PONDERS ISSUE 28

KDN: PP16888/09/2012 (030643) 

Photo courtesy : Victoria Shes 

THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF PONDEROSA GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB 

Affiliated to the Kuok Group 

ISSUE 28 

2022 

FREE COPY

PONDEROSA GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB NEWSLETTER 

CEO’S ANNIVERSARY 

MESSAGE 

“We are grateful to all of you who walked part 

of the journey and support the club’s operations 

over the years and bring the club to what we are 

today.” 

I would like to wish each and everyone of you, Happy 30th Anniversary, as all of you have contributed in your 

own way towards Ponderosa Golf & Country Club’s journey of growth through out 30 years. 

From a very modest beginning in 1992, with a vision of creating a private and exclusive Golf Club, integrated 

with facilities within a prominent neighbourhood in Johor Bahru, Ponderosa has evolved to become one of 

the most popular golf and recreational clubs in Johor Bahru - not only to its members but as the lung of Taman 

Molek and Taman Ponderosa, serving a well-rounded lifestyle to its residents and surrounding community. 

As we reflect on what Ponderosa has achieved in the last 30 years, nothing would have been possible without 

the solid foundation established by our visionary leaders and the hard work and dedicated efforts of our fellow 

colleagues and everyone who have loyally and tirelessly served the golf club and contributed to Ponderosa’s 

success. We are grateful to all of them who walked part of the journey and support the club’s operations over 

the years and bring the club to what we are today. 

To our members, business partners, associates and friends, we would not have been able to come this far 

without your support. THANK YOU for your collaboration and trust. We look forward to your continued support 

for many more years to come. 

Like any other golf and social clubs, Ponderosa was not spared the turbulence of the cyclical economic 

crisis and the adverse impact of oversupply situation of golf clubs in Johor. However, with the support of the 

shareholders, members and commitment of our colleagues, Ponderosa remain resilient to weather the storm 

and has been able to deal with the ongoing challenges. 

We know the operating environment will continue to be challenging. Today, we have hardworking and 

committed colleagues in the club with high aspirations to help us to face the headwinds in front of us and 

as we continue our journey through the years to come, with passion, determination, a resilient culture and a 

strong team behind us, we aim to bring the club to the next level. 

A huge shout out to all members and guests who recorded so many beautiful memories at Ponderosa 

throughout these years. Thanks for making Ponderosa your long-term friend. We cherish dearly your 

friendship, loyalty and support. 

LIM SOON HUAT 

Chief Executive Officer 

PONDERS newsletter is published by Ponderosa Golf & Country Club (No. 3, Jalan Ponderosa 1, Taman Ponderosa, 81100 Johor Bahru, Johor) 

& Printed by Avenue Printing Sdn. Bhd. (496358-K) [15, Jalan Permas 9/9, Bandar Baru Permas Jaya, 81750 Masai, Johor, Malaysia]. Copyright of articles, 

contributions and photos which are published are the property of Ponderosa Golf & Country Club.


30 YEARS FLASH IN A BASH! 

Ponderosa’s 30th Anniversary on 7 August came 

and went, leaving memories of a celebration 

that will go down in the annals of its history. 

The afternoon started off on a heartily green note 

for all life golfing and committee members with 

the Ponderosa Cup 2022, the inaugural play-off 

that will mark future anniversaries. 

The overall champion was none other than Tan Zi 

Yond, who is no novice in winning, followed by a 

joyous line of other winners in various categories 

and novelty prizes.


Long Service Employees with CEO, Lim Soon Huat 

Men’s A Category: Mr Cheong Yaw Khang 

Men’s C Category: Mr Yeong Yew Sin 

Men’s B Category: Mr Ng Jit Sing 

Nearest to Pin: Ms Chew Siew Beng 

Nearest to the Line: Ms Tee Keh Ling 

Longest Drive: Mr Jason Law 

Overall Best Gross: Mr Tan Zi Yond 

The icing on the 30th anniversary celebration must surely be the specially-organised dinner with an 

evening flourishing with mirth and camaraderie with the Ponderosa Cup award ceremony as well as 

the Long Service Awards in honour of staff, with years spanning up to 29 years of employment with 

Ponderosa. Guests were feted with glorious food and entertainment from start through the finale 

that featured popular stand-up comedian, Dr Jason Leong. 

An evening resplendent in black and gold, aptly encapsulating the golden 30 years of Ponderosa’s 

past and more into the future.

PONDEROSA GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB NEWSLETTER


Staff Club to the Aid of Orphans 

FULFILLING A WISH LIST 

The Staff Club brought packed, fast-food lunch for the 25 children aged between 9 – 17 years. 

In conjunction with Ponderosa’s 30th Anniversary 

celebration, Ponderosa’s Staff Club took to collecting 

donations from employees to buy and donate items 

from a wish list posted by the Villa Paulos Care 

Organisation for Orphans and Poor Children. 

A total of RM2000 were collected to buy six multipurpose, 

foldable work tables, four drawer cabinets 

and a Sharp microwave oven, a carom table, football 

game table and a Monopoly set for the children’s 

recreation. 

The boys look forward to play-time 

Abdul Aziz, Facility Manager and Mohd Sani, 

Chairman of the Staff Club presented the 

microwave oven and other needs.


EXCESSIVE BLUE LIGHT FROM OUR GADGETS 

MAY ACCELERATE THE AGING PROCESS 

Changes in cell chemistry from blue light exposure observed in fruit flies could also potentially 

cause detrimental effects on our body, including accelerated ageing 

researchers in the cells of fly heads. In particular, they 

found that the levels of the metabolite succinate 

were increased, but glutamate levels were lowered. 

“Succinate is essential for producing the fuel for 

the function and growth of each cell. High levels 

of succinate after exposure to blue light can be 

compared to gas being in the pump but not 

getting into the car,” said Giebultowicz. “Another 

troubling discovery was that molecules responsible 

for communication between neurons, such as 

glutamate, are at the lower level after blue light 

exposure.” 

Too much screen use has been linked to obesity 

and psychological problems. Now a new study 

has identified a new problem – a study in fruit 

flies suggests our basic cellular functions could 

be impacted by the blue light emitted by these 

devices. These results are published in Frontiers in 

Aging. 

“Excessive exposure to blue light from everyday 

devices, such as TVs, laptops, and phones, may have 

detrimental effects on a wide range of cells in our 

body, from skin and fat cells to sensory neurons,” 

said Dr Jadwiga Giebultowicz, a professor at the 

Department of Integrative Biology at Oregon 

State University and senior author of this study. 

“We are the first to show that the levels of specific 

metabolites – chemicals that are essential for 

cells to function correctly – are altered in fruit flies 

exposed to blue light.“ 

“Our study suggests that avoidance of excessive 

blue light exposure may be a good anti-ageing 

strategy,” advised Giebultowicz. 

Turn off the light 

The researchers at Oregon State University have 

previously shown that fruit flies exposed to light 

‘turn on’ stress-protective genes and that those 

kept in constant darkness lived longer. 

“To understand why high-energy blue light is 

responsible for accelerating ageing in fruit flies, we 

compared the levels of metabolites in flies exposed 

to blue light for two weeks to those kept in complete 

darkness,” explained Giebultowicz. 

Accelerating ageing 

The changes recorded by the researchers suggest 

that the cells are operating at a suboptimal level, 

and this may cause their premature death, and 

further, explain their previous findings that blue 

light accelerates ageing. 

“LEDs have become the main illumination in display 

screens such as phones, desktops and TVs, as well as 

ambient lighting, so humans in advanced societies 

are exposed to blue light through LED lighting 

during most of their waking hours. The signalling 

chemicals in the cells of flies and humans are the 

same, so there is potential for negative effects of 

blue light on humans,“ explains Giebultowicz. 

Future work hopes to study the effects directly on 

human cells. 

“We used a fairly strong blue light on the flies – 

humans are exposed to less intense light, so cellular 

damage may be less dramatic. The results from 

this study suggest that future research involving 

human cells is needed to establish the extent to 

which human cells may show similar changes 

in metabolites involved in energy production in 

response to excessive exposure to blue light,” 

concluded Giebultowicz. 

From “Chronic blue light leads to accelerated aging 

in Drosophila by impairing energy metabolism 

and neurotransmitter levels” in Frontiers in Aging: 

https://www.frontiersin.org/ 

Blue light exposure caused significant differences 

in the levels of metabolites measured by the


CHRISTMAS AND COMMERCIALISATION 

Adapted from the article ‘Commercialization of holidays harms all’ - The Daily Targum, Nov 13, 2019 

As Christmas is nearing in the 

calendar and so also Deepavali 

before it – let us ponder on the 

aspect of commercialisation of 

all the festive holidays, especially 

dominant in a multi-cultural 

landscape like Malaysia which is 

year round. 

It is no secret that Christmas is 

now a commercialized festival 

with decorations being decked 

out from as early as the first week 

of November in retail centres, 

hotels, offices and the like as it 

is a supposedly joyous time of 

year to celebrate with friends, 

family and for gift-giving. By 

commercializing it, Christmas is 

extended to all those who want to 

celebrate regardless of whether 

they are of the Christian faith. 

It started as a commercial 

holiday when America’s former 

President Franklin D. Roosevelt 

pushed Thanksgiving up a week 

— from Nov. 30 to Nov. 23 — in 

1939, an act the government 

hoped would stimulate the 

fragile pre-war economy. 

Although the move met with 

some criticism and was dubbed 

as “Franksgiving,” the tradition 

stuck. Thanksgiving marks the 

beginning of the holiday season 

in America, the climax of which is 

reached around Christmas. 

the religious teachings and 

life of Jesus. However, the free 

market led to commercialisation 

through marketing. In fact, it 

is just an excuse to buy more 

than we actually need and more 

often than not, we buy based 

on assumptions of what other 

people need and want to buy, 

which may not be, ending up as 

a load of unused trinkets stuffed 

away in the drawer somewhere. 

All these are due to pervasive 

advertising campaigns that have 

imprinted ‘must-have’ notions 

through repetitive messages. 

A stark example is the persona 

of Santa Claus as a heavy, jolly, 

white-bearded man in a red 

suit that is fast-stuck on our 

impression. The Santa Claus we 

all know and love — that big, jolly 

man in the red suit with a white 

beard — didn’t always look that 

way. In fact, Santa was depicted 

as everything from a tall gaunt 

man to a spooky-looking elf. 

The custom of giving presents 

at Christmas time has its origin 

in the story of the Wise Men, 

where each of them brought one 

gift that was meaningful – gold, 

myrrh and frankinsense – who 

travelled from far to see Jesus 

after his birth. Today, however, 

gift-giving and shopping are 

synonymous with the Christmas 

season which are all part of the 

commercialisation of Christmas. 

Some say it has been transformed 

into something materialistic and 

superficial. 

In conclusion, commercialisation 

need not be harmful as long as 

consumers are aware of their 

limitations and not be drawn into 

the vortex of temptation spun by 

advertisements. You don’t have 

to join the crowd of gift-grabbers 

at retail centres and feel you have 

lost out if you don’t. (In other 

words, don’t be a ‘kiasu!’) 

List down who to give and what 

to give, and allocate a budget. If 

you have not already observed 

what they need, you can always 

ask the recipient what he or she 

wants for Christmas. It doesn’t 

always have to be a surprise. 

By the way, have you heard 

of “National Dessert Day”, 

“National Bathtub Day”, 

National “White Chocolate Day” 

and “Hug a Vegetarian Day”? 

Commercialisation and social 

media has made it possible 

to turn every other day into a 

special day for celebration. 

Commercializing holidays — 

be it New Years, Valentine’s 

Day, Chinese New Year, Hari 

Raya Puasa, the mid-autumn 

Mooncake festival, Deepavali 

or Christmas — may seem 

harmless but in actuality they 

are predictable by-products of a 

capitalist economy in which the 

bottom line is the bottom line. 

First and foremost, it completely 

dilutes the original intention of the 

holiday’s origin. Using Christmas 

as an example, it was originally 

a simple feast in celebration of 

Jesus Christ and its importance 

rests on spending time with 

loved ones and celebrating 

A Coca-Cola ad in 1931 helped to shape the image of Santa as we 

know him today.



PING FOR HOPE 

Getting Together for the Love of Golf, Benefitting 

the Community in Need 

The Young & Dangerous – Johor organised 

and raised a total amount of RM112,654 to help 

Kidney Dialysis patients under the care of the 

Rotary Club of Kulai Foundation through the 

bonds of friendship and goodness brought 

about by Golf. 

The event was held on Sunday, 14 August 2022 

teed off to the format of Texas Scramble with a 

total of 108 participants in 27 teams. Despite the 

sirens halting the game momentarily due to heavy 

rain and lightning, the spirit of giving was strong 

while the passion of golf unrelenting. 

CATEGORY A CHAMPIONS: Team CMSB 

CATEGORY B CHAMPIONS: Team G4 

CATEGORY C CHAMPIONS: Team Salary 

MOCK CHEQUE PRESENTATION: RM112,654 for 

Dialysis Patients


GIVING HOPE: A day out on the greens for sport with hearts full of generosity 

9-HOLE GOLF CHALLENGE 

CALENDAR for 4th Quarter of 2022 

Winners of every series of the 9-Hole Golf Challenge will have their names listed on a plague at 

the Café, and will compete in a Grand Final organised either at Home Club or at an Off-site Club 

at the end of each year’s run.


NEW RECOMMENDATIONS @ HOP SING 

More than just our signature Ginger Fried Chicken, there are dishes that are fast-becoming-hot 

favourites among members and the regulars. Come into Hop Sing during lunch time from 11.00 am 

to 3.00 pm daily to discover what they are, just freshly added to the a’la carte menu. 

干煎豉油皇虾 

Soya Sauce Fried Prawns 

蒜香奶油虾 

Garlic Butter Prawns 

芒果日式芝麻酱鲜虾 

Mango Shrimp Salad with Japanese Sesame Sauce 

XO 炒饭 

XO Fried Rice 

镇江鸡骨皇 

Braised Chicken in Black Vinegar Sauce 

FOR ENQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT 019-758 8093


READYING TO WELCOME THE AUSPICIOUS RABBIT 

RABBIT OF PROSPERITY 5 

玉兔迎春添新家 

RM338+ (for 5 persons) 

福禄连年齐捞生 

Noble Prosperity Mango Yee Sang 

挂炉烧鸡 

Whole Oven Roasted Chicken 

清蒸金目卢 

Hong Kong Style Steamed Seabass 

佛本罗汉斋 

Loh Han Chai in Yam Basket 

XO 酱海鲜炒饭 

XO Fried Rice 

陈皮红豆沙 

Red Bean Soup with Mandarin Peel 

RABBIT OF PROSPERITY 8 

玉兔迎春添新家 



Noble Prosperity Salmon Yee Sang 

鱼鳔海鲜羹 

Fish Maw Seafood Broth with Enoki Mushrooms 

鎮江鸡骨皇 

Braised Chicken Drummets in Black Vinegar Sauce 

清蒸石斑鱼 

Hong Kong Style Steamed Grouper 

干煎豉油皇虾 

Soya Sauce Prawns 

佛本罗汉斋 

Loh Han Chai in Yam Basket 

XO 酱海鲜炒饭 

XO Fried Rice 

陈皮红豆沙 

Red Bean Soup with Mandarin Peel 

RABBIT OF WEALTH 5 

新春旺市迎玉兔 



Noble Prosperity Mango Yee Sang 

蒜香牛油虾 

Fragrant Garlic Butter Prawns 

酱汁蒸石斑鱼 

Steamed Grouper in Chef’s Special Sauce 

豆根冬菇西兰花 

Braised Broccoli with Black Mushrooms 

and Soy Puffs 

招牌炒生面 

Ponderosa Signature Fried Noodle 

金瓜芋泥 

Yam Paste with Gingko Nut &Pumpkin 

RABBIT OF WEALTH 8 

新春旺市迎玉兔 



Noble Prosperity Salmon Yee Sang 

红烧蟹肉鸡丝伴金针 

Braised Crab Meat with Shredded Chicken 

挂炉烧鸡 

Whole Oven Roasted Chicken 

酱汁蒸石斑鱼 

Steamed Grouper in Chef’s Special Sauce 

芒果日式芝麻酱鲜虾 

Mango Shrimp Salad with Japanese Sesame Sauce 

豆根冬菇西兰花 

Braised Broccoli with Black Mushrooms 

and Soy Puffs 

招牌炒生面 

Ponderosa Fried Noodles 

金瓜芋泥 

Yam Paste with Gingko Nut &Pumpkin 

EARLY BIRD : GET RM100 

REBATE! 

Only when you Book & Pay for our 

Rabbits of Wealth 8 and Rabbit of 

Prosperity 8 Menus 

FROM NOW - 31 DECEMBER 

2022 

For enquiries, please contact 019-728 8464 (Zainab) or 019-779 9841 (Jamie)


THE WINNING STROKES! 

TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP@PONDEROSA 

A flash back on Ponderosa’s very own friendly play-to-compete Tennis event held on 18 June 2022 at the newlyresurfaced 

artificial court which was open only to Ponderosa Members. 

This marks the first of a yearly affair for tennis enthusiasts and it attracted a total of 17 participants for 3 categories. 

The winners walked away with a total of RM1,800 worth of prizes, including an impressive Challenge Trophy. 

MEN’S SINGLES – MR CHUA THIAN KWEE 

WOMEN’S SINGLES – MS DHAARSINI A/P JAYASANGER 

MEN’S DOUBLES – MR NACHIAPPAN A/L N SUBRAMINAM & MR CHEE YON FOI


EVERY 2 IN 3 BIZ IN SEA IS A 

RANSOMWARE VICTIM 

Only 5% of the C-suite confirms the presence of an 

internal or a third-party incident response team, 

showing the need to fill the gap in the detection and 

response capabilities of enterprises in SEA. 

Ever since the infamous Wannacry attack, 

ransomware has become something of a buzzword 

within the corporate world, with large attacks on 

enterprises appearing in headlines month after 

month. Businesses in Southeast Asia (SEA) are well 

within the radar of these cybercriminals with three 

in five (67%) confirming that they have been victims, 

according to the latest research by Kaspersky. 

Global cybersecurity company, Kaspersky, surveyed 

900 respondents across North America, South 

America, Africa, Russia, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, 

100 of which were from SEA. Conducted in April 

2022, the research titled “How business executives 

perceive ransomware threat” gathered the answers 

from those in senior non-IT management (such as 

CEOs, VP, and Director level) and business owners or 

partners at companies with 50-1000 employees. 

Half of those (34%) who have admitted having 

their data maliciously encrypted by cybercriminals 

experienced ransomware attacks not once but 

several times. The remaining respondents (33%) said 

they have experienced such incidents one-time only. 

Half of those (34%) who have admitted having 

their data maliciously encrypted by cybercriminals 

experienced ransomware attacks not once but 

several times. The remaining respondents (33%) said 

they have experienced such incidents one-time only. 

The most common denominator among 

ransomware victims in the region is that almost 

all paid the ransom (82.1%). In fact, 47.8% of the 

surveyed executives confessed that they paid the 

ransom as soon as possible for immediate access to 

their business data, two digits higher than the global 

average of 38.1%. 

Almost a quarter (23.9%) did try to get their data back 

through back-ups or decryption but failed and paid 

ransom within two days while 10.4% took a week of 

effort before paying up. 

When the ransomware victims were asked of the 

steps they will conduct should they face the same


incident, majority (77%) of the business leaders in 

SEA confirmed that they will still pay the ransom 

showing a worrying tendency for companies 

that have already been a victim of ransomware to 

pay up, encouraging cybercriminals to continue 

their attacks. 

“It is concerning to see that only 17.9% of 

businesses here in SEA victimised by ransomware 

did not budge on the cybercriminals’ demands. 

We stand firm that paying the ransom should 

not be a kneejerk reaction for enterprises. But, 

with more than half (67%) of those we surveyed 

admitting that their organisations would not 

survive without business data if attacked, we 

understand the urgency and the desperation 

to get their data back as soon as possible, by 

all means,” comments Yeo Siang Tiong, General 

Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky. 

Kaspersky’s study also revealed a key puzzle 

piece – that majority (94%) of enterprises in SEA 

will seek external help if attacked by ransomware. 

This is a tad higher than the global rate at 89.9%. 

Almost a quarter (20%) of which will contact the 

law enforcement, while 29% will reach out to a 

third party cybersecurity incident investigation 

and response service provider like Kaspersky. 

The remaining percent will contact both of these 

external organisations to know how to respond 

to a ransomware attack. 

“With only 5% of enterprise leaders confirming 

that they have internal incident response 

capabilities or they have the regular IT team 

or service provider to figure out a ransomware 

attack, it is clear that our enterprises here in SEA 

need help. We advocate for cross-border and 

public-and-private cooperation that will help 

governments and companies to combat threats 

like ransomware. However, such is not the only 

answer. Enterprises here should really look into 

acting on concrete steps to upskill or even to 

build their own security defence team with 

intelligence-led incident detection and response 

capabilities,” adds Yeo. 

Global cybersecurity company Kaspersky cofounded 

the global project called “No More 

Ransom Initiative” which has grown from 

four partners to 188 and has contributed 136 

decryption tools covering 165 ransomware 

families. 

Since its launch in 2016, it has helped more than 

1.5 million people decrypt their devices all over 

the world. Nearly 30,000 ransomware victims 

from July last year to June end of 2022 in SEA 

were also able to retrieve their data through this 

project. 

The project is done by Kaspersky along with 

National High Tech Crime Unit of the Dutch 

National Police, Europol’s European Cybercrime 

Centre, and other partners. 

Kaspersky, however, puts emphasis on preventing 

a ransomware attack. The global cybersecurity 

company encourages businesses to follow these 

simple and effective recommendations to help 

protect their organisations against this threat: 

• Always keep up-to-date copies of your files 

so you can replace them in case they are 

lost (e.g. due to malware or a broken device). 

These should be stored not only on a physical 

device but also in cloud storage for greater 

reliability. Make sure you can quickly access 

your backups in the event of an emergency. 

• Install all security updates as soon as they 

become available. Always update your 

operating system and software to eliminate 

recent vulnerabilities. 

• Provide security education to your staff. 

Explain that by following simple rules, 

employees can help prevent ransomware 

incidents. Check out dedicated training 

courses, such as the ones provided in the 

Kaspersky Automated Security Awareness 

Platform. 

• Enable ransomware protection for all 

endpoints. There is a free Kaspersky Anti- 

Ransomware Tool for Business that shields 

computers and servers from ransomware 

and other types of malware, prevent exploits 

and is compatible with already installed 

security solutions. 

• Enterprise companies are recommended to 

use anti-APT and EDR solutions, enabling 

capabilities for advanced threat discovery 

and detection, investigation and timely 

remediation of incidents, as well as to have 

access to the latest threat intelligence. An 

MDR provider could help to effectively hunt 

any advanced ransomware attack. All of the 

above is available within Kaspersky Expert 

Security. 

If you become a victim, never pay the ransom. It 

won’t guarantee you get your data back but will 

encourage criminals to continue their business. 

Instead, report the incident to your local law 

enforcement agency and get help from incident 

response experts such as Kaspersky. 

Companies can also try to find a decryptor on the 

internet – some of these are available at https:// 

www.nomoreransom.org/en/index.html

PONDERS ISSUE 28

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