After leapfrogging Singapore to become the region's fastest-growing data center hub, Malaysia is facing intensifying scrutiny as the resources debate that has complicated the industry's growth spreads to emerging Asia.Protests over a data center complex in Johor state's southern tip — the epicenter of the boom — were the first of their kind in the country. In Selangor, the richest and most populous state, debate about the burden on communities has become politicized.
"Two years ago, it was just about building capacity," said Cheam Tat Inn, managing director at the Malaysian arm of US data center operator Equinix.
"The conversation today is more like, How will you use power? Are you looking at renewables? They want to see how you're going to grow sustainably and responsibly."
It's a notable shift for a country — and a region — that has courted hyperscalers hard in a race to secure AI infrastructure investment, offering lower land costs and affordable power.
It puts emerging Asia roughly where developed-market data center hotspots such as Ireland, the Netherlands and Singapore were several years ago, when the industry's breakneck growth began to stir concerns about competition for water and electricity with homes and farms.
