Bangsamoro and its importance to Malaysia

1. Today, October 15 2012, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Philipine governent signed a historic framework agreement for the creation of the Bangsamoro in South Philipine of Mindanao.

2. The obvoius question to most Malaysian is - what is the big deal? Why our Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was honoured and considered a guest of honour at the historic event? Similarly, back in the late 80s and 90s, the Opposition parties also asked a similar question - why waste money and time to help a foreign people? To answer this, we have to go back to history.

3. Bangsamoro refers to the Muslim population in Southern Philipines. The word Bangsa is a Malay word refering to nation. Moro is a term given by Spanish rulers back when Philipines was under the colonization of Spain. During the 15th-16th century, Span was the world power and when they colonized Philipines, they noticed a group of people practicising a worship similar to that of the Moors in Andalusia (Southern Spain).

4. The first reason why we should celebrate the creation of Bangsamoro is because the Moros are our brothers/sisters - they are from the Malay stock and Muslim. When the Spanish came to colonize Philipines, the many Sultans from Southern Philipines rose up and fought the Spanish conquistadors. They fought bravely and only succumb to the mighty arsenal of the United States, 400 years later.

5. The second reason relates to the strategy in tackling the immigration problem in Sabah. The Moros and Sabahans are brothers, whether we want to admit it or not. Before the western powers (Portugues, Dutch, Spaniards, English, Americans) came and colonize the South East Asian region, people were free to travel and settle anywhere in this region. For example, the Sulu Sultanate and Brunei Sultanate are related. Furthermore, the Moros are seafarers people since ancient time and historical proof shows that they lived in Sabah (during the rule of Sulu Sultanate) before. If we kick them out en masse, either they will be killed in war with the Philipines or their children died in hunger.

 

By having a state of their own, they will be inspired to go back to their ancestral land and improve their own nation. This has always been our nation policy in tackling and solving the immigration problem in Sabah since the time of Tun Dr Mahathir. Being the far-sighted leader that he is, Tun understood what was the root cause of the immigration problem in Sabah - the lack of aspiration and independence of the Moros land.

 

6. The third reason is the prevention of Angle-Saxon intervention. For many years , United States together with their Anglo-Saxon cousins, United Kingdom and Australia have try to meddle in the South East Asian (SEA) region. For example, last year, President Obama declared the US will build a new base in Australia. Their aim is to involve in SEA by using the context of fighting terrorism. In the Mindanao region, an extreme militant group known as Abu Sayyaf was created out of frustration after many previous peace engagement with the Philipine Government failed. For many Malaysian, we first heard about Abu Sayyaf when they took over a resort in Sipadan Island in Sabah in 2000.

There is no doubt that Abu Sayyaf is a militant group that is desperate. Desperate people do desperate things. Not all Moros support them - majority do not. However, they agree with the cause - to setup an independent state. By having their own state, Uncle Sam and its Anglo-Saxons cousins have no casus beli to interfere in this region.

7. Another related reason is the safety of Malaysian water/sea and its impact to job creation. You may wondered, how does the creation of Bangsamoro create more jobs or increase the safety in Malaysia?

 

The coast of Sabah is known worldwide for its beauty. One of the strategy setup by the Government is to improve the tourism aspect in Sabah. The Sipadan kidnapping did affect the tourism industry in Sabah. There is many other area in the Sabahan coast which have potential to be further developed into an excellent tourist attraction. In a simple word, this will create jobs for locals! However, as we saw from the Sipadan kidnapping in 2000, if we have terrorist coming over and capturing any Mat Saleh, who would want to come?

There are also evidences suggesting that many of the crimes perpetrated by the illegal immigrants in Sabah is part of a mafia-like syndicate. When a robbery occurs, half of the money is given to terrorist or pirates (for protection). The pirates/terrorist then uses the money to buy weapons from the black market. By having a state where they can get a proper employment, there is less chance they will commit a crime in Sabah and indirectly this will weaken the pirates/terrorist in Sabah seacoast.

8. The fifth reason is its impact on the unresolved situation for our Muslim cousins in Pattani. The problem in South Thailand is similar to the problem in South Philipines. Similar to the Moros, the Pattanis would like to have their own state governed by their own elected official. Similar to the Moros, they are also Muslim. Malaysia may not be able to directly influence the Palestinian struggle but we can help our Muslim cousins nearby – Pattanis (Thailand), Moros (Philipines) and Rohingyas (Myanmar).

Just like the war between Moros and the Philipinos, the Pattanis and Thais are tired of waging war between each other. We have tried to help and broker a peace deal between both sides for many years now. Hopefully, with the news of the creation of  Bangsamoro, it will give boost to all sides in reaching a permanent peace.

9. I hope Malaysian will now understand the impact of the creation of Bangsamoro to our country. The five reasons given are just a short list of the many other benefits.There are others like how this will affect Philipines claim on Sabah which have been a thorny issue between us and the Philipines.

Here, I would like to highlight the achievement of our Government and our excellent foreign policy (FP). Starting from the time of Tun Abdul Razak, we move ourselves away from being a pro-US country to a neutral country. Our famous motto of ‘prosper thy neighbour’ has been the hallmark of our FP for many decades.

We believe in respecting our neighbours. We do not believe in meddling in our neighbour affairs unlike Singapore (Bersih etc). When we have disagreement with our neighbour, we will use all political channels available and try to have a win-win situation.

During the previous administration of Paklah, advised by a bunch of corrupt, incompetent and arrogant advisors, we almost forgot who we were. We were advised to follow the Sheriff of SEA (i.e Australia) in regards to many international affairs (e.g. Myanmar). We lost many friends who used to think highly of us but thank God that now we are starting to regain back their respect. The fact that our Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was honoured at the Bangsamoro signing ceremony is a sign of this respect.

10. It is cool to say the Government sucks. Yes, the Government is not free from faults. However when they do something good, we should give credit where credit is due. The creation of a Muslim state for the Moros people will not have happened if the BN Government were run by idiots. This is the differrence between how the Opposition parties and Barisan Nasional operates. The BN despite all their warts and faults, do come out with good and long term strategy that have proven repeatedly to work.

a) DAP never cared about the struggle of the Moros or Pattanis. Their solution to the immigration problem in Sabah was inhumane and stupid – just shoot or kick them out.

b) PAS who always like to show how Islamic they are did not do anything constructive to help their Muslim brothers in Mindanao. Their solution was for Malaysia to send armed forces to help the Moros. Their thinking capability is very much limited and emotional. Do they not understand that war should only be the last option? War only leads to destruction for both attackers and defenders. Just asked the Moros, Pattanis, Palestinians and Kashmiris.

c) For Anwar Ibrahim (PKR), he had an excellent opportunity to play a role to help the Moros (when he was the DPM). Sadly, he misused/abused the Moros situation and tried to populate Sabah with the Moros. I was there and I saw his strategy. He did not believe in the creation of Bangsamoro. He wanted all the Muslim from South Mindanao to come to Sabah so that the number of Muslim in Sabah will overtake the Christians. Mind you, he did not do this for Islam but for his own selfish gain. His strategy was an increase in Muslim power in Sabah means more allies UMNO Sabah. He will then use this Sabah delegations as his own personal base to launch attacks on Tun Ghaffar (success) and Tun Dr M (Failed). That is the animal known as Anwar Ibrahim. If people still want to believe this liar, then go ahead.

11. The success of the Bangsamoro framework today is due to our brilliant officials in the current government and in the past that have work tirelessly and with patient. I feel it is wrong for me to single out any names. Many have risk even their life, some even went into the jungle of Mindanao leaving their wife and children at home for weeks and months. To all these people, I would like to wish them thank you and may Allah SWT provide you with Jannah for what you have provide to the Moros in Mindanao.

Amendment to the Evidence Act 1950

1. Are you sick and tired of the constant fitnah/lies being thrown forth and back?

2. Are you sick of the shitty politickings that have engulfed our nation since 2008?

3. Are you repulsed by the constant "baling batu sembunyi tangan" type of people?

4. Well, look no further folks; soon we will have an updated version of Evidence Act 1950.

5. Parliament is discussing to improve the old Evidence Act 1950 by introducing the 3 things:

1. To update the name of the act to Evidence Act 2012
2.  New definition of computer
3.  Presumption of guilt

6. Amendment No.1 is not controversial - it is just changing the name.

7. Amendment No.2 is needed because the definition of computer in 1950 or even 1998 is very different compared to today. Today the line between what can be considered as a computer is almost non-existent - even a mobile phone can be considered computer!

Currently, the definition in the old Act about computer is:

“computer” means any device for recording, storing, processing, retrieving or producing any information or other matter, or for performing any one or more of those functions, by whatever name or description such device is called; and where two or more computers carry out any one or more of those functions in combination or in succession or otherwise howsoever conjointly, they shall be treated as a single computer;

Parliament would like to update it to:

“computer” means an electronic, magnetic, optical, electrochemical, or other data processing device, or a group of such interconnected or related devices, performing logical, arithmetic, storage and display functions, and includes any data storage facility or communications facility directly related to or operating in conjunction with such device or group of such interconnected or related devices, but does not include an automated typewriter or typesetter, or a portable hand held calculator or other similar device which is on-programmable or which does not contain any data storage facility;’.

8. We are a developing nation in a modern world. Do we want to have a 50s Act for 2012? So no problem right for No.2? Good!

9. Now, we come to the controversial part of the amendment - No.3.Parliment would like to add 3 additional information. If you do not understand, read my summary in bold.

*** Publication here refers to photos/article/tweet/posting/chat/etc.

114A. (1) A person whose name, photograph or pseudonym appears on any publication depicting himself as the owner, host, administrator, editor or sub-editor, or who in any manner facilitates to publish or re-publish the publication is presumed to have published or re-published the contents of the publication unless the contrary is proved.

Meaning: You are accused if your real name or your internet nickname is being used as the owner of an article, which is under investigation. HOWEVER if you can provide proof that you were framed and somebody else used your name to write that article, you should not be worry.

Scenario:

There is an article titled "Azmin makan duit rakyat Selangor". The author wrote her name as Nazmi. Azmin brings Nazmi to court. Nazmi in her defense said "it was not me Min, sumpah! Bukan I Min! Percayalah...".

Since the article was written in blogger.com (owned by Google), the police can request the IP of the "mysterious writer" from Google. Every time you log in to your blogger or Goggle account, your IP will be stored in Google system. From the police investigation, they found that the IP does not belong to Nazmi's account.

Turn out the actual writer is: Faekah.

(2) A person who is registered with a network service provider as a subscriber of a network service on which any publication originates from is presumed to be the person who published or re-published the publication unless the contrary is proved.

Meaning: You are accused if your account (UNIFI/STREAMYX/MAXIS/DIGI/etc) was used to publish an article under investigation. HOWEVER if you can provide proof that you were framed and somebody else used your name to write that article, you should not be worry.

Scenario:

There is photo of Izzah painted with the words "Izzah Penipu dan Gila Kuasa". The account was under the name Chua. Izzah brought Chuato court. Chua in his defense said : "Zah..bukan abang sayang...abang sayang Izzah..takkan la abang nak sabotage syg. Abg ni suka gigit...gigit telinga...sabotage ni tak main".

Every computer/phone/laptop/Xbox/etc has a MAC address. When you connect to the Internet your ISP can see this. The police check asked Chua whether he has any electronic devices and Chua replied "Only my phone sir" while looking at the officer's ear. Upon checking the MAC address of the phone, the MAC address did not match.

Turn out the actual writer is: Azmin.

(3)Any person who has in his custody or control any computer on which any publication originates from is presumed to have published or re-published the content of the publication unless the contrary is proved.

Meaning: You will get accused if your electronic devices have publications which is under investigation. HOWEVER if you can provide proof that you were framed and somebody else used your name to write that article, you should not be worry.

Scenario:

A tweet goes like this: "@anwaribrahim, you penipu kaum India! You promise macam2 sebelum GTX12 tapi skrg habuk pun tarak ada. @#$%@#%". The account was tweeted under the account psurendram. In anger, Anwar brought Surendran to court and in Surendran's defense he said: "Boss...sampai hati boss tuduh saya macam ini...lupakah janji2 kita dahulu? Sebangsa, Sejiwa, Sehidup, Semati? Cuma tak selubang sahaja...tu ka sebab boss marah?"

When a tweet is posted, all our tweets are stored in Twitter's many servers. Just like Facebook and Google, they also save for each tweet, info associated with that tweet e.g. time, date, location, IP, device name etc. The police can get these associated details of the tweet from Tweeter. Upon investigation, it was found that actually Surendran is innocent.

Turn out the culprit was someone who got jealous with Anwar's attention towards Surendran. He got so jealous that he took Surendran's phone while Surendran was busy entertaining Anwar and made that tweet. That person was Azizah!

10. If you are innocent then there is nothing to be worried. It is just an amendment to update the Act so that it is relevant according to our time.

11. Don't believe the hype that you can no longer FBooking or Tweeting. You can but post/tweet only truth! If you want to expose about the latest corruption involving Ministers or Agencies, please do so BUT provide evidence.

No Evidence = Fitnah. Simple no?

12. Freedom of speech and expression is upheld. Freedom of spreading malicious FITNAH is not!

Old Evidence Act 1950 - www.agc.gov.my/Akta/Vol.%202/Act%2056.pdf 
The New amendment - www.parlimen.gov.my/files/billindex/pdf/2012/DR162012E.pdf

Strategy for winning the GE13

Housing + monopoly + goods + crime

In the past 4-5 months, I had the opportunity to meet with Malaysia from different economic, social, and political background. The purpose of my travel was to understand the concern and complains of normal Malaysian. Before this, I had read polls and reports from third party sources. Reading polls and fancy reports is all-good but in the end, one has to go out and see for oneself the truth.

Under the premiership of Prime Minister Najib, many excellent initiatives have been put forth to address the economic issue primarily through the ETP (Economic Transformation Plan). However, from my travel, the perception from normal folks was that nothing has changed except the cost of living has gone up.
The normal folks here are not only your makcik-pakcik in Kuala Pilah but include middle-income professionals, graduates, businessperson, Bangsar folks and others. They were neither aware nor do they care about:

a)      Our GDP grew 5% last year

b)      Liberalisation of various (previously) unproductive sectors

c)      Most of Europe are in financial shit but we are expected to get GDP growth of 4.7% this year.

d)     The fact that almost 50% of street crime has gone down.

The fact is majority of Malaysian do not like to read – it is a fact. If they just read the GTP website, they would know most of their complaints are being currently addressed. Sadly, since 2008 and largely thanks to the mismanagement of the previous PM, Paklah, Malaysians are now more cynical and distrust of the government. We need to do something BIG and DRASTIC to make them turn their heads.

Let us be frank. Only minority of Malaysian care about secondary issues such as having their finger dipped in purple colour dye during election or removing dead person from electoral list or removing ISA.

One of the most frequent complaints I received was on corruption. However, when I enquired further, it all goes back to the economy.

a)      Some believe that if they have “clean election” then somehow the price of sugar, durian, chillies, beef, and bananas will be cheaper.

b)      Some believe that if they dipped their finger in purple colour dye when voting, the price of houses will go down.

c)      Some believe that if we get rid of ISA, somehow someway, the monopoly of ASTRO will end and they will have more money to spent.

They fact that the opposition are also full of corrupted and evil politicians who were implicated in corruption cases in the past (and engaging in corruption today) are totally ignored by them.

So, what do we do? We must be bold and take risk! The following are the 4 things that Malaysian complaints the most:

a)      Price of houses

b)      Price of goods

c)      Monopoly in certain industries

d)     Crime

If Prime Minister Najib can solve ¾ of the above complaints before GE13, then BN will rule with a comfortable 2/3^rd majority irrespective of who the candidates are. Also, we don’t need to worry if political warlords and their followers threatening to cross over/sabotage/boycott during election. The people will come to us.

If Prime Minister Najib can solve the above 4 issues or at least create a perception that the above 4 issues are going to be tackle, majority of Malaysian (or at least 78% of Malays) will vote BN in GE13.
From my travel I found that, nobody actually care about the abolishment of ISA. When I asked them:

a)      Have ISA + Get rid of tax on foreign cars

b)      Get rid of ISA + Have tax on foreign cars

9/10 will answer their choice as A. If you do not believe me, take 10 random Malaysian and asked them. Therefore, the following are some of my suggestions. Some of these suggestion may (they are) irresponsible but what is the use of being responsible but having no power?

a)      Price of house

PROPOSAL :

          1) Put a limit (say 1-2 properties) on the number of homes foreigners/permanent residents can have at any one time. This can be a policy of 5 or 10 years until the housing price is stabilized. Say to the public that these real estate speculators are public enemy no.1 of our nation just like what we did with the financial speculators in the late 90s.

          2) Increase the Real Property Gain Tax (RPGT) for foreigners to 50% (we are not Dubai. We are not an oil rich country and cannot give each of our citizens a house each or subsidized housing). For Malaysian that sells more than X houses in less than X years increase the RPGT to 30%.

          3) Inform the public the real scenario (the truth) in the real estate sector. Tell the public that the speculators took advantage of our trust in them to be the catalyst in our nation development. The speculators buy cheap houses, hold it for a couple of years, and then sell or rent it at ridiculous price.

THE RISK:

          1) The speculators will give financial support to the opposition. There will be many from the government side who are involved with the real estate speculators (given chairmanships or fund political campaigns etc) that will get angry and try to sabotage the effort.

          2) Some people like those in REHDA will get very angry. But REHDA and people like them already support (financially and morally) the opposition. Their sons, daughters, in laws, brothers, and sisters have all made up their mind to vote for Pakatan. Their vote is already lost.

          3) Honest real estate businessman/woman will also be affected. To them, we can just pray to Allah SWT that they understand why this has to be done.

          In the late 90s, we launch an all out war against the financial speculators and we won. We took unexpected decision and we were proven correct. They gave financially, intelligence and moral support to the Opposition but we won. The key is to remain in power with comfortable majority.

b)      Monopoly

PROPOSAL:

1)      Get rid of the duty import on foreign cars. Proton is no longer under our control; it is under good hands now. The management at DRB HICOM knows what to do to make PROTON survive. It is time to stand up on our own two feet. PROTON is a national treasure and we should protect it in other ways.

2)      Declare to the public that once the agreement between the Government and ASTRO is over (2014), we will not renew it. The ban on parabolic dish under the Broadcasting Act 1988 will be amended or removed. ASTRO is already too powerful and they have so many exclusive licenses with major studios/orgs. I cannot see anyone in the near future able to challenge them at least until ASTRO exclusive license with major studios/orgs ends.

3)      Declare to the public that we will no longer give exclusive rights to anyone that wants to bring new technology to this country. We can and should help bringing new technologies but not at the expense of the rakyat.

4)      In the past 2 years, we have come out with The Competition Act 2010 and The Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Acts 2010. Since Malaysian have very low expectation on our enforcement agencies enforcing laws, something major need to be announced.

c)      Crime

PROPOSAL:

1)      Have tough measures on foreign students coming to Malaysia.

a)      Restrict or increase the visa fee to foreign students from certain countries (e.g. West Africa and China) to enter Malaysia for X number of years.

b)      Applications from foreign students from X countries that are unable to show how they gonna fund themselves during their studies here will be rejected.

2)      Allow the public through Rukun Tetangga to do citizen arrest if they see foreigners doing business (e.g. selling at Pasar Ramadhan).

3)      Re-instate ISA/OSA. People who are caught under OSA/ISA are not your petty criminals. They are usually mastermind or people who have others work for them. Since we removed ISA/OSA the level

4)      Give tax cuts for buying security products so that more Malaysian can secure their home or car with alarm system. We should not subsidize of course since this will make the price goes up.

5)      Let us have 1 Taman, 1 RELA guards?

Tanda Putera: Why it should not be delayed

1. Since the past few weeks, there have been talks from both sides of the political fence on the movie 'Tanda Putera'. It is a movie by the renowned director, Suhaimi Baba. Large part of the film is about the  friendship between Allahyarham Tun Razak (then Prime Minister) and Allahyarham Tun Ismail (then Deputy Prime Minister) and how they try to build the country after a major crisis.

2. Sadly, the DAP led Pakatan is up in arms trying to influence people (especially the ethnic chinese) that this movie is just a conspiracy for the Government to get votes.

3. In this article, I am not going to respond or talk about the Pakatan DAP opposition of this film; instead, I will write about the unfounded hysteria on this movie among the pro-Government people.

4. There are two opinions on this film:

The first opinion: 

We accept the film shows FACTS which can easily be corroborated by reading the MAGERAN official reports*. However, we believe that it is not the right time to show this movie because it may slight the feelings of a certain community. It will dampen the spirit of Merdeka. It does not do any good for it to be showned during the Merdeka month.

The second opinion:

The film is based on FACTS. There is no need for delaying the film. Some communities might be slighted but it is history! If a racist Chinapunk was allowed to produce a film about our society without any delay, why would you want to delay a film by a well-mannered and experienced producer? Is it worthwhile to ignore our nation history to appease others who have decided to close their minds and hearts to you?

5. I can understand both opinions. Personally, I am more inclined towards the latter rather than the former.

6. Look at Hollywood; they produced many films about the treatment of African-American by White-Americans during the 60s. Some of these films even won Oscar and some of them were even shown during the 4^th July (US Independence Day). Do these kinds of films anger some Americans (especially those living in the Bible belt areas)? Yes. Do they delay these films? No. They let the population decides whether to watch it or not.

7. The fact that African-American are still being treated in racist manner in 2012 (although more subtle than in the 60s) is irrelevant. The point is the producers dare to produce such films because it is part of their history.

8. They hope that by producing such films it might subconsciously influence the current generation not to repeat the mistake of their parents or grandparents.

9. I know the FINAS management said that their decision is not influenced by anyone but I doubt it. Therefore, I urge the politicians who are pressuring FINAS to think carefully.

10. If we are afraid of the political consequences of this film, there is none. The DAP led Pakatan and their supporters has already stamped their “seal of disapproval”.

11. Are we afraid of seeing Malays running amok in KL streets after watching this movie? I hardly doubt it. The May 13^th tragedy occurred due to economic disparity. Although the disparity still exist, the Malays nowadays are much better than their parents and grandparents are in the 1960s, thanks to the effort by the Government to raise the economic livelihood of the Malays.

12. The insolent attitude of opposition supporters brandishing their “penyapu” on top of a lorry along the KL streets was only the precursor to the riot; it was not the core reason. That is why we came out with the Dasar Ekonomi Baru (DEB). It’s the economy!

13. Last, I urge that this movie to be shown without any further interferences (that means reinstating the 30 minutes scene that was cut –out) or delay. There will always be haters; these people do not need to watch it, simple! They just need to sit on their bum and continue blaming the government for all the problems in the world. :-p

14. Maybe, we are waiting for the racist Chinapunk to produce his “version of our nation history”, and then only we will show Tanda Putera. I wonder, if this punk is to come out with his own film, will it be banned or delayed? From experience, I highly doubt it. Last time, he even got monetary help to produce his film by the same Government who he cursed with @#$%.

* http://rayaputeh.wordpress.com/laporan-tragedi-13-mei/

On the issue of Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) : Fact or Fiction ?

Wen Kai Jien: I have no clue what is LYNAS nor do I know where is Gebeng; but one thing I know, I hate the BN Government, so whatever Pakatan DAP says is the truth!

Fatimah Zuhri: hmmm... :-|

Wen Kai Jien: OMG!!!! LYNAS is a nuclear power plant!!! :-(

Fatimah Zuhri: Calm down dear! First of all, Lynas is an Australian company involved in processing rare earth. Second, the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant in Gebeng, Pahang is a chemical processing plant; not a nuclear plant.

Wen Kai Jien: You are a liar!!! Lynas is a nuclear power plant! Lim Guan Eng told me, my mother, my aunt, my grandmother, my great grandmother etc it is a nuclear power plant! Lim Guan Eng can never lie...ever! *grrrrr*

Fatimah Zuhri: Can you please provide a proof that says LAMP is a nuclear power plant project? Other than Pakatan media of course I have not found any... :-)

Wen Kai Jien: ..............

Wen Kai Jien: I am not naive ok!!! Lynas is bad news!!! Lynas should go back to Australia, dammit!

Fatimah Zuhri: Look, Lynas came to Malaysia for economic reason. Lynas met all the regulations and approvals to build a processing plant in Australia but still chose Malaysia. We manage to attract them by providing good infrastructure, skilled workforce and attractive tax incentive.

Wen Kai Jien: You have no idea what rare earth is, so shutup! I told you I am not naive!!!! Lim Guan Eng do not lie!!!

Fatimah Zuhri: Then stop being such a spoil brat and start listen to reason. Rare earths are a unique group of fifteen chemical elements and it can be found in many parts of the world. Many modern equipments/devices use rare earth components.

Wen Kai Jien: Really meh? Like what if you soooo smart one????

Fatimah Zuhri: Let me list just a few of them down. You can google the rest if you want. :-)

Yttrium - used in producing LED television as well as treatment for ovarian and bone cancer.
Lanthanum - used in making battery for hybrid cars. Also used in vacuum tubes, camera and telescope lenses.
Neodymium - used in making headphone, microphone and speakers.
Europium- used in screening for down syndrome and genetic diseases

Wen Kai Jien: But it is radioactive!!! It has that Thorium thing that can make your children have legs in their bodies!!! I told you I am smart, just like my mentor Lim Guan Eng! :-)

Fatimah Zuhri: I'm sorry, but you are wrong again. Rare earth elements are not radioactive on their own. However, if you start extracting nor concentrating the Thorium, then it will be radioactive. In Lynas's case, they are neither extracting nor concentrating the Thorium. Therefore, the low level of radiation remains the same.

Wen Kai Jien: It has Thorium!!!!

Fatimah Zuhri: It has very low level of Thorium. Remember, there are 15 elements. Thorium is just one of them and the concentration is low. It is more dangerous mining bijih timah than mining rare earth. :-)

Wen Kai Jien: Why Lynas is given tax free status for 12 years????!!!

Fatimah Zuhri: Simple. They were given tax incentive under the Pioneer Status. Every Government in this world provides tax incentive to companies that want to come to their country. What so strange about that? When INTEL open their factories in Penang, we also gave them tax incentives. What is the big problem?

Wen Kai Jien: Why not do it in Australia ???!!!

Fatimah Zuhri: I told you already. Both Malaysia and Australia can provide skilled workforce and good infrastructure. Both country have no problem with Lynas in term of meeting safety standard. But Lynas being a business entity chose Malaysia because Malaysia gave a better tax incentive.

Wen Kai Jien: Then Malaysia will rugi la???!!!

Fatimah Zuhri: No, it won't. We are hoping that the Lynas project will create direct and indirect jobs for Malaysian. Just imagine, Lynas will require thousands of local engineers to oversee this project. Also, these engineers need to eat, buy groceries, send their children to tuition centre, etc... It will be beneficial to Pahang in the long term.

We also hope that this project will attract other high tech companies to come and setup their plants/factories/research centre here.

Wen Kai Jien: Why Lynas is using Chinese standard ?

Fatimah Zuhri: That is an outright lie. Lynas did not use the Chinese standard.Only one of the Lynas residues contains a very low level of radiation at 6 Bq/g. This is well within acceptable international standards. In contrast, the residue from some Chinese facilities is 74 Bq/g. There is no comparison between the two.

Wen Kai Jien: Lynas is going to make a lot of profit dammit !!!

Fatimah Zuhri: Since when it is wrong for a company to make money? Tell me, in the Chinese society, since when did it became Haram for a business to make money? :-)

Wen Kai Jien: But but but....the Australian Govt themselves said that they would not allow this rare earth plant to be setup in their country!

Fatimah Zuhri: That is a lie. The Lynas plant was approved in Australia many years ago but the simple fact is it's far cheaper to process in Malaysia than in Australia. There are also other rare earth plants planned for Australia (lookup Arafura and Alkane) and a rare-earth plant in California (Molycorp).

Wen Kai Jien: But but but....Western Australian Minister for Mines and Petroleum, Norman Moore said  “Australia does not support the importation and storage of other countries’ radioactive waste”.


Fatimah Zuhri: Mr Moore is not the Australian government; importation of waste is not controlled by State Governments. The Australian Federal Government is the only level of government that has exclusive power to legislate in relation to foreign affairs. It has passed a law known as the Hazardous Waste (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1989 which regulates the importation of waste into Australia. All that is needed is a permit from the Federal Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water , Population and Communities. The Act implements Australia's treaty obligations under the Basel Convention for transnational transportation of waste.

It is my understanding however that no permit will be required as the material Lynas will be producing will be so low in radioactivity that it does not constitute waste for the purpose of teh Basel convention.

Wen Kai Jien: You maybe right but I hate BN; that is why I am all out against Lynas.

Fatimah Zuhri: Yep I knew that from the start. Just like the rest of the people who have joined the anti-Lynas bandwagon, their motivation is purely political. You do not understand the issue. You're so filled with hate that you cant think objectively. Your objective is to get people angry at the Government so that they will chose Pakatan DAP as the new Govt come GE13.

Malaysian are smarter than that, Mr Wen Kai Jien!


Good links to find out about the truth on Lynas:
http://www.lynasandmalaysia.com/
http://info4thetruth.blogspot.com/2012/02/demi-kebenaran-kami-terpaksa-dedahkan.html