Tag Archives: Johor

Can Malaysia’s AI data centres go green?

August 5, 2025 Macaranga Leave a comment

A wave of AI server farms is turning Malaysia into Southeast Asia’s digital epicentre, but their high energy use could derail the country’s climate goals, writes Genevieve Mallet, Dialogue Earth.

DATA CENTRES are springing up across Southeast Asia as China and the US vie for Artifical Intelligence (AI) supremacy. Tech giants – from ByteDance and Alibaba to Google and Microsoft – are setting their sights on Johor, Malaysia’s manufacturing hub just across the strait from Singapore. A rich agricultural state, Johor is now also home to sprawling data centre parks.

Since 2023, Malaysia has announced RM99 billion in data centre investments, much of it involving AI facilities, with a further RM149 billion in the near future. With cheap electricity, labour and ample land, Malaysia has proven to be a compelling alternative to its land-constrained neighbour and is set to become the fastest-growing data-centre hotspot in Southeast Asia.

(Feature image: Workers at a data centre under construction in Sedenak Tech Park in Johor | Image © Vincent Thian / Associated Press / Alamy)

Insight

Adopting Seahorses to Save Seagrass Meadows

July 7, 2025 Vincent Tan Leave a comment

Finding seahorses and naming them gets people excited about conservation, even if they get stuck in silt.

WADING THROUGH a seagrass meadow at low tide, at 6.50am, is anything but graceful for a newbie. Each step in the waterlogged mud forms an air-tight seal around our feet, threatening to swallow our boots and shoes.

Earlier, the Save Our Seahorses (SOS) Malaysia survey team, and a small group of public participants had boarded a small fishing boat, scooting for approximately 20 minutes from the fishing jetty at Pendas, to the Merambong seagrass bed, less than 500m off Johor’s Forest City.

This morning’s search for seahorses goes slow at first, although we see black sea slugs, shrimp, and the occasional crab or fish darting around the centimetres-deep water. Then, our guide Wong Jieyi sights one male seahorse.

(Feature image: At the Merambong seagrass meadow in Johor, volunteers for NGO Save Our Seahorses search for seahorses during low tide at dawn. Changing tide times throughout the year means that sometimes survey trips can take place in complete darkness as well. | Photo: Vincent Tan)

In-Depth

Ways to Improve Malaysia’s Ecological Fiscal Transfers

April 10, 2025 Samantha Ho Leave a comment

Ways to Improve Malaysia's Ecological Fiscal Transfers

Conservationists broadly agree that the EFT mechanism has been good for Malaysia and that all states could benefit from more money for biodiversity protection. But increasing allocations, making the scheme legally permanent and giving states more freedom on how they can spend EFT funds could make this mechanism more effective.

A co-publication by Macaranga and Eco-Business.

Writer: Samantha Ho

Editor: YH Law

Published: 10 April 2025

Part 1 | Part 2

(Feature image: The Selangor state government has been approving expansion of quarries (left) in the Bukit Lagong forest reserve. | Satellite image from Google Earth/Airbus)

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In-Depth

Bright spots in the dark: Tracking Malaysia’s fiscal transfers for nature conservation

April 8, 2025 Samantha Ho Leave a comment

Bright spots in the dark: Tracking Malaysia's Fiscal transfers for nature conservation

The federal government said its Ecological Fiscal Transfer funds have spurred state governments to add protected areas and run conservation programmes. Yet as environmentalists are calling for more EFT funding, our analysis finds little transparency on most of the money disbursed, despite some state-level data from Johor and Sabah.

A co-publication by Macaranga and Eco-Business.

Writer: Samantha Ho | Editor: YH Law

Published: 8 April 2025

Part 1 | Part 2

(Feature image by Macaranga)

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Insight

Lagi Satu Ladang Kelapa Sawit di Endau, Johor

August 3, 2022 Yao Hua Law Leave a comment

Syarikat AA Sawit Sdn Bhd ingin membangunkan ladang kelapa sawit and kelapa seluas 3,775 ha di Endau, Johor. Ia telah menyerahkan laporan penilaian kesan kepada alam sekitar (EIA) kepada Jabatan Alam Sekitar pada bulan Jun/Julai 2022.

Mengikut Akta Kualiti Alam Sekeliling 1974, sesuatu projek sebesar ini wajib mendapat kelulusan laporan EIA daripada Jabatan Alam Sekitar sebelum ia boleh bermula.

Namun, imej satelit memberi gambaran yang bertentangan: Pada 2020 dan 2021, pengusaha telah menebang hutan di tapak dan menggali parit pengairan.

Tambahan pula, pembangunan ladang kelapa sawit sudah menyebabkan pelbagai masalah alam sekitar. Namun, adakah penduduk Kampung Labong di sebelah tapak projek AA Sawit mampu menolak ladang-ladang besar yang akan datang?

Rencana 1: Gali parit, tebang pokok; baru mohon kelulusan

Rencana 2: Antara banjir, gajah dan mata pencarian