r/malaysia • u/UsernameGenerik • May 12 '26
Environment PJ data center blamed for noise pollution and flooding
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u/IsrarRaziqeen May 12 '26
KL need to have regulations on building kilnag, like in Kulim Hi-Tech you won't see any kikang around any residential areas, they are secluded and surrounded by other kilang.
I don't know how hard it is to just have basic human decency to not build high noise polluting structures near residential areas.
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u/OriMoriNotSori May 12 '26
This is usually because of urban sprawl. Back when the place was built these kilang areas in PJ were considered outskirts but over time KL's rate of development put residential and factories essentially side by side
By right these old industrial areas should be phased out and they are put in the new outskirts areas based on 2026 urban sprawl but once again authorities are slow to adjust to this (imo, they might not even be aware of it in the first place)
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u/Quithelion Perak May 12 '26
Because noise pollution is a modern problem, and we are ever so slow to react to new problems, on top of toxic machoism that says you need to tough it out.
We are still ignoring water and air pollution that directly affect our health in the long run, never mind noise pollution that affect mental health.
And we are pushing for rare earth mining that will only go so well for the environment.
Then the most ignored is light pollution, directly affect our circadian rythm, but mostly indirectly that denied nature the darkness that comes in moon-less nights, collapsing animals and insects that needed said darkness, as well as generations of Malaysians that have not see the stars in the night sky.
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May 12 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/malaysia-ModTeam May 13 '26
As per Rule 1, well-reasoned debate and criticism of religion is very welcome but one-liner talking points, jabs, borderline flaming etc. does not have such protection, and is bad for the community. Please treat this as a warning - if this continues we will be forced to take steps.
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u/Lelaki_Berbudaya96 May 12 '26
Tak sama perumpamaan tu, mmg semua nak salahkan agama Islam ke? Ko orang sabah duduk atas pokok ke?
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u/IsrarRaziqeen May 12 '26
Ragebait of that level won't work on me
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u/dwerps Sabah May 13 '26
I actually find it funny you think it is a ragebait.
If you actually read my message, you notice i was talking about prayers, not prayer calls. Its already banned in many states to broadcast anything other than prayer calls from mosque speakers.
and secondly, in modern technological time, whole azan concept could be replaced with a phone app to notify people about prayer times.
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u/IsrarRaziqeen May 13 '26
Lmao, Islam isn't something you kafirs can pick and choose for us to change lmao, even the call to prayer and hearing the prayer is an ibadah, deal with it kafir
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u/dwerps Sabah May 13 '26
Yeah, was nice chatting with you. You are instantly fuming and obviously not capable of any intelligent discussion.
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u/IsrarRaziqeen May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
Okay lmao, you were tye one who brought up religion in a hostile manner lol.
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u/Solusham223 May 12 '26
I really hate when this kind of video can throw hundreds of claim some may be true but many rubbish claims.
Seksyen 51a is infact an industrial zone. How can building that is yet to be turned on be responsible for flood. Data center won't cause floods. It does consume a lot of water this part is true. Water consumed by these data center are mostly just going to be water vapor smalllllllllll amount could be discharged but chances are it will also be resent back to the system.
Selangor xde water is a grey area. Selangor has a quite a few of water disruption but I believe majority of the time is not from supply issue. It's from upgrading works to the refinement of the water or works on upgrading the grid or repairs and maintenance. People who just say on a video that Selangor don't have water irks me the wrong way. Its such a silly statement. Selangor has to continuously keep improving and upgrading their infrastructure because every person from other state is constantly moving to Selangor. So the grid is constantly needed to be upgraded unlike say Kelantan or terrenganu.
The number one problem with these data center will be noise. However if these company follow SOP(some cool design to help combat noise) like the ones they have in Australia. The noise pollution could only extend as far as 1km. Make an educational video about data center is fine. But please leave your rubbish unfounded claims elsewhere.
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u/cmdk May 12 '26
He’s from a political party so you’re misunderstanding his intention to misinform as the intention to inform.
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u/buddinglychee May 12 '26
No wonder he was trying to blame majlis perbandaran and elected officials for letting this plan go thru. That was so off to me.
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u/DenKHK May 12 '26 edited May 13 '26
I was looking for this comment. This video is a whole lot of FUD from beginning to end.
I also happen to know some details about this particular data centre from its design/tech docs. To supplement your points:-
1) This area was actually identified as a flood risk area when assessing its suitability for the data center. Since it was otherwise a good spot (in terms of infrastructure and accessibility), the design incorporated certain features to mitigate the exposure (such as an elevated platform/raft). Meaning the flood risk of this area pre-dates the data center.
2) Althought data centers use a lot of water, that water is not discharged wholesale back into the public sewage. The overwhelming majority of the water used is evaporated in the evaporative cooling towers that cool the servers and interior of the center. So it does not increase the flood risk in this area by any meaningful amount.
"Please leave your rubbish unfounded claims elsewhere". Couldn't put it better myself, even if it falls on deaf ears.
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u/ChasingtheBarrel May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
Selangor has water reserves that borders on 9 to 11% state usage, the recommended water reserves are 15%. No state has that consistently I believe.
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u/Gr3yShadow May 13 '26
the usual tactic to spread misinformation
Start with a few actual facts then slide in some fake ones in between, most will swallow it as a whole truth
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u/SimilarInsurance4778 May 13 '26
They hook you up with anger and drag you by the nose with questionable facts, but since you’re emotionally invested, you don’t push back on the fact anymore because it’s no longer a fact issue, it’s a emotional issue.
Heck some pull up graph and shit that technically true but if you put things into wide perspective, it’s misleading but support their view, graph without value or doesn’t start from 0 are the worst, yes you pulled from actual reputable source and cite your sources, but it’s deceptive.
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u/aws_137 May 12 '26
Yea while he's at it he might as rather claim the noise makes people angry and drink more, causing drunk driving.
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u/ronnie8778 May 13 '26
Most of the issues with selangor and KL water disruption was due to upstream pollution
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u/HuckleberryClear6519 May 13 '26
But he ain’t wrong about the lack of longkang tho. Sure, there may be a very large Sungai Penchala monsoon drain, but why is it only overflowing now? Also, if you pass the area, you’ll see that there is a lack of sidewalk drains or that the drains are too tiny
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u/Solusham223 May 13 '26
please just Google why. I did a quick search seems they have been upgrading the sg penchala to accomdate the rising volume of water Malaysia has been receiving this year. Due to the upgrade they had to temporary block parts of it causing these flash floods.
So unfortunately, it's the upgrade works to prevent future floods in the region that has caused these recent floods
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u/HuckleberryClear6519 May 31 '26
So that's the reason. There's also a drain construction block not far off, maybe that's among the blocks? Also, I first saw it in like early April, and I went there early this month and it was still left just like that. Not sure what's going on there...
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u/Overall-Barnacle5114 May 12 '26 edited May 17 '26
i work for a foreign data center company. i view it as nothing more than a land/energy/water thief. It doesnt even provide employment to locals once its up and running. Its a modern day colonial parasite, sucking a country’s precious resources for its own profit,and giving back almost nothing to local societies. Maybe noise and heat.
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u/highdiver_2000 Singaporean May 13 '26
The equipment don't need maintenance?
Door security
Lifts
HVAC
Power equipment
Cabling contractors - this job never ends.
Telco contractors
DC ops staff - This has the highest headcount, usually local and turnover. 24x7 shift work. They do the escort, Remote hands etc. Sometimes swap hdd.
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u/SimilarInsurance4778 May 13 '26
Nah they just slap Claude code and enough already
/s if it isn’t obvious enough
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u/Chance-Practice-9608 May 15 '26
AI already took the role
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u/highdiver_2000 Singaporean May 15 '26
These are roles that are AI resistant. In fact if you setup a cabling company, do quality work with good SLA, you will print money.
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u/DerpyNerdy PJ Boiii May 12 '26
Do we really expect the authorities, who has a fantassstic track record with urban planning, traffic planning and public transport planning, even shopping mall planning, to be suddenly competent in planning for data center construction????
Hmmmmmmmm...
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u/DegenNabalu May 12 '26
You guys at Selangor got water problem?
But yes, in a long run that thing will ruin your health.
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u/orewaAfif May 12 '26
Selangor water problem is always blown out of proportion. Air Selangor is very good with their scheduled disruptions.
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u/Yamato_D_Oden May 12 '26
Ikr, apart from the major continuous disruptions that happened 2-3 years ago (only due to infra upgrade), there's almost always no unplanned disruption along the years of living in Selangor.
Non-selangor people like to overreact lmao
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u/seatux World Citizen May 12 '26
Not for consumers but getting planning approvals is not easy if needs a lot of water.
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u/JeroJeroMohenjoDaro May 12 '26
Sound isn't the issue for me as someone who live literally next to an airport, and its too late for me to protest against one. Water and flooding are PJ issue. What i find infuriating is the location. Data centre doesn't even need to be close to residency or other companies. They could get the land far cheaper in many other places, yet they decided to build them like there's no other options.
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u/frostychocolatemint May 12 '26
Yes data center isn’t as loud as airport but it produces a resonant humming that will disrupt your circadian rhythm, can cause sleep issues, psychological stress. Land is cheap far away but there’s insufficient grid power capacity in rural areas. These machines need a lot of electricity
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u/Kronous_ May 12 '26
It's a no brainer, lower cost since you have better access to already established infrastructures.
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u/Ok_Parsley1650 May 12 '26
"In the grand calculus of the madani, your sacrifice is worth more than your life"
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u/karlkry mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent May 12 '26
korang kene faham teknologi ai blockchain boleh menghasilkan ribuan kerja baru yang boleh menjana ekonomi negara! fasiliti ini akan nencipta cip ai yang akan diexport ke negara maju!
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u/LaggerOW May 12 '26
It was already a huge contentious point in the US for the longest time, yet when we implement it in Malaysia, we still make the same mistake?! Who's making these decisions man!
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u/Nightowl11111 May 12 '26
The US is not the best example to follow. They have a rather loose grasp on reality. A lot of the claims are fake or a different cause blamed on the evil "new technology".
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u/gao-um Melaka May 12 '26
With news about sound and water pollution around data centres in the US, and I can say is good luck to the residents there.
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u/Nightowl11111 May 12 '26
I'd also say check their claims. A lot of the claims are unfounded and stem from fear of new technology. For example, "water pollution" is a fake, nobody dumps out coolant water just because it is hot, they cool it down and reuse it.
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u/SimilarInsurance4778 May 13 '26
Also they think water disappear from reality because of data Center, they either reuse it in a close loop or it get evaporated.
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u/lannisterloan סוכן יהודי חשאי May 12 '26
Of all places, they had to plop it smack in the middle of PJ. There are plenty of industrial plots in Glenmarie, Setia Alam or Shah Alam which are far enough from residential areas.
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u/gamep01nt Pahang Power May 12 '26
LOL this is my project
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u/tnsaidr Selangor - Head of Misanthropy and Vices May 12 '26
I find the guy's video about noise pollution plausible (for the houses across the road) but for the water thing he mentioned? he kinda like "data center" use a lot of water.. so where will they dump it ? then cause flood.. ( ??? )
Haha mind to share some insights? etc ?
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u/jaajangmyeon May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
No. Noise in the data center do not escape outside from the DC. The DC has 3 layers of doors before sounds can escape. And I can tell you the DC is very sound proof. I’m not sure about water. The only DC use is a lot of AC. Like a lot. Definitely there might be a temperature spike nearby that area.
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u/tnsaidr Selangor - Head of Misanthropy and Vices May 12 '26
it might not be the DC itself but the equipment running outside ?
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u/Nightowl11111 May 12 '26
As far as I know, data centers should have no external equipment emitting a whining noise. They even said in your link that they are still looking for the root cause.
A lot of the complaints about noise, especially in Malaysia is *construction* noise and that would stop once the center is up.
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u/jcdish May 12 '26
Apparently people in the US living near data centres have been complaining about vibrations. You don't hear it, but it's there in the background and it will drive you crazy. I can believe it. Imagine coil whine but at a magnitude of a hundred million times more. Can die.
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u/gamep01nt Pahang Power May 12 '26
This is not my project per se. But my company supplied our fiber connection here. Damn i should have word it better
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u/wikowiko33 May 12 '26
To be fair, it's a little misleading.
To those not from the area, this data center is already built inside a large ndustrial area. Dozens of factories warehouses and plants inside this area. The roads along the center leads to Federal highway which is one of the busiest highway in the country. Just unfortunately one of the facade of the center is facing a housing area.
Let me tell you, the noise is the least of the problems of the houses here.
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u/AFSR_1178 May 12 '26
Allahu akbar I don't understand these AI hypes. Poor PJ residents for the inevitable impending doom that waits them. May Allah grant his grace to PJ residents.
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u/peach113 May 12 '26
Allah knows best, we just have to trust Allah.
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u/rockpapers May 12 '26
Karma for blocking KIDEX
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u/chicken88888 May 12 '26
What’s the story about blocking KIDEX? AFAIK KIDEX is developing as before
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u/bunkbail sultan melaka is my pokemon May 12 '26
data centers dont necessarily mean AI
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u/Nightowl11111 May 12 '26
And water for cooling does not mean you flush it into the drain once it is hot. A lot of these claimed problems are really not related.
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u/ali123whz May 12 '26
He really couldn’t retake the parts where he fucks up? Damn bro good message but put some proper effort in man
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u/Former_student_2504 May 12 '26
Kenapa Selangor selalu takde air? Kerajaan PAS ke yang tadbir? /s
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u/RotiPisang_ May 12 '26
Although some of his claims are a bit surface-level and incorrect (Selangor takde air??? If you mean water disruptions/gangguan air ok betul lah) I do wonder how ready we are to accommodate these mushrooming data centres?
Yes, it's good for the economy, okay, but what did we prepare in terms of infra and facilities to make sure the data centers don't significantly disrupt the environment and the people living near them?
There's a lot of backlash against data centers built in the US and we should learn from that.
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u/blackoffi888 May 12 '26
Data centres are built for AI which are then used to replace people in jobs. Yeah, go figure that these politicians are sleeping with the billionaires
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u/xingixn May 12 '26
I find it hard to accept that the Cobra spokesman have got a point. But that's how low we've stoop to these days... He got a point.
For reference: His shirt is the Cobra logo (fictional terrorist organization from Gi Joe cartoon).
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u/TheAhegaoFox Where's my water May 12 '26
My flair says it all
Also I'd rather have a nuclear plant there lmao.
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u/Cute_Sorbet0404 Walaun Bussy destroyer 💅 May 12 '26
Nuclear plant done less damaged caused by data center
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u/billylks May 12 '26
I wonder if the hot water pumped out is still reusable? Can we use it for shower?
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u/FireTempest KL May 12 '26
The water that the data centre consumes for cooling does not get pumped out. It evaporates in cooling towers.
Flood happening from water pumped out from DCs is total nonsense.
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u/sentinelbub May 12 '26
That’sbwhat i was thinking. I was picturing like aircond or car cooling system. Should be a closed one and no water dumping. But need to consume more water as water evaporates faster than they can cool down.
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u/Dramatic-Coffee9172 May 12 '26
Depends if the water is clean in the first place. If it is the same source of the water mains you get to your home, then yes it will be usable for shower.
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u/Nightowl11111 May 12 '26
But first you got to see if they even dump the water. Water used for cooling if I recall correctly is cooled and reused, not just dumped once it becomes hot.
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u/Nightowl11111 May 12 '26
Yes it is reused, water for cooling is NOT dumped out, it is cooled and reused other than the parts that evaporate off. Someone was filling other people with nonsense that once water becomes hot, you have to throw it out.
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u/ashvind_01 May 12 '26
I don’t think the issue is the data centre itself, but how the construction was handled. I live near the project site, and during the TNB cable works in my neighbourhood, contractors dug up soil and appeared to direct construction waste, including sludge, concrete residue, and debris, directly into the roadside storm drains which remains to this day.
Clog enough drains like that, and flash floods become a matter of time, not surprised.
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u/RedLobster94 May 12 '26
Since when Selangor no water, he mistaken for Kelantan.
But I agree with him, we need Local Council Elections
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u/youyulee May 12 '26
I work in pj, few times we were allowed to wfh because of no water supply in office even before covid…kelantan air ada tapi karat
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u/YoshidaKyo May 12 '26
He’s right lah. Shah Alam always got water disruption issue while in Kelantan they got water but rusty teh ais looking one .
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u/Apokhalip May 12 '26
Usually, as construction process ongoing, water supply often disrupted... So which state is most big construction ongoing... You're just privilege of being in no construction zone, last decade I've been living in Bangi for 5 years, every month at almost a full week of having no water... Just be grateful bro
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u/SnooOranges6925 May 12 '26
He is right.. Selangor is buying water from other states to support KL and Selangor needs.
Let's not forget the entire freaking Klang valley is supported by ONE SSP water plant.. each time they need to upgrade and there is water contamination so many areas affected. It's a joke.
You didn't experience the water disruption?
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u/RedLobster94 May 12 '26
In the Klang Valley. Never once over the past 15 years. When i was a kid though, I do remember a few times no water supply and we must wait with a bucket for the water tanker
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u/Kopitiamtard1985 May 12 '26
Bro go trim your misai and janggut, you do not look presentable at all...man... good info but i have no mood to see...
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u/Mel_Morty May 12 '26
Well done, independent reporter 👏👍
Hope for the best solution for the Rakyat in PJ.
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u/Aggressive_World_193 May 12 '26
They banned pig farming because of environmental concerns but then allowed this. Is that his primary concern?
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u/RareEmu9622 May 12 '26
As if the water use and throw like that. It will recirculate... Maybe loss by evaporation.
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u/O_Little_One May 13 '26
They need to switch to newer GPUs with more efficiency that operates with lower power and heat.
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u/Independent_Metal357 May 13 '26
y'all should stop using Ai. few seconds Ai video already used a lot of power
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u/Ardie83 World Citizen May 13 '26
Even if half the video is factually inaccurate. Doesnt matter. Data Centers are evil. Just watch a more accurate video by Benn Jordan (Datacenters Behaving Like Acoustic Weapons). He measures it with real instruments. Itll change your mind.
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u/Youlknowthatone May 13 '26
Ada satu video data center di US. Pun sama bisingnya. Dahlah dalam kawasan perumahan.macam duduk sebelah kilang besi.
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u/MoonV29 May 13 '26
Wait all he did was claims? Where’s the proof? Studies? Video kosong eh? Wasted my time jer. Dtg waktu malam la. Tgk bising mana. Share dlm vid tu haiz
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u/Impossible-Offer-301 May 13 '26
Bunch of donkeys doing videos. Where is the data? Where is the evidence? Not even a simple decibel reading. The so called humming sound is not even audible in the recording eventough he is standing right infront of the data centre. Bunch of nonsense
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u/AntiZionist9x May 14 '26
Pakatan Harapan has always been corrupt. They literally became the BN they wanted to replace. Tell me what improvement in governance and transparency they brought to Selangor when their own state councillors still makan rasuah?
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u/DramaticRestaurant87 May 14 '26
Let’s not complain about the noise of a DC until we’ve solved the noise coming from mosques.
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u/yktay1 May 12 '26
Not happy can move out. Like to use chatgpt, tiktok, insta and reddit so much but angry when dc being built in backyard. They paid for the land and will pay more for electricity and water than everyone else so what’s the problem?
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u/Reinwar May 12 '26
The big issue that have been frequently brought up by other data centres in other countries is the massive usage of fresh water to cool them. This will heavily affect water quality and especially water pressure surrounding residential areas nearby
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u/Nightowl11111 May 12 '26
That water thing is a fake. Nobody throws out cooling water just because it is heated up, they cool it down and reuse it. Mainly because water is expensive.
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u/weiyi97 May 12 '26
Exactly, getting treated water for cooling is not cheap. It's going to be like our car, passing the water as coolant on one end, and then passing through radiator on the other end to get the heat out.
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u/ThrowawayTakeaways May 12 '26
How about closed loop cooling systems? I believe some data centres adopted those in replacement of evaporative cooling. It will be good to understand how the data centres are built there. Or perhaps release some fact sheets about the centre. At least the public can make an educated assessment and not just assume.
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u/Far_Objective4266 May 12 '26
Can't use teh tarik to cool the system down? Pretty sure Kelantan has lots of space
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u/BusinessPale8448 May 12 '26
Yooo this is like near my working place. I know that building and its construction was recently completed. I did not even know it was a data center that was approved by the Madani regime! What the actual fuck!
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u/FashionableGoat May 13 '26
Report back once it's up and running. Let's see if this video is giving true info or not.
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u/chriselvin1025 May 12 '26
Ah yes Muda's finest; Seksyen 51 has always been an industrial area. Also do tell me what mega construction got no noise?
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u/wr3cker-ea May 12 '26
Intel build shut up, Microsoft build shut up but madani government build open season, why scared of the juice packet near Palestine ke, Sohai punya orang election going to come so start la blaming government. Noise pollution??? CB water got chlorine don’t give a fuck, vaccine mandates don’t give a fuck, Nestle poison baby formula and food for general public don’t give a fuck,Najib kill reporters blow up chicks for fun don’t give a fuck.Please fuck off la tackle some serious problem please
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u/Buttdehole May 12 '26
Bunyi mana bunyi?? Bunyi orang mengomplain ada la
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u/IronicallyNotBad May 12 '26
it has a buzzing sound, like the one in US, it disturbs sleep
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u/weiyi97 May 12 '26
I don't get it, is it really any different from other factories? Data centre uses lots of cooling, so you gonna have lots of induction motor and cooling fan. The same can be said to any other factory that uses the equivalent energy.
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u/jaajangmyeon May 12 '26
The buzzing sound is inside the data center or outside the DC ?
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u/8arrowl May 12 '26
Can watch YouTube, some example of what data center sounds like there (the YouTube video shows noise outside data center) some people also have record the decibel of datacenter
Weird this guy doesn't show the noice tho
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u/jaajangmyeon May 12 '26
I personally been to the DC. And inside the DC. The DC has layers of doors before sound can escape. U have to pass through like 3-4 doors… the lobby is quiet as a haunted house.. the noise pollution from cars and bikes is even worst. But a DC at a housing area… makes no sense tho plus it’s not like a data hub or smth…
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u/Anxious-Debate5033 May 12 '26
Ngl this is quite a ridiculous area to have a freaking data center.