Johor once enjoyed large foreign investments in the state, particularly in Iskandar Malaysia and Pengerang, but its ruler Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar lamented that this has no longer been the case since 2019.

He blamed this on certain quarters who have been infected by the ‘virus of envy and jealous’ upon seeing Johor’s success, who then worked to dissuade further investments in the state’s megaprojects.

“There are investors who...