water problem in Johor !

[toolbox03]

Data centers need a lot of water to cool and electricity to run

not forgetting surrounding temperature also will go up

 

[toolbox03]

we're not self sufficient. we rely on johor still. our catchment areas are shrinking because of growing population and govt selling land to developers. newater can only supply so much, that's why they're raising water prices and tax every year. also note that sg also has datacenters and semiconductor fabs. these use a fk ton of water in our already water strained situation.

Not forgetting all the new condos with swimming pools

 

[icebleue]

Means we huat liao.
They need buy more water from us. LOL...
Then you go JB eat the waitress say RM5.00 per glass of water. LOL...

 

[chaiscool]

As usual , Boleh ish always notch Boleh as per they shout and proud

They always think short term but notch nong term , infra notch yet built or sufficient to sarpork but want accept many projects/investments "to look good" on their leepork to their ppl

Tbf to them infra is costly investment if one day those data centre decide to move out then those infra how sia. Just make those DC wait lah where else they want to go anyway since sign contract liao.

You wait in a long queue for food than kpkb why need to wait very long after ordering meh. Those DC all will wait one lah so JB can take their time with the infra.

 

[titusilvering]

w influx of building of data centres, they r facing supply shortage due to infrastructure issue.



Singapore ran out of space. The data centres moved to Johor. So did the water problem.

A client of mine has been waiting six months for a water connection to his warehouse in Johor. Not electricity. Water.

Johor has 850MW of data centre capacity operational today. Another 1,800MW is under construction. The pipeline beyond that exceeds 2,700MW. Growth at that pace puts pressure on every utility in the state.

Data centre applications in Johor alone are requesting 440 million litres of water a day. Johor’s population is 4 million people. At Malaysia’s average consumption of 226 litres per person per day, that is enough water for 1.95 million people.

The infrastructure was not built for this pace of growth.

Johor has asked data centre developers to defer water-cooled expansions until mid 2027 while the state catches up. Approvals for high water use facilities were paused in November last year.

My client is not building a data centre. He just wants water for a warehouse. But he is in the same queue, in a state that became Southeast Asia’s fastest growing digital corridor in under three years.

The grid gets all the attention. The water conversation is quieter.


That does not mean it is smaller.

For developers, operators, and businesses building in Johor right now, which utility is actually your longest lead time?

Sea water buaysai use?

 

[Canis Lupus]

self sufficient?

You mean NewWater. Not enough as the water cycle is closed loop, need fresh intake, best from rivers and not desalination of sea water

Yeah this, considering that desalination of water takes a huge mount of power as well. Which means importing sources to generate it like gas/oil/nuclear would mean that it's not self-sufficient in the energy aspect as well.

 

[wwenze]

Bad planning is always part of Jb problem, which is why their condos prices are weak demand. They need to hire proper urban planners instead or at least pay sg to develop for them

Yea... I don't think Singapore's housing prices have anything to do with private developers who build 10% of living accomodations

 

[mickey88]

Come 2060ish will be our problem when the water deals run out, time for war..

Lol..think some of us might no longer around..not our problem

 

[pmetpmet]

Can always lean on the Malaysia govt for infrastructure planning, always reliable and forward thinking...

NOT

 

[Ethan_]

self sufficient?

You mean NewWater. Not enough as the water cycle is closed loop, need fresh intake, best from rivers and not desalination of sea water

Think local is increasing the desalination plants right? The most abundant souce is the sea. Makes practical sense to make more use of it.

 

[Ethan_]

Can always lean on the Malaysia govt for infrastructure planning, always reliable and forward thinking...

NOT

Wonder how fast they building now. Vaguely remembered last time see them built one highway, impression like many many years passed often passed by still can see the work in progress.

 

[johnsonheng]

w influx of building of data centres, they r facing supply shortage due to infrastructure issue.



Singapore ran out of space. The data centres moved to Johor. So did the water problem.

A client of mine has been waiting six months for a water connection to his warehouse in Johor. Not electricity. Water.

Johor has 850MW of data centre capacity operational today. Another 1,800MW is under construction. The pipeline beyond that exceeds 2,700MW. Growth at that pace puts pressure on every utility in the state.

Data centre applications in Johor alone are requesting 440 million litres of water a day. Johor’s population is 4 million people. At Malaysia’s average consumption of 226 litres per person per day, that is enough water for 1.95 million people.

The infrastructure was not built for this pace of growth.

Johor has asked data centre developers to defer water-cooled expansions until mid 2027 while the state catches up. Approvals for high water use facilities were paused in November last year.

My client is not building a data centre. He just wants water for a warehouse. But he is in the same queue, in a state that became Southeast Asia’s fastest growing digital corridor in under three years.

The grid gets all the attention. The water conversation is quieter.


That does not mean it is smaller.

For developers, operators, and businesses building in Johor right now, which utility is actually your longest lead time?

Later election lose due to water.

 

[pattanispirit]

Later election lose due to water.

i heard he is very influential & well connected.

looks like high potential for future Minister position due to his family background and himself.

it was said he is responsible for the smooth flow at Johor custom clearance and attracting Foreign Investment for datacentres in Johor state

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1LmG59SeZF/


https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1AxEQzDqaM/

Johor: Election War Drums Beating: Onn Hafiz emerges as BN’s strongest political asset in Johor

WHILE many Johoreans no longer appear firmly loyal to any single political party, one name surfaced repeatedly in conversations across Johor Bahru and surrounding districts: Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.

Nearly four years after taking office in March 2022, Onn Hafiz has cultivated a political image that resonates strongly with many urban and semi-urban voters, who increasingly view him as an energetic, accessible and hands-on leader. For some, support now appears to be shifting away from party loyalty and towards individual personalities.

“I don’t think people fully trust any political party anymore,” says a middle-aged hawker who recently started a small food business in Johor Bahru. “But the menteri besar is doing a good job, so people still like him,” he tells The Edge.

On the ground, the contrast between Onn Hafiz’s personal popularity and Barisan Nasional’s (BN) broader standing in Johor — long regarded as the coalition’s traditional stronghold — is emerging as one of the most closely watched dynamics ahead of the next state election.

When Onn Hafiz took office after BN’s landslide victory in the last state election in March 2022, Johor was still recovering from the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, prolonged border closures and weak tourism activity.

At the time, the then 43-year-old menteri besar had less than a year to shape not only the state’s administration but also the public’s perception of BN ahead of Malaysia’s 15th general election (GE15) later that year. His political identity was relatively unknown to many voters.

Although BN swept the state assembly seats convincingly in the election, the coalition suffered a sharp decline in GE15, securing only 30 parliamentary seats, compared with 79 seats during GE14 in 2018.

This time, however, the political equation appears different. After nearly a full term in office, Onn Hafiz has had considerably more time to shape the state’s administration, build his public image and demonstrate policy execution on the ground. The broader question now is whether his growing popularity alone will be enough to help BN secure another mandate.

Much of that image has been reinforced on social media, with videos of the menteri besar conducting surprise inspections, visiting government facilities, monitoring infrastructure projects and responding directly to public complaints widely circulated online.

While some corporate and industry observers describe the approach as overly hands-on or performative, many ordinary Johoreans appear to see it differently. Johor Bahru-based property manager Marina Osman says Onn Hafiz’s “micromanaging” style may seem excessive to some business groups but it resonates strongly with the public.

“Sometimes corporate people ask why the menteri besar needs to make videos about broken streetlights or drainage issues. But, for ordinary people, that matters. They want to see the menteri besar turun padang [go down to the ground] and solve problems directly,” she adds.

She cites his intervention in a long-delayed hawker centre project in Kampung Melayu Majidee as an example frequently discussed among local residents. The state government later introduced incentives and rental reductions aimed at helping traders resume operations there.

The same style of governing has also been visible in Johor’s handling of cross-border traffic and infrastructure issues. Onn Hafiz has repeatedly conducted spot checks at Johor-Singapore checkpoints, monitored congestion problems and pressured agencies to improve border clearance systems ahead of the completion of the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link.

Across Johor Bahru city centre, comments from residents often include “You can see a lot of difference in Johor under his leadership” and “People are confident with Onn Hafiz”.

The economic backdrop has also shifted significantly since he took office. Johor, home to more than 4.2 million people, has emerged as one of Malaysia’s fastest-growing economies, driven by data centre investments, manufacturing expansion, logistics activity and the upcoming Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ).

The state recorded its highest-ever revenue collection of RM2.67 billion in 2025 while approved investments exceeded RM110 billion.

Under Onn Hafiz’s administration, Johor has pushed ahead with several major infrastructure upgrades, including road widening projects and improvements along Jalan Pasir Gudang and Jalan Mersing-Kota Tinggi. The menteri besar has repeatedly pledged that the state’s increasing revenues will be channelled towards welfare programmes, infrastructure projects and other development initiatives.

At the grassroots level, some residents pointed to programmes such as the Jelajah Orang Johor tours, Friday charity initiatives and congregational dawn prayer programmes as part of broader efforts to strengthen public engagement.

“People now want leaders who understand young families, cost-of-living pressures, housing affordability and connectivity issues. Onn Hafiz fits that image because he is younger and can connect with both older leaders and younger voters,” says Johor resident Nurasma Md Ismail.

Onn Hafiz, now 47, hails from one of Johor and Malaysia’s most prominent political families. He is the great-great-grandson of Johor’s first menteri besar Datuk Jaafar Muhammad, great-grandson of Umno founder and former Johor menteri besar Datuk Onn Jaafar, grandson of third prime minister Tun Hussein Onn and nephew of former defence minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

Still, not all Johoreans share equally strong views about the current menteri besar. Some older voters interviewed by The Edge in areas such as Taman Pelangi, where exposure to social media content is less pervasive, appear less influenced by the highly curated online image of Onn Hafiz as an active and highly responsive leader.

Unlike younger urban voters who consume political content heavily through TikTok, Facebook and Instagram, many older Johoreans continue to assess politicians through physical presence, local engagement and long-standing community networks.

Onn Hafiz’s appointment as menteri besar in 2022 also initially surprised many in Johor politics. In the run-up to the state election, BN had strongly projected then incumbent menteri besar Datuk Seri Hasni Mohammad as the coalition’s face in Johor. Many voters expected Hasni to continue leading the state if BN won the election.

Instead, shortly after BN’s victory, Onn Hafiz was sworn in as the new menteri besar before Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, now King of Malaysia.

More than four years later, the political conversation in Johor increasingly appears to revolve around a more complicated question for BN: whether voters are supporting the coalition itself or simply the man leading the state government. For BN, that distinction could prove decisive in the next state election.


https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/805067

 

[pattanispirit]

not only water, but electricity as well.

Malaysia has awarded RM7.4 billion in data centre construction contracts so far this year. That number only covers the buildings.

The power bill has not started yet.

MIDA projects that data centre energy consumption in Malaysia could exceed 5GW by 2035. That is 40% of Peninsular Malaysia's entire current power capacity. From one sector.

To put the construction figure in context — RM144.4 billion in data centre and cloud investments were approved between 2021 and mid 2025. What is happening now is physical infrastructure catching up with capital committed over the past four years.

Gamuda secured a RM1.72 billion contract in April to build a hyperscale facility in Port Dickson. CIMB Securities expects eight more major contracts worth RM13 to 14 billion to be awarded before the end of June.

The construction story is visible. Every major Malaysian contractor is chasing it.

The less visible story is what happens after commissioning. Each of these facilities needs guaranteed power. Not just grid connection. Guaranteed uptime. A data centre that goes dark for four hours does not reboot like a laptop.

TNB has locked in electricity supply agreements totalling 6.7GW across 47 data centre projects as of mid 2025. The grid is stretched. The question every operator is quietly asking is not whether they can get power. It is what happens when the grid cannot guarantee it.

That is a different kind of infrastructure play.

What part of the data centre supply chain do you think is most underserved in Malaysia right now?