Lynas Protest: Another Test Case For The 1Malaysia Creed

Six bus loads of people from Kuantan and others braved the afternoon rain to show up at the Australian High Commission, as to make the point to Canberra, and the Gillard administration: "No way Lynas". The venue and timing is all part of the effort and factors included to get Australia's attention. 

And it happened about 6 hours ago, when ABC posted their coverage of today's event. (see appendix below).

I am not surprised to see how the police responded to the protest, though they are to be complemented for having done a decent and proper job in crowd control. It's largely to my thinking that there are international observers and press people involved in this matter and I infer that if the police acted in the high-handed manner, they could be well embarrassed on international news. I have documented this in my morning posting on "Eyes on Police" previously.

Kuantan residents have made their point loud and clear to Putrajaya and Canberra. If we go back to Murphy's Law, that anything could happen, taking what happened in Fukushima had been the main reason and motiviating factor of many who are against the rare earth plant in Kuantan.

Now, it's another case of testing the 1Malaysia creed that Najib has been talking and bragging all around. I keep seeing those propaganda advertisements everywhere, in the bus or driving past the UMNO headquarters building (a distraction to motorists driving along Jalan Mahameru). At the end of each ad, there always show the "Rakyat Didahulukan, Pencapaian Diutamakan". In this point of the protest, this is where the slogan is being tested.

Is it going to be real or just merely part of the public relations exercise of the Najib administration?

This is not the very first case of testing the 1Malaysia creed. The minimum wage call that has been pushed by worker unions and I considered it failed against the creed for it was not done in a swift manner. What both have in common is that they face opposition, a.k.a stumbling blocks particularly from the economic / nuclear-lobbyists and I do think that they are starting to caving to their pressure.

On Thursday, Leonardo DiCaprio twitted something similar to this matter:

Update #oilsubsidies RT @NRDC Senate Caves to Big Oil Pressure; Decides Against Cutting Industry Tax Breaks http://bit.ly/ki1w6C

 

"Caves to Big Oil Pressure". This reminds me of the demand to the Federal government to cut the IPP subsidies. Sometime ago, there was pressure yet they didn't do so, and just only talked again about doing it recently. If you read the whole NRDC press release, you can see its relevance:

Senate Caves to Big Oil Pressure; Decides Against Cutting Industry Tax Breaks

NRDC President: Hopefully Senators Will Vote More Responsibly on Upcoming Drilling Bill

WASHINGTON (May 17, 2011) -- After the Senate failed to pass a bill to eliminate nearly $4 billion a year in Big Oil tax breaks, Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, issued the following statement:

“The Senate today had the chance to do right by American taxpayers. Instead, pressured by oil industry lobbyists and a misguided Republican leadership, it decided to continue to give tax breaks to highly profitable Big Oil companies that don’t need any taxpayer incentives.”

Up next on Big Oil’s wish list to Congress is a bill by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that would expand offshore drilling while audaciously making the system that oversees drilling even less safe than before the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster. Sen. McConnell’s bill mirrors legislation already passed by the House.

“More drilling and more tax breaks won’t lower prices at the pump,” Beinecke said. “All it means is more money for Big Oil companies. Our lawmakers ought to be pushing for ways to help taxpayers, not more ways to help Big Oil.”

There were about 500 people there, as according to some people. Some estimated less, maybe around 200 on the afternoon of the protest there. I have seen pictures of all races even participating there, which brings the meaning that everyone are able to make their own choices and not to be fooled by those who would not accept a different mind and view. And there are other silent majority of people who shared this same view but unable to take part in this event. It shows us that people are really taking the responsibility of tuning in and keeping an eye on the government. Not them at us. Us at them.

In this case as illustrated by NRDC, if the government caves into corporate pressure, which is against the spirit of the 1Malaysia creed that was talked about, then that creed is with non-substance, just rhetorics - meaning there needs to be a swift remedy action by the public.

The Lynas event was well accomplished but laurels should not be rested here but should go on.

From ABC.net

More than 150 people have demonstrated outside the Australian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur against a plant that will process radioactive iron ore in Malaysia.

The Lynas plant will extract rare earth minerals with low levels of radioactive thorium from Western Australia, which are used in high-tech manufacturing of everything from iPods and mobile phones to missiles.

Activists say they are not happy with the waste disposal plans of the company and they do not want the almost completed plant to open. 

Under a heavy police presence, protesters held posters that read "Too toxic! Too risky!" and "We don't want Lynas" and "Lynas, go back to Australia". 

Following public concern that the plant could produce radioactive waste, the government said last month it would not issue a pre-operating licence to Lynas and bar imports of raw materials from Australia to be processed at the facility, pending a review by an independent panel of UN atomic energy experts. 

The protesters also appealed to the embassy to stop the plant or at least take back the radioactive waste they say it will produce.

"We, the residents of Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia are extremely concerned over the proposed construction and operation" of the plant, Vincent Jiam, chairman of the Save Malaysia Committee, said in a memorandum sent to the Australian High Commission.

In a statement, Lynas said it welcomed the government's review and insisted that its storage plans for the rare earths and waste at the plant were safe and represented no hazard to the community.

"The Radiological Impact Assessment completed by Nuclear Malaysia (Malaysia's atomic agency) on the storage of these residues shows them to be safe, posing no risk to the public," it said.

"However, Lynas has taken the additional safety step of placing these residues in safe, reliable engineered storage cells that are designed so that there is no possibility for any leakage of material into the environment."