The popular Johor Bahru Car-Free Morning – now held every second Sunday of the month in the city centre – has received a timely boost with OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Berhad (OCBC Bank) returning as main sponsor for a second consecutive year.

And like when the Bank first came on board a year ago, it is sponsoring another 100 bicycles – making 200 in all now – which the public can use on a complimentary basis at each session.

Multigreen Events Sdn Bhd, organiser of KL Car-Free Morning since inception and JB Car-Free Morning since last year, will continue to serve 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 Haffiz Bin Haji Ahmad, the entry of OCBC Bank last year, with its vast experience sponsoring car-free mornings, helped to bring JB Car-Free Morning to a new level, with a consistently high total of over 1,500 participants per session.

“The success of JB Car-Free Morning thus far is exemplified by the fact that all 100 complimentary rental bicycles are very quickly snapped up each session. Recognising the popularity of the event and in celebration of the steady development of the platform over the past year, OCBC Bank was quick to offer another 100 bicycles for the public to use. We would like to thank them for this gesture as a community partner.

“We continue to be excited about what the future holds for JB Car-Free Morning, underlined by OCBC Bank’s commitment to its long-term success. We look forward to having even more people from all walks of life joining us for our events from 7am to 9am every second Sunday of the month. JB Car-Free Morning will continue to be committed to protecting 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 Sunday of the month. The role JB Car-Free Morning will be heightened the years ahead with the setting up of the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ),” he said.

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

Dato’ Haji Mohd Haffiz Bin Haji Ahmad 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.

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 move to extend the sponsorship of JB Car-Free Morning for a second year, OCBC Al-Amin Bank Berhad CEO Tuan Syed Abdull Aziz Syed Kechik said the Bank is encouraged by the spirit of partnership shown by the Johor Bahru Mayor and MBJB and for warmly welcoming the Bank to partner with them.

“We are looking forward to yet another year of 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 in this our second year of sponsoring this important event. Our role in JB Car-Free Morning will complement the active part we are playing in the development to the newly set-up Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone,” he said.

Multigreen Events CEO En Mohd Nezzam Abd Malek said the company is looking forward to continuing its partnership with OCBC Bank 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