Friday, June 25, 2010

About Johor Baru

Thanks, Wikipedia.

Johor Baru is the capital city of Johor in southern Malaysia.

It is the southernmost city in Malaysia.

It is the third largest city in Malaysia after Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh.

It is located between the Skudai River on the west and Tebrau River on the east. To its south is the Johor Straits.

Tampoi Road forms its northern border with the district and town of Skudai.

In recent years Skudai has upstaged Johor Baru to become Johor's main economic hub and administrative centre.

Johor Baru was originally known as Tanjung Puteri (Princess Cape) or Tanjung Iskandar (Iskandar's Cape), Iskandar being a famous Sultan of Johor.

Johor Baru received its current name on January 1, 1866.

On January 1, 1994 it became a city, Malaysia's fifth after Georgetown, Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Kuching.

Malays form 44pc of Johor Baru's residents, followed by Chinese (42pc) and Indians (14pc).

The Chinese of Johor Baru are mainly Hokkiens (including Swatow [Teochew], Hainan and Foochow [Hokchew]). There is a small number of Cantonese and Hakkas.

The Indians of Johor Baru are mainly Tamils. The rest are Punjabis, Malayalees and Telugus.

Johor Baru is one of Malaysia's most bustling cities thanks to its proximity to Singapore. Many Singaporeans have invested in Johor Baru, and Johor, for years. Johor Baru and Singapore are linked by the Causeway.

Tampoi and Larkin are Johor Baru's main industrial areas. In recent years, Johor Baru's former satellite town of Skudai has become the state's major economic hub.

Another former satellite town, Pasir Gudang, has also become a major economic hub and industrial area.

Both Skudai and Pasir Gudang are Johor's main ports. The port in Skudai is Tanjung Pelepas. Skudai also houses the Second Link to Singapore and Johor's new administrative centre Kota Iskandar (Nusajaya).

Skudai also houses the Malaysian University of Technology (UTM).

The Sultan Ismail Airport is located in the neighbouring town of Kulai.

Best 104, the country's first private radio station is based in Johor Baru.

Johor Baru's main shopping centre is City Square near the Johor Baru Railway Station.

Johor Baru's sister cities are Istanbul in Turkey, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Shenzhen in China, and Kuching in Sarawak, Malaysia.

Famous personalities from Johor Baru include present and former Cabinet Ministers Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, Datuk Shahrir Samad, Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin, Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar, the late Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman and the late Datuk Ali Ahmad, entertainers Suhaimi Abdul Rahman (Amy of Search), Datuk Abdul Rahman Hassan, Datuk Sharifah Aini, Julie Dahlan, Aziz M Osman, Dina Nadzir, Nabila Huda Suhaimi, Intan Sarafina Yahya, Khairul Nizam Wahi, Hairina Halim, Khairul Nizam (Toi) Baharom, Maulana Mohamad, Diddy Muhid, Lufya Omar, Betty Banafe, Linda Onn, Fahrin Ahmad, Zamarul Hisham, Diana Rafar, Linda Rafar, Ain Rahmat and Ekin Rahmat.

About Kluang

Thanks, Wikipedia.

Kluang is a town and district located in the middle of the state of Johor in Malaysia.

Kluang lies about 110 km north of Johor Baru, east of Batu Pahat, west of Mersing and south of Segamat.

Its name is derived from the Malay word 'keluang' which is a flying fox (fruit bat).

The Mengkibol River runs through Kluang Town.

The district of Kluang is now run by two municipal councils namely Kluang Municipal Council that is centred in Kluang Town and Simpang Renggam Municipal Council that is centred in Simpang Renggam Town.

Kluang Town is the district capital.

During World War 2, Kluang was used by the Japanese as a base to attack Singapore and Sumatra.

From 1963-1973, the British used it as a base for its aircraft workshops.

Kluang has 2 famous mountains namely Gunung Lambak and the higher Gunung Belumut.

The Mengkibol River runs through the town.

Kluang is landlocked and has no seafront.

Kluang is served by a railway and roads linking it to all neighbouring districts.

It has a railway station as well as a bus station.

Kluang was a rubber-planting district, but rubber was replaced by oil palm in the last four decades.

It is also a major light industrial district in Johor.

Kluang High School is one of the best known schools in Kluang, and the Chong Hwa High School is the second biggest Chinese secondary school in Malaysia.

Kluang's two major shopping centres are Kluang Mall and Kluang Parade.

Kluang's Railway Station is famous for its Chinese coffee shop called Kluang Rail Coffee.

Kluang Rail Cafe is now a major franchise with branches around Malaysia.

The Kluang suburb of Machap is famous for its pottery.

Famous Malaysians who were born in or hail from Kluang include former Ministers Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu (who is actually from Batu Caves in Selayang, Selangor) and Datuk Seri Azalina Othman, her musician uncle Datuk Shake (Datuk Sheikh Abdullah Ahmad), former KL Mayor Tan Sri Mohmad Shaid Taufek, and singers/musicians Zainal Abidin, Arab, Aub, Noraniza Idris and Haziq Rosebi.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Steve Jobs - The World’s Most Influential Arab Bizman

Thanks, Wikipedia.

Steven Paul Jobs, (born February 24, 1955) is an Arab-American business magnate and the co-founder and chief executive officer of Apple.

Jobs also previously served as chief executive officer of Pixar Animation Studios. He became a member of the board of The Walt Disney Company in 2006, following the acquisition of Pixar by Disney.

In the late 1970s, Jobs, with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Mike Markkula designed, developed and marketed one of the first commercially successful lines of personal computers, the Apple II series.

In the early 1980s, Jobs was among the first to see the commercial potential of the mouse-driven graphical user interface which lead to the creation of the Macintosh.

After losing a power struggle with the board of directors in 1985, Jobs resigned from Apple and founded NeXT, a computer platform development company specialising in the higher education and business markets.

Apple's subsequent 1996 buyout of NeXT brought Jobs back to the company he co-founded and he has served as its CEO since 1997.

In 1986, he acquired the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm which was spun off as Pixar Animation Studios.

He remained CEO and majority shareholder until its acquisition by the Walt Disney Company in 2006.

Jobs is currently a member of Walt Disney Company's board of directors.

Jobs' history in business has contributed much to the symbolic image of the idiosyncratic, individualistic Silicon Valley entrepreneur, emphasising the importance of design and understanding the crucial role aesthetics play in public appeal.

His work driving forward the development of products that are both functional and elegant has earned him a devoted following.

Beginning in January 2009, Jobs took a five-month leave of absence from Apple to undergo a liver transplant.

Jobs officially resumed his role as CEO of Apple on June 29, 2009.

Jobs was born in San Francisco and was adopted by Paul and Clara Hagopian of Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California.

Jobs' birth parents were Joanne Simpson and Abdulfattah Jandali — a Syrian Muslim political science professor — also the parents of the novelist Mona Simpson.

While in school, Jobs attended lectures at the Hewlett-Packard Company in Palo Alto, California.

He was soon hired there and worked with Steve Wozniak as a summer employee.

He later took a job as a technician at Atari, a manufacturer of popular video games.

Jobs then travelled to India with a college friend (the first Apple employee), Daniel Kottke, in search of spiritual enlightenment.

He came back a Buddhist.

He returned to his previous job at Atari and was given the task of creating a circuit board for the game Breakout.

In 1976, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Ronald Wayne and Mike Markkula founded Apple.

In 1978, Apple recruited Mike Scott from National Semiconductor to serve as CEO for several turbulent years.

In 1983, Steve Jobs lured John Sculley away from Pepsi-Cola to serve as Apple's CEO.

In 1984, Jobs introduced the Macintosh to a wildly enthusiastic audience.

The Macintosh became the first commercially successful small computer with a graphical user interface. The development of the Mac was started by Jef Raskin, and eventually taken over by Jobs.

Around the same time, Jobs founded another computer company, NeXT Computer.

Jobs marketed NeXT products to the scientific and academic fields because of the innovative, experimental new technologies it incorporated.

In 1986, Jobs bought The Graphics Group (later renamed Pixar) from Lucasfilm's computer graphics division.

The first film produced by the partnership, Toy Story, brought fame and critical acclaim to the studio when it was released in 1995.

Over the next ten years, under Pixar's creative chief John Lasseter, the company would produce the box office hits A Bug's Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Monsters Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), Cars (2006), Ratatouille (2007), WALL-E (2008) and Up (2009).

Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL-E and Up each received the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, an award introduced in 2001.

In 1996, Apple announced that it would buy NeXT. The deal was finalised the same year, bringing Jobs back to the company he co-founded.

Jobs married Laurene Powell, on March 18, 1991.

The couple have a son, Reed Paul Jobs and two other children.

Jobs also has a daughter, Lisa Brennan Jobs (born 1978), from his relationship with painter Chrisann Brennan.

Lisa gave birth to a son in 1993, making Steve a grandfather.

Steve Jobs is a Beatles fan.

On November 27, 2007, Jobs was named the most powerful person in business by Fortune Magazine.

On December 5, 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Jobs into the California Hall Of Fame.

On November 5, 2009, Jobs was named the CEO Of The Decade by Fortune Magazine.