Cyberjaya..why not?

Coming to nearly 5 years since Cyberjaya was mentioned, there are still some discussions and debates going on in the forum today around what makes Cyberjaya ticks and what not. 

The most enthralling aspect of the debate in the forum is the fact that this phenomenon, which could so easily have been ignored, has engaged so many people for so long. The debate and discussion have been revisited and recounted time and time again in the forums. People have expended a lot of time and energy in support for or against optimist claims. It was that fascinating!

At the same time I find it quite remarkable for views as such being exchanged on this scale that span across so many media, ranging from blog to forum to newspaper to property fairs and now to even Youtubes. With all these hoo-ha(s) around Cyberjaya, in that spirit, I am also drawn into sharing my thoughts and personal views on this topic as well in the hope that if anyone who happen to come across my blog and that you would wish get some insights around Cyberjaya, it's my hope and pleasure to give you one or two positives perspective on it as well. 

Jogging back my memory in 2010, I still remember how people wrote off Cyberjaya completely as far as property investment in location was concerned, It was perceived as remotely far away and isolated from other places in Klang Valley

Having said that, however, over the last 2 years, we have seen people started buying houses in Cyberjaya, not for investment but for own stay, and we also see the naysayers started to accept Cyberjaya as the next potential hotspot, with some of them I come to know have actually eaten the humble pie and swallowed their pride by getting units for own staying. :)

Quite frankly it has been nothing short of fascinating to know how certain group of people have over time changed their perception from gradual "dislike" to "doubts" and then finally to start believing in and gravitating towards Cyberjaya. It is almost like Cyberjaya was performing some kind of spell or experiment on these group of naysayers who were so set in their mind then and now they have been made to realise the change in Cyberjaya is imminent and that " it's not matter of if but when " the big change will come.  On the other hand, however there are a big group of people in the forum who still hold on to their thoughts in having a gloomy view about Cyberjaya, their thoughts were the same as before, that it will never pulled off as the next Silicon Valley as it was envisioned in 1997. 

In the video, Joey Yap, a well known feng shui master in Malaysia talked about Cyberjaya as one of the places in Klang Valley in which the location embodies one or two feng shui elements. The video again has caused a stir and state of euphoria among the house buyers fanatics and other investor alike in the property forum while the pessimists continued to pour in their thoughts on why Cyberjaya will be a just another white elephant and failed brainchild project left behind by Dr Mahathir. 

Let's get this started...Cyberjaya is well-known and by itself requires no introduction if you will. The Selangor township was once regarded as Malaysia’s Sillcon Valley in 1997 and it's now being designated as Special Economic Zone. It was also regarded as one of the most intelligent city in Malaysia along with Putrajaya. 

When I first came in Cyberjaya in 2004, it felt like a ghost city. It almost felt like I was in a Raccoon City in the movie - Residence Evil. I don't feel any "lives" here and could hardly see any moving objects or even people walking down the street. It was not appealing at all. 

Come in 2007, I had a chance to drive back there again to pick up my friend. It felt like a long journey there and I only remember it was hard to get my way around. 

It was not until 2009, it has became more apparent and visible that the Malaysia government was trying to turn the tide on Cyberjaya by putting together one or two effective measures and "pull" factors in getting more MNC company and residents to move in. Giving the government their due, I must say they have gotten a handle on it and the progress of development had came a long way ever since then. Some of the key initiatives taken were - 

1) developing new blueprints, not on the off chance to meet numbers only but with the intention to ensure the city meet its mantra designed on the outset - live, study, work and play in becoming a sustainable city in long run. In view with that, MDEC layed out achievable and realistic plans - they had successfully lured some of the big players in developing the available lands for commercial, institutional and residential use. In conjunction with that, MDEC has also given away more attractive incentives to new MNC + MSC companies that wish to set up and take advantage of the available pool of talents and the competitive wage structure here. 

2) enhancing the world-class infrastructure further - Set up fibre optic, wifi city-wide enabled, CCTV across the city. Widening up the roads, ensuring back up utilities are available 24/7 to ensure there won't be any down time on the commercial and residential real estates. 5 or 6 majors highways are connected to the city, what can you ask for more? You won't see another city in the Klang Valley that are so accessible as Cyberjaya. 

3) promoting Cyberjaya and educate the public - The Sepang Council, MDEC and CyberView are spending every penny to promote Cyberjaya in all mainstream media and other avenues to promote awareness and publicity. As far as it goes, they did a brilliant job at this point in organizing and throwing big events here. For instance, the greatest president of United State of America of all time Barrack Obama had his foot here in Cyberjaya last year when he launched and officiated the MAGIC entrepreneurship openings. It was an unprecedented event from the IT industry standpoint and it's been the sort of events that probably you would not see another one as such taking place in another high end enclave commercial or residential area in Klang Valley. 

4) embracing green initiatives, this amazes me the most as Cyberview was committed to environmental responsibility. In propelling Cyberjaya as the pioneer and possibly epitome of Green city in the future for the country, green technology and go-forward initiatives were being implemented across the township to reduce carbon footprint around these 4 areas - 

• urban environment, - 30% of Cyberjaya’s 7,000 acres is reserved as a green lung. Tree planting programme had been planned out across the city, solar panel are being set up on bus shelters, expansion greeneries through public parks, green roofs and grid paving, etc
• urban transportation - incentives for the reduction single occupant vehicle, MRT and Monorail in the pipeline to connect within and outside the township, Park & Ride amenities via DTS bus, etc
• urban infrastructure & building - developers and property players are made to adhere to Green Building Index certification criteria in which the real estates are being designed to use district cooling system, water harvesting system, maximum natural lights, green materials, etc

More to that is also that Cyberjaya as it is, has also been used as a reference city to model other intelligent cities. There have been delegations coming from Taiwan, Europe and other countries to visit Malaysia and study its whole ecosystems and well-planned city.  Its success stories so far were by no means of coincidence, but rather it was the fruit of careful planning, getting public feedback and observations of others cities. To that end, Cyberjaya has been aspiring and had a vision in becoming the top 20 livable cities in the world by 2020. This may sound far-fetched, but then again Cyberview has laid a solid groundwork so far, whether it's achievable or not it's anybody guess at this stage.  

In short, Cyberjaya by itself goes without saying, has a distinctive identity, uniqueness and ecosystem in place since 1997 where other cities were and still envy today. You don't need a feng shui master to tell you Cyberjaya is a place that never go wrong. What I don't agree with Joey Yap though is that, according to him, Cyberjaya will peak only in 2024. I supposed his presumption is made with the knowledge he has on how Mass Rapid Transit Line 2 and High Speed Rail KL-SG will be completed, ready for operation by 2022 and that it will take another 2 years after that for mass population to move in as result of the spillover effects coming from other places..eg ( Singapore, Melaka, Seremban, Puchong, Seri Kembangan, Cheras, Subang, Damansara )

Probably Joey's Yap definition of boom and peak may also be different from others as well. 

Cyberjaya as far as booming is concerned, has already taken place, as opposed to the year 2024 as what Joey claimed.  This fact can be supported by the opening of the retail mall - Shaftbury, neighbourhood mall - D-Pulze and regional mall - IOI Resort City Mall that have gone into business operation in full swing since last year and that people are now spoilt with choice during lunch and dinner time as far as eateries place are concerned.  If Joey Yap was trying to measure the booming and its peak in the context of density of population,  then yes, the population density is low in Cyberjaya. A boring city in which you can hardly find any lives, foods, hang out places or things to do in Cyberjaya?? A hell no!

With more residential properties coming up and that these units will be "VP" in the next 1 - 2 years or so, along with other big mixed developments projects that are in the pipeline of completion, and also potentially many more MNC companies will be coming into Cyberjaya, I don't see any reasons why Cyberjaya will not be booming any more further in 2017 onwards. Some of the key projects that will spark off another wave of vibrancy in the township come the next 2 years will be:- 

1) Skypark - 5 or 6 towers are joined via a skybridge encompassing offices + hotel + residential,  emulating the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. This iconic development comes with the longest shopping mall in length within Klang Valley. 

2) Tamarind Square - in short it's just another Publika in the making

3) Cyberjaya City Centre - this may be the landmark of Cyberjaya in the future as the whole acres of land is owned by the Ministry of Finance Department.  A truly game-changer once it is fully developed. 

4) KLIO - a premium outlet nearby, a stone throw away from Cyberjaya

5) Many other key projects and developments can be found here

Another point to note is its close proximity to airport - one of the considerations which have been rarely discussed and emphasized. One of the key to successful investing in real estate is to purchase properties that have easy accessibility to Airport. Looking back, the township Subang was booming 20 years ago was due to the Subang International Airport being in vicinity. In hindsight, Cyberjaya might be another Subang in the making due to its close proximity to the KLIA/KLIA2 airport. With up to nearly 25 millions tourists accounted for the number of arrival yearly in Malaysia, it's only good for Cyberjaya as it promotes human traffic near and around the city.

Lastly, the primary deterrent for property investors and homebuyers in getting buy-in, however as I understand is its location. Cyberjaya by itself was perceived and understood as out of the way and isolated from other places. But little has been made known to understand how the human mind work in relation to distance. We tend to measure a place's distance in relative to any landmark. Putting this into perspective, take KLCC for instance..and the landmark has always play into our mind and been associated to sustainability area and its convenience in which you can get almost anything there - For example KLCC area is iconic, grandiose and has offices, shopping malls in its surroundings, and at the back of our mind, we would think living in such surrounding would make one life easy and convenience in getting just almost anything, whereas, a place or township which is distance away from KLCC may be easily regarded as inconvenience, perhaps isolated and remote. In this context, Cyberjaya could be easily regarded as a remote and distance away from KLCC ( KL ), as what being played into people mind today is that, living in Cyberjaya is remotely inconvenience in spite of only just 20 minutes drive to KLCC via MEX highway, a timed-journey which is much quicker drive to KLCC than from any other matured places in Klang Valley. 

Now the interesting part here is that, what if you are being told that Cyberjaya would to be an iconic and sustainable city on the horizon where everyone have the convenience in getting everything, say in 1 - 2 years time from now? When that take places, would people living within or outside of the Cyberjaya even bother how the city is isolated from other places. They may or may not but it doesn't matter anymore, does it? Because by then, the residents who live in Cyberjaya will have all the conveniences they need and possibly may not want to drive out of its city.  When that happens, the city itself may even becomes so sustainable, that its location will serve as a another reference point of location from other places where people will use it and measure the distance against. 

In essence, If KL ( KLCC area ) can be regarded as Sydney, then by making the same comparison, Cyberjaya is almost like Melbourne due to its well-planned city and sustainability.