More than 1,300 participants – the biggest number todate – thronged the recently-revived Johor Bahru Car-Free Morning last Saturday with OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Berhad (OCBC Bank) coming in for the first time as main sponsor of the monthly event.

Present were Mayor of Johor Bahru YB Dato’ Haji Mohd Noorazam bin Dato’ Haji Osman, CEO of OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Berhad Mr Tan Chor Sen and OCBC Al-Amin Bank Berhad CEO Tuan Syed Abdull Aziz Syed Kechik.

The three – along with about a hundred OCBC Bank staff – led the pack through the heart of Johor Bahru city centre on the OCBC Cycle bicycles sponsored by the Bank.

OCBC Bank had earlier announced its sponsorship of 100 bicycles that the public can use on a complimentary basis at each session of the JB Car-Free Morning which will be held every second Saturday of the month from 7am to 9am.

OCBC Bank announced its sponsorship of JB Car-Free Morning last week, following its well-known support of the popular Kuala Lumpur Car-Free Morning since 2015.

Multigreen Events Sdn Bhd, organiser of KL Car-Free Morning since inception, serves as strategic partner to Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru (MBJB) in implementing OCBC Bank’s sponsorship programme.

According to Johor Bahru Mayor YB Dato’ Haji Mohd Noorazam bin Dato’ Haji Osman, the entry of a corporate entity like OCBC Bank, which has vast experience sponsoring car-free mornings, augurs well for the future of JB Car-Free Morning.

Mayor of Johor Bahru YB Dato’ Haji Mohd Noorazam bin Dato’ Haji Osman (front row, in black), CEO of OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Berhad Mr Tan Chor Sen (to the Mayor’s right) and OCBC Al-Amin Bank Berhad CEO Tuan Syed Abdull Aziz Syed Kechik (to the Mayor’s left) led the pack through the heart of Johor Bahru city centre on the OCBC Cycle bicycles sponsored by the Bank

“We are excited about what the future holds for JB Car-Free Morning, underlined by OCBC Bank’s commitment to its long-term success through, among others, the provision of the 100 bicycles for the community to use on a complimentary basis. With this, we look forward to having even more people from all walks of life joining us for our events from 7am to 9am every second Saturday of the month. As with KL Car-Free Morning, JB Car-Free Morning seeks to protect the environment, promote healthy living, encourage decarbonisation and drive tourism into the city of Johor Bahru. We welcome everybody to this event, including our neighbours from across the Causeway in Singapore to join us every second Saturday of the month,” he said.

JB Car-Free Morning features a 5-kilometre route in which participants will be able to enjoy exercising along traffic-free closed roads by cycling, running, skateboarding or simply walking.

Dato’ Haji Mohd Noorazam added that JB Car-Free Morning is a great platform for people to come together in large numbers to enjoy the scenic sights the city has to offer, while soaking in the atmosphere with family and friends. JB Car Free Morning is also a platform for government agencies, NGOs and members of the private sector to come together to collaborate.

The community gathered in full force and began with a warmup session before heading off on the 5km route of the all-new JB Car-Free Morning

JB Car-Free Morning begins at the MBJB Building at Jalan Dato’ Onn and goes through Jalan Dato Onn, Jalan Ibrahim, Jalan Wong Ah Fook, Jalan Gereja, Jalan Trus, Jalan Abdullah Ibrahim, Jalan Dato Dalam, Jalan Khalid Abdullah and Jalan Ayer Molek before concluding where it starts.

Participants can look forward to passing iconic landmarks such as the Johor Bahru Sky Screen, Zero Mile Icon, Sungai Segget, Johor Bahru Ancient Chinese Temple, Gurdwara Sahib Johor Bahru, Sultan Ibrahim Building, Persada Johor International Convention Centre, Dewan Jubli Intan Sultan Ibrahim and several other notable structures.

Commenting on the decision to expand its car-free morning sponsorship to Johor Bahru, OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Berhad CEO Mr Tan Chor Sen said OCBC Bank is encouraged by the enthusiasm shown by the Johor Bahru Mayor and MBJB for moving the event to the next level and for warmly welcoming the Bank to partner with them.

“We are looking forward to enabling more sustainability-linked efforts through JB Car-Free Morning which, moving forward, will strive to create even more health and environment-related programmes for everyone to participate in. We are hoping to add recycling and go-green initiatives which all participants can contribute to as well.

“I would like to put on record our thanks to the honourable Mayor of Johor Bahru for the trust placed in us and look forward to a fruitful and meaningful collaboration.,” he said.

Multigreen Events CEO En Mohd Nezzam Abd Malek said the company is looking forward to continuing its partnership with OCBC Bank, this time in Johor Bahru, to ensure MBJB’s ideals are achieved.

“We will seek to provide the appropriate activation programmes for the community to participate in at each platform every month. We will create exciting activities for the community to enjoy while staying true and close to the goals of promoting healthy living, advancing the sustainability agenda especially decarbonisation, and driving tourism,” he said.

For further information on JB Car-Free Morning, the public may visit jb.carfreemorning.my