I appreciate your views. You are of course entitled to your views.
However your views are the very reason why Malaysia will never progress as a country.
You may not hate the Malaysian Chinese and Malaysian Indians but your claim that the Malaysian Malays are “original” demonstrates your lack of understanding on the concept of citizenship and Malaysia’s Federal Constitution.
And unfortunately, there are still a significant, albeit declining number of Malays like you, who are actually Malay first, Malaysian second. This is never good for nation building.
When you have the time, please read up on the Federal Constitution to understand what the real meaning of citizenship is.
You will also realise how silly you are with regards to the powers of the Sultan.
Any amendments to remove the powers of the Sultan needs a two-third majority in Parliament and more importantly the consent of all 9 Sultans.
The only person to have successfully reduced the powers of the Sultan is Mahathir Mohamed – in 1993 and not DAP.
Fantastic to have you guys share my video. The video you have embedded in your blog post is a copy of my original video. All my original videos can be found on my Youtube channel which is http://www.youtube.com/existangst
R. N. England writes: “The hazards of rare earth production cannot be reduced to zero, but this applies to production of any kind.”
I agree.
Perhaps I should start by saying that I have no beef with the Rare Earths Industry and do not pretend that these important metals should be just left in the ground. The Rare Earths that sit beneath Mt Weld are going to be dug up and processed somewhere. The only question is where and under what conditions.
As R.N. England notes it is naive to imagine that the dangers from heavy industrial processes can be reduced to nil. However Lynas haven’t even made an effort to ensure that the dangers are reduced to even a reasonable level. Rather than build their factory in Australia they have chosen to build in Malaysia where the official corruption is rampant. It is unlikely that if Lynas ever run afoul of Malaysian safety standards they wont be asked for a bribe to make everything better. Whistle blower Engineers that worked on the project told the New York Times of a litany of dangerous construction practices common on the Lynas site when the factory was being built.
So that is my first problem. Hungry to maximize profits for their investors, Lynas have not tried hard enough to bring negative externalities down to the lowest possible level.
Secondly and perhaps even more importantly is that locals have been offered NOTHING in return for the risk they will be exposed to when the Lynas factory starts up. Nothing.
Arafura resources are currently planning a Rare Earths processing plant in Whyalla. They are in the middle of a long drawn out consultation process with the community there in South Australia. Making sure that the community gets just reward for having a Rare Earths Processing plant next door.
Lynas are in Malaysia because they want to avoid having to give anything at all to the local community. Far cheaper to give to the handful of Government figures that make decisions.
To be honest, I am making a stand for PKR, it is not because they are better, as Malaysia just need a two party system to balance up itself. This is an easy-to-understand concept, take oneself into a scenario whereby he is always the champion, he got no challenger which worth him to practice to be better, time over time this guy will be Ego, Ignorant and of cause Backward. He can’t follow the trend of neighboring school kids (World), not even neighboring class kids (SEA). As we can see, this is the fact that Malaysia is losing out, obviously by only comparing to SEA peers… Ask yourself one simple question, if you always get number 1 in ur class, will you put more effort in ur test? If one day you are ousted by another person, now will you put greater effort? Talk the sweet talk is useless, the one and only solution to make both party do the best for peoples is balance them up. This means vote A for 1 election and B for the next… Simply action and I can guarantee you a handsome yield!
Alwyn: One thing that is really good about Zizek is that he takes the individual and his thoughtworld seriously. Zizek takes intellectual risks when he “traverses the fantasy” and momentarily assumes some socially unacceptable identity, at least with respect to his left-leaning philsophical peer group. Contrast this with the simplistic sociological world typically typically posited by Southeast Asian Studies such as the following phrase posted at New Mandala today: “The never-ending story of Thaksin against the dominant faction of the royalist-military establishment…” I have lived smack in the middle of this thing in Thailand for 6+ years and characterizations like this simply do not do justice to the complex nexuses between thought and action as found in the full ideological array of real flesh and blood humans. Keep up the inspiring work, please 🙂 Thanks.
“My only point: Won’t immediate push for people’s power street revolution and seizure of general’s wealth just trigger a coup and end of progress made so far?”
This idea crossing anyone’s mind be it seriously or tongue-in-cheekly, as a remote possibility is a testament to how far from reality, the understanding of the mind of the dictators in Myanmar.
The tenacity and brilliance of this regime again is not taken seriously knowing well at the time:
1) That SG Than Shwe and cohorts have prevailed over the west useless careless policy.
2)That DASSK is no more than this regime will allow her to be.
This nefarious west pleasing, put the Generals in front of the interrogation fantasy, all indicate that the west has not come anywhere close to reality.
A reality it help created over 5 decades that these present dictators participated and survived at the cost of the humanity within Myanmar.
Talk about partners in crime again Myanmar citizenry.
Well, politics world wide is about lies, egos, spin, corruption, nepotism, a career path largely inhabited by sociopaths and psychopaths. The irony that we actually choose the most useless stratum of society to lead us…
That aside I would imagine Taksin learned a thing or two over the years in exile about how and why all his previous governments and stooges were removed. Short of a bloodfest can’t see how he could get another shot, presumably there is a plan in play.
Lese Majeste Laws
Surachai convicted for lese majeste
The Nation February 28, 2012 12:58 pm
Surachai convicted for lese majeste
The Criminal Court on Tuesday found red-shirt leader Surachai Danwattananusorn, or Sae Dan, guilty of royal insult.
The court sentenced him to serve a total of 7.5 years in jail for three counts of lese majeste.
Red Siam Group leader Surachai’s original sentencing was 15 years but the court cited his confession as grounds for leniency to halve his jail term.
The verdict was based on Surachai’s three rally speeches in Udon Thani, Chiang Mai and Bangkok in 2010.
The defence team said Surachai will seek a royal pardon.
Earlier Surachai vowed to begin a hunger strike if he is not moved to the new detention centre for political prisoners in Bangkok’s Lak Si district.
His wife, Pranee, quoted Surachai, 69, as saying he was disheartened by the fact that he and another red shirt lese majeste detainee, Somyos Prueksakasem-suk, were not regarded as political prisoners.
Forty-seven red shirts sentenced for crimes related to the April-May 2010 clashes were moved to the new detention centre on Tuesday. However, none of the 10 or so known lese-majeste detainees have been transferred despite a proposal by the Truth for Reconciliation Committee of Thailand (TRCT). The government said it would consult with the TRCT.
Thanks for the note, Jon. It was truly quite a sight. Almost something straight out of a psychoanalytical session!
As economic growth expands, our desire of wealth will reach a point where we end up being **unsure of what we want**. We want more $$, yes, but we don’t want the consequences of more $$. So do we want $$ or not?
Given the Zizekian view of Capitalism as today’s Real, perhaps this means that as we get ‘closer’ to Capitalism the unbearability of it all finally consumes (pun intended) us?
I cannot penetrate how these things are played out within an institution like AusAID. I am sure it is complicated. However, to an outsider, the experience is one of bouncing off a wall of crushing institutional apathy.
I don’t think AusAIDs ‘apathetic’ institutional position is to not care, and I’m sure you can penetrate at least that much – so I disagree with the tenor of your piece.
And, Surachai Thongpanich – rightly you are cynical, but “Poor people are not considered” is a large generalisation, and with that generalisation you become guilty of the area of criticism you level at AusAID, tit for tat, which is not helpful – is it?
If you’ve hairy arms, it’s like a band-aid being torn off particularly slowly.
Initially, I was attracted to the Tintin-like nature of the politics of Thailand but, unlike Thai food, this particular dish on repeat in a Groundhog Day is frustrating.
Yesterday evening I drove through the sub-sois of Salaya, Nakhon Pathom and was struck by the extensive damage still left unrepaired, along with the piles of rubbish and dead trees and bushes. The waist high to chest high ‘bathtub ring’ left behind by the fetid, standing water is still quite noticeable.
It is important to note that there is here a near universal belief that the megaflood will return in 2012.
This guy is an ignorant idiot.
The plant DID get Australian approval.
The problem is, the mine is in the middle of a desert; where would they get the water & power, let alone the many chemicals, they need to process this material, which is about as radioactive as granite.
Yes, even the thorium concentrate fails to qualify as low level radioactive waste on the IAEA cassification..
Yes, the tax break is a major incentive to locate the plant in Gebeng, as is plenty of water, cheap power and local chemical supplies.
The upside for Malaysia is (in part) the downstream industry such as the Seimens joint venture manufacturing magnets (used in wind farms; renewable energy).
JB which village is this? Lots of Pathum housing estates sufferred neck high waters for weeks so your desperation is not uncommon. I suggest you buy yourself a boat . . . that should ease the panic.
Trying to open your link to Giles’ article, I got the following message:
The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology has temporarily ceased the service to access such kind of information.
For further information, please contact Ministry of Information and Communication Technology.
120 Moo 3, floor 6, Government Complex Commemorating His Majesty the Kings 80th Birthday Changwattana Road, Laksi, Bangkok 10210 Tel. 02-141-6950
The government has recently embarked on some heavy renovation works in the area that I live. This has caused the re-routing of traffic away from a common road to one which passed straight through some (reasonably high-class) residential houses.
As I drove out, I soon I reached a fork in the road. If I turned left, I would have to drive through right in front of the houses. If I turned right, I would drive on the rocky half-road prepared by the contractors temporarily. It was entirely my choice.
But here was a peculiar sight: A man, obviously a resident, was standing at the fork with his dog, holding a thumbs-up towards my right turning (towards the common half-built road) and bowing repeatedly towards me…. ”
Zizekian picking apart of the paradoxical nature of economic existence certainly trumps stamping heavy unyielding ideological shoes on the floor all the time. Zizek, Burma & Thai studies need you !
I have no idea. That annual Burma Info conference that ANU most gracefully shared the proceedings of with the world in the past was the best source for that sort of info. Hope they do that again.
My only point: Won’t immediate push for people’s power street revolution and seizure of general’s wealth just trigger a coup and end of progress made so far? 🙂
In a global market for rare earths, there seems little reason why locating the LAMP in Malaysia confers any benefits to downstream industries. Industry agglomeration could be achieved through supporting policy measures or through government investment in rare earths projects, in return for guaranteed supply. The latter strategy is exactly what Japan has chosen to do, (Winning, 2011).
As Malaysia strives to escape the “middle income trap”, (Schuman, 2010), it needs to reduce it’s reliance on investment and job creation based on ‘low cost’ and ‘low regulation’ advantages. Malaysia also needs to increase the economic scrutiny of projects that are simply assumed to have economic benefits, when actual benefits may be more rare.
The rare earth ore from Mount Weld in Western Australia which Lynas proposes to process in Malaysia contains less radioactive material than most rare earth deposits. It is very likely to be exploited because of increasing demand, because the associated hazard can be kept relatively low, and because it is a supply that is not controlled by China. The hazards of rare earth production cannot be reduced to zero, but this applies to production of any kind. The question is whether production significantly adds to the hazards people face in everyday life. You cannot answer this question without high-level, scientific studies. If science is not respected, then whether or not the project goes ahead will be decided by a “debate” between greedy stake-holders and governments with an eye on short-term economic benefits on one side, and innumerate crack-pots and rabble-rousers on the other.
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The 13th General Election in Malaysia
@ I’m a Malaysian #21
I appreciate your views. You are of course entitled to your views.
However your views are the very reason why Malaysia will never progress as a country.
You may not hate the Malaysian Chinese and Malaysian Indians but your claim that the Malaysian Malays are “original” demonstrates your lack of understanding on the concept of citizenship and Malaysia’s Federal Constitution.
And unfortunately, there are still a significant, albeit declining number of Malays like you, who are actually Malay first, Malaysian second. This is never good for nation building.
When you have the time, please read up on the Federal Constitution to understand what the real meaning of citizenship is.
You will also realise how silly you are with regards to the powers of the Sultan.
Any amendments to remove the powers of the Sultan needs a two-third majority in Parliament and more importantly the consent of all 9 Sultans.
The only person to have successfully reduced the powers of the Sultan is Mahathir Mohamed – in 1993 and not DAP.
You do realise how silly you are I hope.
Lynas – with love from Perth!
Fantastic to have you guys share my video. The video you have embedded in your blog post is a copy of my original video. All my original videos can be found on my Youtube channel which is http://www.youtube.com/existangst
R. N. England writes: “The hazards of rare earth production cannot be reduced to zero, but this applies to production of any kind.”
I agree.
Perhaps I should start by saying that I have no beef with the Rare Earths Industry and do not pretend that these important metals should be just left in the ground. The Rare Earths that sit beneath Mt Weld are going to be dug up and processed somewhere. The only question is where and under what conditions.
As R.N. England notes it is naive to imagine that the dangers from heavy industrial processes can be reduced to nil. However Lynas haven’t even made an effort to ensure that the dangers are reduced to even a reasonable level. Rather than build their factory in Australia they have chosen to build in Malaysia where the official corruption is rampant. It is unlikely that if Lynas ever run afoul of Malaysian safety standards they wont be asked for a bribe to make everything better. Whistle blower Engineers that worked on the project told the New York Times of a litany of dangerous construction practices common on the Lynas site when the factory was being built.
So that is my first problem. Hungry to maximize profits for their investors, Lynas have not tried hard enough to bring negative externalities down to the lowest possible level.
Secondly and perhaps even more importantly is that locals have been offered NOTHING in return for the risk they will be exposed to when the Lynas factory starts up. Nothing.
Arafura resources are currently planning a Rare Earths processing plant in Whyalla. They are in the middle of a long drawn out consultation process with the community there in South Australia. Making sure that the community gets just reward for having a Rare Earths Processing plant next door.
Lynas are in Malaysia because they want to avoid having to give anything at all to the local community. Far cheaper to give to the handful of Government figures that make decisions.
The 13th General Election in Malaysia
To be honest, I am making a stand for PKR, it is not because they are better, as Malaysia just need a two party system to balance up itself. This is an easy-to-understand concept, take oneself into a scenario whereby he is always the champion, he got no challenger which worth him to practice to be better, time over time this guy will be Ego, Ignorant and of cause Backward. He can’t follow the trend of neighboring school kids (World), not even neighboring class kids (SEA). As we can see, this is the fact that Malaysia is losing out, obviously by only comparing to SEA peers… Ask yourself one simple question, if you always get number 1 in ur class, will you put more effort in ur test? If one day you are ousted by another person, now will you put greater effort? Talk the sweet talk is useless, the one and only solution to make both party do the best for peoples is balance them up. This means vote A for 1 election and B for the next… Simply action and I can guarantee you a handsome yield!
┼╜i┼╛ek and social change in Malaysia – Part 2
Alwyn: One thing that is really good about Zizek is that he takes the individual and his thoughtworld seriously. Zizek takes intellectual risks when he “traverses the fantasy” and momentarily assumes some socially unacceptable identity, at least with respect to his left-leaning philsophical peer group. Contrast this with the simplistic sociological world typically typically posited by Southeast Asian Studies such as the following phrase posted at New Mandala today: “The never-ending story of Thaksin against the dominant faction of the royalist-military establishment…” I have lived smack in the middle of this thing in Thailand for 6+ years and characterizations like this simply do not do justice to the complex nexuses between thought and action as found in the full ideological array of real flesh and blood humans. Keep up the inspiring work, please 🙂 Thanks.
Building up Burma analysis
“My only point: Won’t immediate push for people’s power street revolution and seizure of general’s wealth just trigger a coup and end of progress made so far?”
This idea crossing anyone’s mind be it seriously or tongue-in-cheekly, as a remote possibility is a testament to how far from reality, the understanding of the mind of the dictators in Myanmar.
The tenacity and brilliance of this regime again is not taken seriously knowing well at the time:
1) That SG Than Shwe and cohorts have prevailed over the west useless careless policy.
2)That DASSK is no more than this regime will allow her to be.
As further proof:
http://blogs.cfr.org/asia/2012/02/13/what-david-petraeus-should-ask-in-myanmar/
This nefarious west pleasing, put the Generals in front of the interrogation fantasy, all indicate that the west has not come anywhere close to reality.
A reality it help created over 5 decades that these present dictators participated and survived at the cost of the humanity within Myanmar.
Talk about partners in crime again Myanmar citizenry.
Thailand’s next round?
Well, politics world wide is about lies, egos, spin, corruption, nepotism, a career path largely inhabited by sociopaths and psychopaths. The irony that we actually choose the most useless stratum of society to lead us…
That aside I would imagine Taksin learned a thing or two over the years in exile about how and why all his previous governments and stooges were removed. Short of a bloodfest can’t see how he could get another shot, presumably there is a plan in play.
Thailand’s latest lese majeste disgrace
Lese Majeste Laws
Surachai convicted for lese majeste
The Nation February 28, 2012 12:58 pm
Surachai convicted for lese majeste
The Criminal Court on Tuesday found red-shirt leader Surachai Danwattananusorn, or Sae Dan, guilty of royal insult.
The court sentenced him to serve a total of 7.5 years in jail for three counts of lese majeste.
Red Siam Group leader Surachai’s original sentencing was 15 years but the court cited his confession as grounds for leniency to halve his jail term.
The verdict was based on Surachai’s three rally speeches in Udon Thani, Chiang Mai and Bangkok in 2010.
The defence team said Surachai will seek a royal pardon.
Earlier Surachai vowed to begin a hunger strike if he is not moved to the new detention centre for political prisoners in Bangkok’s Lak Si district.
His wife, Pranee, quoted Surachai, 69, as saying he was disheartened by the fact that he and another red shirt lese majeste detainee, Somyos Prueksakasem-suk, were not regarded as political prisoners.
Forty-seven red shirts sentenced for crimes related to the April-May 2010 clashes were moved to the new detention centre on Tuesday. However, none of the 10 or so known lese-majeste detainees have been transferred despite a proposal by the Truth for Reconciliation Committee of Thailand (TRCT). The government said it would consult with the TRCT.
Thailand’s next round?
Your illustration of a “fat” Yingluk may have landed the single-biggest blow to Pheua Thai.
┼╜i┼╛ek and social change in Malaysia – Part 2
Thanks for the note, Jon. It was truly quite a sight. Almost something straight out of a psychoanalytical session!
As economic growth expands, our desire of wealth will reach a point where we end up being **unsure of what we want**. We want more $$, yes, but we don’t want the consequences of more $$. So do we want $$ or not?
Given the Zizekian view of Capitalism as today’s Real, perhaps this means that as we get ‘closer’ to Capitalism the unbearability of it all finally consumes (pun intended) us?
The Cambodia Railway Project – what is AusAID’s responsibility?
I cannot penetrate how these things are played out within an institution like AusAID. I am sure it is complicated. However, to an outsider, the experience is one of bouncing off a wall of crushing institutional apathy.
I don’t think AusAIDs ‘apathetic’ institutional position is to not care, and I’m sure you can penetrate at least that much – so I disagree with the tenor of your piece.
And, Surachai Thongpanich – rightly you are cynical, but “Poor people are not considered” is a large generalisation, and with that generalisation you become guilty of the area of criticism you level at AusAID, tit for tat, which is not helpful – is it?
Thailand’s next round?
If you’ve hairy arms, it’s like a band-aid being torn off particularly slowly.
Initially, I was attracted to the Tintin-like nature of the politics of Thailand but, unlike Thai food, this particular dish on repeat in a Groundhog Day is frustrating.
The toll of flooding on lives and politics
Yesterday evening I drove through the sub-sois of Salaya, Nakhon Pathom and was struck by the extensive damage still left unrepaired, along with the piles of rubbish and dead trees and bushes. The waist high to chest high ‘bathtub ring’ left behind by the fetid, standing water is still quite noticeable.
It is important to note that there is here a near universal belief that the megaflood will return in 2012.
Lynas – with love from Perth!
This guy is an ignorant idiot.
The plant DID get Australian approval.
The problem is, the mine is in the middle of a desert; where would they get the water & power, let alone the many chemicals, they need to process this material, which is about as radioactive as granite.
Yes, even the thorium concentrate fails to qualify as low level radioactive waste on the IAEA cassification..
Yes, the tax break is a major incentive to locate the plant in Gebeng, as is plenty of water, cheap power and local chemical supplies.
The upside for Malaysia is (in part) the downstream industry such as the Seimens joint venture manufacturing magnets (used in wind farms; renewable energy).
The toll of flooding on lives and politics
JB which village is this? Lots of Pathum housing estates sufferred neck high waters for weeks so your desperation is not uncommon. I suggest you buy yourself a boat . . . that should ease the panic.
Vajiralongkorn: Possessor of the thunderbolt
Trying to open your link to Giles’ article, I got the following message:
The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology has temporarily ceased the service to access such kind of information.
For further information, please contact Ministry of Information and Communication Technology.
120 Moo 3, floor 6, Government Complex Commemorating His Majesty the Kings 80th Birthday Changwattana Road, Laksi, Bangkok 10210 Tel. 02-141-6950
I don’t think I’ll be calling and inquiring…
┼╜i┼╛ek and social change in Malaysia – Part 2
Nice:
“I recently chanced upon a strange event.
The government has recently embarked on some heavy renovation works in the area that I live. This has caused the re-routing of traffic away from a common road to one which passed straight through some (reasonably high-class) residential houses.
As I drove out, I soon I reached a fork in the road. If I turned left, I would have to drive through right in front of the houses. If I turned right, I would drive on the rocky half-road prepared by the contractors temporarily. It was entirely my choice.
But here was a peculiar sight: A man, obviously a resident, was standing at the fork with his dog, holding a thumbs-up towards my right turning (towards the common half-built road) and bowing repeatedly towards me…. ”
Zizekian picking apart of the paradoxical nature of economic existence certainly trumps stamping heavy unyielding ideological shoes on the floor all the time. Zizek, Burma & Thai studies need you !
Building up Burma analysis
aiontay: …how the generals grow their wealth…
I have no idea. That annual Burma Info conference that ANU most gracefully shared the proceedings of with the world in the past was the best source for that sort of info. Hope they do that again.
My only point: Won’t immediate push for people’s power street revolution and seizure of general’s wealth just trigger a coup and end of progress made so far? 🙂
Lynas – with love from Perth!
An economic analysis of the Lynas project in Malaysia:
Lynas – with love from Perth!
The rare earth ore from Mount Weld in Western Australia which Lynas proposes to process in Malaysia contains less radioactive material than most rare earth deposits. It is very likely to be exploited because of increasing demand, because the associated hazard can be kept relatively low, and because it is a supply that is not controlled by China. The hazards of rare earth production cannot be reduced to zero, but this applies to production of any kind. The question is whether production significantly adds to the hazards people face in everyday life. You cannot answer this question without high-level, scientific studies. If science is not respected, then whether or not the project goes ahead will be decided by a “debate” between greedy stake-holders and governments with an eye on short-term economic benefits on one side, and innumerate crack-pots and rabble-rousers on the other.
From the archives: Burma in 1942
“Caucus Approves Uniform Tax”
Surely we weren’t taxing the poor bloody diggers for wearing battle fatigues!