Malaysia UKM students win 1st place in eVolo 2010 Skyscraper Competition

The 1st place winner of eVolo Magazine's Skyscraper Competition in 2010 has been awarded to 3 architecture students from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) - Chow Khoon Toong, Ong Tien Yee, and Beh Ssi Cze. Congratulation!


As a background, this annual Skyscraper Competition recognizes outstanding ideas that redefine skyscraper design through the use of new technologies, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organization.

This winning contest entry project examines the possibility of creating a vertical prison in the sky where inmates will have to work and live in a community that will contribute to the host city below. The prison will have agricultural fields, factories, and recyclable plants that will be operated by the offenders as a way to give back to the community. They will live “free” until they have completed their sentence and are prepared to rejoin their communities.

The vertical prison has its own transportation system which consists of different “pods” for officers, prisoners, firefighters, and other workers.

Click here to read more about the brilliant idea of Vertical Prison.

Also worth to mention is another Malaysian entry by architect Sarly Adre Bin Sarkum has also won the Special Mention prize in the same competition. His entry is "Water-Scraper: Underwater Architecture", which is a self sufficient structure designed to float on the ocean.

Click here to read more about the unique design of Water-Scraper.

The Edge Investment Forum on Real Estate 2010

Once again, The Edge and UOB Bank are organizing a real estate investment forum in Kuala Lumpur. This year, the theme is: "To buy or not to buy: Where to put your money?". Readers of The Edge can register now for free.

Date: 10 April 2010 (Saturday)
Time: 9am - 1pm
Venue: Sime Darby Convention Centre, Bukit Kiara, KL

Interesting topics of discussion:

• Malaysian property market outlook in 2010 - Is the picture clearer?
• Valuation creation in property investment
• Panel discussion on "Property, REITs or property stocks?"

Lucky participants will walk away with Ho Chin Soon research maps worth RM2,000 each.

Click here for more information and online registration to The Edge Investment Forum on Real Estate 2010.

Are you born to be a billionaire?

The Sunday Star dated 14 March 2010 reveiled an interesting finding from their "So you want to be a millionaire?" survey with YouthSays and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), which polled 1,678 people below the age of 30 thoughout Malaysia.

The finding: 96% of the respondents aspire to become millionaires, and 75% of them believe that they can achieve it by the age of 35! Wow!

If you haven't read about the report, here is the online version:

• "I want to be a millionaire"
• Poll: Most youth yearn to be millionaires before they are 35

Anyhow, the first question to all millionaire wannabes is: Are you willing to pay the price to make millions (or even billions).  

Here is a list of 13 self-assessment questions in a Forbes' article:

• Why Go Big at All? - What and where are your long-term goals?
• Can You See Around Corners? - What and where are your visions?
• Can You Tolerate and Manage Ambiguity? - Are you able to see through a jungle of conflicting data?
• Do You Prize Independence?
• Do You Have the Guts to Double-Down?
• Are You Inspired by Creativity or More Process-Oriented?
• Are You Willing to Make Tough Decisions For the Growth of the Company?
• Do You Like Speaking in Public?
• Are You a Consensus-Builder?
• Can You Delegate?
• If You Say You Need it On Your Desk By 9am, Will it Get Done? 
• Can You Work on Christmas?
• Can You Deal with Isolation? 

For more explanation of each of the items above, please click here to read about the "Are You Born To Be A Billionaire?" article in Forbes' website.