a proposed heritage site.At the local level, the localplanning authority must take intoaccount the designated heritagesite in the preparation of anydevelopment plan and in theconsideration of planningapplications under the Town &Country Planning Act and therelevant State laws in Sabah andSarawak.

In summary, the National HeritageAct requires close co-operationbetween the KeKKWa and theState and local authorities. It isalso closely linked to the Town &Country Planning Act in itsenforcement. This point wasrepeatedly emphasized by theKeKKWa’s Legal Advisor in hisbriefing, thereby, signifying thesignificant role of town planners inthe conservation of our heritage.The onus is on KPKT and JPBD toinitiate the process of amendingthe Town & Country Planning Actto accommodate the relevantprovisions in the National HeritageAct. BP

Symposium On KnowledgeCities

NEWSLETTER OF THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS

The symposium organised byAUDI (Arab Urban DevelopmentInstitute. See www.araburban.org/MDMS/ english/home.html fordetails of AUDI) was held on 28 to30 November 2005 in Al-MadinahAl-Munawara, Saudi Arabia. Therewere more than 25 working paperspresented with the attendance ofmore than 350 participants fromvarious Islamic countries includingMalaysia. The focus of theconference was on knowledgecities and information societies. DrAlias Abdullah, the MIP CouncilMember, attended the conferenceand presented a paper on“Planning and Implementation of aUniversity’s Wide Property, Assetand Facility Management System”.

2 NEWSLETTER OF THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS

MIP COUNCIL 2005-2007

PresidentNORLIZA HASHIM

Vice-PresidentPROF DR MANSOR IBRAHIM

Honorary SecretaryAHMAD SUHAIMI ISMAIL

Honorary TreasurerMD NAZRI MOHD NOORDIN

Standing Committees :

Membership / EducationFund BoardPROF DR MANSOR IBRAHIM

Research and PublicationASSOC PROF DR ALIASABDULLAH

ProgrammeMOHD. ZAMRI HUSIN

Education and StudentsAffairsASSOC PROF WAN MOHAMEDYUSOFF ABDULLAH

Young PlannersMD. NAZRI MOHD NOORDIN

Corporate Affairs /International AffairsNORLIZA HASHIM

Sustainable Planning andDevelopmentKHAIRIAH TALHA

Special ProjectsJASON LEE POH LEE

Professional PracticeIHSAN ZAINAL MOKHTAR

CO-OPTED MEMBERS2005-2007

• Dato’ Hj Zainol Bin Hj Ayob

• Datuk Hj Zainuddin HjMuhammad

• Zainab Bin Mohd Ghazali

• T Mahesan

• Datin Paduka Dr HalimatonSaadiah

MIP has moved to its new officeand it is located just off theLebuhraya Damansara-Puchong(LDP) and next to Kelana JayaSeafood restaurant. A freeholdproperty, the Aman Seri office is a4-storey shop-house building (withlifts) that was purchased fromGlomac at a price of RM1.44million (after a 7% discount).

Renovation works is still ongoingbut almost completed; howeveroperations of the Secretariat arenow from this new office premise,which most of you would havebeen informed through our mails.Once completed, the MIP office willbe opened to all its members andhopefully one day be also openedto the public for Planning AdvisoryServices and use of facilities whichincludes :-

1st Floor – MIP Secretariat2nd Floor - MIP Library and

Resource Centre3rd Floor - MIP Training Centre(Ground floor will be rented out tofinance some of our operation cost)

Currently we are in the midst offilling up the Resource Centre withbooks, journals and publications

related to Planning andDevelopment and we welcomecontributions in terms of books andother donations that members cancontribute towards making thecentre a comprehensive one-stopcentre for information regardingtown planning and development.

Once completed, all exams, MIPcourses and most CPDprogrammes will be held here andthis we hope will make CPD moreaffordable to all. 50% of allproceeds made from this trainingcentre will be contributed to theEducation Fund Board, which wehope to strengthen its role andfinancial abilities. The office willalso be a centre for students andnew graduates seeking moreinformation on town planning andits opportunities and we welcomeeveryone to our new office.

Look out for an invitation to our‘Doa Selamat’ and House Warmingwhich we hope to do some timebefore ‘puasa’ and with this centre,we hope more will come forward tonot only participate in ourprogrammes but volunteer in oursub-committees programmes andactivities.

EDITORIAL BOARDAdvisorAssoc. Prof. Dr Alias Abdullah

Chief EditorIshak Ariffin

Members• Assoc. Prof. Wan Mohamed

Yusoff b. Abdullah• Khairiah bt. Hj. Mohd

Talha• Muhammad Faris b.

Abdullah• Bong Khin Fah• Mohd Zin Mohamed• Juwairiyah Ho bt. Abdullah• Hj. Mokhtar b. Samadi

Berita PERANCANG ispublished by the PublicationCommittee of the MalaysianInstitute of Planners.

All communication should beaddressed to:Berita PerancangMalaysian Institute ofPlannersB-1-02, Jalan SS 7/13B, Kelana Jaya47301 Petaling Jaya,SelangorTel : 03-7877 0636Fax : 03-4877 9636

E-mail : beritaperancang@myjaring.net /beritaperancang@gmail.comWebsite :http://www.mip.org.my

Views expressed in thisNewsletter do not necessarilyrepresent those of the MalaysianInstitute of Planners

Printed bySwan Marketing Sdn Bhd28, Jln PBS 14/15, Tmn PerindustrianBukit Serdang, Seri Kembangan,43300 Selangor Darul Ehsan

Secretariat Staff

Siti Nor Azmi

Shariah bt Che Lah

Hurun Ain

Address :MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS

B-1-02, Jalan SS 7/13B, Kelana Jaya47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

The New MIPOffice

Assalamualaikum wrm.wbr. andWarm Greetings,

In the World Planners Congressheld in Vancouver, June 2006,urban planning issues weredebated and discussed in greatdepth and enthusiasm. Thesupport from various worldcommunity leaders brought aboutnew strength and spirit forplanners who attended theconference (who were from allover the world). Urban planning isacknowledged as essential inaddressing some of the greatestchallenges facing the globalcommunity and much of thethinking were focused on issuesof sustainable development andplanning. However, it has notgone unnoticed that for somecountries, urban planning facedgreat challenges and the practiceof planning has not always been

inclusive. Thus the call from the

UN Habitat to address both the

political and professional aspects

of the vision of planning so as

to balance environmental

sustainability with social and

economic dimensions.

For the Malaysian planning

scenario, the political vision to

attain a developed nation status

by the year 2020 is even more

clearly defined in the Ninth

Malaysia Plan and its National

Mission, which has outlined the

implementation framework and

the country’s priorities for the next

15 years. The Plan is pro-planning and emphasizes on a

stronger and more value-added

economy, while giving substantial

focus to socio-economic issues

and uplifting the quality of life for

all.

The fourth key thrust of the NinthMalaysia Plan calls for‘Improving the standard andsustainability of quality of life’.Malaysia’s commitments towardssustainability have progressedsince its commitments to the RioSummit in 1992. And in its NinthPlan, (2006-2010), it has identifythe need for a MalaysianSustainable DevelopmentIndicators (SDI) to measure andset targets for all sectors tocomply and acknowledges theneed for internationalenvironmental initiatives. And forthe first time, it is seen thatsustainability has holistically beenthe fundamental factor of the Planand these has also beenintegrated with its budgetallocations where affordablehousing, infrastructuredevelopment (to serve theunderserved), urbantransportation and environmentalenhancement projects has beengiven priorities in allocations (RM46.8 billion – allocated to Ministryto Natural Resources, Ministry ofWorks and Ministry of Transport).(RM 18 billion for Affordable andPublic Housing and Services).

The Ninth Plan also emphasizeon ‘pro-poor and integratedplanning’, where reducing theregional and income disparitybetween rural and urban areas aswell as between less developedand more developed regions aregiven focused. These are in linewith the policies and strategies ofthe National Physical Plan thatpromotes regional developmentby identifying regional growthconurbations in PeninsularMalaysia to rationalized nationalspatial planning for economicefficiency and globalcompetitiveness and to optimize

utilization of land and naturalresources.

In light of all these and more thathas been identified in the NinthPlan, Town Planning practice isvery relevant and the role of theprofessional town planners toimprove the quality of life of theMalaysian people is even moreso important. A ‘New UrbanPlanning’, which is strategic,stakeholder responsive andmarket-savvy, and linked tobudgets, can guide investments,both private and public, to wherethey are needed most and havethe maximum impact. Let us allrealized the National Mission andsupport the initiatives of theGovernment and plan towardsachieving a better quality of lifefor all.

Thank you

Norliza HashimPresident

NEWSLETTER OF THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS 3

President’s Message

• Urban Planning in SaudiArabia . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

• History of St Peter’sChurch, Malacca . . . .10

• Zurich the Best City toLive in . . . . . . . . . . . .13

• Predictability inPlanning - A WorthyGoal? . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

• Technical Visit toVancouver . . . . . . . . .20

Highlights

President Norliza Hashim addressing the floor at the 34th AnnualGeneral Meeting of MIP on 25th March 2006 at Impiana Hotel, KL

4 NEWSLETTER OF THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS

EditorialI called up an old friend and formercolleague at JPBD the other day.She just came back from a studyleave so we had some catching upto do. Naturally the conversationcame to BERITA PERANCANG.I was surprised to hear thecomment that some planners getintimidated - oops! sorry! - gotscared away from submittingarticles because of the Englishlanguage used in the publication.

I must stress here that it was notintentional that BERITAPERANCANG has had most ofthe articles published in English.We just received moresubmissions, in fact the majority ofmaterials, in English. We simplywish that more people would writein BM. Another reason for mywritngs being in English is namely,we are trying to support the drivetowards improving our commandof English. Naaah. I am lying! I justwrite better, actually faster, inEnglish. I have been doing it forthe last 30 years or so. It is not that

my English is so great but in truth,my BM is worse! Yes, it’s true. Thisson of a BM/Malay literatureteacher had never scored an A forhis BM in school. I admit I amashamed of this fact.

In the now global environment, weneed to master at least one of themajor languages of communicationin this world. We also need tocommunicate with people in otherparts of the world too. Therefore,our newsletter, which is availableon-line in pdf format, should atleast be readable by anyinterested party outside thiscountry. We should be able tostand our own in the company ofpeople whose common languageof communication is English. Weshould not be intimidated (sorry,that word again) by native Englishspeakers we call Mat Sallehswhen in a meeting here oranywhere in the world. It issurprising to see many plannersretreat into their shells whenconfronted with English speaking

Caucasians in meetings, seminarsor social gatherings, merelybecause they have no confidencein their command of English. Thatis very sad when it happens.

Let us see more contributions inBM in the future. We haveredesigned the newsletter formatto enable publication of articles ofany length between 100 and 1,000words. We already have a G-mailaddress (beritaperancang@gmail.com) that can be easilyremembered. We have only usedup 45MB of the 2,745MB spacewe were allocated. So let thecontributions roll in. You can writeon anything, on any subjectmatter; as long as it feels goodwhen you write it, it will feel goodwhen we read it, irrespective of thelanguage it was written. I’ll bechecking the mailbox everydayfrom now on. Have a nice day!

~ Ishak Ariffin ~Chief Editor

18/7/06 Do you care about yourneighbours?Woke up this morning and all I seeis Siti Nurhaliza's face on the frontpage of the local papers. Before Iwent to bed I thought there was a2m high tsunami that hit ourneighbour's West Javanprovince... Ah well, so much forour caring Malaysian, huh?

15/7/06 Cineplex safety I find the exit passages ofcineplexes around KL to be apotential hazard in case ofemergency. Even the newer stateof the art places such as 1-Utamanew wing do not seem safe.Patrons leaving 2 cineplexessimultaneously had to squeezethrough a 10ft wide fire escape. Inother cineplexes you have to windthrough a very long maze in semi-darkness, sometimes climbing ordescending staircases before youre-emerge at another part of theshopping complex. I dread to thinkof the possible consequencesshould I ever need to evacuate acineplexe with several youngchildren in tow.

13/7/06 Metrobus again...When will Metrobus drivers everlearn to adopt better drivingetiquette? Why do we tolerate badbus drivers? I was nearlysandwiched between 2Metrobuses when l was trying toswitch into the right lane on JalanTAR at Maju Junction. I hadsignalled well ahead but one ofthe buses came up from behindand tried to overtake me in orderto reach the bus stop a shortdistance in front, ahead of theother bus on my left. I wonder ifthis situation has ever happenedto any of our Ministers and electedMPs?

3/7/06 Posh apartmentsI can't understand the rational thatwe have to build expensiveresidential properties on all theprime land that we have. Who arewe building them for? Well-heeledforeigners? OTOH, you don't getsimilar commitment or enthusiasmto build affordable or low costhousing in other areas.

9/6/06 From The Star…JPS said 29,000sq. km. or 9% ofour land is prone to floodingincurring RM950m/year of losses.Among the contributing factors areover-development and the lack ofproper planning. Most of theaffected areas are in towns. Therate of run-off is doubled when40% of the land area isdeveloped.

30/5/06 Rain = Traffic jamWhy is it that every time it rainsthe roads in KL will be cloggedwith traffic? One drop of water andthe traffic backs up 10km. Trafficjams are the biggest waste ofmoney that we indulge in day inand day out but no one takesserious action about it.

25/5/06 A Wish List1. JPBD take full ownership of theLocal Plan reports during SPCmeetings and not insist on theconsultants to answer all thequeries. The consultants shouldbe there to help them answer thequestions;

2. University Professors in TownPlanning should not be made toundergo the 2 year GraduateMembership of MIP. For goodnesssake, the Professors are trainingour town planners. Let's accordthem due respect.

5/5/06 London TubeThe London Underground serviceis set to run 1/2 hr later on Friday& Saturday nights and starts anhour later on Saturday mornings,the London Mayor announced...effective from the middle of nextyear. In this country, anannouncement like that usuallytake effect midnight tonight. Wenever give ‘early warning’.

. . Planning Blog . . . . Planning Blog . . . . Planning Blog . . . .

LEMBAGAPERANCANGBANDARMALAYSIA(LBPM)Cop Ahli LBPMSemua ahli MIP yang berdaftardengan Lembaga PerancangBandar digalakkan untukmengguna pakai cop ahli yangbaru (seperti yang dilaporkandalam BP Februari, 2006) dalamurusan permohonan kebenaranmerancang dan pengesahanpelan susun atur. Pihak Lembagaakan membuat pengumumanrasmi berkenaan penggunaancop LPBM ini melalui suratpekeliling kepada semua ahliberdaftar tidak lama lagi.

CREATIVE THINKING is today’smost prized profit, producingpossession of any individual,corporation or country. It hasthe capacity to change you,your business and the world.

~ Peter P. Crowford.

NEWSLETTER OF THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS 5

Reports

A one day National Seminarthemed “ Gated Developmentsand Sustainable Communities”was held in conjunction with theAnnual General Meeting, on 24thFebruary 2006 at the ImpianaHotel, KLCC. A total of 150participants were present to listento 5 papers and a panel discussionin which two representatives of agated and a non-gated communityalso debated on the pros and consof gated developments.

The papers ranged from the legalprovisions and enabling actsgoverning gated developments, toa global perspective andexperiences of gateddevelopments and impact onsociety and communities, toplanning and development controlissues. One element that washighlighted was the fact that therehas not been a comprehensivedata collection about gateddevelopments nor has there everbeen a study on the socialimplications of gated

developments on sustainablecommunities. It was thusrecommended that for the planningprofession to have a stand onwhether gated communities shouldor should not be encouraged in lieuof sustainable communities, it wasrecommended that acomprehensive study beundertaken together with theJPBD.

National Seminarof “SystemicAssetManagement” byEAROPH, 4th and5th May 2006A total of 200 participants attendedthis seminar which unfortunatelywas poorly received by planners.A total of 7 foreign speakers mainlyfrom Australia, New Zealand andSingapore tabled the best andmost effective practices in manyaspects of asset managementsuch as public buildings andinfrastructure, water and seweragefacilities, residential buildings andits related facilities and parks andgardens. Asset Management isstill currently very poorlyunderstood by planners, whereasthe subject is vital to urban andrural sustainability. Good AssetManagement, if incorporated intoplanning layouts, will lead togreater urban sustainability. Formore information about GoodAsset Management, log on towww.earoph.netReported by Puan Khairiah Talha Contributed by Muhd Faris

Participants at the “GatedCommunities” Seminar

“New Recruits” initiation ceremony

Council replying to queries

MIP members at the AGM

25.03.06 - MIP 34th AGMSeminar on Gated Communities

Mohd Noor Bin Ayob, Assoc Prof Dr Alias Abdullah and PresidentPn Norliza Hashim enjoying a light moment at the AGMPresident and MIP members with Dato' Mohd Fadzil Mohd Khir,

Director General of Town & Country Planning Malaysia, at the seminar

6 NEWSLETTER OF THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS

ReportsScale ofProfessional Feesfor TownPlanning ServicesMIP would like to re-emphasizeand remind all members onceagain about the Scale ofProfessional Fees for TownPlanning Services to be used by allTown Planners as per stipulated inthe Board of Town Planners,Malaysia, Scale of ProfessionalFees and General Conditions ofEngagement 2005.

The Board of Town Planners inmeeting no 2/2005 held on the17th March 2005 has approved theScale of Professional Fees draftedby Malaysian Institute of Plannersand subsequently endorsed by theMinister of Housing and LocalGovernment.

This was announced in the 2005Annual General Meeting held onthe 30th of July 2005 in SheratonHotel, Subang Jaya. This meansthat the Scale of Professional Feesand General Conditions ofEngagement 2005 as approved bythe Board has superseded all otherprevious fees drafted by MIP.

The scale of fees shall be gazettedsoon and shall form part of theRules of the Town Planners Actand this means that all membersmust use it as the Minimum Scaleof Professional Fees for TownPlanning services.

Content :-PART I - INTRODUCTIONPART II - PROFESSIONAL

SERVICESPART III - SCALE OFPROFESSIONAL FEESFees Covers The Following Services:-1. Preparation Of Development Plans2. Planning Permission For Change

Of Use of Land 3. Planning Permission For Layout

Plan Approval4. Planning Permission For Erection

Of Building and Change of Use Of Building

5. Advocacy Planning Services6. Urban Design7. Viability Studies8. Other Studies9. Planning Advisory Services

The Executive Business Meetingof the Commonwealth Associationof Planners was held on the 20thJune 2006 in Westin BayshoreHotel, Vancouver, Canada. This isfurther to the meeting held inKuala Lumpur in July 2004, wherewe had played host to the meetingas well as to the CAP Conference2004.

Dr Mohamad Thalha Alitamby, theVice President South East Asiaregion and Madam NorlizaHashim, the MIP Presidentrepresented Malaysia. Themeeting was well attended withrepresentatives from UnitedKingdom, Canada, Nigeria,Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya,Barbados, Singapore, Australia,Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and SouthAfrica.

There were many issuesdeliberated in the meeting whichincludes the issues on Women In

Planning, Planning Aid initiativeswithin CAP member countries, theMutual Recognition Arrangementswithin CAP countries and theaccounting and finance issues.However the highlight of the eventwas the new line of ExecutiveCommittee of CAP. For the firsttime in history, there werecontenders for the President’sposition and with certain groundrules set to ensure elections werecarried out smoothly, the result isa new President for CAP -Christine Platt, the Vice Presidentof South Africa. Professor Cliff

Hague steps down as Presidentbut has willingly assumed theposition of Secretary General toensure continuity. It was a goodmeeting as the room was filledwith warmth and a sense ofcomradeship and it is hoped thatMIP can benefit more from thisassociation of planners withinCommonwealth countries, in lightof globalization and opportunitiesfor export of services and in theleast friends from all over the

world. CAP 2008 will be inJohannesburg and let us hopethat more planners can join in theonce-in-two-years conference.

COMMONWEALTH ASSOCIATION OFPLANNERS (CAP)

New Line-up of Office Bearers 2006-2008

Representatives from various planning institutes of the CAP countries

The Business Meeting

The newly elected President ~Christine Platt

Outgoing President, Cliff Hague,and members of the CAP Executive

In the News . . . . In the News . . . . In the News . . . . MPPJ chided for notdoing its homework(The Malay Mail, April 3rd 2006)The Petaling Jaya ResidentsAssociation claimed that thePetaling Jaya Municipal Councilwas not fully prepared whenpresenting their draft local planduring a public briefing recently.To make matters worse, legalexperts present during the sessionfound that there were legal flawsin the proposals and some wereallegedly illegal in nature.

The Minister for Housing andLocal Government said that about69% of the local authorities havefailed to implement the 23measures recommended by hisMinistry under the safe cityprogramme. The local authoritiescited financial difficulties for notimplementing the measures.However, the Minister said thoseauthorities who already achievedmunicipal or city council status

should not use financial difficultiesas reason for not implementingthe measures as these localauthorities should have sufficientfinancial resources available tothem. He also identified four of themost active local authorities inimplementing the measures,which are Shah Alam City Council,Johor Bahru City Council,Manjong Municipal Council andKulai Municipal Council.

69 peratus PBT gagal lahirkan bandar selamat(Mingguan Malaysia, Feb 26th 2006)

News from the Secretariat

Graduate Members1. En. Zamri Bin Mohd Saharin2. Pn. Muna Binti Sarimin3. Pn. Irdayati Bt Abdul Aziz4. Mr. Chan Chee Han5. Ms. Egna Francis Gitom6. Pn. Raja Norashekin Raja

Othman7. Pn. Suhailawati Binti Bohani8. En. Abdul Rahman Bin

Kamaruddin9. Cik Wan Yusnini Binti Wan

Ahmad10.Mr.Yeong Siew Yan11. En. Reduan Bin Idris12.Cik Norazlizai Binti Aziz13.En. Yusrihan Bin Jusak14.En. Mohd Redzuan Bin Ribot15.En. Wan Andery Bin Wan

Mahmood16.En. Arshad Bin Ahmad

Corporate Members1. 512/06 - Mr. Oliver Ling Hoon

Leh2. 513/06 - Pn. Khatijah A.O Mohd

Shafie3. 514/06 - En. Ab. Hamid Abd

Majid4. 515/06 - Pn. Alimah Binti Suri5. 516/06 - Mohd Ali Bin Abu

Bakar6. 517/06 - Dr. Dolbani Bin Mijan7. 518/06 - Cik Rokibah Binti

Abdul Latiff

Consultant Firm1. PC/B-147/2006 - GCA Planning

Consultants

MIP WelcomesNew Members

Jawatan Nama Tarikh Mula Tarikh Tamat SessiLantikan Lantikan

1. Pengerusi Dato' Mohd. Fadzil bin Hj. Mohd. Khir 01.03.06 28.2.09 Pertama2. Presiden MIP Norliza bt. Hashim 31.7.05 * Pertama

(Wakil MIP-Swasta) (01.07.05) (30.06.08) (Kedua)3. Presiden PPPB Dr. Dolbani bin Mijan 2005 * Pertama

& DSM dolbani@townplan.gov.my4. Wakil MIP (Awam) Kosong5. Wakil MIP (Awam) Dato’ Yaacob bin Nordin 01.07.05 30.6.08 Pertama6. Wakil MIP (Awam) Dato’ Jebasingam Issace John 1.7.05 30.6.08 Pertama7. Wakil MIP (Swasta) Mahesan a/l Thilliampalam 01.07.05 30.6.08 Kedua8. Wakil MIP (Swasta) Lawrence Chan Kek Tong 01.07.05 30.06.08 Pertama9. Wakil MIP (Swasta) Kosong10. Wakil MIP (IPTA) Prof. Madya Dr. Alias Abdullah 01.07.05 30.6.08 Ketiga11. Wakil LAM Ar. Prof. Madya Dr. Asiah Abdul Rahim 12.01.06 30.09.2007 Pertama12. Wakil LJM Ir. P.E. Chong 01.04.06 * Pertama13. Wakil LJTSM En. Mohammad Azmi bin Mohd. Zin 13.10.03 * Pertama14. Pendaftar Tn. Haji Mohd Azam bin Mohd Abid 28.05.05 - -

* hingga ada perlantikan baru

SENARAI ANGGOTA LEMBAGA PERANCANG BANDAR MALAYSIA (30 JUN 2006)

NEWSLETTER OF THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS 7

Contributed by Muhammad Faris

Fresh GraduateRegisterAll new graduates in TownPlanning who are members of theMIP are reminded to enrolthemselves on the FreshGraduate Register (FGR). Thepurpose of the FGR is to assist thenew graduates with job placementand to facilitate the design oftraining programmes for youngplanners. Please contact Siti atthe MIP Secretariat for furtherdetails.

G r a d u a t eTraining SchemeThe MIP seeks town planningfirms registered with the Instituteto participate in the GraduateTraining Scheme for young andnew graduates in town planning.The scheme will be similar to theFederal Government’s SKSprogramme and placement ofpotential trainees shall beadministered by the YoungPlanners Committee. Planningfirms interested to participate inthis programme should contactMd Nazri Noordin, Chairman ofYoung Planners Committee at+603-4105 4417 or 4105 4418.

C o n t i n u i n gP r o f e s s i o n a lD e v e l o p m e n t(CPD) -

First ReminderThe Professional PracticeCommittee has issued the FirstReminder to all CorporateMembers of the Institute to submittheir CPD Plan and Records. AllMembers are required to fulfil theCPD requirements of accumulating20 CPD points over each two-yearperiod. New members arerequired to maintain records fromthe date of admission toCorporate Membership. CPDGuidelines and forms for CPDPlan and Records can bedownloaded from the MIPwebsite : www.mip.org.my.

Berita PerancangJemputanBerita Perancang menjemputsemua ahli MIP untukmenyumbangkan artikel, pendapat,ulasan atau maklum balas kepadaBerita Perancang. Kami menerimatulisan sama ada dalam BahasaMalaysia atau Bahasa Inggeris.Setiap sumbangan dihadkankepada 1,000 perkataan sahaja.Hantarkan sumbangan andamelalui fax kepada SecretariatMIP atau melalui email kepada :beritaperancang@gmail.com.

70 peratuskawasan hijau

(Berita Harian, May 1st 2006)

Kuala Lumpur City Hall decided togazette only 48% of Bukit Gasingarea under their jurisdiction asgreen area despite previouslyagreed to gazette the whole area,said Friends of Bukit GasingAssociation. Bukit Gasing fallsunder the administration of twolocal authorities, Kuala LumpurCity Hall and Petaling JayaMunicipal Council. The latter hadgazetted all the 34 hectares ofBukit Gasing area under theirjurisdiction as green belt reservein 1961. The other 110 hectaresunder the Kuala Lumpur City Hallis yet to be gazetted. Now, KualaLumpur City Hall said they areproposing 48% (54 hectares) ofthe Bukit Gasing area fordevelopment of housing andpublic facilities. Friends of BukitGasing Association said they arefrustrated by the decision but hopethe City Hall can at least preserve70% of the area as green area, ifnot all.

Report

Kontinjen MIP Ke SUKNA XIII JPBD 2006 Di JohorBahru Melakar Sejarah Sekali Lagi . . . MIP Johan

Bolasepak Kali Kedua Berturut-TurutKejohanan Sukan Dwi-TahunanJabatan Perancangan Bandar &Desa Semenanjung Malaysia(JPBD) atau lebih dikenali dengannama barunya SUKNA JPBD kaliyang ke-13 telah diadakan sekalilagi bertempat di UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia (UTM) yangtelah berlangsung selama lima (5)hari bermula pada 13hb. Mei 2006hingga 17hb. Mei 2006 denganJPBD Negeri Johor yang mewakiliZon Selatan selaku PenganjurSUKNA ke 13. Acara PembukaanKejohanan SUKNA JPBD 2006telah diadakan di Dewan CanselorUTM dan telah dirasmikan olehMenteri Perumahan & KerajaanTempatan, YAB Dato’ Seri Ong KaTing, turut serta ialah ExcoKerajaan Negeri Johor iaitu YB.Dato’ Halimah Mohd Sadique yangturut hadir memeriahkan majlistersebut.Kejohanan SUKNA ini telahdisertai oleh enam (6) zon yangmana terdiri dari Kontinjen ZonUtara (JPBD & Pejabat ProjekPerlis, Kedah, Pulau Pinang danPerak), Kontinjen Zon Tengah(JPBD Ibupejabat, Selangor danPejabat Projek Kuala Lumpur),Kontinjen Zon Selatan (JPBD &Pejabat Projek Negeri Sembilan,Melaka dan Johor), Kontinjen ZonTimur (JPBD & Pejabat ProjekKelantan, Terengganu danPahang), Kontinjen Zon Sabah(Jabatan Perancangan Bandar &Wilayah Sabah) dan Zon MIP(Pertubuhan PerancangMalaysia).

Pertubuhan Perancang Malaysia(MIP) telah diberi penghormatanoleh JPBD Malaysia kerana telahsudi menjemput sekali lagi danMIP juga telah memberikankomitmen untuk mengambilbahagian dalam SUKNA ke 13dengan memberikan mandatkepada MIP Cawangan Johoryang dipengerusikan oleh Tuan Hj.Fadzil dan En. Abdul Halim bin AliHassan (dilantik sebagai KetuaKontinjen MIP) untuk membentuk

Kontinjen MIP yang terdiri darigabungan firma-firma perundingyang mengamal atau praktis dinegeri Johor dan Melaka. Namunbegitu, gabungan firma perundingdi Lembah Kelang juga turut sertadengan misi untuk mengekalkankejuaraan Bolasepak Sukna yangtelah dimenangi 2 tahun lepas diKota Bharu, Kelantan. PenyertaanMIP pada Sukna kali ini adalahyang terbesar dengan penyertaanseramai 70 orang termasukpegawai sukan dengan hampirsemua acara telah disertai iaituBolasepak dan Futsal, Bola Jaring,Badminton, Bowling, Sepaktakraw,Ping Pong, Karom dan Golf(terbuka dan tidak ambilkira dalampungutan mata SUKNA).

Dalam pada itu, Mesyuarat AhliMajlis MIP juga telahmempersetujui penglibatan MIPdalam sukan tersebut denganmelancarkan kutipan dermasumbangan dari semua pihaktermasuk dari syarikat-syarikatperunding yang berdaftar denganMIP dan dengan sumbangantersebut juga Kontinjen SUKNA-MIP telah dibentuk yang terdiridari:-1. Pn. Norliza Hashim - Penaungdan Penasihat Kontinjen Sukna MIP2. Tuan Hj. Fadzil Abdul Rahman -Chef-de-Mission, (MNF &Associates)3. En. Abdul Halim Ali Hassan -Ketua/Pengurus Kontinjen &Futsal (Perunding UEP)4. Pn. Rohani Jusoh - Bendahari/Pengurus Bolajaring (RJ PlanningConsultant)

5. En Mohd Zamri Husin -Pengurus Pasukan Bolasepak(Citiplan Networks)6. Pn. Hadibah Abu Bakar -Pengurus Bowlling7. En. Mohd Anuar Hj. A. Wahab -Pengurus Badminton & Karom8. Dr. Amran Hamzah - PengurusBolatampar & Dart9. En. Norhisham Hussain -Pengurus Sepaktakraw

Sekalung TAHNIAH kepadasemua Ahli JawatankuasaSUKNA-MIP 2006 kerana telahbertungkus lumus serta berjayamembentuk sebuah Kontinjen MIPyang berjumlah tujuh puluh (70)orang yang terdiri dari pelbagaiperingkat umur dari sektorperundingan dan pemajuperumahan

Disepanjang kejohanan Sukna2006 ini iaitu bermula dari 13hb.Mei hingga 17hb. Mei 2006,prestasi kontinjen MIP adalahagak memberansangkanberbanding kejohanan lalu dimana beberapa acara diunggulioleh kontinjen MIP sepertimanaditunjukkan dalam keputusanpenuh acara-acara yang disertaiseperti berikut :

BIL ACARA KEPUTUSAN1 Futsal Naib Johan2 Ping Pong Peringkat Kumpulan3 Sepak Takraw

(Berpasukan) Peringkat Kumpulan4 Sepak Takraw

(Antara Regu) Naib Johan5 Bowling

(Berpasukan) Peringkat Kumpulan6 Bowling

(Individu Masters) Johan7 Bola Jaring Keempat8 Bola Tampar Keempat9 Badminton

(Beregu Lelaki) Ketiga10 Badminton

(Berpasukan) Peringkat Kumpulan11 Dart Keempat12 Karom Peringkat Kumpulan13 Bolasepak Johan

. . . Sekalung Tahniah!!! dari MIPuntuk pasukan-pasukan yangtelah menunjukkan perlawananyang bermutu dan bersih (fair-

play) serta berjaya menjadipemenang terutama sekali kepadapasukan Bolasepak MIP (berjayamengalahkan Zon Timur) yangtelah berjaya mempertahankankejuaraan buat kali kedua berturut-turut dan kepada pasukan yangtidak berjaya, cuba lagi di Sukna 2tahun lagi di mana JPBD Selangor(mewakili Zon Tengah) akanmenjadi tuan rumah Sukna 2008.Di samping itu, tidak dilupakankepada semua perunding-perunding (di Johor Bahru danseluruh Malaysia), pemaju-pemajuperumahan, kontraktor dansebagainya yang telahmemberikan sokong moral dalambentuk kewangan dan peralatansukan....Terimakasih diucapkan ...

‘PROFESIONAL DAN SUKANBERSAMA DIJAYAKAN’ . . . . .. . . .JUMPA LAGI DI SUKNA 2008- SELANGOR DARUL EHSAN’

Kontinjen SUKNA MIPbergambar kenangan bersama

Presiden MIP, Pn. Norliza Hashim

Pasukan Bola Jaring MIP

Pasukan Bolasepak MIP

Pasukan Futsal MIP

Oleh :Mohd Zamri Husin, Julai 2006

8 NEWSLETTER OF THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS

NEWSLETTER OF THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS 9

INTRODUCTIONThe goal of spatial planning inSaudi Arabia is to promotebalanced regional developmentbased upon equity and efficiencyand to improve the environmentalconditions of the urban centresthrough the formulation andapplication of rational policies,strategies, plans at the national,regional and local levels.

LEGAL STRUCTURESaudi Arabia is a monarchy withthe Holy Qur’an as theconstitution. The main institutionsof the system are: the King, theCouncil of Ministers and theConsultative council (Majlis AlShura). The King is the supremeauthority in the Kingdom.Independent judicial systeminterprets the laws and makesdecisions in all sorts of cases.

The Council of Ministers is theformal policy making body withexecutive and legislative powers. Itis chaired by the King and isresponsible for the formulation ofpolicies. However, the Kingapproves all laws, treaties,concessions, national budget andthese are promulgated throughroyal decrees. These laws anddecrees form the basis of planninglegislation in the Kingdom. Inaddition, other royal orders, CrownPrince Resolutions, and Council ofMinister’s directives issued totackle particular problemssupplement and support theplanning legislation. The secondlevel of decision making is theministries which are authorised tointerpret the laws formulated bythe higher institutions and issuedirectives, resolutions andordinances to implement them.These are enforced throughcirculars, even though thesecirculars may not have direct legalsanctions.

Organisation and administrationof planningSaudi Arabia has a centralisedsystem of government wherebythe central government plays astrong role but the other two levels

are also performing the assignedfunctions. At present the threelevels carry out the followingduties:1. At central government level,

there are 21 ministries.However, in relation to spatialplanning, two are directlyconcerned. Ministry of Planning(MOP) prepares the economicand sectoral framework for thecountry through the 5-YearDevelopment Plans. Ministry ofMunicipal and Rural Affairs(MOMRA) is the primaryagency in the Kingdomresponsible for spatial planningand the provision andmanagement of infrastructurein all the settlements.

2. At the regional level, all theministries are representedthrough their regional officeswhich carry out theimplementation of projects.MOMRA’s representation isthrough the Directorate Generalor Regional Municipality whichdeal with spatial planning. Theco-ordination of thedevelopment activities in theregion is the responsibility ofthe Provincial Council chairedby the Governor.

3. At local level, the municipality isthe centre of the existing spatialplanning legislation. Themunicipalities are organisedaccording to the population sizeand their importance. Thelargest five are known asAmanats and the rest aregraded as A, B, C, and Daccording to their populationsizes. There are also 62 villagecluster centres. All Amanats,municipalities and villagecluster centres are headed bymayors appointed by thecentral government withadministrative control exercisedby MOMRA. Funds areallocated by the Ministry ofFinance on therecommendation of MOMRA.As most of the municipalities donot have adequate planningstaff, the Deputy Minister ofTown Planning, MOMRAinitiates and undertakes plan

preparation in collaborationwith the municipalities.Sometimes Amanats hireplanning consultants to preparespatial plans of varied nature.

Who gives consent?Approval of any national orregional plans rests with theCouncil of Ministers chaired by theKing. Powers are sometimesdelegated to the Minister ofMunicipal and Rural Affairs.Meanwhile, approval of structureplans and local plans is given bythe Minister of Municipal and RuralAffairs.

Policies, regulations andprocedures relating to spatialplanning and land developmentalso emanate either from Councilof Ministers or the Minister ofMunicipal and Rural Affairs in theform of decrees, directives andcirculars.

Who can object?The plans are discussed anddebated at the national, regional

and local levels to incorporate theviews of various agencies butthere is no system of publichearing/objections as practiced inthe west. Individuals can challenge

any provisions of the plan underShari’ah (Islamic Law) which is thebasis of all legislation in thecountry. Special courts known asDiwan-e-Mazalem have beenestablished to hear complaintsagainst government decisions andactions.

ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURESaudi Arabia has a strongcentralised system of governmentwith all revenue generation andallocation of funds handled by thecentre. The head of state and chiefexecutive is the King. The Kingappoints the Council of Ministersto help him formulate policies andimplement them. The country isdivided into 13 administrativeregions known as Provinces andthese are headed by governorsappointed by the King.

(Contd. on Page 11)

Urban Planning in Saudi ArabiaS. Al-Hathloul & M. Aslam Mughal

Level ResponsibilityCentral • Legislation

• Goals and policies• National spatial strategy• Regulations and procedures• Spatial plans (for regions and municipalities

without technical capabilities to prepare the plans)Regional/Provincial • Implementation of regional plans/strategies

• Co-ordination of investment• Land use decisions• Provision of infrastructure

Local • Implementation of structure and local plans• Planning and building control

Feature

St. Peter’s Church is the oldestChristian church in use inMalaysia. It was built in 1710,during the Dutch occupation ofMalacca by the perseverantMalaccan Catholic community.Until 1977, St. Peter’s was thechurch of the Portuguese Mission,under the jurisdiction of Macau.The Mission’s history and serviceto the people of Malacca goesback unbroken to the firstPortuguese priest to arrive inMalacca in 1511. Thanks to theresearch of Father Manuel Pintadowe know that between 1710 and1977, 57 missionaries worked inSt. Peter’s Church. To understandthe historical significance of thissite one must look back at the firstencounter, face to face, betweenSouth East Asia and Europe.

FROM 1511 TO 1710 : The birthof Christianity in Malaysia

The history of this site began in1511 when the Portugueseconquered Malacca. Their mainaim was not to seize territory butrather to challenge Arabdomination of the Indian Ocean,wresting control of the lucrativespice trade, and also to promotethe Catholic religion. In fact, if it istrue that every Portuguese in Asiawas as a rule a trader, it is no lesstrue that all were active or potentialmissionaries. As a centre ofChristian radiation, naturallyMalacca became dotted withnumerous churches, chapels,convents and monasteries, whichserved as centres for hundreds ofmissionaries who preached inSouth East Asia and the Far East.Some of today’s annual religiousevents were first introduced by theFathers of these convents. Forexample, the way in which PalmSunday and Good Friday arecelebrated in St. Peter’s today wasintroduced by the Augustinians in1587.

By 1613, Malacca had a well-established Christian community.According to Manuel Godinho deEredia by then there were already7400 Catholics in Malacca, most of

them of Chinese, and chiefly,Indian origin. To serve this growingpopulation, Malacca had 8parishes, 14 churches, 2 hospitalchapels, 4 religious convents andsome hermitages and oratories.After the Portuguese lost Malaccato the Dutch in 1641, Catholicworship was forbidden. Thereligious buildings that survivedthe siege were destroyed or usedfor profane purposes. But thePortuguese, Eurasians and otherCatholics who decided to stay kepttheir faith alive and practised itunderground. There were alwaysPortuguese priests in disguise inDutch Malacca to conductmasses, baptisms and marriages.Sometimes they were arrested,like the Portuguese Jesuit, AntonioCardim, made prisoner in 1652.He questioned the fact that theDutch tolerated mosques andother temples but not RomanCatholic churches.

The truth was that the coldCalvinist Church found it difficult tocompete with the emotional appealof the Roman Church. On oneoccasion, in 1665, the Dutchdiscovered that no less than 1500people had met secretly in agarden near the town to hear aCatholic mass. With the help ofsoldiers, they dispersed theCatholics and brought the imagesto the Fort where they wereburned. In this context, a religiousassociation formed by DominicanFathers in 1554 - ‘TheConfraternity of the Holy Rosary’ -played an important role inkeeping the Catholic faith aliveduring the Dutch period. They alsoheld their devotions secretly inprivate homes or up country. But in

spite of the edicts against thepractice of the Catholic faith, theDutch generally tolerated thepresence of Portuguese priests inMalacca. The Dutch regarded thePortuguese both as fellowChristians and as potential traitors.To be Roman Catholic meantbeing pro-Portuguese and anti-Dutch.

The history of the Catholiccommunity in Malacca was of anextraordinary survival: in 1669there were about 2000 Catholics inMalacca, and by the 1700’s theystill outnumbered the members ofthe Dutch Reformed Church by sixto one. In 1702, religious freedomwas proclaimed and in 1710, St.Peter’s Church, the firstpermanent Roman CatholicChurch established after the Dutchconquest, was built.

FROM 1710 TO ‘2010’ : From anew church to a heritagebuilding

In 1702, the Dutch gave the landwhere St. Peter’s Church standstoday to Franz Amboer, recordedin documents as being a Malaywith a Dutch-sounding name. Thelot was located in Bunga Raya, atthe time a suburb of Malacca: in a1744 map, the road was alreadynamed ‘Weg nach Bongareyen’(Road to Bunga Raya). Amboer,who converted to Christianity,subsequently donated the land tothe Portuguese Fathers for theconstruction of a church.According to the historian F. M.Teixeira, Amboer had adescendant in Macau, a priest,who became the Chanter of theMacau Cathedral.

We do not know the author of theplans of St. Peter’s Church. Itsarchitecture has references to thechurches built by the Portuguesein their colonies around the world.But we do know that the first priestof St. Peter’s was Fr. DomingosMonteiro sent by the Archbishop ofGoa after a request in 1708. So,naturally the construction of thechurch followed certain features ofchurches already established inIndia. The rectangular plan has amain nave covered by a roundtimber ceiling supported bycylindrical columns. Two parallelnaves add space, resulting in alarge hall. This solution representsan adoption of an older typology,characteristic of Portuguesechurches prior to the 16th century.From the 16th to 18th centuries thenorm was the single internalspace, known as ‘Igreja Salao’(Hall Church). Compared with St.Paul’s Church, which is a perfectexample of the norm, St. Peter’sChurch follows an interesting oldfashioned solution. The adoptionof this model may have stemmedfrom its use in some other 16thcentury churches in Malacca suchas the Parish Church of St.Thomas built in 1562 which alsohad rows of stone pillars. NearbySt. Peter’s Church and alsoaround 1700, the Confraternity ofthe Holy Rosary built a newchapel, the ‘Ermida do Rosario’which followed exactly the samemodel. Today, only ruins remain ofthis on the left bank of the Malaccariver at Bunga Raya Road.

The building of St. Peter’s Churchchanged over the centuries.Unfortunately, a proper survey orresearch to trace its evolutionsince it was first built has neverbeen carried out. Probably aroundthe 19th century some renovationswere made, when some elementswere modernized according to the‘Gothic revival’ style: some of thewindows and doors adoptedGothic arches. A marble plaquedated 1918, marking an importantcampaign of works, lists donationsmade by a great number of

+

St. Peter’s Church, MalaccaCOMPILED by FERNANDO JORGE, Badan Warisan Member, Lisbon, Portugal.

Article courtesy of Badan Warisan Malaysia

10 NEWSLETTER OF THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS

EVALUATION & COMMENTARYThe present system of townplanning in the Kingdom hasevolved over the past 60 years.Even though the process seems tobe fragmented, one could observecontinuity in these developmentsand a gradual progression in itsdevelopment to address therapidly changing developmentproblems. Starting from the stageof Municipal and Road Statutes,the planning process has gonethrough the stages of gridironpattern during 1940’s, masterplanning during 60’s,comprehensive urban and regionalplanning during 70’s and 80’s,reaching the stage of NationalSpatial Strategy and StructurePlanning in the 90’s. Thus theentire national space is nowsubject to study to promotebalanced development in all theregions as stipulated in the 5-YearDevelopment Plans. Thereappears to be an effort to integratevertically the planning programs atnational, regional and local levelthereby translating the nationalgoals within spatial context.Whereas National Spatial Strategycovers the entire national spaceand structure plans cover all theurban centres and even somevillages, the regional level is notyet covered comprehensively. Allthe previous studies, at this level,were only partial in their coverage.Now DMTP, MOMRA is launchinga study to cover this level as hasbeen done in case of structureplans. Another level, which is verysignificant from the point of view ofimplementation, is the detailed

local level. Structure plans providethe subregional context for theurban settlements but the issuesof zoning, land uses etc. cannot bedecided without detailed plans.

The preparation of these detailedplans, in collaboration with themunicipalities, has also beenlaunched by the DMTP, MOMRA.Once this exercise is complete,the country will have an integratedplanning system providing acomprehensive basis to make landuse decisions at all levels.However comprehensive planninglegislation is lacking to back theplanning process and itsimplementation. Piecemeallegislation to cover variousaspects of planning processcannot ensure effective results.

STATISTICAL DATAArea

2,250,000 sq. km.Population

16,900,000 (1992 Census);19,500,000 (1998 estimated)

Density7.51 inhabitants sq. km.

Largest ProvinceEastern Province (726,059 sq.km).

Largest PopulationMakkah (4,470,000 inhabitants*)

Highest DensityGizan (52.02 inhabitants sq.km.*)

*Based on 1992 Census

*Note : This article was summarized byMuhammad Faris Abdullah. For fullversion, refer ISOCARP (1998),International Manual of Planning Practice(Third Volume), pp. 132-142; TheInternational Society of City and RegionalPlanners: The Hague.

Urban Planning in Saudi Arabia(Contd. from Page 9)

prominent local Straits Chinese,including Tun Tan Cheng Lock. In1961, further works were carriedout replacing the Indian roof tileswith the present Marseilles tiles.

Some details that we should lookfor when visiting St. Peter’sChurch:

• The main altar is dominated by apair of spiral Baroque columns,very common in Portuguese altarsof the time. At the centre of thecomposition is the statue of St.Peter. The Crucifix deservesspecial attention: this ivorysculpture is a fine example of theart that developed in Asia underPortuguese patronage. TheseIndo-Portuguese works,commissioned to Indian artists inGoa, were widely appreciated inPortuguese society from the 16thto 18th centuries.

• The stained glass windows in a‘Gothic revival’ style at either sideof the main altar are undated, butthe left panel, depicting ‘S.Sebastian’, shows the words ‘L. H.Maumejeanh - Paris - Madrid’.

• A Victorian iron spiral staircasewas added to access the choirreplacing a previous timber one.

• The bell of St. Peter’s Churchwas cast in Goa, India by a familyof renowned gun-founders - theBocarros. The bell bears thisinscription: “AVE MARIA GRATIAPLENA DOMINUS TECUM /BENEDICTA TU IN MULIERIBUSSANCTA MARIA / PDIS B OES. A.1608” (Hail Mary, full of grace, theLord is with thee, blessed art thouamong women. Holy Mary. PedroDias Bocarro made it in the year1608). F. M. Teixeira explains thatthese are the words of theAnnunciation and therefore the

bell was most probably mouldedfor the Church of the Annuciationin Malacca (St. Paul’s Church).Taken from a previous PortugueseChurch, it is a true symbol of thehistory of St. Peter’s: this almost400-year old bell exemplifies, asFather Pintado said, the ‘survivalthrough Religion’.

A final word about the‘Confraternity of the Holy Rosary’established in 1554: although theirchapel, mentioned above, isreduced to a neglected ruin, theancient Confraternity is still alive.At the end of the 19th century theymerged with St. Peter’s Church.Because they were a strong andwealthy organisation, they weregiven certain privileges, like tohave the emblem of the rosary onthe façade of St Peter’s, where itstill stands today. The ‘Irmaos deIgreja’ (Brethen of the Church) asthey are known today, havethroughout the years guardedmany traditions, such as theorganisation of the unique HolyWeek celebrations in Malacca. AsFather Pintado mentioned, theyare perhaps the oldest associationin Malaysia, celebrating 450 yearsin 2004. As for St. Peter’s Church,it will celebrate 300 years ofheritage in 2010.

Selected Bibliography :Pintado M. -

Survival Through HumanValues, 1974, Malacca

Weber M. - Dutch Malacca, 2001, Malacca

Teixeira F. - Portuguese Missions inMalacca and Singapore (1511-1958), 1986, Macau

Thomaz L. - Early Portuguese Malacca,1964, Lisbon

St. Peter’s Church, Malacca(Contd. from Page 10)

April 2003 Piling WorksThe Government has allocated ahefty RM1.6b for developmentprojects in Putrajaya under theNinth Malaysia Plan. Theallocation would allow thepreviously planned projects underthe Eighth Malaysia Plan whichwere shelved due to financial

constraints, as well as newprojects, to be undertaken. Theseinclude the construction of thesteel mosque, housing andrecreational facilities.Nevertheless, there is noallocation for reviving themonorail project just yet.

Putrajaya gets RM1.6b for projects(NST, June 21st 2006)

NEWSLETTER OF THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS 11

feature

What is it about Bali that tends tomake people equate it to qualityand class in the property marketin this country? It is just a bighype, a ploy of the sales peopleto give an illusion of grandeur andexclusivity. It is also a skewedperception of contemporaryconsumers and hopelessromantics who believe that tagline. The sad part is that 'Bali' hasbecome a brand which manyadopted just in form and not infunction, outside its native islandanyway. However there is more toBali than just Balinese garden,Balinese architecture or Balineseart. What has been missing fromthe adopted pseudo-Balineseform being copied here is theBalinese culture and way of life.What we failed to capture is theBalinese essence, the soul ofBali.

No doubt Bali is a very pleasantplace to visit. Intriguing, actually,it is. I believe it is an equally niceplace to live in. Balinese aresome of the nicest people I haveever met. Humility is a trait thatmost of them share.Determination is another. Add tothat resilience. See how theyquickly picked up the pieces andcontinue with their lives after thetragic bombing in Kuta a fewyears back. These arecharacteristics, besides the art,tradition, architecture, rusticvillages, terraced rice fields, milesof sandy beaches, elaborateceremonies and a host of otherthings that attract the millions ofvisitors to the island every year,that form the essence of Bali.

This has inspired a lot of peopleto attempt to recreate their Baliexperience elsewhere. Everyonethat I know who has experiencedBali wishes to prolong it. Some goto the extreme and permanentlyrelocated themselves there. Thatis perhaps the most sensiblething to do. We try to imitate whatwe thought is Bali back home.Imitation may be the sincerestform of flattery. Alas, imitation willalways be what it is - an imitation.

The true Bali cannot be replicatedbecause the essence of Bali lieswithin its people. Let's forgetabout imitating Bali elsewhere.But what we can do as townplanners is to imitate some of thepositive features that can makeour physical environment a betterplace.

So we want to model our islandresorts or the new residentialproject on the Bali theme? Beforewe do that let's ponder on a fewthings. Let's ponder why there areno road humps to be foundanywhere in towns or villages inBali. Ask ourselves why there arehardly any motorcycles parked onthe sidewalks and corridors, orcars illegally parked along roadsin built up areas. Motorcycles,there are lots of them, are parkedin their allocated parking lots.There is no “jaga kereta” either.Parking fees are paid to JuruParkir, uniformed parkingattendants found at every corner.These uniformed personnel alsoassist drivers in parking theircars. Everyone pays immediatelyas soon as they step off theirvehicles.

Isn't it amazing that no one honkaggressively when the traffic is

obstructed by slow movingvehicles? Equally amazing is thateveryone wait patiently in thequeue. Most of all, despite thethree million population, most ofthem living in the regions aroundDenpasar, there is only oneexpressway - the Ngurah RaiBypass - linking Denpasar, theairport and Nusa Dua. All otherroads are mostly singlecarriageways. You’d also be hardpressed to find anyone beggingalong the shop corridors.

Imitating form withoutunderstanding the functions canbe a dangerous thing. Like theboy racer wannabe who put hugerear spoilers, oversized tyres andlowered suspensions on theirProtons. They shod it with a set ofR-rated tyres but then tried to hit180kph on the expressway. Orthose idiots dressed in greenbomber jackets, straight-leg jeansand Dr Marten’s boots, callingthemselves “skinheads” andhanging out in Bukit Bintang.Don’t they know that the originalskinheads went around bashingin the faces of people with

coloured skin as their realpurpose in life?

Another thing that the Balinesedid was to make a law that nobuildings shall be higher than thetallest trees and stuck to it,although that was after they madethe mistake of letting some hotelsin Sanur go beyond 5-storeys.The difference is that they stuckto the new ruling and not changeit there and back every couple ofyears, or months, as we do overhere.

Another ingenious thing they didis to sell residential lots of 10m by10m in size and let the ownersbuild right up to the sideboundaries, or at least on oneside. They only painted the frontand back of the house and theside walls that do not form the lotboundary. When every one on thestreet has erected their houses,voila! You get a row of terracedhouses! They have applied thesame formula in commercialareas in Denpasar too. Althoughthey say there is a law requiringsome set back, but no one paysattention to it probably. Perhapsthis is what we should try here -B.Y.O. houses, Build-Your-Own,instead of the Build-then-Sell,linked houses.

I would advice the designers,developers, architects andplanners who want to sell their“Gated Bali Enclave” or whateverschemes, go to Bali first, not justread the catalogues or the Balidesign books that abounds inlocal bookstores. But if you aregoing to Bali for ideas, go walkabout, drive around and pay moreattention to the surroundings.Don’t just spend half your daysexploring the various services inthe Spa. Having the Bali garden,Bali fountain, Bali bathroom, Baligate, Bali teak doors, Bali spaand Bali doormat does not makeyour premises Bali. You are still along way from Bali. You should atleast have a Wayan, Made,Nyoman and Ketut manning yourreception, for a start.

A long way from BaliIshak Ariffin

12 NEWSLETTER OF THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS

The main street through a small town - Tampaksiring

Juru Parkir in Denpasar

No parking for cars butmotorcycles are parked onone side of the road only &

not on the sidewalk

NEWSLETTER OF THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS 13

10 April 2006 : The Swiss cities ofGeneva and Zurich offer the bestquality of life according to researchpublished by Mercer Consulting inApril 2006. Vancouver (Canada) isplaced third, followed by Vienna(Austria), Auckland (New Zealand)and Düsseldorf (Germany).Baghdad, not surprisingly, is thelowest ranking city in the survey.

EIU names Vancouver,Melbourne and Vienna as 'best'cities in the world

The analysis is part of MercerConsulting's annual 'World-wideQuality of Living Survey', coveringmore than 350 cities. Each city isbased on an evaluation of 39criteria, including political, social,economic and environmentalfactors, personal safety and health,education, transport, and otherpublic services. Cities are rankedagainst New York as the base city,which has an index score of 100.

Europe & Middle East

Almost half the top 30 scoring citiesare in Western Europe. In thisregion, Vienna follows Zurich andGeneva in 4th position with a scoreof 107.5. Other highly-rated citiesinclude Düsseldorf (107.2),Frankfurt (107.0) and Munich(106.8) in positions 6, 7 and 8respectively. Athens remains thelowest scoring city in WesternEurope, scoring 86.8 at position 79.

London is the UK’s highest rankingcity and is stable at position 39(score 101.2). The two other UKcities covered in the survey areBirmingham and Glasgow, whichboth score 98.3 and climb oneplace to joint 55th position.

Dublin has dropped two places to24th position, scoring 103.8, mainlydue to increased traffic congestion.

As predicted, cities in EasternEurope such as Budapest,Ljubljana, Prague, Vilnius, Tallinnand Warsaw continue to benefitfrom incremental score increasesand are gradually climbing therankings.

“The standard of living in manyEastern European cities is

gradually improving, as thecountries that most recently joinedthe EU attract greater investment,”commented Slagin Parakatil,Senior Researcher at Mercer. “Yetcities such as Dubai may still offera wider variety of facilitiesdemanded by expatriates - forexample, well-connectedinternational airports and betteropportunities for recreation andleisure activities - compared tomany Eastern European cities.”

Positions for most cities in Europeand the Middle East are generallyunchanged, with the exception ofCairo which has tumbled nineplaces to position 131 and scores71.2 due to the political turmoil andterrorist attacks in the city andsurrounding area.

Baghdad ranks as the leastattractive city for a third consecutiveyear, with a score of 14.5.

The Americas

Honolulu, the highest ranking cityin the U.S., drops two positions to27th with a score of 103.3. SanFrancisco remains at 28th positionand scores 103.2. Boston,Washington, Chicago and Portlandfollow in positions 36, 41, 41 and43 respectively (scores 101.9,100.4, 100.4 and 100.3) whileHouston remains the lowestranking city in the U.S. at position68 (score 95.4). Overall, U.S. citiescontinue to slip slightly or remainstable in the rankings, exceptChicago which has moved up 11places due to decreased crimerates.

“Economies in the developed worldtend to be relatively stable overall.Fluctuations in the quality of livingin these regions are usually drivenby factors such as increased airpollution, crime rates and trafficcongestion, or external events liketerrorism, disease outbreaks ornatural disasters,” said Mr.Parakatil.

In South America, scores varyconsiderably due to differences ineconomic and political stability.“Argentina’s steady economic

recovery is likely to push its citiesup in the rankings in the next fewyears,” commented Mr. Parakatil.

Asia-Pacific & Africa

Auckland and Wellington have bothmoved up the rankings from 8th to5th and 14th to 12th placesrespectively, mainly due to stronginternal stability relative to othercities, while Sydney remains atposition 9 with a score of 106.5.

In Asia, Singapore ranks 34th (score102.5) followed by Tokyo, Japan’shighest scoring city, at position 35(score 102.3). Hong Kong’s modernand efficient infrastructure, includingits airport (which is considered oneof best in the world), has pushed itup from 70th to 68th position with ascore of 95.4.

The top-ranking city in China isShanghai in 103rd place (score80.1). “Beijing and Shanghai are onthe rise and should experiencerapid improvements in quality ofliving in the coming years. This ismainly due to greater internationalinvestment driven by the availabilityand lower cost of labour andmanufacturing expertise,”explained Mr. Parakatil.

Though cities in India generallyrank lower than their Chinesecounterparts, they are alsoshowing signs of development inthe region.

“The quality of living in Indian citessuch as Mumbai and Bangalore isincreasing slowly but steadily,primarily due to India’s improvedpolitical relationships with othercountries,” said Mr. Parakatil.“Investment from multinationalssetting up operations in India mayprompt further improvements,boost economic growth andcontribute to economic stability. Inturn, this will encourage the localauthorities to focus on improvingquality of living standards.”

Other low-ranking cities for overallquality of living include Congo inBrazzaville (score 30.3) andBangui in the Central AfricanRepublic and Khartoum in Sudan(30.6 and 31.7).

Zurich again named best city in the world to live in A report by Mercer Consulting

Extracted from: http://www.citymayors.com/features/quality_survey.htmlThe world's top cities offering the

best quality of life (New York is the base city with a

score of 100 points)

2006 2005 City Country PointsRank Rank 1 1 Zurich Switzerland 108.22 2 Geneva Switzerland 108.13 3 Vancouver Canada 107.74 3 Vienna Austria 107.55 8 Auckland New Zealand 107.36 5 Düsseldorf Germany 107.27 6 Frankfurt Germany 107.08 7 Munich Germany 106.89 9 Bern Switzerland 106.59 9 Sydney Australia 106.511 11 Copenhagen Denmark 106.212 14 Wellington New Zealand 105.813 12 Amsterdam Netherlands 105.714 13 Brussels Belgium 105.615 16 Toronto Canada 105.416 16 Berlin Germany 105.117 14 Melbourne Australia 105.018 18 Luxembourg Luxembourg 104.818 21 Ottawa Canada 104.820 19 Stockholm Sweden 104.721 20 Perth Australia 104.522 22 Montreal Canada 104.323 22 Nürnberg Germany 104.124 22 Dublin Ireland 103.825 25 Calgary Canada 103.626 25 Hamburg Germany 103.427 25 Honolulu USA 103.328 28 San Francisco USA 103.229 29 Adelaide Australia 103.129 29 Helsinki Finland 103.131 31 Brisbane Australia 102.831 32 Oslo Norway 102.833 33 Paris France 102.734 35 Singapore Singapore 102.535 34 Tokyo Japan 102.336 36 Boston USA 101.937 37 Lyon France 101.637 37 Yokohama Japan 101.639 39 London UK 101.240 40 Kobe Japan 101.041 41 Washington USA 100.441 52 Chicago USA 100.443 42 Portland USA 100.344 43 Barcelona Spain 100.245 44 Madrid Spain 100.146 46 New York City USA 100.047 46 Seattle USA 99.948 47 Lexington USA 99.849 48 Winston Salem USA 99.751 50 Osaka Japan 99.651 51 Milan Italy 99.651 50 Milan Italy 9853 52 Lisbon Portugal 97.553 52 Tsukuba Japan 97.5

Survey methodology Data was collected largely between Septemberand November 2005 and was updated regularlyto take account of changing circumstances. Inparticular, the assessments will be revised in thecase of any new developments. Only 215 citieshave been considered in the Quality of Living2006 rankings. The overall quality of living ranking is based on anevaluation of 39 criteria. New York has been usedas the base score for quality of living, which hasa total index equal to 100. Mercer’s study is based on detailed assessmentsand evaluations of 39 key quality of livingdeterminants, grouped in the followingcategories: • Political and social environment (political

stability, crime, law enforcement, etc.) • Economic environment (currency exchange

regulations, banking services, etc.) • Socio-cultural environment (censorship,

limitations on personal freedom, etc.) • Medical and health considerations (medical

supplies and services, infectious diseases,sewage, waste disposal, air pollution, etc.)

• Schools and education (standard andavailability of schools, etc.)

• Public services and transportation (electricity,water, public transport, traffic congestion, etc.)

• Recreation (restaurants, theatres, cinemas,sports and leisure, etc.)

• Consumer goods (availability of food/dailyconsumption items, cars, etc.)

• Housing (housing, household appliances,furniture, maintenance services, etc.)

• Natural environment (climate, record of naturaldisasters)

14 NEWSLETTER OF THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS

Calendar of Events

MARCH 2006

07 IEM : The InternationalConference & Exhibition OnTunneling & TrenchlessTechnology. Venue : SelangorBallroom, Sheraton SubangHote & Towers

08 Pejabat SUK N.Selangor :Mesy JawatankuasaPertubuhan Bukan Kerajaan(NGO’s) Bil 1/2006. Venue :Blk Gerakan, SSAAS

09 PSDC : Majlis KesyukuranSempena Perpindahan KeRuang Pejabat Baru PSDC DiKompleks Kerja Raya

09 UTM : Seminar AntarabangsaAsia GIS. Venue : IBNU SINA,UTM Skudai.

09 PSDC : Advisory PanelMeeting 01/2006. Venue :Bilik Gerakan, KompleksKerja Raya

15 MIP/CPD Programme : FengShui In Town Planning.Venue: The Saujana KL

17 Lembaga Perancang BandarM’sia : Kunjung Hormat PSDCKe LPBM. Venue : Blk Mesy.Tanjung, JPBD

18 BIM : Invt To BIM YoungProfessional Group. Venue :Board Room, BIM

18 EAROPH : APIGAM CoreGroup Capacity Building .Venue : Asia PacificDevelopment Centre, KL

20-21JKPTG : KajianBerkumpulan Kali Ke2Penggubalan Dasar TanahNegara. Venue : CorusParadise Resort, PD

21 PSDC : Chairman MeetingWith President OfProfessional Institutions AndBoard. Venue : Bilik Mesy.KSU

22 IIUM : Invt As An ExternalAssessor For The StudentPortfolio For The Dept OfUrban & Regional Planning,KAED. Venue : BriefingRoom, KAED

22 EAROPH : EAROPHSecretariat Meeting No 32004/2006. Venue : EAROPH

22-23 JPBB Melaka & MIPSouthern Chapter : BengkelPenggubalan Strategi &Konsep Pembangunan DlmPenyediaan RancanganPemajuan.

23 CIDB : MesyuaratJawatankuasa TeknikalAmalan Pemuliharaan AlamSekitar Dlm IndustriPembinaan . Venue : GrandSeason Avenue

24 MIP : Seminar On GatedCommunity DevelopmentsAnd SustainableCommunities. Venue :Impiana Hotel, KL

25 MIP : 34th Annual GeneralMeeting, Venue : ImpianaHotel, KL

25-26 UTM : MajlisKonvokesyen Ke 36. Venue :Dewan Sultan Iskandar, UTM

27 EAROPH : EAROPHSecretariat Meeting No 32004/2006. Venue : EAROPHSecretariat Office

APRIL 2006

12-13 JPBD Sem. M’sia :Kajian Dasar PerbandaraanNegara (DPN)

01 EAROPH : APIGAM CoreGroup Capacity Building .Venue : AISA PacificDevelopment Centre

CIDB : Invt To RoundtableConsultative Forum ForCaptains Of Industry . Venue :Bilik Kuala Lumpur, PWTC

18-20 Uni-Link Smart VentureSdn Bhd : Invt To ParticipateAt National PropertyDevelopment Conference(NPDC 2006). Venue :Holiday Villa Subang

12-13 JPBD Sem. M’sia :Kajian Dasar PerbandaranNegara (DPN). Venue :Awana Genting HighlandsGolf & Country Resort

20 MIER : 11th CorporateEconomic Briefing. Venue :Grand Plaza Parkroyal Hotel

14 MATRADE : Mesy. LiberalisasiSektor Perkhidmatan DiBawah Malaysia - USA FTA.Venue Tgk 16, MITI

20 JPBD Sem. M’sia : Mesy.Bersama Perunding. Venue :Crown Princess Hotel, KL

24 PSDC : Proposal For BudgetDialogue 2007. Venue :PSDC

22 IEM : The 47th Annual DinnerAnd Award Night. Venue :Palace Of Golden Horses

24 PSDC : Working Group OnDirectory For ProfessionalServices - Meeting 2 /2006.Venue : PSDC

24-25 ACEM : Seminar &Exhibition On Clean AgentFire Suppression Systems.Venue : The Pan Pacific, KL

06 BIM : Invitation To Be ABriefing : SME Professional -A Product For TheProfessionals. Venue : BoardRoom, BIM

20 PSDC : Tea Talk - How TradeMissions Can Help TheProfessional ServicesProviders. Venue : M’sianExport Exhibition Centre

24 PSDC : Directory ForProfessional Services

MAY 2006

02 ISM : Meeting On IsmExcellence Award 2006-Master Study. Venue :Bangunan Jurukur

04 UITM : Pusat Warisan SeniMelayu, Seminar On SelectedMalaysian Heritage Issues.Venue : Bangunan Inovasi,UITM Shah Alam

4-5 EAROPH : NationalConference On SystemicAsset Management. Venue :Sheraton Subang Hotel &Towers

05 BIM : Executive CommitteeMeeting Exco. BIM Building

05 MIP : 8th Council Meeting2005/2007. Venue : AJMPlanning

09 BIM : Meeting OfProfessionally DrivenDevelopment For The 9thMalaysia Plan. BIM Building

14 Sukan Nasional JPBD(SUKNA) Ke Xiii 2006. Venue:Johor Bahru

17 PSDC : InternationalCommittee Meeting No. 3.Venue PSDC

18 PSDC : Tea Talk : FinancialProducts For ProffessionalServices Provider By SMEBank. Venue : MEEC

18 BIM : Notice Of OrganizingCommittee Meeting, AnnualDinner 2006. Venue : BIMBuilding

20 JPBD Sem. M’sia : PublisitiAwal Rancangan TempatanDaerah Gombak &Sebahagian Daerah HuluLangat. Venue : FlamingoHotel, Ampang

20 ISM : Meeting On TheTechnical Panel ForOutstanding ContributionTowards Sustainability .Venue : Bangunan Jurukur

22 JPBD Sem. M’sia : BengkelTerjemahan DasarPerancangan Fizikal Negara(RFN) Kpd Pelan Tindakan.Venue : Hotel Vistana,Pahang

22 MP ALOR GAJAH : Fgd :Peringkat Penyediaan AsasRujukan RancanganTempatan Daerah Alor Gajah.Venue : Hotel Puteri Resort,Ayer Keroh

22 JPBD Sem. M’sia : KajianRancangan Tempatan DaerahKuala Langat. Venue InstitutLatihan Perindustrian

22-24 The National ChamberOf Commerce & Industry OfM’sia : 13th G15 FederationChambers Of Commerce,Industry & Services (FCCIS).Venue : Hotel Istana, KL

24-25 JPBD Sem. M’sia : Fgd: Kajian Rancangan TempatanDaerah Besut. Venue :Kluang Beach Resort

26 BPB Malaysia Gypsum SdnBhd : The Official Launch OfBPB’s State Of The ArtManufacturing Plan. Venue :BPB M’sia Gypsum Sdn Bhd

MIP CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Calendar of Events

26-28 CIDB : JemputanMenghadiri Workshop OnAligning R & D Priority Area ToConstruction Industry MasterPlan CIMP 2006-2015. Venue :Guoman Port Dickson Resort

27- MIP Northern Branch : AnnualGeneral Meeting 2006. Venue :Gurney Hotel, Penang

27-28 CIDB : BengkelJawatankuasa Teknikal AmalanPemuliharaan Alam SekitarDalam Industri Pembinaan.Venue : Awana GentingHighlands Golf & CountryResort

30 PSDC : Tea Talk : EffectiveProfessional ServicesContracts. Venue : Meec

JUNE 2006

01 JPBD Sem. M’sia : PublisitiAwal Rancangan TempatanDaerah Gombak & SebahagianDaerah Hulu Langat. Venue :Kompleks Sukan, Dewan SriSiantan

02 INTAN : Ceramah INTANExecutive Talk . Venue : Intan

05 BIPC : 13th Meeting OfBuilding Industry PresidentsCouncil . Venue : MBAM Conf.Room

06 JPBD Sem. M’sia : RancanganTempatan Daerah Kuala Muda:. Venue : MP Sg Petani

09 EAROPH : Secretariat MeetingNo 4-2004/2006. Venue :EAROPH

09 Malaysia Dental Association :1st ICCDE /63rd MDA AGMJoint Scientific Convention AndTrade Exhibition. Venue : HotelIstana

10 MPPJ : Jemputan Ke SeminarBersempena PengisytiharanBandaraya Petaling JayaBertemakan ‘Bandaraya UntukSemua. Venue : CrystalBallroom, Hilton Pj

13 PAM : PAM Golf 2006. Venue :Tropicana Golf & Country Club

13-15 UITM : FSPU :International Conference InThe Built Environment In The21st Century (ICIBE). Venue :Renaissance Hotel

13 BIM : Notice Of Meeting Of TheBoard Of Management : BOM(4) 2005/2006. Venue : BIMBuilding

14-15 ISM : 8th SurveyorsCongress. Venue : Hotel Istana

15 CIDB : MesyuaratJawatankuasa Teknikal AmalanPemuliharaan Alam SekitarDalam Industri Pembinaan(TEQ). Venue : Grand SeasonAvenue

16 ISM : 45th Anniversary Dinnerof The Institution Of Surveyors.Venue : Hotel Istana

17-27 MIP : Technical Visit ToVancouver, Canada

19-23 World PlannersCongress 2006, Vancouver,Canada

19-23 World Urban Forum,Vancouver, Canada

20 PSDC : Consultative PanelMeeting 02/2006. Venue :Kompleks Kerja Raya

20 JPBD Sem. M’sia : BengkelFgd : Kajian RancanganTempatan Daerah Seremban.Venue : Allson Kelana Resort,Seremban

20-23 INTAN : KursusPenguatkuasaan DanPerundangan Alam Sekitar.Venue : INTAN

21-24 Jabatan KerajaanTempatan : Jemputan Sbg AhliPanel Mesyuarat PerundingAhli Majlis Wanita Pbt SeluruhMalaysia . Venue : Hotel CityBayview, Langkawi

26-27 IIUM : KAED : SeminarInnovative ApproachesTowards Better LivingEnvironments. Venue : IIUM,KAED

27 INTAN : INTAN Executive Talk.Venue : INTAN

27 BIM : Notice Of CommitteeMeeting & Finance Committee2005/2006. Venue : BIMBuilding

JULY 2006

04 BIPC : 13th Meetiing OfBuilding Industry PresidentsCouncil . Venue : MBAMConference Room 2.30pm

06-16 National LandscapeDept, Ministry Of Housing &Local Government Malaysia :The Malaysian InternationalLancscape & Garden Festival .Venue : Perdana Lake Garden

07 INTAN : INTAN Executive Talk :Branding Malaysia From LocalTo Global . Venue : Dewan SriBaiduri, INTAN. 9am - 11am

08 PAM : Building Industry AnnualDinner 2006. Venue : KLConvention Center. 7.30pm

10 PAM : Opening Ceremony OfPAM Annual ArchitectureStudents Works Exhibition2006. Venue : One UtamaShopping Complex

21-23 IIUM - KAED : PlanningStudent Assembly (PSA) 2006.Venue : KAED, IIUM.

06-09 PAM : Official OpeningOf Dex06 & Architex 06. Venue:KL Convention Centre.11.30am

05 JPBD Sem. M’sia : Fgd BagiKajian Rancangan TempatanBatang Padang

14 MIP : 9th Council Meeting2005/2007. Venue : MIPSecretariat Office, Kelana Jaya

11-13 ILAM : InternationalLandscape ArchitectureConference 2006. Venue :Renaissance Hotel, KL

13 MOF : Mesyuarat RafidAppraisal Workshop : KajianMempertingkatkan SistemPenyampaian PerkhidmatanPihak Berkuasa Tempatan(PBT) Di Malaysia. Venue :Crystal Crown Hotel, PJ. 9am-5pm

19 ACEM : Presentation Of FidicTool. Venue : Eastin Hotel , PJ.8.30am -11.30am

22 BIM : 33rd Annual GeneralMeeting (2005/2006). Venue :Istana Hotel, KL

26 BIM : Professional EveningWith Annual Dinner. Venue :Istana Hotel, 7.30pm

UpcomingEvents

AUGUST 200609 Seminar Cum Workshop :

The Need For EnergyEfficiency & Sustainability InUrban Homes Venue: ArmadaHotel, PJ

10 PSDC : Appointment Of PSDCConsultative Panel Members.Venue : PSDC Board Room

14-16 EAROPH : 20thEAROPH World Congress OnPlanning & Housing, City OfMiri, Sarawak

28-29 PSDC : 2nd NationalConference On ProfessionalServices AddressingChallenges TowardsI n t e r n a t i o n a lCompetitiveness. Venue :Legend Hotel, Kl

SEPTEMBER 200605-07 Brownfield Asia 2006,

Kuala Lumpur14-15 JPBD Sem. M’sia :

Mesyuarat PegawaiPerancang Bandar & DesaKali Pertama. Venue : TheLegend Resort, CheratingKuantan

NOVEMBER 200614 PSDC : Appointment Of

PSDC Consultative PanelMembers. Venue : PSDCBoard Room

DECEMBER 200612-14 REHDA : Seminar On

Trends & Property MarketOutlook 2007

NEWSLETTER OF THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS 15

Road Signsfrom India

The Editor

16 NEWSLETTER OF THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS

KL a bettercity to live inthan Seoul(the Sun, April 17 2006)

Mercer Human ResourceConsulting reported that theirlatest Worldwide Quality of LivingSurvey 2006 shown that KLmaintained its position at number75, which is higher than manyother Asian cities including Seouland Taipei, but lower thanSingapore, Tokyo and Hong Kong.Johor Bahru came at number 99,one notch down from last year. 39criteria were used in the surveyincluding political, social,economic and environmentalfactors, personal safety andhealth, education, transport, andother public services. Zurichremained as the city with highestquality of living, while Baghdadranked last.

Worldwide quality of livingsurvey 2006

Rank City1 Zurich2 Geneva3 Vancouver34 Singapore35 Tokyo75 Kuala Lumpur99 Johor Bahru107 Bangkok119 Manila132 Rayong142 Jakarta148 Ho Chi Minh City155 Hanoi170 Vientiane185 Yangon215 BaghdadSource : Mercer Human ResourceConsulting

TO DEVELOP the human capital, we

want our citizens to be fully

equipped with knowledge, practice

good moral values, have a broad

mind, love the country and possess

the physical and spiritual strength.

~ Datuk Seri Abdullah AhmadBadawi ~

RTPJ1The recent controversies and on-going debate between the residentrepresentatives and the localauthority of Petaling Jaya over thedraft PJ1 Local Plan (RTPJ1) is aninteresting test case for our Townand Country Planning Act 1976,with regard to the provisionsrelated to “Local Plans”. Theresident groups are challengingnot just the contents of the draftPlan but the process of the Planpreparation, base upon theirinterpretation of the Act. As it is,the provisions for the preparationof Development Plans in our TownPlanning Act has never beeninterpreted by the Court of Law,and thus leaving us with manyambiguities in their execution.Therefore, the Petaling Jaya casewill make for an interesting casestudy and may have implicationson future Local Plans. BP

PutrajayaAnother landmark (literally andfiguratively) is the new FederalGovernment AdministrativeCentre. The Star (15 November,2005) commented that residentsand visitors of Putrajaya “shouldnot grapple” with the variousinconveniences that they arefacing “because Putrajaya issupposed to be a planned city”. Itis arguably the most intenselyplanned township. It is touted as amodel township for the rest of thecountry. It was planned to almostperfection. But then, there lies itsproblems because the township ismade up of many components.Not every component can be builtsimultaneously although eachdepended on the other in order forthe city system to work as it wasplanned, for example, its plannedintegrated public transportationsystem. There is another problem -people. We need resident peopleto make up a living city. But this isa chicken and egg issue.Malaysians have gotten used to“instant everything” culture, fromMee Maggi and instant coffee to

Pak Man Telo get-rich quickscheme to instant trees. Now weexpect instant cities. Perhaps themistake was to promise too muchat the beginning, leaving a veryhigh expectation to the pioneeringresidents and the visitors. A citytakes time to mature. Shah Alam isa good case in point. Putrajayahas perhaps received anaccelerated infrastructure growthcompared to Shah Alam but itsresidents and communities will stillhave to mature gracefully. Thiscannot be expected to happeninstantly. No doubt, Putrajaya isstill a nice place to look at. Giventime, as well as commitment fromthe local authority, it will be anequally nice place to live in. BP

PJ CityAnother case of impatientresidents is in the newly crownedPetaling Jaya City. The monthsleading up to its declaration of Citystatus and those that followed,never a day passed by without thelocal print media highlighting oneor another grouses from theresidents towards the localauthority. Petaling Jaya, or PJ, asit is affectionately called, is a nice‘little’ place that has outgrown itsoriginal design as a satellite town.I just cannot figure what theresidents really want from PJ. Ihope they will learn to focus on thepositive aspects of PJ instead ofmerely harping on the bad ones. Itmay be a good application of thespirit of Agenda 21 but sometimesI think they take it too far. Theresidents of PJ have been giventoo much authority overthemselves that perhapssometimes they cross the thin linebetween self governance andanarchy. Only in PJ can you findso many very well planned andneatly developed neighbourhoodsturned into ‘army camps’, wherethe local residents erect barriers,employ private guards and decidewho can drive through their street.

BP

In the News EAROPH20th WorldCongress onHousing andPlanning,Miri,SarawakThe Eastern RegionalOrganization for Planning andHousing (EAROPH) will beholding its 20th World Congresson Housing and Planning from14th to 16th August 2006 in MiriSarawak. The theme of“Sustainable Development ofHuman Settlements for a BetterQuality of Life” has five sub-themes and a total of 38international papers will betabled on various subjects. TheCongress will be emphasizingon best practices and successfulprogrammes that have beenimplemented to achieve variouselements of sustainability. Theconcurrent Mayor’s caucus hasattracted speakers such as theU.N. Special Ambassador forMillennium Development Goalsand the Mayor of Seoul who willtalk on the Greening of Seoul.

Waste Management and EnergyEfficient Buildings are newsubject matters that will havemany papers from specialistsand practitioners and peoplefrom the industry. This will be agood opportunity to not just learnnew ideas and experiences butalso to network with many variedpeople from many countries.More detailed information canbe obtained fromwww.earoph.net

feature

Many years ago, when peopleliving in Kedah were made awarethat plans were being drawn up bythe State Government to developan island within one of theprotected marine parks of thecountry, many said that there is noway the development couldproceed. Their predictions werewrong. Despite recommendationsby many quarters, including theDepartment of Environment, thatthe planned development shouldnot be carried out, it was done.

That island was, of course, PulauPayar. And Malaysians generallyknow what happened since then.

More than a decade ago, therewas also a proposal to develop thewell-known Gunung Jerai (also inKedah) into a mini-Disneylandtheme park. The proponent was aKuala Lumpur based company.The project was warmly welcomedand supported by the Kedah StateGovernment. Surprise, surprise.The local residents in the areaopposed it strongly. They askedthe federal leadership to intervene.Facing strong opposition from hisown backyard and as well as lackof support from the federal level,the then Menteri Besar shelved theidea. Unlike the Pulau Payar case,where damage had in fact beendone, the Gunung Jerai wasaborted early. Apart from red facesand probably a tiny dent in thedeveloper’s pocket, there was noenvironmental damage done to theplace.

Elsewhere in Perak, some timeago there was a proposal byprivate developers to develop partof Maxwell Hill. The project waswarmly welcomed by the stategovernment, ostensibly toencourage inbound tourism.Unfortunately, there was strongopposition by the local residents

as well as various NGOs. In theend, the project was aborted.

It was a different story in JohorBaru. A well-connected KualaLumpur based company wanted todevelop one of the city’s mostscenic spots, not too far away fromthe city centre, into an ambitiousmixed development project called“The Floating City”. It had thebacking of the Johor StateGovernment. Opposition from thelocal residents was stronglybrushed aside. A civil action tostop the project was filed by a localresident was dismissed summarilyby the High Court on the groundsof no locus standi. Arguments putforward by the applicant that theproject (commercial in nature)could not be carried out becausethe area in question was zoned arecreational area in the structureplan was brushed aside by thecourt. As all opposition had beeneffectively brushed aside,administratively and judicially, theproject went ahead.

Again surprise, surprise. The multi-million ringgit failed miserably. Itlater became an eye-sore to thestate as well as a mark of shameto the nation. Inherited unwillinglyfrom a previous administration, thepresent state government finallyscrapped the project, announcingplans that it will be converted it intosomething else. Remedialmeasures are now slowly beingtaken, but the damage has left itsmark on the landscape.

These stories, and many othersyet publicly untold, bring up thequestion on the predictability ofplanning. If we are asked thefollowing question from adeveloper “Will my project beapproved?” or “What are thechances of my project beingapproved by the authorities?”, howcertain can we in replying one wayor the other?

Predictability in planning is not animpossibility, according to OregonGovernor, John A. Kitzhaber. Onthe contrary, he believed it shouldbe “a process to enhance bothpredictability and citizeninvolvement.” The objective of theexercise is to provide landownerswith clear expectations as to whatthey can do with their land, whileassuring the public that they toowill have adequate opportunities toparticipate in those decisions.

Kitzhaber said that the stateadministration in Oregon had usedits planning program to enhancecitizen involvement in planning,whilst at the same time taking“strong measures to maintainpredictability”.

Asked to elaborate thesemeasures to enhancepredictability, he explained thatthey involve many elements,including -(1) Clear Policy Direction;(2) Protection from conflicts;(3) Coordination;(4) One level of review;(5) Clear and objective approval

standards;(6) Centralised appeals.

With regard to the first element,Oregon requires every city andcounty in the state to have acomprehensive plan and theimplementing measuresnecessary to make that plan work.In addition, these plans andimplementing measures mustmeet standards specified by thestate government.

Landowners, developers andpermit applicants get predictabilitybecause all the rules andstandards are clearly set down onpaper, and all these matters areknown long before approvalprocess begins.

As for the second element, one ofthe important objectives of land-use planning is the reduction ofconflicts between land uses. InOregon, every square inch ofprivately owned land in the statehas been zoned, and the mainpurpose of that zoning is tosegregate incompatible land uses.For example, in the “ExclusiveFarm Use” zones that have beenapplied to more than 16 millionacres of private farmland in thestate, intensive development andurban uses are prohibited.

In our country, Kedah included,there is no guarantee that a stretchof padi land today will remain sonext year or the year after that.

As for the third element,coordination, Kitzhaber said that inOregon's planning program, theterm has two distinctive meanings.One, it means keeping onecommunity’s plan consistent withanother’s plan. Two, it also meanskeeping local, state and federalagencies pulling together, in adirection consistent with the state-approved local plan. Thiscoordination enhancespredictability by assuring that onelocal government’s land usedecision will not be thwarted by theactions of another localgovernment or state agency.

In the Malaysian context, weshould not have any difficulty inthis regard. After all, we have ourNational Physical Plan at thefederal level, the structure plan atthe state level, and the local planat the local authority level. Unless,of course, we are not walking thetalk. We say one thing, but we thendo things differently.

(Contd. on Page 19)

PREDICTABILITY IN PLANNING : A WORTHY GOAL?

~ Salleh Buang ~

NEWSLETTER OF THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS 17

Campus News

Committee MembersChairman

Assoc. Prof. Wan MohamedYusoff bin Abdullah (101/82)

Fixed MembersEncik Ihsan Zainal Mokhtar(305/94)Prof. Dr. Mansor Ibrahim(273/93)Puan Khairiah Thalha (184/94)Encik Md Nazri Mohd Noordin(301/94)

Other MembersAssoc. Prof. Hj. Zakaria Ahmad(UiTM)Assoc. Prof. Foziah Johar (UTM)Encik Shafiee Shuid (UIAM)Dr. Rahmat Azam Mustafa(USM)Dr. Kausar Binti Hj Ali (USM)Prof. Dr. Che Musa Che Omar(UIA)Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dasimah BintiOmar (UiTM)

Objectives:a. To periodically evaluate and

make recommendation toCouncil on the needs ofplanning education in the localInstitutes of Higher Learning(IPTA), so as to generate betterquality of town planners forfuture needs.

b. To undertake programmes andprojects to enhance educationaland training requirements offuture town planners, and anyothers, that will benefit theInstitute.

c. To advise, monitor and evaluateon town planning programmesoffered by local planning schoolsand related institution.

d. To liaise with governmentagencies (such as JPA, LAN,Jabatan Pendidikan Tinggi,Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi)on matters pertaining torecognition, accreditation,programmes, institutions, etc ofPlanning education and theprofession.

e. To assist the Board of TownPlanners (fixed member of theAccreditation Committee of theBoard) on matters pertaining toplanning education,examination, courses andaccreditation of local Institutionsof Higher Learning and anyother degrees from abroad.

f. To help administer the EducationFund according to the rules andregulations of the Fund, andcarry out programmes that willbenefit the Institute.

Committee Activities :The first committee meeting washeld on 19 January 2006 to discusson the following matters:a) MIP Roadshows 2006b) MIP Planning Program

Accreditation Review Visit ToIPTA

c) MIP Professional Exam andAcademic Service PTK

MIP EDUCATION AND STUDENT AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

The Department of Urban andRegional Planning, Kulliyyah ofArchitecture and EnvironmentalDesign, IIUM, in collaboration withthe Malaysian Institute ofPlanners, will be organising thePlanning Students Assembly 2006from July 21st until July 23rd. Thevenue of the event will be at IIUM,Gombak Campus.

The Planning Student Assembly(PSA), an annual event, aims atbringing together students from

all planning schools in Malaysia.The first PSA was organised by theDepartment of Urban andRegional Planning, IIUM in 2000.Since then, every planning schoolin Malaysia have taken turns toorganise the event. This year, theDepartment of Urban andRegional Planning, IIUM will beorganising the event for thesecond time.

The objectives of PSA 2006 are,first and foremost, to foster

relationship and networkingamong students in planningschools in Malaysia. It also seeksto strengthen the relationshipbetween the Malaysian Institute ofPlanners (MIP) and planningschools in the country, to discusscontemporary issues in planningand to propagate values andethics among the future planners.

The theme for PSA 2006 is ‘UNITYIN DIVERSITY’. This theme wasselected to reflect the diversebackground of students

who come from different planningschools, yet still share the samegoals and responsibilities as futureplanners.

A string of actitivities have beenlined up for the event. The focus ofthe activities will be on Rural andCommunity Planning. Besideslectures on the subject matter,participants will also be involved invarious other activities such ascommunity services at selectedvillages around the Gombak area.

Planning Student Assembly 2006

18 NEWSLETTER OF THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS

Pada 17-19 April 2006 PersatuanPerancangan Bandar danWilayah, Fakulti SenibinaPerancangan dan Ukur, (FSPU),Universiti Teknologi Mara ShahAlam telah berjaya menganjurkansatu aktiviti Persatuan iaituPlanningGALA2006 yangbertemakan “ART andSCIENCES” yang manamatlamat utamanya untukmenjalin perhubungan yang baikdan harmoni di sampingmenambah isu pengetahuanberkenaan isu dan perancanganantara para pelajar ProgramPerancangan Bandar danWilayah UiTM Shah Alam denganstaf perancangan bandar danwilayah di sektor awam danswasta.

Antara Majlis Perbandaran yangtelah mengambil bahagian adalahseperti Majlis PerbandaranPetaling Jaya (MPPJ) dan MajlisBandaraya Shah Alam (MBSA).Antara aktiviti yang telahdiadakan adalah forum yangbertajuk “Art and Sciences inTown Planning”, acara sukanseperti futsal, bola sepak, bolajaring dan sukaneka. PresidenPertubuhan Perancang Malaysia(MIP), Puan Norliza bte Hashimantara yang telah mengambilbahagian di dalam program inidengan kehadirannya sebagaiAhli Panel Forum Perancangandan beberapa aktiviti yang lain.

Program ini juga telah berjayamenarik penglibatan alumniJabatan Perancangan Bandar

dan Wilayah, FPSU, UiTM danjuga firma perunding perancangbandar untuk bersama-samamenyertai program yang telahdianjurkan. PlanningGALA2006telah melabuhkan tirainya denganmengadakan MalamGALA2006yang berlangsung denganmeriahnya dengan penyampaianhadiah dan juga aktivitipersembahan pelajar setiapsemester.

Planning Gala 2006

• Assoc. Prof Wan MohamedYusoff Abdullah (MIP 101/82) -retirement effective 28.03.06.Contract extended until furthernotice

• Assoc Prof Salehaton Hussain

Sazally (MIP 200/88) : April 2006.Contract extended until furthernotice.

• Assoc. Prof. Noorhadjar Bux (MIP 244/91)- retirement effective01.07.06

Retirements (UiTM lecturers)

With regard to the fourth element,one of the most important featuresof Oregon’s planning program is itssingle tier of planning and permitadministration, all of which aredone at the local level. The state-approved local land-use plan is thecontrolling document for land-usedecisions, and land-use permitsare administered by city andcounty officials.

With regard to the fifth element,Oregon requires clear andobjective review standards to beused in reviewing permitapplications for controversial landuses such as multi-family housing,manufactured homes and quarries.Under Oregon law, developmentofficials cannot use vaguestandards such as “compatibilitywith the neighborhood” to deny anapplication for a needed housingtype in an appropriate zone.Insisting on clear standardseffectively safeguard developersand permit applicants fromarbitrary and inconsistentdecisions and thereby enhancespredictability.

Finally, in regard to the sixthelement, the Oregon Legislaturehad created in 1979 a special landuse court, known as the Land UseBoard of Appeals (LUBA). Theresult has been a dramaticdecrease in the time needed toresolve appeals and an increase inthe consistency of decisions.

In Malaysia, not every state has (atthe moment) its Appeal Board. InKedah, we had it only since acouple of years ago. Many otherstates have not done so, althoughthe provisions in the law had beenthere for so long.

It is no wonder that we still havepeople who tell you they don’tunderstand how (on what basis)their applications were rejected,and on what basis other applicantshad better luck.

Predictability inPlanning :

A Worthy Goal?(Contd. from Page 17)

We met many other Malaysiansdelegates in Vancouver, whowere there to attend the WorldUrban Forum and WorldPlanners Congress including theDirector General of Town andCountry Planning, Yg BerbahgiaDato’ Mohd Fadzil b Mohd Khir,Dr Dolbani, Mr Lim Yau Lee, EnNazri Jaffar, En Ghaffar (Ministryof Higher Education), the MajlisPerbandaran Subang Jayagroup as well as Majlis DaerahSepang group.

It was a memorable andworthwhile trip for me and Ihope it was the same for all whowent. We had very little hiccups(I think) and even the delay indeparture of flight to KL did notaffect the arrival time at KLIA. Imust thank everyone who camewith MIP for their support,especially to City Hall KualaLumpur where we had a 12-member delegation (thanks toPuan Hajjah Zainab formanaging to convince themayor), and also to Yusri fromKWA Planners (who helped mea lot to get everyone organizedduring the trip). Of course mythanks to Puan Khairiah who didmost of the ground work beforewe left for Vancouver, the MIPsecretariat and Topaz Travel forthe good work done. Cheers . . . .

. . . . Norliza Hashim

VancouverTechnical Visit

2006(Contd. from Back Page)

MIP Northern BranchAGM, Annual Dinner

and SeminarThe MIP Northern Branch held itsAGM and its first annual dinner on27th May 2006 at the Cititel Hotelin Penang. In conjunction with theAGM, a one-day seminar entitled“Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs) on Planning in Penang”was organized by the branch.

Invited speakers from variousprofessions which included atown planner, a land surveyor, aproperty consultant, ageotechnical engineer and atraffic engineer presentedinteresting papers on a widerange of topics on structure andlocal planning, latest propertymarket trends and development,“gated’ and “guarded”development, problems of “hill-land” development, and trafficissues in planning.

A total of 122 participantsconsisting of developers, townplanners, architects, surveyors,engineers, university studentsand NGO’s attended the seminar.

The Northern Branch AGM washeld after the seminar. The MIPPresident Pn Norliza andSecretary, Encik Suhaimi, alsoattended the meeting.

The auspicious day ended withthe annual dinner, the first to beheld by the branch. The informalbuffet was graced by thepresence of representatives fromthe Penang Real Estate andHousing Developers Association,the Penang Branch of theMalaysian Institute of Architects,the Malaysian Institute ofEngineers and the MalaysianInstitute of Surveyors, and theseminar speakers.

Active participation from the floor during the seminar

The MIP NB Chairman presentinga token of appreciation to speaker,

Ir. Khoo Koon Tai

The MIP NB Chairman calling the MIPNB AGM to orderwith the MIP President on his right, and the MIPNB

secretary and the MIP secretary on his left

NEWSLETTER OF THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS 19

20 NEWSLETTER OF THE MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS

Vancouver Technical Visit 2006It was Saturday 17th June 2006 onflight CX 720, when a 28-membergroup from the Malaysian Instituteof Planners departed from KLIA toVancouver to attend the WorldUrban Forum. The 16 hours flightwas via Hong Kong and theeconomy class journey was notthat comfortable for many who areused to the comfort of first andbusiness class traveling. Thishowever, had not dampened thespirits of the group, as they lookedenthusiastic and eager to seeVancouver, which we have allheard so much off as the MostLiveable City.

It was the first time to Vancouverfor all the 28 delegates, includingmyself who was heading thedelegation and though I gotworried in the beginning ofhandling a group to a city I havenot visited before, I actually hadnothing to worry about as almosteveryone were seasoned travelersand knew the do’s and don’ts and Ijust had to make sure our travelingplans were in order.

On arrival to Vancouver, to provethe enthusiasm of everyone, westarted by straight away going toSteveston Village, a unique fishingvillage commercial area, not toofar from the airport and where ourhotel was, for lunch and anintroduction to what Vancouverhad to offer. It was indeed a greatbeginning; the fishermen wharfarea was quaint with small boatsanchored to the jetty and smallshops and restaurants offeringdelicious seafood. I had developeda cold and a bad sore throat on the

plane and the hot clam chowdersoup remarkably helped to whetmy appetite. We checked in laterat the Holiday Inn, Richmond and Iof course went straight to bed andhoping to get better the next day,only to later find out that many ofthe group were adventurous andhad scouted the area to see whatelse is interesting in Richmond.

The next day we arranged a trip forthe delegates to visit GrousseMountain and Capilano nationalpark, two most famous sites withinan hour’s drive from the City ofVancouver. At Grousse Mountain,

they were able to observe andexperience a tourism developmentthat is eco friendly and learnt howsimple facilities cater for up tomillions of visitors a year and yetprovide for a friendly andaccessible attraction even for thedisabled. The Capilano NationalPark is situated just outside of thecity. Here one can observe thehousing developments around thepark, which takes into cognizancethe natural environment andterrain such that housingdevelopments are not intrusive.Facilities within the park are simpleyet caters to the 3 million visitorsannually. The use of universitystudents as part time rangers whoknow and love the park, is a lessonto be learnt itself. Although visitedby millions, the emphasis on thesensitive environment has beengiven a major role and which iswhat keeps the park a continuousattraction for many. The group alsohad a quick city tour, where wemanaged to get a glimpse of the

modern and older parts of the cityof Vancouver. For me, it was thefirst day at the World PlannersCongress, where more than 1,500participants were there and held atthe Westin Bayshore hotel,Vancouver City.

Day three to day seven werepacked with attending the WorldUrban Forum (WUF) for thedelegates and daily we travelledbetween Richmond to Vancouvercity where WUF was held inCanada Place, the Vancouver cityconvention centre. More than9,000 people registered andattended WUF and just being therewas an experience of its own as Iam sure many had never attendeda convention or conference wherethere were so many people fromall over the world. It was one of thelargest WUF ever held andVancouver city was a wonderfulhost city as the main sponsor ofthe event; traveling around the citywas made easy as all participantswere given free traveling multi-passes which allowed all of us totravel free on three modes ofpublic transport i.e. the sky-train,the sea-bus and the public busesor translink as they call it.

Vancouver was the Most LiveableCity for 2005 and I guess that waswhy many of us went, as wewanted to see how truly is the cityliveable. After more than 9 daysthere, I can agree why it deservesthe title as the city was not onlybeautifully set amongst the hillsand mountains which surroundsthe city but it has been planned,designed and built with muchconsideration for the communitiesliving in the city.

There are many parks andgardens in the city and within

Greater Vancouver, there are 190parks to serve its 2 millionpopulation.

Moving around the city is easy asthey have an efficient publictransportation system and all of usmade good use of our free multi-passes as we individually coveredthe city and its suburb areas to seeresidential, commercial, universitiesand as many development areasthat we were recommended tosee. The city of course is a barrierfree city and the many physicallyimpaired people we seeindependently moving around inthe city can easily measure this.

We visited three technicaldepartments very muchresponsible for shaping thedevelopment of the city i.e. theGreater Vancouver RegionalDevelopment Authority, VancouverCity Council as well as GreaterVancouver Transportation Authority.We were warmly received and wewere briefed on their roles andplanning strategies in thedevelopment of the city and at theVancouver City Council, we werealso informed of the developmentprocess in Vancouver wheredesign consultation between citycouncil and private developers aredone prior to submission and peerreview panels are set to reviewdesign submission and ensure itmeets the needs of the city andcomplements developments of itssurrounding areas.

(Contd. on Page 15)