Tag: Malaysia

Malaysia-Singapore causeway: after 100 years, ‘it’s mutual lah’

The opening ceremony of the Johor-Singapore Causeway on June 28, 1924. Photo: Handout/Courtesy of National Archives of Malaysia
Like many Singapore businessmen, Pui Syn Kong drives to work. But instead of the skyscrapers of Shenton Way in the city state’s central business district, he heads for neighbouring Malaysia.

For the past two decades, the 73-year-old has made the 30km commute from his home in western Singapore to his marine engineering consultancy office in Johor Bahru two to three times a week. He established a presence in the city across the border so he could secure local contracts as a Malaysian company after expanding beyond the island republic.

“I can go over any time straightaway,” said Pui, who usually sets off for work at 6am and returns home in time for dinner. “About 30 minutes and we are there already. Actually, faster than going to Shenton Way!”

➜ Read the full story in the South China Morning Post

Built to last, not on human skulls: Malaysia-Singapore causeway’s 100-year history

The Johor-Singapore causeway as seen from the Woodlands end in the 1940s. A popular legend involving its construction claims human skulls were incorporated into the foundations to appease evil spirits. Photo: Handout

When construction began on the Johor-Singapore Causeway in August 1919, it was the largest engineering project in Malaya, costing an estimated 17 million Straits dollars – roughly the equivalent of US$1.6 billion in modern money.

The design by Messrs Coode, Matthews, Fitzmaurice & Wilson stretched 1.06km from bank to bank and its width of 18.2 metres allowed for two metre-gauge railway tracks, a 7.9-metre roadway and space for the laying of a water pipeline.

➜ Read the full story in the South China Morning Post

How One Woman’s Search for Malaysia’s Design History Became a National Archive

The Malaysia Design Archive actually began in Havana, Cuba. In 2007, founder Ezrena Marwan visited the city for the Icograda World Design Congress, where, as she listened to Cuban graphic designers share how they were limited to creating propaganda by their country’s politics, Ezrena was struck by how different it was from her own experience as a graphic designer back home.

“We only design for commercial stuff, and we don’t really pay attention to anything else,” she says. “I was really inspired by how much they think about design, and how much it’s linked to politics and the land.”

She started collecting and documenting everyday graphics in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and shared them online. That marked the beginning of the Malaysia Design Archive, a website that traces the history of this Southeast Asian nation through its visual culture.

➜ Read the rest at AIGA’s Eye on Design