Chinese Developer Faces Huge Losses On Artificial Island

Forest City is a $100 billion mega project in Malaysia being developed by China's largest real estate developer Country Garden. It is an artificial island off the coast of Malaysia and in close proximity to Singapore. It was originally supposed to house luxury apartments to be sold to wealthy Chinese citizens. However, political tensions between Malaysia and China have ground development of the project to a near halt. In this video we go over what Forest City is, the current status of its development, and its implications for Country Garden.
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[@terryleong7]

Another problem was that Malaysian did not get much benefit from the investment because the contracts for this project were awarded to Chinese contractors who bring in workers and equipment from China

[@MrBoliao98]

All the Singaporean and Malaysian will remember the eye sore towers from the 97 crash

[@alvinchan5934]

Name one China direct investment project (anywhere in the world) where the bulk of the earning, opportunity and/or even work, are given to the locals of where their projects are? Nil. The world thinks they can make use of China's money when it was the other way around.

[@linuspleasedont8861]

Senior citizens doesn't like what you said

[@jeramysteve3394]

@@alvinchan5934 it's called a debt trap for a reason.

[@jjsamuelgunn1136]

It's a fucking artificial island. It's just plopped down in the middle of the sea, not taking any land area from your country

[@SeanSurajJeremiah]

Driving toward the island from the highway, and seeing the towering residential units with hanging gardens rise out of the surrounding palm oil plantations bordering the sea, was surreal. The novelty of the concept, the sheer scale of the project exemplified by the sales gallery model, and the unaffordablility of the property captivated most locals. Nowadays, the duty-free liquor stores and the artifical beach remain the only draws.

[@unobooks]

i live in singapore, i assume you live in malaysia near where forest city is. do you know if the residential area is gated and do they have good security? or is it super easy for non residents to just go in?

[@SeanSurajJeremiah]

@Seth Lim The island itself is freely accessible to anyone. Vehicle number plates are logged. Most traffic is concentrated to the main avenue which connects the causeway to the hotel/sales gallery/beach though you can easily detour to the residential blocks. At the sales gallery, there is a large room dedicated to showing off their smart security and asset management hub which may lead one assume that security here would be better than the average apartment complex security.

[@linustw]

@@unobooks there are hotel and golf course which opened to public. Yes...its open to public except gated housing areas

[@rnegoro1]

@@linustw Ok amazingly it looks really cool.

[@PEWithMrVince]

@@unobooks I live in Forest City and work at Shattuck St' Mary's Int. school. The island is very safe. At some point during the pandemic, they had a checkpoint on the bridge and you had to show your resident card to enter. Residential areas are gated and security is tight. It is now easy for non residents to access the island and go to the beach and duty free zone but not to access the residential parts.

[@moreco2pls]

This project was backed by Beijing, to give Beijing the ability to tell Singapore, "do as I say, or I copy your model and take your business away." I am so glad it failed.

[@nanayue5388]

CCP failed to do research on jackals living opposite little red dot.

[@peterlai2858]

Damn right

[@peterlai2858]

@@nanayue5388 d

[@leewn2319]

It was both China’s greed & Malaysian’s politicians attempt to chokehold Sg. But God blessed Sg. Those who dig a pit for others will themselves fall into it. It also failed becos of corruption. Mega projects would mean big bucks into corrupted officials pockets regardless of whether the project succeed or fail.

[@funnyway3164]

You jealous China achievement

[@MrRedsjack]

Like many other Chinese real estate projects it was a very good way for people to take money out of china going around the restrictions of taking out more than 15.000$/year before the real estate cap of 50.000$/ year. Now it is too expensive and Chinese businessman use other gray systems to move capital out. I see the same on many countries.

[@kevinbyrne4538]

Agreed. I suspect that that development was a means to smuggle money out of China or to launder it.

[@kevhall4802]

Another way for mainlanders to colonise other countries. China is very crowded! Its been going on for centuries by many colonising countries and china just following suit but doing it with capital and graft

[@RP-ks6ly]

The CCP can't allow all of that investment to go outside of china.....China needs that money to prop up its real estate bubble.

[@devonjamesj]

I know investors are crying but if they can’t develop the other 3 islands I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

[@terryleong7]

I am Malaysian- one of the main cause of the failure of this project was when the Chinese govt stops the outflow of foreign exchange out of China- they were targeting Chinese buyers

[@based9]

Hey buddy, how is it to live in Malaysia? Do you have any Cities like this in Country? Is it a safe country?

[@jlow2937]

@@based9 the food here is good enough for u to forget the rest of the problem in the country no worries

[@kwokleongawyong1064]

Same for property in Thailand. But our buyer still managed to move funds to transfer their Thai properties.

[@nulnoh219]

It's a good thing right... Stops Chinese from driving up property prices everywhere.

[@Jon-ko1qg]

@@jlow2937 legit af

[@billyboy9675]

I remember watching videos about Chinese ‘ghost cities’ a few years back. These were entire cities built from scratch but turned out to be empty after construction. What happened with those? It seems this story is similar.

[@mucanan]

Some started to fill up, many others are still empty

[@nicolashrv]

@@mucanan and almost all are falling apart after a couple of years, because of the TOFU DRAG building techniques

[@Sandals578]

They generally get demolished or collapse. Then they build another and try to sell it again. It’s a cycle.

[@billyboy9675]

@@mucanan oh ok

[@davinnicode]

You see such scenarios a lot in developing countries where money is to be made in every possible way without considering the long term effects

[@ahndeux]

The project makes no sense at all. There are lots of empty undeveloped lands in Malaysia. To create an island and build on it sounds unnecessarily expensive. Its not like Dubai where the government is willing to sink billions to create the islands for bragging rights. Malaysia is a relatively poor country and land is cheap. The Chinese developers got too greedy.

[@TheJohnlyh]

Indeed, built by non Malaysian workers made by non Malaysian materials. Had this place been built it becomes easy for the chinese government to extend their influence in South East asia

[@MA-go7ee]

Incidentally the Dubai islands are also unfinished

[@RogerKeulen]

@@MA-go7ee And sinking ;-)

[@thinkingaloud5379]

The money was sunk in by the Chinese Developer and not Malaysia. This private developer took a business risk in going ahead with the project and may not succeed.This is what business is all about. Businessmen take risks. Yet,some dumb ass are bashing the Chinese govt which has nothing to do with the project!

[@TheJohnlyh]

@@thinkingaloud5379 +10 social credit points

[@chicanohek]

Oh wow! I worked for Country Garden in Shende. Our building looked cool with semi real vegetation on the outside. What a mess of a company, I only lasted 6 months before I was canned while on a trip to Nanjing

[@eddieleong6490]

As a construction engineer that has built structures on reclaimed land, I will say it takes 20 years or more for the sand to settle properly. Country Garden reclaimed from the sea and hence beyond the piled foundations, much of the island is still sinking. Recently, certain roads or parts caved in. I presume the buildings are piled to bedrock and I presume the bedrock in that part of sea is not that deep (from 35 M to 50 M deep). Any settlement of the buildings will be showing up by now but none has happened. I presume the buildings are safe but the land will continue to settle for many more years.

[@wolfheadedconjuror]

Nothing more green and sustainable then artificial islands lol

[@vietcongbuondanbannuocphan1791]

Where do electricity , and fresh water are coming from ? what about the wasted water ? It is just a name.

[@benzzoy]

I don't know the wisdom of reclaiming land when building in a Malaysia that is not land constrained (unlike Singapore).

[@tonyatgoogle6076]

Difference between US propaganda (this channel) and Chinese propaganda? The Chinese propaganda tells you how great the Chinese are, the US propaganda tells you how 'not great' the Chinese are! Do you see the difference? No? Chinese promote themselves, US badmouth others!

[@_ben.]

@@tonyatgoogle6076 bad shill is bad

[@captainalex157]

@@tonyatgoogle6076 if you think stating facts is badmouthing, isnt there a problem with China?

[@blose4793]

Before it was built, I expected this to be a flop. You can't have access to Singapore when there is a congested bridge and the train between Singapore and JB was not build yet. JB has so much cheap land, why even bother to reclaim land from sea. Singapore is building a polder to counter rising sea levels. I doubt Forest City had anticipated this future problem for the 4 islands. JB will get a city like Venice.

[@EzraMerr]

Ice already in water melting doesn't rise sea levels especial when Nuclear Reactors use sea water and convert it to consumable water

[@vanessali1365]

@Gazza Boo Your are so right. CCP is doing this in different countries to gain control of that Country. Projects like this usually uses chinese company which brings in chinese workers and their wages return to China. Nothing will benefit Local people in JB. It's one those Chinese scams, so obvious.

[@makuru.42]

@@EzraMerr and what about the south pole and even then the rising temperature increases the volume the water takes and even if the percentage is miniscule it still adds up.

[@EzraMerr]

@@makuru.42 lmao so Ice in the water somehow increase the volume of water space when it melts? Come on man. Secondly the ice age will be here around 3000AD, trust me. Real scientists (not corporate tax and government pay scientists) all agree that the sea water rising has not been happening

[@EzraMerr]

@@makuru.42 you must look at "Past Sea Levels" the sea levels have never been so low over this period of 10,000 years. The Glaciers will ice up during 3000AD and we will have to adapt to cold temperates , you mustlnt be narrow minded and look at a few hundred years..... look at a few Hundred THOUSAND years and see the pattern of sea levels, they've been 300 Meters High before and 200 meters low as well, we adapt but these come and go over 10,000-100,000 years. It will only rise maximum 80cm in 1000 years. This has nothing to do with humans , they didn't cause "Climate change" , global warming is just spikes , they oscillate every few thousand years , but are relative stable anyway once they reach resistance zones as the temperature is cooling it will get hotter for a few hundred years and the drop again

[@zer0pulse156]

Even from the beginning, I was strongly in doubt about this project. - environmental concern - those poor mangrooves that they destroyed - workers from china flooded our state (some or most are illegal, by the way) - they target foreign investor (it's volatile in itself) - over saturated of condo - unstable market - unstable govt

[@zzjung5908]

The new Malaysian government (elected by the people) decided to fight against China's colonialism in Malaysia. A lot projects that basically sold the country to China are canceled and revised in order to save our country.

[@alexlazar4738]

@@zzjung5908 You could have had a wonderful futuristic city in your country. Now you have nothing. I don't see what you gained. By the way way, your government was "elected" by millions spent by National Endowment for Democracy, a US financed regime-change organization. They are so proud of their success in Malaysia and that the first act of the new government was to cancel all Chinese projects. I am sure the US has your best interest in mind.

[@lennytabtwoo9686]

@@alexlazar4738 It simply would have fallen over and sunk into the sea as it was going to be made with typical Gina quality....

[@lennytabtwoo9686]

@@alexlazar4738 plus fewer dogs in the country too....

[@daleghim3234]

@@alexlazar4738"Wonderful futuristic city"? You must be joking. There's also Som Ting Wong with your moniker. Why would a Chinese use Spanish name?

[@Jabberstax]

I've been to Malaysia many times. It is a wonderful place full of friendly people. Its prosperous and safe and does not need to be accepting Chinese money or influence.

[@christophers5990]

If its anything like the Chinese investor apartments here in Melbourne, they will all remain empty. It will be a ghost town.

[@byteme9718]

You clearly have no idea how Malaysia works.

[@davidhynes]

Just like the Belt and Road a bridge to nowhere.@@christophers5990

[@frankiechiuh3401]

Singapore built over a million units of “dwelling units”, since 1965, over a period of 50+ years. There is enough economic developments & progress to support “income” and to buy a property….. what are Johor’s economic plans to support the whole Iskandar project of half a millions houses ?

[@frankiechiuh3401]

@CK Lim Based on the population census, there were 3.77 million people in State of Johor, 4 person to a house and there are only a million houses need. If you import another 2 millions people to Johor, at 3-4 person to a house, then can fill up all the proposed building of 500,000 houses ! Is Johor ready to accept 2 million migrants, which is more than 50% of the original populations….???

[@lzh4950]

Singapore's Housing & Development Board (HDB; the gov't dep't in charge of public housing) built its 1000000th flat/apartment in 2007 I remember (in the TreeLodge@Punggol project). Since it was founded in 1960 that'd be ~47 years. Also saw reports that _Johor's_ Iskandar region has built as much private housing as the whole of Singapore too (~365k), which I guess is a lot

[@kenchinchanhung]

Singapore gonna plan & work harder for the Singapore based Malaysians to up-keep the buying ability - in Forest City haha

[@secrets.295]

Actually its not really that silly. People who live in Johor Bharu mostly dont work in Johor Bahru. They work in Singapore but live in Johor. So with the Singapore exchange rate at around 3x bigger than Malaysia. You would expect that a lot of people would be quite afluent for Malaysian standards. There is a need for new mega projects to house hundreds of thousands of people coming to Johof Bahru to live in the future and JB was at the time among the fastest growing cities in Malaysia. But what the city needed is mega projects for affordable housing, not thousands of million dollar housing. Even with the exchange very few people can afford it. That is the flaws of the plan. The good thing is. No Malaysian developers, banks, and very few Malaysian workers were involved in this project. So even if it becomes a basket case. It would hardly gave a severe impact to the economy. It will give all the impact to the Chinese banks & developers involved in this project. Which is great ☺️🤭

[@SilverfoxJB]

@@secrets.295 No, it already has impacted on the local orang asli fishing communities and the wildlife.

[@sk73927]

What mic setup do you use because the audio? The reason I ask is because your mic used to be better but now it sounds like it’s coming from laptop mic! Also love your videos learned sooo much from your Channel alone

[@Jake-iw3tl]

A potato

[@neverpayingtaxes]

I have mentioned it a lot of times but this guy ignores it lol

[@lombardo141]

Who cares. The information he provides is gold.

[@neverpayingtaxes]

@@lombardo141 you mean basic Wikipedia level stuff ?

[@lombardo141]

@@neverpayingtaxes sigh...if nature created you to be a smart mouth you have surely lived up to it. congrats

[@wilfredteo2899]

This is a norm in Malaysia. There was no overwhelming strong demand from overseas investors. The existing housing in Nusajaya and so many projects there were mostly unfinished. Many bought at first and bailed. The surrounding luxury country club project near was scrapped as well, this was before the shutdown in 2020. The island is theoretically a dead end and far from the city center. It was an over-stretched idea and had no revenue model. It was cheap money that spurred the development. Interesting part is who is going to pay for this failed investment.

[@reoreodiasuki5237]

Stop saying this as a norm. It is never a norm and stops norm this even if it is happening. I don't even like this project. Stupid real estate can't even learn from a goddamn 2007 housing crash. All of these are bubbles and now when this stupid kind of project enters Malaysia creating a bubble, our taxpayer's money gonna be used to bail out that Capitalist ahole.

[@usernotfound5857]

Eh, is not we pay right? If fail then China developer kena diao, not us Malaysians. We good :)

[@A1ESB-MY]

many buildings are abandoned and spoil the scenery

[@Ben-kz2km]

The one thing that tech vapourware (Hyperloop, Spinlaunch) and real estate vapourware (forrest city) have in common is beautiful CGI renderings. I'm getting more and more wary every time I see a non-existent product advertised with CGI "demos".

[@m2heavyindustries378]

Probably because CGI is so cheap these days, why not have some to spice up your project

[@flashoflight8160]

The next Theranos. Fake it til you make it.

[@johnweir9447]

There's a consistent trend in Chinese companies: lack of transparency, although if people know where to look major problems can easily be found. Andrew Left (Citron Research) published his report on Evergrande nearly 10 years before their business model caught up with them. Country Garden probably has plenty of bad assets which are unaccounted for, making their books look much more attractive than they have any right to be. Fantasia has fallen, it's only a matter of time before the rest of the giant developers follow.

[@xman7695]

Kinda like the bad credits in 2007/2008 were sold as top rate credits and accounted as such in banks everywhere in the world.

[@ML-yu5ij]

I'm very sure your government is "transparent"

[@deebil8099]

@@xman7695 Not really because China's banking system is mostly closed off to the world. It's all a fraud so they have to hide it. The amount of foreign investment into the real estate developers is relatively low. When the real estate industry in China collapses the majority of the pain will be in China. This is going to be awesome to watch.

[@xman7695]

@@deebil8099 true. I wouldn't call it awesome but it's going to be an interesting thing to watch how china will try to get through.

[@deebil8099]

@@xman7695 Na, it's good. Money is the most important thing to Chinese people. If that gets taken away from them. Chaos! They are going to have to bring out the tanks again. I just hope they get some good HD quality footage uploaded to the internet before the CCP censors it.

[@nami-swan7394]

nobody: Chinese developers: "You know what would be cool? A whole city in Antarctica."

[@ForeverNeverwhere1]

Does anyone on the internet know how to spell ". Whole" other than me?

[@vince4562]

@@ForeverNeverwhere1 Unfortunately, not everyone is educated lol

[@azellius]

Frostpunk

[@nami-swan7394]

@@ForeverNeverwhere1 sorry for the mistake bro lol it’s not my native language. Try to speak and write Portuguese tho and let’s see how many mistakes you make

[@weewillywonga]

@@nami-swan7394 Don’t worry about him bro, the kid obviously just learned to spell and thinks he’s a god now. Your English is good.

[@vijayakrishnan3131]

It is a hideous blight on the landscape. So much of primary endangered rainforests are already replaced with horrible palm plantations, and now this montrostericity. My relatives in Singapore are disgusted by this. There is no amount of habitat restoration that can compensate for the dredged sand fill to make these "islands." Environmental disaster!

[@MrBoliao98]

They are better off with the open sea they can at least catch fish.

[@vijayakrishnan3131]

@@MrBoliao98 I wouldn't eat anything from those waters. In the future, the mangrove forests that protect the coastline will prove more valuable than any piece of real estate in Singapore or Malaysia. Complete environmental disaster!

[@andrewheng5176]

are your relatives in Singapore also equally disgusted by the reclaimed land in Singapore?

[@beezlebub9]

@@andrewheng5176 yes, we are. Singaporean speaking here. We are heating up twice as fast as other countries - why won’t we be concerned?

[@welkingunther6930]

Went to the golf resort last year. The developer didn't even bother to turn on the street lights at night

[@alphapast654]

Thank you Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Truly our savior as a Malaysian citizen.

[@mercedescl]

For Malaysia, the risk is simple: 700,000 units mean 1.2 million Chinese can migrate into Malaysia and create another Singapore. Malaysia wants to compete with Singapore, not to invite a Chinese colony.

[@imeldomarcos4126]

It's called a resort.

[@unobooks]

malaysia cannot compete with singapore period. malaysia in 1963 included north borneo (present-day sabah), sarawak and singapore, the malaysian government has always been proudly racist, malaysia is for malays! when lee kuan yew proposed a different narrative ~ malaysia for malaysians, he along with singapore was kicked out of malaysia in 1965. they are just anti chinese, it would be a very different treatment if forest city belonged to an bruneian or some other rich muslim country, and the buyers had the same skin color as them

[@damianphun2261]

@@unobooks truth

[@newjourney9220]

@@unobooks well said

[@andrewheng5176]

There's a stronger chance of Malaysia competing with Singapore with 1.2 million Chinese than doing what they've been doing for 50 years.

[@mrrolandlawrence]

What a win for Malaysia. 700.000 units for Malaysians. In JB it’s full of ghost flats that are just money banks. I rented a very nice apartment there but in the block of 500 units around 10 apartment lights were on at night.

[@SilverfoxJB]

Yes, that's Johor in a nutshell. Yet you try getting a deal on rent, most people are too greedy to lower their expectations to actually let the properties and they are then slowly bleeding their money away on service charges.

[@TheMorhaGroup]

Chinas first mistake was trying to build a Chinese city in Malaysia. Well done to the new PM for clamping down on that✊🏿🔥🔥🔥

[@newjourney9220]

I heard they give away free apartment in Forest City when a Chinese buyer bought a unit in China from Country Garden.

[@keeseong2980]

For such a huge investment, the developers did not do a good job researching the political environment and stability of the country.

[@bct228]

Having stayed there, I must say, there is no other high-rise residential area that can replace Forest City. The landscaping was very well kept. It is very hard to find a garden that is so well kept and clean in other places in Malaysia. It is also very quiet. So you won't be disturbed by the constant drone of cars zooming down the road at night. That said, it is largely because the occupancy is still extremely low. The biggest concern I have for the project is their facility planning for the residence. Disclaimer, I am no professional in facility planning. Imagine they have one swimming pool to service thousands , if not ten thousands, of condominium units. ONE. Also, one gym with four treadmills. Not to mention, car park will be an issue as well. Given the occupancy is extremely low right now, it is not a problem yet. So when the occupancy starts to pick up, I will be worried. The property management is doing a pretty good job. They have a butler of sort to take care of each individual building. As an owner or tenant, you can message them directly with any problems that you have, such as broken pipes, broken lift, no water supply and etc. If you need runner service, they can provide that to you at some cost as well. The downside is that some time they have pretty ridiculous requirements and worst, they are very rigid about it. The property in general is very clean and you can hardly find a trash on the floor. They have cleaners going around making sure the property is clean. I think it is also risky to invest in it because as of now they don't have big commercial activities on the island yet. Sure, there are some restaurants, few convenience shops, some duty free shops, and furniture shops, a clinic, I still don't think it is really that attractive. For one, when I want to buy groceries and daily items, I still drove all the way to Jaya Grocer at Sunway Medini, which is about 20km away. There is no petrol station on the island. Again, the nearest is about 18km away. ONE WAY. To fill up the tank and return would take me 36km in total. That's crazy! These are just some of my thoughts after having stayed there for a certain amount of time.

[@Birdylockso]

According to this video, too many obstacles against this development, and hopefully, they will build more affordable housing on it. But, then it won't be as nice as you remembered. The initial Chinese buyers are the ones to lose money, but Malaysia will continue to remain 3rd world, which is fine for the rest of Asia.

[@dorissteve912]

The wisest thing that should be on every wise individual's list is to invest in different stream of income and don't depend on the government to bring in money especially now the pandemic is hitting the economy

[@wilsonjudson1650]

you are definitely right , waiting on the government is a big waste

[@dorissteve912]

Investments are the stepping Stones to success especially if you been guided by a professional

[@williamjohn1374]

Investing is good but investing in the right thing is the actual key to success . who is your pro ?

[@dorissteve912]

There are so many investment out there but if profits must be considered then not all investments are good to go into.

[@dorissteve912]

i trade with VIVIAN KLAINE MORGAN

[@zohanrock]

Building a forest city in an area known for mosquito borne viruses. great idea. Add to that you're right next to a port, power plant, oil refinery and heavy manufacturing industries.

[@hotarutonbo5226]

Plus an incineration plant

[@BLU3D4Y]

Ey, at least some migratory birds will enjoy it. Give it a decade or so, it maybe a new birds sanctuary with the Forest City turning into a real Forest 🤣

[@jingjing8560]

As a malaysian i can tell this project is a scam. Most of the buyers of forest city are from chuna and other countries

[@calkinsb0713]

Where is Chuna?

[@shirokun4742]

@@calkinsb0713 west taiwan

[@leonardgrant6876]

Chinese really did not think it threw especially about the political issues before starting this project, it is so stupid that one can ask how anybody in charge could give green light to this project.

[@jasonlahey1550]

Well Najib. I mean he was so corrupt the US State department described his government as a kleptocracy. I don’t agree with Mahatir most of the time but this was absolutely correct. Mahatir is or is almost 100 years old and to have to come back into office because there was no other adequate candidate is sad for Malaysia.

[@limyrob1383]

This was doomed to fail becuse 2nd homes can never be sustainable. Areas of 2nd homes are simply empty large parts of the year and become ghost towns. Owners hope to rent to air B&B or holiday lets, but this soon brings an area down and there is not the market in a location like this. As the properties age then annual service charges mount up. But was the true business model an escape route for Chinese fleeing the CCP but concealed as 2nd homes? They could move their money out, and get residency and the cost would be justified if the CCP continued to run China into the ground or take it to war. Now the CCP has changed the rules and closed the door these properties have no value to Chinese buyers. Something that I noticed in the promo pictures is that most "digital people" look to be white westerners, is part of the sales pitch "its not China"?

[@andrewheng5176]

A bit of context to try to make sense of this project, and I'll use Shanghai as the baseline for information since that's mainly where the project was targeting potential buyers. If you can afford a property in Shanghai, the listing price for the Forest City residences are basically peanuts in comparison; so I think 'investment' certainly wasn't the main driver for the prospective buyers. This project in many ways are very similar to an existing model in China, where people in Northern provinces will buy what is effectively a vacation home in Hainan Island to get away from the harsh winter months, so again not a very foreign concept to Chinese buyers, granted I think in this case the distance makes it a really hard sell. In hindsight though, the common man really is the biggest loser in all of this, being wedged between not one, but two policy changes both in China and Malaysia.

[@unobooks]

the reality will ALWAYS pale in comparison to the amazing computer mock ups for any construction project

[@TheMorhaGroup]

Simply isn't even close to being true, we have seen many Chinese mega projects come out as rendered

[@barryjulianwaldron3656]

The biggest and best ego trip story I’ve ever heard about in my entire life. The madness continues. 🇦🇺🦘

[@bibiayube677]

The sheer hubris is astonishing madness for sure

[@melvinthedeathless.melvint6727]

No one in their right mind would migrate to Malaysia and make it their permanent home, considering Malaysia's bumiputera policy; non-malays are treated as 2nd class citizens.

[@rsiow2]

This affects the locals. Foreigners are treated as guests, hence differently.

[@beverlyhills7883]

Actually foreign money is welcome but oh the hypocrisy - non Muslim foreigners aren't especially wanted.

[@aussiestallion69]

So true, and so sad, racist government for decades, whichever was in power, of course mostly UMNO.

[@thefatt1988]

@@aussiestallion69 Ironically, these so called racist government was the one that approved this project. UMNO was never racist, they purposely appear to be racist and instill racial sentiment just to create tension among different races. It's divide and conquer. They have been successful in their plan and ruling the nation for decades and most likely it will stay that way for a very long time. BTW, they lose the General Election in 2018 and yet now they are the ruling government.

[@aussiestallion69]

@@thefatt1988 approved because of corruption, and UMNO is a racist party, appearing to be and being are in effect the same thing. Deliberately dividing the country by race is by definition racist, and what other country can you name that makes its citizens declare their ethnicity on government forms like your passport, applying for your IC, etc. A government that gives discounts to ethnic Malays, forces companies to employ a min % of Malays, reserves places for Malays at universities, and… and… and… do I need to go on? Either your a Malay yourself or if not and of Chinese background, which given your username seems likely, then you’re a traitor to your own kind and an apologist for any Malaysian party that perpetuates the racist policies of Malaysia.

[@based9]

This City will look like a dystopian sci fi place after few years

[@davidallen8611]

This is literally my favorite channel on the internet

[@ducknorris233]

Say what you will about Country Garden but their early bird Buffet for seniors is amazing. Try the pot pie.

[@mathieug6136]

Last time I heard about it, I think it was turning into a jungle overwhelmed with insects

[@wongfamily4013]

Well said. When this Mega was mooted, I have commented that SOONER OR LATER, this Forest City will EVENTUALLY TURN INTO A FORESTED AREA INFESTED WITH RATS, SNAKES AND DRUG ADDICTS!

[@vanessali1365]

A huge amount of resources are needed for maintainance and services after the contractors have left. It's not their responsibility!

[@bowlampar]

So quick for it to become a 'jungle' , wow, a real forest city. 😂😁😂

[@usernotfound5857]

So China came over to help us build an actual forest!? Gee, thanks XD

[@StampitisDP]

Great video as usual 👌👌

[@stupic123]

Wait till you find a Malaysia stock exchange listed company and try do a research, it is even more worst than you expect. HINT: Serba Dinamik. Anyway, this is a good video as business with Malaysia does comes with risk, rocky political risk, mixed with corruption and nepotism from a point of view as a Malaysian myself.

[@HotarusLens]

I'll bet good money that any further construction on Forest City from this point on will be tofu dreg construction...

[@thomasthumim7630]

The builders biggest mistake is just to look for Chinese residents. They should of looked for people from a diverse international community example Europe and the United States

[@itoakira917]

This was probably going to be a Chinese post in Malacca strait .

[@richdobbs6595]

Malaysia is not an attractive destination for rich Americans. Not a good cultural fit. Doesn't seem particularly safe geopolitically or for local politics. Not the same desire to get hot money out of the country as Chinese because American's can just invest overseas without the currency controls that China has. It would be more attractive to UAE, Qatar, Saudi investors, but they are probably favoring Europe.

[@pyap9779]

Most Americans cannot find Malaysia on map.

[@lazywallstreetnews7234]

Too bad they didn't develop a digital version of this where they could sell it for the equivalent price of a real life house. They could of made it work 🤣

[@techlife4599]

💯😂😂😂

[@SuccessforLifester]

From the lighthouse marina in Singapore, I think Forest city can be seen. I am not sure what was the status but I thought there were lights on it.

[@davidtay9347]

Yeah,u seen candles instead of lights🤣🤣

[@boonteetan4448]

The huge project is in bad shape at the moment. It looks good on the surface at first. Somehow, there have been undisclosable under-counter dealings among the developers and the government(s). An old autocrat purposely and practically axed it in 2018/2019..

[@iFreeThink]

Islands could also have pillars (like latched for disassembly). To put a noodle on the bottom for floating removal.

[@qwaszxerdfcvtyghvb]

Another mirage Chinese project.... i was always sceptical about the rise of the Chinese economy deep inside i knew it was a bubble created by an extensive leveraging and a lot of debts, fundamentally it was wrong because a politically communist regime can not run a country with a capitalist financial system, those are opposites which impossible to have both of them in one place, it was just a matter of time for them to clash, and it did happen recently. This is the dawn of the second largest economy in the world.

[@lainfonet]

Gordon G. Chang's masterpiece The Coming Collapse of China analyzed China’s collapse 20 years ago.

[@totallykawaii6073]

Lesson learned: Never bet against Nature , no matter how much money you have !!!

[@vanessali1365]

Absolutely right, there's a "rewilding" movement going on trying to return artificial structures back to Nature. Watch this space!

[@mlyw7918]

You forgot to mention the high speed railway project to Singapore is cancelled by the Malaysian government .

[@5kplamse]

The moment it was conceived I already know that it will fail cos Malaysia is well known for building property halfway and leaving it unfinished for good cos every politician in Malaysia all want to dip their hands into the honey jar.

[@karehaqt]

Chinese built = tofu dreg

[@Diamond_Hanz]

Tofu island...made in Xi-na is a real 🦠

[@manlymcstud8588]

that's going to be pretty accurate of a name for it. i like it.

[@vietcongbuondanbannuocphan1791]

They have Xitler controlling the Chinazi government.

[@ravim111]

Chinese developer Country Garden is facing huge losses on its artificial island project, Forest City, in Malaysia. The project, which was originally estimated to cost $100 billion, has been beset by problems since its inception. One of the biggest problems is that the project has not been able to attract enough buyers. As of 2022, only about 10% of the apartments in Forest City have been sold. This is due in part to the fact that the project is located in a remote area of Malaysia, and it is also due to the fact that the prices of the apartments are very high. Another problem with the project is that it has caused environmental damage. The construction of the artificial islands has disrupted the natural ecosystem of the area, and it has also caused the loss of mangrove forests. As a result of these problems, Country Garden is estimated to have lost billions of dollars on the Forest City project. The company has said that it is still committed to the project, but it is unclear if it will ever be able to make a profit on it. Here are some of the factors that have contributed to the losses on the Forest City project:

[@MyChaiyos]

Forest City เป็นเมกะโปรเจ็กต์มูลค่า 100 พันล้านดอลลาร์ ตั้งอยู่ในรัฐยะโฮร์ มาเลเซีย ซึ่งพัฒนาโดย Country Garden ผู้พัฒนาอสังหาริมทรัพย์รายใหญ่ที่สุดของจีน เป็นเกาะเทียมนอกชายฝั่งมาเลเซียและอยู่ใกล้กับสิงคโปร์ เดิมทีมันควรจะเป็นบ้านอพาร์ทเมนต์หรูหราเพื่อขายให้กับชาวจีนชนชั้นกลางผู้มั่งคั่ง อย่างไรก็ตาม ความตึงเครียดทางการเมืองระหว่างมาเลเซียและจีนทำให้การพัฒนาโครงการหยุดชะงักลง ในวิดีโอนี้ เราจะอธิบายว่า Forest City คืออะไร สถานะปัจจุบันของการพัฒนา และผลกระทบที่มีต่อ Country Garden

[@MithunOnTheNet]

Another developer hiding their liabilities? *shocker*

[@bayly1977]

This makes me happy. Anything to keep the Chinese in China is a good thing!

[@Copperhead2017]

Excessive risk taking? I don't think so. Excessive cheap financing yes, the company borrows heavily in the name of making grandiose investments, which they know from the outset will lead to heavy losses, these isn't any chance of turning a profit. Instead the grand price tag and ilarge investments are a way to funnel money to some of the key decision makers behind the scenes. Once that is done, the public shareholders of the company are the one left holding the bag.

[@gundamnduke0]

When i was growing up in China, Country Garden had commercials all the time. If you have a house from them, it's like you made it in China

[@jrtstrategicapital560]

These types of projects totally ignore the facts that sea levels are rising!

[@ursicthepro1778]

Could you do a video on SEC's lawsuit against Ripple labs? Just about everyone in the crypto community thinks the SEC is in the wrong.

[@dangda-ww7de]

market will crash in a month, so hold on, or sell now and get xrp at 30c.

[@MrWashesp]

They are lol they were just the 1st big crypto with a backing that was on the crypto scene back in 2017. SEC just cherry picked the wrong crypto. Because if they really cared they would be doing something about all the rug pulls and pump and dumps.

[@jonasbaine3538]

@@dangda-ww7de what? Why would market crash?

[@leapdrive]

@@dangda-ww7de , where do you by ripple crypto?

[@dangda-ww7de]

@@jonasbaine3538 because if you are going to dump 141k btc onto the market it will crash.

[@yvvonelee5026]

In Northern Thailand, there are similar Chinese enclaves but I didnt stay long enough to find out whether they are occupied.

[@michaelsmith4904]

Could you turn down the high frequencies in your audio? I hear an awful high pitched chirping in most of your videos which makes it impossible to listen as loud as i would like. Thanks!

[@jacsonater]

It has been said before, but I feel it needs to b stated again, MEGA-PROJECTS lose money. Invest in good business practices from the ground up. Small businesses grow, reducing their barriers to growth always yields better results than billions into mega projects with theoretical benefits.

[@secrets.295]

Mega projects are not necessarily a waste of money. Depends on what project? 10 billion dollars project focusing on affordable housing selling 200k and below will be extremely good for the economy. Or building a factory that costs 10 billion and provide like 5000 jobs to the local economy is also very2 good. I hate this thinking about SME is the way to go. Majority of SME's would be dead if big companies go bust. Just look at Las Vegas. When big hotels were shut during the pandemic. All those small businesses, restaurants, bakeries, etc literally dies with them. All those thousands of small and medium size tech companies in Korea which have contracts with Samsung would also vanish if Samsung go bust today. SME needed big companies to function. We need big, medium, small businesses to be present proportionately. Then only the economy can function smoothly

[@andrewheng5176]

​@@secrets.295 This. I'm seeing a lot of glee over the supposed 'failure' of this project, oddly enough mainly from locals in the surrounding area. Why is an infusion of a proposed $100 billion investment be viewed in such a bad light, and the prevailing sentiment is that locals can't afford anything close to the asking price; are we somehow suppose to then turn around and put the hopes of growing the economy on a segment of the population that have suboptimal purchasing power?

[@braddenham7053]

Well done, good report.

[@nonconformist9991]

If our financial system is precariously leveraged on a mountain of debt and corruption I can only imagine what it is really like in China once the curtain is raised.

[@bankfinanzas6348]

Greetings from PERU Evergrand is more political no economic

[@vanessali1365]

Evergrand is the soft arm of CCPchina's invasion expansion domination project. I'm glad it's failing.

[@ashamon99]

Just wondering about a brand new international school there, stating on their website it's fully operational. If there are only 500 residents presently on the island, how is this working out for the school??!!

[@lightaiyee]

It is not easy to make money in Malaysia. Many Singaporeans have lost money investing in Malaysian properties. Seems like now it's the Chinese turn to lose money. I'm sure some foreigners are able to do so but I hear more money-losing stories than money-making ones.

[@davidhynes]

What a disgrace and waste of money, another ghost city and island.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

One ghost city among many.

[@fauziahmohddinmohddin7988]

Failed .. to unsustainabilty thinking it will make profits.. this company must find it not worth to invest after all . Rich Malaysians bought houses in Australia , New Zealand , Europe , Canada and US where the beauty of those houses same standard as they paid . I have been several countries around the world those people have amazing houses . If the foreigners bought the apartment here they are paying enormous taxes to maintain the whole complexs when their house so compact so small . Stupid to invest in this kind apartments when Singapore and Beijing plus Shanghai have same design . THE WORST PART THE QUALITIES OF THESE BUILDINGS QUESTIONABLE ON CLAIM AREA .. MEANS SAND FILL ? NOT TO MENTION QUICK SAND TO ABSORB THESE BUILDINGS LATER . NOW THE CRACKS STARTED TO APPEAR .. HOW? MADE IN CHINA!

[@dannypng1759]

See great differences between Johore state and Singapore just merely a causeway away. Why??? Singapore most expensive properties are bought by Chinese and other foreign countries no a issue to locals. Malaysia unstablise policies and short sighted mentalities are the main problem to foreign investors. Countless individuals suffered losses not to mention Chinese developers and even handful of local developers.

[@philipfong4800]

Does not benefit the locals, only for the richest, Malaysian don't care nor bother about it.

[@dunggg]

I love this channel

[@reel1tv587]

I remember this story. The Chinese completely screwed them over.

[@pavel4freedom]

Thanks for covering Chinese investments more than most other vloggers. I'm long Country Garden (CG) through their HKEX listing (2007), so I admit my bias. I agree that Forest City and their other Malaysian projects are likely a total loss. However lets put that in perspective among CG's other projects: its 4 projects out of 2987, 99% of which are widely distributed in mainland China. What I like about CG is that they took seriously the "three red lines" regulation imposed by the central government in 2020, while Evergrande and the other developers near bankruptcy did not. You rightly point out in your other videos that many of these developers expanded into other businesses far away from their core. CG has not done that to the same extent, even though their activities in robotics are often criticized as such. Honestly though, I view their diversification away from construction as a positive. I don't see their work in agriculture, food processing, restaurants and catering as being all that far from their core because its all based on using land. Its vertical integration in my view. This comment is too long, but I encourage readers to check out their annual and interim reports.

[@samo4003]

Are you not concerned about the lack of transparency? Is that why you are prepared to rely on their annual and interim reports?

[@pauldwyer7732]

@@samo4003 There is a risk, but compared to the US market Chinese stocks are cheap. I put a lot of faith in the Moody's credit rating of any Chinese company I invest in. That will be based on the findings of an independent auditor. In Country Garden's case they use Price Waterhouse Coopers.

[@samo4003]

@@pauldwyer7732 Your faith in Moody's or any of the credit rating agencies are misplaced. Ask any experienced fund manager. The same goes as regards accounts auditors. They are not as independent as you think.

[@pauldwyer7732]

@@samo4003 Well, if you say so. I'm not sure any other country's stocks are any safer.

[@samo4003]

@@pauldwyer7732 At the very least, government policies democratic countries are more certain predictable and stable. That is one risk less already.

[@bonjovirocks24]

Didn’t Dubai try this, with a tremendous financial loss?

[@truth0806]

It's gonna be a huge GHOST CITY instead of Forest City.

[@mohamadyusoff9091]

The only selling point is close proximity to Singapore. Malaysians who work here probably wouldnt buy it either. So who is their target market? Also does it have to be an island? it seems wasteful since johor has a lot of unused land

[@farqsideways5679]

Yeah we know what MADE IN CHINA really means.

[@peterfu529]

how much to sell now? I like to buy if price is attractive

[@yudhiadhyatmikosiswono9082]

Damn..... i used to see Evergrande container come and go from port to street. Now everytime i see Evergrande container parked in port there is police line and court order.

[@Sasskin]

Evergrande and evergreen

[@MJLStudios]

Crossing the border takes 3-4 hours typically, doesn't make sense to buy this property if you plan to send ur kids to Singapore to study or yourself to work.

[@codplayer808fly]

What happened to the music? I liked the background music lol

[@lettucesalad3560]

I wouldn't be surprised if they were installing missile silos.. better to shut it down.

[@reserved1150]

Lol ikr! Maybe they used the same crews that build in the South China Sea

[@CommodoreFloopjack78]

Of course they're not talking about the project, it's a massive failure and embarrassment. And a pretty stupid idea to begin with. Naturally, they're going to keep this s**tshow on the DL.

[@thamutha]

Okay all thats nice but can we get like a boat from forest city to singapore Tuas rightr next to the MRT station or a new checkpoint right after tuas from singapore. So that Singaporeans would buy and live in forest city than elsewhere. Like a special Singapore to Malaysia access only bypassing the long Tuas checkpoint to Sultan checkpoint. that would speed up the travelling process and make mroe singaporeans move there.

[@PotatoMan007]

China and losses are the best combo ever.

[@johnnyonthespot4375]

We, as in the Global Community, are in store for a *Major* Financial Re-adjustment - Considering what is happening right now I'm guessing it should hit 3rd quarter of next year. This is gonna make 2007 seem quaint in comparison ~

[@porcus123]

Where can i invest in malaysian urban exploration channels?

[@scoria1755]

The massive fish deaths are because the islands reduced the currents that removed the raw sewage from the local fishing villages. Work on the raw sewage.

[@armchairwomanmao2922]

The "boondogglers" should have learnt from the Dubai Palm Islands BS.

[@Greg-qw7xl]

Facts. Rather live there, despite the heat. More freedom, more to do, and more English understood. Enjoyed visiting Dubai.

[@HAmatelot]

What happens as sea level continues to rise ???

[@peterfu529]

crazy, i met developer in canada years ago, They chose to Maylasia's articial island, Investors and developer will be big loss. Takes hours to just clear visa in Maylasia, investors end up to sell a fraction of their investments.

[@jiulingsong4648]

Congratulations to Chinese investors from Canada!

[@ML-yu5ij]

you're a Chinese yourself :)

[@iamok2009]

it will not be surprising if country garden requests malaysian govt to buy over its stake in forest city..

[@vennsim71]

They don’t have the money. The money is in the politicians’ pockets, not the national coffers

[@tananga1523]

China waste so much money...