Health Insurance Is for Everyone
It's the only way to deliver lower-cost healthcare—with better results.
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Author: Fareed Zakaria
Source: Time Magazine
TWO YEARS AGO, BARACK OBAMA signed into law the most comprehensive reform of American health care since Medicare. Most of its provisions haven't been implemented yet. But the debate about it rages on at every level. Twenty-six states have filed legal challenges to it. And this month the Supreme Court will hear arguments about its constitutionality.
The centerpiece of the case against Obamacare is the requirement that everyone buy some kind of health insurance or face stiff penalties—the so-called individual mandate. It is a way of moving toward universal coverage without a government-run or single-payer system. It might surprise Americans to learn that another advanced industrial country, one with a totally private health care system, made precisely the same choice nearly 20 years ago: Switzerland. The lessons from Switzerland and other countries can't resolve the constitutional issues, but they suggest the inevitability of some version of Obama care.
Switzerland is not your typical European welfare-state society. It is extremely business-friendly and has always gone its own way, shunning the euro and charting its own course on health care. The country ranks higher than the U.S. on the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom.
Twenty years ago, Switzerland had a system very similar to America's— private insurers, private providers—with very similar problems. People didn't buy insurance but ended up in emergency rooms, insurers screened out people with pre-existing conditions, and costs were rising fast. The country came to the conclusion that to make health care work, everyone had to buy insurance. So the Swiss passed an individual mandate and reformed their system along lines very similar to Obamacare. The reform law passed by referendum, narrowly. The result two decades later: quality of care remains very high, everyone has access, and costs have moderated. Switzerland spends 11% of its GDP on health care, compared with 17% in the U.S. Its 8 million people have health care that is not tied to their employers, they can choose among many plans, and they can switch plans every year. Overall satisfaction with the system is high.
When Taiwan—which also has a strong free-market economy—decided to create a new health care system in the mid-1990s, it studied every existing model. It too chose a model of universal access and universal insurance but decided against having several private insurers, as Switzerland and the U.S. do. Instead it created a single insurer, basically a
version of Medicare. The result: universal access and high-quality care at stunningly low costs. Taiwan spends only 7% of its GDP on health care.
The most striking aspect of America's medical system remains how much of an outlier it is in the advanced industrial world. No other nation spends more than 12% of its total economy on health care. Americans do worse than most other countries on almost every measure of health outcomes: healthy-life expectancy, infant mortality and—crucially— patient satisfaction. Put simply, the U.S. has the most expensive, least efficient system of any rich country on the planet. Costs remain high on every level. Recently, the International Federation of Health Plans released a report comparing the prices in various countries of 23 medical services, from a routine checkup to an MRI to a dose of Lipitor. The U.S. had the highest costs in 22 of the 23 cases. An MRI costs $1,080 in America; it costs $281 in France.
In 1963, Nobel Prize—winning economist Kenneth Arrow wrote an academic paper explaining why markets don't work well in health care. He argued that unlike with most goods and services, people don't know when they will need health care. And when they do need it— say, in the case of heart failure—the cost is often prohibitive. That means you need some kind of insurance or government- run system.
Now, the U.S. could decide as a society that it is O.K. for people who suddenly need health care to get it only if they can pay for it. The market would work just as it works for BMWs: anyone who can afford one can buy one. That would mean that the vast majority of Americans wouldn't be able to pay for a triple bypass or a hip replacement when they needed it. But every rich country in the world—and many not-so-rich ones—has decided that its people should have access to basic health care. Given that value, a pure free-market model simply cannot work.
The Swiss and Taiwanese found that if you're going to have an insurance model, you need a general one in which everyone is covered. Otherwise, healthy people don't buy insurance and sick ones get gamed out of it. Catastrophic insurance—covering trauma and serious illnesses—isn't a solution, because it's chronically ill patients, just 5% of the total, who account for 50% of American health care costs. That's why the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, came up with the idea of an individual mandate in the 1980s, proposing that people buy health insurance in exactly the same way that people are required to buy car insurance. That's why Mitt Romney chose this model as a market-friendly system for Massachusetts when he was governor. And that's why Newt Gingrich praised the Massachusetts model as the most important step forward in health care in years. They have all changed their minds, but that is about politics, not economics.
The Obama health care plan is not perfect by any measure. It maintains the connection between employment and health care, which is massively inefficient and a huge burden on American business. While companies often talk about the need to reduce regulations to be competitive globally—which is true and important— they rarely talk about their single biggest handicap against global competitors. American companies have to pay tens of billions of dollars to provide health care for their employees and former employees, while their German, Canadian, Japanese and British counterparts pay next to nothing in health care costs in comparison.
The Obama bill expands access to 30 million Americans. That's good economics and also the right thing to do. But it does little in the way of controlling costs. Medicare's costs have stopped rising as fast as in the past. But for broader costs to decline, there is no alternative to having some kind of board that decides what is covered by insurance and what is not— as exists in every other advanced country. This has been demagogued as creating “death panels” when it is really the only sensible way to make the system work.
When listening to the debate about American health care, I find that many of the most fervent critics of government involvement argue almost entirely from abstract theoretical propositions about free markets. One can and should reason from principles. But one must also reason from reality, from facts on the ground. And the fact is that about 20 foreign countries provide health care for their citizens in some way or other. All of them—including free-market havens like Switzerland and Taiwan—have found that they need to use an insurance or government-sponsored model. All of them provide universal health care at much, much lower costs than we do and with better results.
Maybe there's a theoretical pure free- market model out there that would work. But in Maybe there's a theoretical pure free-market model out there that would work. But the world we know and live in, the task is not to abolish the U.S. system for a utopia that has never actually existed anywhere but rather to accept the messy, mixed-up reality and try to improve it to allow people to have access to decent health care at an affordable price—something every other rich country in the world already does.
TIME March 26, 2012
Friday 23 March 2012
Thursday 22 March 2012
Dzulkefly on ensuring strong Malay support for PR
Harakahdaily, 16 March 2012
Mar 16: Posed with a question on the scenario of a Pakatan Rakyat Federal government that has Malay members of parliament as minority, PAS's director of research Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (pic) said the matter was not trivial, describing it a dilemma for Malay voters.
According to the Kuala Selangor MP, the country's politics is at the crossroads, with the Malay-Muslim community torn between choosing to stay with UMNO due to Malay sentiments that do not take into account corruption, and supporting PAS and Pakatan Rakyat, the multi-racial coalition which eyes a change in the political landscape.
Dzulkefly said UMNO's greatest fear was PAS's steady movement to the 'centre', and this includes its adaptation of the benevolent state.
“It will be easier for UMNO if PAS continues to be perceived as an hardline party which talks about hudud laws, because UMNO can then tell the non-Muslims that ‘If PR wins, you better watch out!’,” Dzulkefly told the forum “Analysis of the Post GE-13 Political Direction” last night.
PAS’s transformation, however, has forced UMNO to use right-wing fronts such as Perkasa and Jati as its whipping boys, to portray PAS as a party that deviated from its Islamic principles.
“That doesn’t make the party more unIslamic. On the other hand, PAS leaders must learn to articulate in the modern political language, focusing on UMNO-BN’s abuses which have cost the people the prosperity they deserved,” he said, adding that this was the biggest challenge faced by PAS currently.
Dzulkefly, who is in the PAS Central Committee, urged Muslim NGOs to free the siege mentality among Muslims that was being encouraged by UMNO, through such claims as the 'Christian threat'.
“It must not continue to dwell itself in the dogma of Muslims or non-Muslims, hudud or no hudud or others,” he said.
The Malay Muslims, he stressed, must be approached with issues beyond hudud laws, and be told of the rampant abuses by the current administration, saying this would automatically lead to a recognition to the need for a change of government.
According to Dzulkefly, PAS could handle UMNO even without hudud on PR's common policy platform, saying Islam is strongly opposed to corruption and wealth embezzlement.
“The abuses and crimes committed by UMNO over the past five decades and which continue today are sinful and despicable. The gross mismanagement is unIslamic and anti-Islam, against Tawhid (oneness of God) and the Qur'an. That’s how we should describe UMNO,” he added.
Mar 16: Posed with a question on the scenario of a Pakatan Rakyat Federal government that has Malay members of parliament as minority, PAS's director of research Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (pic) said the matter was not trivial, describing it a dilemma for Malay voters.
According to the Kuala Selangor MP, the country's politics is at the crossroads, with the Malay-Muslim community torn between choosing to stay with UMNO due to Malay sentiments that do not take into account corruption, and supporting PAS and Pakatan Rakyat, the multi-racial coalition which eyes a change in the political landscape.
Dzulkefly said UMNO's greatest fear was PAS's steady movement to the 'centre', and this includes its adaptation of the benevolent state.
“It will be easier for UMNO if PAS continues to be perceived as an hardline party which talks about hudud laws, because UMNO can then tell the non-Muslims that ‘If PR wins, you better watch out!’,” Dzulkefly told the forum “Analysis of the Post GE-13 Political Direction” last night.
PAS’s transformation, however, has forced UMNO to use right-wing fronts such as Perkasa and Jati as its whipping boys, to portray PAS as a party that deviated from its Islamic principles.
“That doesn’t make the party more unIslamic. On the other hand, PAS leaders must learn to articulate in the modern political language, focusing on UMNO-BN’s abuses which have cost the people the prosperity they deserved,” he said, adding that this was the biggest challenge faced by PAS currently.
Dzulkefly, who is in the PAS Central Committee, urged Muslim NGOs to free the siege mentality among Muslims that was being encouraged by UMNO, through such claims as the 'Christian threat'.
“It must not continue to dwell itself in the dogma of Muslims or non-Muslims, hudud or no hudud or others,” he said.
The Malay Muslims, he stressed, must be approached with issues beyond hudud laws, and be told of the rampant abuses by the current administration, saying this would automatically lead to a recognition to the need for a change of government.
According to Dzulkefly, PAS could handle UMNO even without hudud on PR's common policy platform, saying Islam is strongly opposed to corruption and wealth embezzlement.
“The abuses and crimes committed by UMNO over the past five decades and which continue today are sinful and despicable. The gross mismanagement is unIslamic and anti-Islam, against Tawhid (oneness of God) and the Qur'an. That’s how we should describe UMNO,” he added.
Tuesday 20 March 2012
Media Statement by Dr Chen Man Hin, life advisor DAP in Seremban on19th March 2012
FORMED IN 1965, DAP HAS BEEN SWINGING FOR A MALAYSIAN MALAYSIA WHILE UMNO HAS BEEN CLAIMING FOR A KETUANAN MELAYU
Born in 1965, the Democratic Action Party started off very small and humble, but big in ideas. Their leaders promoted a vision of a multi racial, multilingual and multicultural society, where all are born equal whether Malays, Chinese, Indians or indigenous tribes.
This was a deep contrast to UMNO’s philosophy of dividing the populace into bumiputras and non-bumiputras, purely on the vanity and pride of UMNO, although the Constitution never indicated that the people should be divided into bumiputras and non-bumiputras. This was a big mistake and because of the policy, national unity became a goal, which was very hard to achieve. Up until today, national unity remains a dream, and this has greatly affected the political, social and economic development of the country.
Countries that tried apartheid like discrimination against the Negros in America and the blacks in S Africa, brought suffering to the people. Today there is no apartheid in S Africa. Unfortunately, UMNO in Malaysia stubborning pursuing apartheid by claiming that Malays are Ketuanan Melayu, while the other races are second class citizens.
KETUANAN MELAYU AND WIDESPREAD CORRUPTION FOR THE PAST FIFTY YEARS HAVE MADE MALAYSIA A POOR MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRY.
The DAP had tried to persuade UMNO to move away from racialism, but they had stubbornly followed the bumiputra and NEP policies not only did they ignore the demands of Opposition parties, but they also refused to listen to the advice of the World Bank.
The three Prime ministers Tun Razak, Tun Mahathir and Tun Badawi tried to improve the economy and uplift the living standards, but living standards remained low, while the rural kampongs remained very poor.
Now PM Najib Razak has proposed his 1 Malaysia, which would bring a HIGH INCOME economy to the people, where the people would enjoy a higher income and living standards in the kampongs would be higher. He introduced an impressive number of reforms, calculated to attract more foreign investments.
Unfortunately, UMNO and PERKASA both refused to scrap the NEP. The result was that Foreign Direct Investments did not come in great numbers. So NAJIB could only hobble along, and he had to abandon his reforms. He had to retain the NEP, and this has continued to deter foreign investments from investing in Malaysia. Foreign direct investments are far behind Singapore, and Indonesia.
PM Najib keep boasting that targets of investments are exceeding expectations as vast amounts of money are flowing in. However, statistics show otherwise.
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS. Singapore Straits Times reported on Jan 20 th, that Indonesia foreign direct investments hit a record US19.3 billion last year. In contrast, Malaysia only pulled in about US10 billion last year, same as Vietnam. Of course, there are frequent reports that the economy has bounced back, but the figures do not lie.
PER CAPITA INCOME.
This is the true indicator of just how well a country is progressing, by the annual income of the average citizen. PM Najib has been in government for over four years. Let us see how much money he has put into the pocket of the average Malaysian, compared to the average citizen in other countries.
It is clear from the figures that the per capita income of the average Malaysian is far far behind his compatriot in Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea. Corruption and racial policies have eroded the productivity of the average Malaysian
A high-income society means that the per capita income must be around US20, 000. So a Malaysian has to wait another 8 years to enjoy a high-income status.
Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea have open economies, liberal and follow free market principles. Hence, they progress faster. However in Malaysia, as the economy is dictated by racial policies and there is no free market the economy remain slow and retarded. This is the reason why Singapore, Hong Kong, s Korea and Taiwan are called the Asian tigers.
FOR THE SAKE OF THE COUNTRY AND FOR SAKE OF POOR MALAYSIANS, PM NAJIB MUST REVISE HIS POLICIES, AND MODIFY HIS 1 MALAYSIA TO FOLLOW THE PRINCIPLES OF A MALAYSIAN MALAYSIA
DR CHEN MAN HIN, DAP LIFE ADVISOR
Born in 1965, the Democratic Action Party started off very small and humble, but big in ideas. Their leaders promoted a vision of a multi racial, multilingual and multicultural society, where all are born equal whether Malays, Chinese, Indians or indigenous tribes.
This was a deep contrast to UMNO’s philosophy of dividing the populace into bumiputras and non-bumiputras, purely on the vanity and pride of UMNO, although the Constitution never indicated that the people should be divided into bumiputras and non-bumiputras. This was a big mistake and because of the policy, national unity became a goal, which was very hard to achieve. Up until today, national unity remains a dream, and this has greatly affected the political, social and economic development of the country.
Countries that tried apartheid like discrimination against the Negros in America and the blacks in S Africa, brought suffering to the people. Today there is no apartheid in S Africa. Unfortunately, UMNO in Malaysia stubborning pursuing apartheid by claiming that Malays are Ketuanan Melayu, while the other races are second class citizens.
KETUANAN MELAYU AND WIDESPREAD CORRUPTION FOR THE PAST FIFTY YEARS HAVE MADE MALAYSIA A POOR MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRY.
The DAP had tried to persuade UMNO to move away from racialism, but they had stubbornly followed the bumiputra and NEP policies not only did they ignore the demands of Opposition parties, but they also refused to listen to the advice of the World Bank.
The three Prime ministers Tun Razak, Tun Mahathir and Tun Badawi tried to improve the economy and uplift the living standards, but living standards remained low, while the rural kampongs remained very poor.
Now PM Najib Razak has proposed his 1 Malaysia, which would bring a HIGH INCOME economy to the people, where the people would enjoy a higher income and living standards in the kampongs would be higher. He introduced an impressive number of reforms, calculated to attract more foreign investments.
Unfortunately, UMNO and PERKASA both refused to scrap the NEP. The result was that Foreign Direct Investments did not come in great numbers. So NAJIB could only hobble along, and he had to abandon his reforms. He had to retain the NEP, and this has continued to deter foreign investments from investing in Malaysia. Foreign direct investments are far behind Singapore, and Indonesia.
PM Najib keep boasting that targets of investments are exceeding expectations as vast amounts of money are flowing in. However, statistics show otherwise.
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS. Singapore Straits Times reported on Jan 20 th, that Indonesia foreign direct investments hit a record US19.3 billion last year. In contrast, Malaysia only pulled in about US10 billion last year, same as Vietnam. Of course, there are frequent reports that the economy has bounced back, but the figures do not lie.
PER CAPITA INCOME.
This is the true indicator of just how well a country is progressing, by the annual income of the average citizen. PM Najib has been in government for over four years. Let us see how much money he has put into the pocket of the average Malaysian, compared to the average citizen in other countries.
It is clear from the figures that the per capita income of the average Malaysian is far far behind his compatriot in Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea. Corruption and racial policies have eroded the productivity of the average Malaysian
A high-income society means that the per capita income must be around US20, 000. So a Malaysian has to wait another 8 years to enjoy a high-income status.
Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea have open economies, liberal and follow free market principles. Hence, they progress faster. However in Malaysia, as the economy is dictated by racial policies and there is no free market the economy remain slow and retarded. This is the reason why Singapore, Hong Kong, s Korea and Taiwan are called the Asian tigers.
FOR THE SAKE OF THE COUNTRY AND FOR SAKE OF POOR MALAYSIANS, PM NAJIB MUST REVISE HIS POLICIES, AND MODIFY HIS 1 MALAYSIA TO FOLLOW THE PRINCIPLES OF A MALAYSIAN MALAYSIA
DR CHEN MAN HIN, DAP LIFE ADVISOR
Monday 19 March 2012
Indonesia draws US$19b FDI in 2011, tops Malaysia
Source: The Malaysia Insider
By Debra Chong
January 20, 2012
A worker from state-coal miner PT Bukit Asam oversees coal blending via conveyor belt before these are sent to barges in Tarahan coal port, in Indonesia's Lampung province August 20, 2011. — Reuters pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — Indonesia’s foreign direct investment (FDI) hit a record US$19.3 billion (RM59.8 billion) last year, the highest in the region, and is expected to rise another 25 per cent this year despite the gloomy global economy.
In contrast, Malaysia only pulled in about US$10 billion (RM31 billion) last year, same as Vietnam, considered among the other top growing economies in Southeast Asia.
Indonesia, with a population of 237.6 million, attracted about as much investment as India and just under one-fifth that went into China, making it Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, Singapore’s Straits Times (ST) reported today.
As at October last year, total approved foreign investments in Malaysia stood at RM26.4 billion.
Approved foreign investments in Malaysia are primarily in the electrical and electronics industry, accounting for RM7.2 billion; metal-based products (RM2.4 billion); food processing (RM1.8 billion); chemical and chemical products (RM1 billion); transportation apparatus (RM902.4 million); petroleum products, including petrochemicals (RM520.8 million); and fabricated metal products (RM520.7 million).
Indonesia’s biggest investor last year was Singapore with US$5.1 billion, trailed by Japan and the US with US$1.5 billion each.
Slightly more than half of those inflows went to its capital Jakarta and the nearby West Java and Banten provinces. The rest was spread across the archipelago.
A fifth of the Indonesia’s FDI went into transport, storage and communications. Another fifth went into the mining sector.
“The key to raising investments in the future will be regulatory reform,” Indonesia’s trade minister Gita Wirjawan was reported by ST as saying today, about his country’s boom.
The Singapore daily reported him adding that Indonesia’s growth was due to “a series of improvements in the investment climate” at the central and local government levels, including better marketing efforts.
Gita, who also heads Indonesia’s investment coordinating board (BKPM), was reported saying its labour laws, which have been slammed by employers as being too rigid, could be amended.
ST reported observers saying Indonesia’s economy is largely domestic driven and that the country must dismantle more hurdles to doing business, such as poor physical and legal infrastructure and red tape.
The daily said FDI inflows into Indonesia came on the back of multinationals seeking cheaper labour with China rising up the value chain.
Investors were also drawn to Indonesia’s relatively untapped natural resources.
Indonesia’s National Economic Committee chief, Chairul Tanjung, was reported saying recent credit upgrades could pull in even more investments, notably in the infrastructure sector.
ST reported that motorcycle and car makers from Honda and Toyota to General Motors have announced plans to bump up their operations there.
It reported Standard Chartered economist Fauzi Ichsan saying consumer sectors like retail banking and pharmaceuticals were expected to rise as Indonesia’s middle class grows.
University of Indonesia economist Muhammad Chatib Basri has also written about his country’s economic boom, noting half the population are under 30 years old.
He wrote in this month’s issue of policy magazine, Strategic Review: “We need growth above eight per cent through 2030... If we fail, we will leave our grandchildren only serious poverty and unemployment in 2050.”
By Debra Chong
January 20, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — Indonesia’s foreign direct investment (FDI) hit a record US$19.3 billion (RM59.8 billion) last year, the highest in the region, and is expected to rise another 25 per cent this year despite the gloomy global economy.
In contrast, Malaysia only pulled in about US$10 billion (RM31 billion) last year, same as Vietnam, considered among the other top growing economies in Southeast Asia.
Indonesia, with a population of 237.6 million, attracted about as much investment as India and just under one-fifth that went into China, making it Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, Singapore’s Straits Times (ST) reported today.
As at October last year, total approved foreign investments in Malaysia stood at RM26.4 billion.
Approved foreign investments in Malaysia are primarily in the electrical and electronics industry, accounting for RM7.2 billion; metal-based products (RM2.4 billion); food processing (RM1.8 billion); chemical and chemical products (RM1 billion); transportation apparatus (RM902.4 million); petroleum products, including petrochemicals (RM520.8 million); and fabricated metal products (RM520.7 million).
Indonesia’s biggest investor last year was Singapore with US$5.1 billion, trailed by Japan and the US with US$1.5 billion each.
Slightly more than half of those inflows went to its capital Jakarta and the nearby West Java and Banten provinces. The rest was spread across the archipelago.
A fifth of the Indonesia’s FDI went into transport, storage and communications. Another fifth went into the mining sector.
“The key to raising investments in the future will be regulatory reform,” Indonesia’s trade minister Gita Wirjawan was reported by ST as saying today, about his country’s boom.
The Singapore daily reported him adding that Indonesia’s growth was due to “a series of improvements in the investment climate” at the central and local government levels, including better marketing efforts.
Gita, who also heads Indonesia’s investment coordinating board (BKPM), was reported saying its labour laws, which have been slammed by employers as being too rigid, could be amended.
ST reported observers saying Indonesia’s economy is largely domestic driven and that the country must dismantle more hurdles to doing business, such as poor physical and legal infrastructure and red tape.
The daily said FDI inflows into Indonesia came on the back of multinationals seeking cheaper labour with China rising up the value chain.
Investors were also drawn to Indonesia’s relatively untapped natural resources.
Indonesia’s National Economic Committee chief, Chairul Tanjung, was reported saying recent credit upgrades could pull in even more investments, notably in the infrastructure sector.
ST reported that motorcycle and car makers from Honda and Toyota to General Motors have announced plans to bump up their operations there.
It reported Standard Chartered economist Fauzi Ichsan saying consumer sectors like retail banking and pharmaceuticals were expected to rise as Indonesia’s middle class grows.
University of Indonesia economist Muhammad Chatib Basri has also written about his country’s economic boom, noting half the population are under 30 years old.
He wrote in this month’s issue of policy magazine, Strategic Review: “We need growth above eight per cent through 2030... If we fail, we will leave our grandchildren only serious poverty and unemployment in 2050.”
Sunday 18 March 2012
Local unis not on list
Sunday March 18, 2012
By KAREN CHAPMAN
educate@thestar.com.my
Malaysian universities fail to make an impact in an annual global rankings list for institutions that are reputed for their teaching and research.
NO Malaysian university has made the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2012, which rank the world’s top 100 institutions by their academic reputation alone.
The reputation rankings act as a global index of academic prestige, revealing which institutions are regarded as the best for teaching and research by many thousands of experienced scholars all over the world.
It is an annual reputation rankings, which complement the World University Rankings, and are based on the world’s largest survey of academic opinion and provide a unique insight into the shifting academic prestige of institutions.
Reputation both reflects and drives university success — helping to attract staff, students, business investment, research partners and benefactions in a highly competitive global market.
Baty: When it comes to exciting developments in higher education, all eyes are facing East.
Times Higher Education Rankings editor Phil Baty said the top top 100 list represents only around 0.5 percent of the world’s higher education institutions, so to make it is an exceptional achievement.
In terms of representation in the top 100 list, the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) are followed by Japan and the Netherlands with five institutions each, and Germany, Australia and France with four each.
“In total, 19 countries are on the list, and the US takes 44 of the places, so competition is very tough. But many governments would be keen to see at least one national flagship institution in a list like this – demonstrating that they are competing among the very best in the world, and ensuring they are driving the economy with cutting edge research and attracting the best academic talent,” he told StarEducate.
Harvard University tops the World Reputation Rankings followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Cambridge.
The mechanics
The reputation rankings are based on the results of an Academic Reputation Survey carried out by the professional polling company Ipsos for Times Higher Education’s rankings data supplier, Thomson Reuters.
Respondents to the academic reputation survey (available in nine languages) are asked to name a very small number who are “the best” in both teaching and research, based on their specialist subject knowledge and their experience and they are given a list of around 6,000 institutions to choose from.
“So in that sense, if academics think you are doing exciting and excellent teaching and research, you will appear in the rankings.
“The survey is invitation-only and is statistically representative of global scholarship, so there is nothing any institution can do to get in the list, other than have a high profile and be well known for excellence all over the world.
“The only way to get a properly balanced and fair sample is to select each respondent to be statistically representative of both their country and their discipline — it is wrong to let people sign up and volunteer,” he said.
For the 2012 table, some 44% of responses were from the Americas, with 28% from Europe and 25% from Asia Pacific and the Middle East. About 20% of respondents were from the physical sciences and engineering and technology respectively wih 19% from social sciences, 17% in clinical subjects, 16% in life sciences and seven percent in the arts and humanities.
This year’s results are based on a record 17,554 responses from senior, published academics in 137 countries, and is up by 31% on last year’s poll of 13,388 academics.
Baty said factors that would raise any institution’s profile would include making sure its academics are publishing cutting-edge research, attending the right conferences, are part of the right networks, forging international partnerships and producing the best graduates.
He said the rankings is a list of the world’s top 100 universities but those in the 51 to100 are grouped into bands of 10.
“This is in the interests of fairness, as the data differentials between institutions become very narrow lower down the table,” he added.
He said Malaysian institutions did receive nominations, but not enough to make the top 100 list. It was not possible to name them as response numbers were “insufficiently large to allow proper statistical significance”. Malaysian universities were also not on the list last year.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said Malaysian universities need to strengthen their fundamentals first.
“You don’t see a sudden jump in a few months,” he said when asked to comment on the lack of Malaysian institutions on the list.
“What I can say is that, even though the survey is in multiple languages, The response rate from Asia generally is slightly lower than we get from other parts of the worlds.
“We therefore compensate by giving the results from that region a slightly higher weighting so that the real term number of responses per region corresponds to the populations of academics and researchers as reported by Unesco.
“This overcomes any bias caused by differing response rates and ensures that the each region is fairly represented in the survey,” explained Baty.
Looking East
Although the US continues to dominate the global top 100 ranking, East Asian universities in general have improved in their standing, signalling the start of a power shift from West to East.
“Japan has maintained an outstanding showing in the global top 100 reputation rankings, with two universities in the world top 20.
“But there is also a very exciting group of East Asian countries or regions enjoying significant increases in the prestige of their universities — with China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore all seeing their top universities rising up the reputation table.
“This is against some notable drops for some big-name institutions in the US and UK.
“When it comes to exciting developments in higher education, all eyes are facing East.
“There are clear signs of the start of a power shift from West to East,” explained Baty.
Outside the US, the UK has the most top 100 representatives with 10 universities, but this has declined from 12 last year. Both Oxford and Cambridge maintain their positions in the top six supergroup. The University of Sheffield, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine are out of the top 100 altogether.
Japan has five representatives — the University of Tokyo, the University of Kyoto, the University of Osaka and the University of Tohoku and Tokyo Institute of Technology. China has two representatives in the top 100 – Tsinghua University and Peking University. The University of Hong Kong has entered the top 40. The National University of Singapore has also climbed up the list.
“But while top reputations can take many years, even centuries to build, in today’s information-rich, fast-moving and interconnected world, universities can not sit back and rely on their history.
“New forces are emerging and signs of declining performance among the establishment are quickly identified, shared and spread. Established reputations can be highly vulnerable,” he explained.
For more information on the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2012, log onto
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/
The Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2012
By KAREN CHAPMAN
educate@thestar.com.my
Malaysian universities fail to make an impact in an annual global rankings list for institutions that are reputed for their teaching and research.
NO Malaysian university has made the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2012, which rank the world’s top 100 institutions by their academic reputation alone.
The reputation rankings act as a global index of academic prestige, revealing which institutions are regarded as the best for teaching and research by many thousands of experienced scholars all over the world.
It is an annual reputation rankings, which complement the World University Rankings, and are based on the world’s largest survey of academic opinion and provide a unique insight into the shifting academic prestige of institutions.
Reputation both reflects and drives university success — helping to attract staff, students, business investment, research partners and benefactions in a highly competitive global market.
Times Higher Education Rankings editor Phil Baty said the top top 100 list represents only around 0.5 percent of the world’s higher education institutions, so to make it is an exceptional achievement.
In terms of representation in the top 100 list, the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) are followed by Japan and the Netherlands with five institutions each, and Germany, Australia and France with four each.
“In total, 19 countries are on the list, and the US takes 44 of the places, so competition is very tough. But many governments would be keen to see at least one national flagship institution in a list like this – demonstrating that they are competing among the very best in the world, and ensuring they are driving the economy with cutting edge research and attracting the best academic talent,” he told StarEducate.
Harvard University tops the World Reputation Rankings followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Cambridge.
The mechanics
The reputation rankings are based on the results of an Academic Reputation Survey carried out by the professional polling company Ipsos for Times Higher Education’s rankings data supplier, Thomson Reuters.
Respondents to the academic reputation survey (available in nine languages) are asked to name a very small number who are “the best” in both teaching and research, based on their specialist subject knowledge and their experience and they are given a list of around 6,000 institutions to choose from.
“So in that sense, if academics think you are doing exciting and excellent teaching and research, you will appear in the rankings.
“The survey is invitation-only and is statistically representative of global scholarship, so there is nothing any institution can do to get in the list, other than have a high profile and be well known for excellence all over the world.
“The only way to get a properly balanced and fair sample is to select each respondent to be statistically representative of both their country and their discipline — it is wrong to let people sign up and volunteer,” he said.
For the 2012 table, some 44% of responses were from the Americas, with 28% from Europe and 25% from Asia Pacific and the Middle East. About 20% of respondents were from the physical sciences and engineering and technology respectively wih 19% from social sciences, 17% in clinical subjects, 16% in life sciences and seven percent in the arts and humanities.
This year’s results are based on a record 17,554 responses from senior, published academics in 137 countries, and is up by 31% on last year’s poll of 13,388 academics.
Baty said factors that would raise any institution’s profile would include making sure its academics are publishing cutting-edge research, attending the right conferences, are part of the right networks, forging international partnerships and producing the best graduates.
He said the rankings is a list of the world’s top 100 universities but those in the 51 to100 are grouped into bands of 10.
“This is in the interests of fairness, as the data differentials between institutions become very narrow lower down the table,” he added.
He said Malaysian institutions did receive nominations, but not enough to make the top 100 list. It was not possible to name them as response numbers were “insufficiently large to allow proper statistical significance”. Malaysian universities were also not on the list last year.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said Malaysian universities need to strengthen their fundamentals first.
“You don’t see a sudden jump in a few months,” he said when asked to comment on the lack of Malaysian institutions on the list.
“What I can say is that, even though the survey is in multiple languages, The response rate from Asia generally is slightly lower than we get from other parts of the worlds.
“We therefore compensate by giving the results from that region a slightly higher weighting so that the real term number of responses per region corresponds to the populations of academics and researchers as reported by Unesco.
“This overcomes any bias caused by differing response rates and ensures that the each region is fairly represented in the survey,” explained Baty.
Looking East
Although the US continues to dominate the global top 100 ranking, East Asian universities in general have improved in their standing, signalling the start of a power shift from West to East.
“Japan has maintained an outstanding showing in the global top 100 reputation rankings, with two universities in the world top 20.
“But there is also a very exciting group of East Asian countries or regions enjoying significant increases in the prestige of their universities — with China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore all seeing their top universities rising up the reputation table.
“This is against some notable drops for some big-name institutions in the US and UK.
“When it comes to exciting developments in higher education, all eyes are facing East.
“There are clear signs of the start of a power shift from West to East,” explained Baty.
Outside the US, the UK has the most top 100 representatives with 10 universities, but this has declined from 12 last year. Both Oxford and Cambridge maintain their positions in the top six supergroup. The University of Sheffield, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine are out of the top 100 altogether.
Japan has five representatives — the University of Tokyo, the University of Kyoto, the University of Osaka and the University of Tohoku and Tokyo Institute of Technology. China has two representatives in the top 100 – Tsinghua University and Peking University. The University of Hong Kong has entered the top 40. The National University of Singapore has also climbed up the list.
“But while top reputations can take many years, even centuries to build, in today’s information-rich, fast-moving and interconnected world, universities can not sit back and rely on their history.
“New forces are emerging and signs of declining performance among the establishment are quickly identified, shared and spread. Established reputations can be highly vulnerable,” he explained.
For more information on the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2012, log onto
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/
The Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2012
Anwar snubs RPK in WikiLeaks forum
Friday, 16 March 2012 Super Admin
Anwar does not agree to share the same stage with Raja Petra in a WikiLeaks-organised forum to discuss global political scenario.
(Free Malaysia Today) - Raja Petra Kamarudin has been removed from participating in a forum on global political scenario following a request made by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.
The forum is scheduled to take place this Saturday in Kent, England. The discussion was originally planned to include Raja Petra, Anwar and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Anwar was supposed to participate in the forum through Skype communication. The discussion was to be videotaped for a documentary for WikiLeaks. Now the discussion would only see the participation of Anwar and Assange.
“I got a call from WikiLeaks that Anwar does not agree that I be included. So now it will only be Julian and him,” Raja Petra told FMT today.
“I agreed to Anwar being included but he did not agree for me to be there,” he said.
Raja Petra lashed out at Anwar for fearing to face him in the discussion, which would also include the political happenings in Malaysia.
“How is Anwar going to debate Najib when he is too chicken to face me? He should try me out first before taking on Najib.
“Also, it appears that Anwar does not tolerate and respect the independence of the media and dissent.
“He will only deal with people who support him and agree with him. If this is Anwar as opposition leader, I shudder to think what he would be like as PM,” said Raja Petra.
(Free Malaysia Today) - Raja Petra Kamarudin has been removed from participating in a forum on global political scenario following a request made by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.
The forum is scheduled to take place this Saturday in Kent, England. The discussion was originally planned to include Raja Petra, Anwar and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Anwar was supposed to participate in the forum through Skype communication. The discussion was to be videotaped for a documentary for WikiLeaks. Now the discussion would only see the participation of Anwar and Assange.
“I got a call from WikiLeaks that Anwar does not agree that I be included. So now it will only be Julian and him,” Raja Petra told FMT today.
“I agreed to Anwar being included but he did not agree for me to be there,” he said.
Raja Petra lashed out at Anwar for fearing to face him in the discussion, which would also include the political happenings in Malaysia.
“How is Anwar going to debate Najib when he is too chicken to face me? He should try me out first before taking on Najib.
“Also, it appears that Anwar does not tolerate and respect the independence of the media and dissent.
“He will only deal with people who support him and agree with him. If this is Anwar as opposition leader, I shudder to think what he would be like as PM,” said Raja Petra.
Thursday 15 March 2012
ANAK seeks new injunction, to stop FGVH listing ‘at all costs’
Thursday, 15 March 2012 administrator
(The Malaysian Insider) - A FELDA settlers’ group has vowed a fresh suit to stop the proposed listing of FELDA Global Ventures Holdings Berhad (FGVH) that Putrajaya says will benefit those involved in the land scheme.
The government promised yesterday to move ahead with the proposed listing of FGVH, with or without the 51 per cent stake in commercial arm FELDA Holdings held by settlers of the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA).
A group of eight settlers had last month won a temporary court order blocking the transfer of shares from their FELDA Investment Co-operative (KPF) to FGVH, a crucial step in the plan to list the plantation firm.
FELDA Settlers’ Children’s Association (ANAK) chairman Mazlan Aliman (picture) said the association was looking at different ways in which to halt the listing, one of which is to file an injunction to stop the leasing of FELDA plantation land in different states throughout the country.
“One of the things we are looking at is to file a court injunction to stop the leasing of 360,000 hectares of FELDA plantation land.
“The success of (FGVH’s) the listing depends on the acquisition of the most important assets like KPF shares and (FELDA) land. This is what we want to stop... at all costs,” he told The Malaysian Insider via text message.
“The government has betrayed the policy initiated by (the late) Tun (Abdul) Razak (Hussein). They do not respect the rights of FELDA folk,” added Mazlan.
The PAS central working committee member said that he will reveal details of ANAK’s plan in Parliament at a 3pm news conference today.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Ahmad Maslan has said the government will not delay the listing beyond June as it wanted to capitalise on high crude palm oil (CPO) prices.
He said the listing will go ahead whether or not the settlers are successful in winning an injunction against the share transfer when the matter is heard in court on March 22.
The government previously insisted it has the backing of “the majority of settlers”, despite reports of widespread opposition.
FELDA chairman Tan Sri Isa Samad had announced a special purpose vehicle (SPV), after the court blocked the share transfer, to cater for the welfare of some 112,000 settlers.
Isa said that as any potential proceeds from the proposed listing would not be channelled through KPF, the SPV would assume this role and ensure that settlers would benefit directly from the listing and participate fully in any potential growth.
But PKR charged that the SPV would only lower FGVH’s listing value, saying that this decision was a direct snub of the co-operative.
KPF has about 220,000 members, of whom 112,635 are FELDA settlers. The rest are FELDA employees and children of settlers.
Reuters reported last month that Putrajaya could delay FGVH’s listing due to settlers’ opposition, saying the deal risks undermining Barisan Nasional’s (BN) support from voters long considered the ruling pact’s vote bank.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had recently said the listing of FGVH, announced in Budget 2012, is expected to take place in April instead of the middle of the year as was earlier planned.
But critics contend that the proposed listing, which will see loss-making FGVH assume control of KPF, will short-change smallholders and saddle FELDA with up to RM1.5 billion in yearly deficits.
FGVH subsidiaries such as FELDA Iffco Sdn Bhd, FELDA Global Technologies, FELDA Global Ventures Middle East and FELDA Global Ventures Arabia are reported to have chalked up accumulated losses of around RM500 million up to last year.
However, Ahmad told Parliament yesterday FGVH recorded pre-tax profits of RM203 million and RM366 million in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
The profitable FELDA Holdings has a workforce of some 19,000 employees, with a labour force of 46,795 workers at 300 estates, 70 palm oil mills, seven refineries, four kernel-crushing plants, 13 rubber factories, manufacturing plants and several logistic and bulking installations spread throughout Malaysia and several locations overseas.
The government has said the move will result in a RM5.9 billion lump-sum payment to settlers but ANAK has insisted it will not be in cash but shares in FGVH.
Former Finance Minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has also criticised the move, saying it would expose land belonging to 200,000 smallholders to the open market.
But former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad recently defended the planned listing of FGVH as a “great opportunity” for FELDA to expand.
(The Malaysian Insider) - A FELDA settlers’ group has vowed a fresh suit to stop the proposed listing of FELDA Global Ventures Holdings Berhad (FGVH) that Putrajaya says will benefit those involved in the land scheme.
The government promised yesterday to move ahead with the proposed listing of FGVH, with or without the 51 per cent stake in commercial arm FELDA Holdings held by settlers of the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA).
A group of eight settlers had last month won a temporary court order blocking the transfer of shares from their FELDA Investment Co-operative (KPF) to FGVH, a crucial step in the plan to list the plantation firm.
FELDA Settlers’ Children’s Association (ANAK) chairman Mazlan Aliman (picture) said the association was looking at different ways in which to halt the listing, one of which is to file an injunction to stop the leasing of FELDA plantation land in different states throughout the country.
“One of the things we are looking at is to file a court injunction to stop the leasing of 360,000 hectares of FELDA plantation land.
“The success of (FGVH’s) the listing depends on the acquisition of the most important assets like KPF shares and (FELDA) land. This is what we want to stop... at all costs,” he told The Malaysian Insider via text message.
“The government has betrayed the policy initiated by (the late) Tun (Abdul) Razak (Hussein). They do not respect the rights of FELDA folk,” added Mazlan.
The PAS central working committee member said that he will reveal details of ANAK’s plan in Parliament at a 3pm news conference today.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Ahmad Maslan has said the government will not delay the listing beyond June as it wanted to capitalise on high crude palm oil (CPO) prices.
He said the listing will go ahead whether or not the settlers are successful in winning an injunction against the share transfer when the matter is heard in court on March 22.
The government previously insisted it has the backing of “the majority of settlers”, despite reports of widespread opposition.
FELDA chairman Tan Sri Isa Samad had announced a special purpose vehicle (SPV), after the court blocked the share transfer, to cater for the welfare of some 112,000 settlers.
Isa said that as any potential proceeds from the proposed listing would not be channelled through KPF, the SPV would assume this role and ensure that settlers would benefit directly from the listing and participate fully in any potential growth.
But PKR charged that the SPV would only lower FGVH’s listing value, saying that this decision was a direct snub of the co-operative.
KPF has about 220,000 members, of whom 112,635 are FELDA settlers. The rest are FELDA employees and children of settlers.
Reuters reported last month that Putrajaya could delay FGVH’s listing due to settlers’ opposition, saying the deal risks undermining Barisan Nasional’s (BN) support from voters long considered the ruling pact’s vote bank.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had recently said the listing of FGVH, announced in Budget 2012, is expected to take place in April instead of the middle of the year as was earlier planned.
But critics contend that the proposed listing, which will see loss-making FGVH assume control of KPF, will short-change smallholders and saddle FELDA with up to RM1.5 billion in yearly deficits.
FGVH subsidiaries such as FELDA Iffco Sdn Bhd, FELDA Global Technologies, FELDA Global Ventures Middle East and FELDA Global Ventures Arabia are reported to have chalked up accumulated losses of around RM500 million up to last year.
However, Ahmad told Parliament yesterday FGVH recorded pre-tax profits of RM203 million and RM366 million in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
The profitable FELDA Holdings has a workforce of some 19,000 employees, with a labour force of 46,795 workers at 300 estates, 70 palm oil mills, seven refineries, four kernel-crushing plants, 13 rubber factories, manufacturing plants and several logistic and bulking installations spread throughout Malaysia and several locations overseas.
The government has said the move will result in a RM5.9 billion lump-sum payment to settlers but ANAK has insisted it will not be in cash but shares in FGVH.
Former Finance Minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has also criticised the move, saying it would expose land belonging to 200,000 smallholders to the open market.
But former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad recently defended the planned listing of FGVH as a “great opportunity” for FELDA to expand.
Tuesday 13 March 2012
licence for the LYNAS plant to refine rare earth metals in Kuantan should be revoked immediately
Media statement by dr chen man hin, life advisor DAP in seremban on 14th March 2012
It is unfortunate that the government of Malaysia has on February issued a temporary licence to Lynas of Australia to begin processing rare earth metals in Kuantan. it is designed to be the world.s largest rare earth processing plant. the total cost is estimated to be 250 million
The cost is not much, but the cost in terms of lives from the effects of the toxic radioactive waste will be tremendous. lives will be lost and there will disastrous health consequences for the people not only of Kuantan but to surrounding districts of Pahang, and possible toxic effects to other parts of the peninsula as strong winds are a perpetual event in this part of the world.
The government of Malaysia and its Atomic Energy and licensing authority has failed to research on rare earth metal refining as otherwise they would not have permitted the Lynas plant to be licensed and constructed.
PM Najib has suggested that the radioactive waste could be secured in a special waste collection centre, and this will neutralise the radioactive waste. this is simply ridiculous and it means that the atomic guardians show a severe lack of scientific awareness of the disastrous effects of radioactive waste of rare earth refineries. their advice to PM Najib is based on ignorance and complete unawareness of the dangers of rare earth mining and refining.
PM NAJIB AND HIS ATOMIC ENERGY TEAM STRONGLY ADVISED TO VISIT THE RARE EARTH MINES IN BOUTOU, CHINA
THEY would be greatly shocked with the conditions of the mines, and witness the disastrous effects on the environment and the dangerous hazards to the lives of the people.
The enclosed report with pictures would open their eyes, and they would immediatey revoke the license given to Lynas to operate a rare earth plant in Kuantan
By SIMON PARRY in China and ED DOUGLAS in Scotland
Created 7:32 PM on 26th January 2011
This toxic lake poisons Chinese farmers, their children and their land. It is what's left behind after making the magnets for Britain's latest wind turbines... and, as a special Live investigation reveals, is merely one of a multitude of environmental sins committed in the name of our new green Jerusalem
The lake of toxic waste at Baotou, China, which as been dumped by the rare earth processing plants in the background
On the outskirts of one of China’s most polluted cities, an old farmer stares despairingly out across an immense lake of bubbling toxic waste covered in black dust. He remembers it as fields of wheat and corn.
Yan Man Jia Hong is a dedicated Communist. At 74, he still believes in his revolutionary heroes, but he despises the young local officials and entrepreneurs who have let this happen.
‘Chairman Mao was a hero and saved us,’ he says. ‘But these people only care about money. They have destroyed our lives.’
Vast fortunes are being amassed here in Inner Mongolia; the region has more than 90 per cent of the world’s legal reserves of rare earth metals, and specifically neodymium, the element needed to make the magnets in the most striking of green energy producers, wind turbines.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1350811/In-China-true-cost-Britains-clean-green-wind-power-experiment-Pollution-disastrous-scale.html
It is unfortunate that the government of Malaysia has on February issued a temporary licence to Lynas of Australia to begin processing rare earth metals in Kuantan. it is designed to be the world.s largest rare earth processing plant. the total cost is estimated to be 250 million
The cost is not much, but the cost in terms of lives from the effects of the toxic radioactive waste will be tremendous. lives will be lost and there will disastrous health consequences for the people not only of Kuantan but to surrounding districts of Pahang, and possible toxic effects to other parts of the peninsula as strong winds are a perpetual event in this part of the world.
The government of Malaysia and its Atomic Energy and licensing authority has failed to research on rare earth metal refining as otherwise they would not have permitted the Lynas plant to be licensed and constructed.
PM Najib has suggested that the radioactive waste could be secured in a special waste collection centre, and this will neutralise the radioactive waste. this is simply ridiculous and it means that the atomic guardians show a severe lack of scientific awareness of the disastrous effects of radioactive waste of rare earth refineries. their advice to PM Najib is based on ignorance and complete unawareness of the dangers of rare earth mining and refining.
PM NAJIB AND HIS ATOMIC ENERGY TEAM STRONGLY ADVISED TO VISIT THE RARE EARTH MINES IN BOUTOU, CHINA
THEY would be greatly shocked with the conditions of the mines, and witness the disastrous effects on the environment and the dangerous hazards to the lives of the people.
The enclosed report with pictures would open their eyes, and they would immediatey revoke the license given to Lynas to operate a rare earth plant in Kuantan
By SIMON PARRY in China and ED DOUGLAS in Scotland
Created 7:32 PM on 26th January 2011
This toxic lake poisons Chinese farmers, their children and their land. It is what's left behind after making the magnets for Britain's latest wind turbines... and, as a special Live investigation reveals, is merely one of a multitude of environmental sins committed in the name of our new green Jerusalem
The lake of toxic waste at Baotou, China, which as been dumped by the rare earth processing plants in the background
On the outskirts of one of China’s most polluted cities, an old farmer stares despairingly out across an immense lake of bubbling toxic waste covered in black dust. He remembers it as fields of wheat and corn.
Yan Man Jia Hong is a dedicated Communist. At 74, he still believes in his revolutionary heroes, but he despises the young local officials and entrepreneurs who have let this happen.
‘Chairman Mao was a hero and saved us,’ he says. ‘But these people only care about money. They have destroyed our lives.’
Vast fortunes are being amassed here in Inner Mongolia; the region has more than 90 per cent of the world’s legal reserves of rare earth metals, and specifically neodymium, the element needed to make the magnets in the most striking of green energy producers, wind turbines.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1350811/In-China-true-cost-Britains-clean-green-wind-power-experiment-Pollution-disastrous-scale.html
The Heavy Cost of Rare Earth Shouldered by Residents of Inner Mongolia
Liao Hui-juan and Staff Reporter 2011-02-06 12:35 (GMT+8)
China's rare earth industry continues to boom, but the residues and development of rare earth mines have created environmental biohazards and damaged people's health. Picture: a rare earth factory in Baotou. (Photo/Xinhua)
China's rampant rare earth mineral mining and extraction in Baotou in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region seems to be taking a heavy toll on local residents.
Some have complained of heavy pollution, and also expressed concerns about possible landslides since a waste-holding dam built to contain the residue from the city's rare earth refineries has been built on a seismic fault line.
The waste-holding dam, located 12 kilometers from Baotou's western outskirts, is designed to contain mining waste dumped by the Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Co, the country's biggest rare earth producer, has become a "dune"containing radioactive waste. Laced with heavy metal and toxic chemical compounds, it is believed to be causing heavy environmental pollution.
The company is principally engaged in the production and sale of refined rare earth minerals, which are enjoying strong global demand.
Currently, most of the global supply of rare earth minerals comes from a single iron ore mine in the hills north of Baotou. After the iron is extracted, the ore is processed at refineries in Baotou's western outskirts to harvest the rare earth materials, according to a National Business Daily report.
The refineries and the iron ore processing mill pump their waste through pipes into the dam, locally called the "rare earth lake," about 4-5 kilometers outside the refineries.
After collecting waste from processing rare earth minerals and iron ore for 45 years, the lake has become a "radioactive time-bomb," especially because it is said to be located in a seismic fault zone. Meanwhile, toxic chemical compounds from the lake have been seeping into the surrounding underground water that is used to supply wells, crops and livestock, and is suspected of causing various types of cancer and unknown illness among local residents and livestock.
Some 5,000 residents in five villages near the area are already direct victims of the mining process. They are known to jokingly ask visitors: "Do you dare to drink the water here?" Observers said that it reflected their helpless fate.
Hau Bing-wen, a 65 year-old local resident of Dalahi village, said that in 1988, large numbers of livestock died from a variety of unknown illnesses. A large number of villagers have also been suffering from nausea, dizzy spells, arthritis and migraines from drinking contaminated water and pollution.
"Many residents here lost their teeth in their early 30s," Hau added.
According to statistics, between 1993 and 2005, the number of residents of Dalahi village dying of cancer reached 66. In 2010 alone, at least two people have died from cancer in the village, according to Liu Yehnu, a 68 year-old woman.
Every year, about 7 million metric tonnes of mining waste is released into the dam, which has become a very important production facility for the rare earth mineral producing company.
To better manage the dam, the company has set up a waste managing warehouse manned by 400 employees. The annual management fees of the warehouse are 300-500 million yuan. What is held in the dam represents waste for the iron ore mining industry, but for rare earth miners, it represents precious mineral resources.
While the dam has brought opportunities for economic development in Baotou, it has also taken its toll on the agricultural sector, which has borne the brunt of the losses. Most farmland in villages near the dam has been rendered barren because of the pollution.
According to statistics, the harvest of corn dropped to 600 kilograms per acre in 2006 from 1500 kilograms four years ago, while the wheat harvest has dwindled to 400 kg per acre from about 800-1,000 kg. Similarly, the potato harvest has decreased to 2,500 kg per acre from about 6,000-7,000 kg.
Source:
China's rare earth industry continues to boom, but the residues and development of rare earth mines have created environmental biohazards and damaged people's health. Picture: a rare earth factory in Baotou. (Photo/Xinhua)
China's rampant rare earth mineral mining and extraction in Baotou in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region seems to be taking a heavy toll on local residents.
Some have complained of heavy pollution, and also expressed concerns about possible landslides since a waste-holding dam built to contain the residue from the city's rare earth refineries has been built on a seismic fault line.
The waste-holding dam, located 12 kilometers from Baotou's western outskirts, is designed to contain mining waste dumped by the Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Co, the country's biggest rare earth producer, has become a "dune"containing radioactive waste. Laced with heavy metal and toxic chemical compounds, it is believed to be causing heavy environmental pollution.
The company is principally engaged in the production and sale of refined rare earth minerals, which are enjoying strong global demand.
Currently, most of the global supply of rare earth minerals comes from a single iron ore mine in the hills north of Baotou. After the iron is extracted, the ore is processed at refineries in Baotou's western outskirts to harvest the rare earth materials, according to a National Business Daily report.
The refineries and the iron ore processing mill pump their waste through pipes into the dam, locally called the "rare earth lake," about 4-5 kilometers outside the refineries.
After collecting waste from processing rare earth minerals and iron ore for 45 years, the lake has become a "radioactive time-bomb," especially because it is said to be located in a seismic fault zone. Meanwhile, toxic chemical compounds from the lake have been seeping into the surrounding underground water that is used to supply wells, crops and livestock, and is suspected of causing various types of cancer and unknown illness among local residents and livestock.
Some 5,000 residents in five villages near the area are already direct victims of the mining process. They are known to jokingly ask visitors: "Do you dare to drink the water here?" Observers said that it reflected their helpless fate.
Hau Bing-wen, a 65 year-old local resident of Dalahi village, said that in 1988, large numbers of livestock died from a variety of unknown illnesses. A large number of villagers have also been suffering from nausea, dizzy spells, arthritis and migraines from drinking contaminated water and pollution.
"Many residents here lost their teeth in their early 30s," Hau added.
According to statistics, between 1993 and 2005, the number of residents of Dalahi village dying of cancer reached 66. In 2010 alone, at least two people have died from cancer in the village, according to Liu Yehnu, a 68 year-old woman.
Every year, about 7 million metric tonnes of mining waste is released into the dam, which has become a very important production facility for the rare earth mineral producing company.
To better manage the dam, the company has set up a waste managing warehouse manned by 400 employees. The annual management fees of the warehouse are 300-500 million yuan. What is held in the dam represents waste for the iron ore mining industry, but for rare earth miners, it represents precious mineral resources.
While the dam has brought opportunities for economic development in Baotou, it has also taken its toll on the agricultural sector, which has borne the brunt of the losses. Most farmland in villages near the dam has been rendered barren because of the pollution.
According to statistics, the harvest of corn dropped to 600 kilograms per acre in 2006 from 1500 kilograms four years ago, while the wheat harvest has dwindled to 400 kg per acre from about 800-1,000 kg. Similarly, the potato harvest has decreased to 2,500 kg per acre from about 6,000-7,000 kg.
Source:
Inner Mongolia Unrest.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Inner Mongolia Unrest.
At the heart of Baotou's rare earths smelting, those environmental aspirations are blighted by pollution that can cut visibility around the main plants to a few dozen meters.
Su Wenqing, the Baotou industry official, wrote that companies there had dumped tailings, including mildly radioactive ore scrap, into local water supplies and farmland and the nearby Yellow River, "creating varying levels of radioactive pollution."
Not to get too alarmist about it, but trouble has come to Inner Mongolia, home of Batou Iron and Steel Group, aka Baogang Group, producer of about 45% of China’s total production of Rare Earth Elements through their subsidiary Baotou Steel Rare Earth (Group) Hi Tech Co Ltd. No trouble has been reported at the mines at Bayan Obo, the largest rare earth mine in the world, but the mines there plus the refineries at Baotou are one of the biggest source of pollution in China, and a source of much potential local discontent. Lately China has begun to address the issue of industrial pollution there, especially ground water pollution. Given the importance or the region to world supply, this development needs careful watching.
Anger Over Protesters’ Deaths Leads to Intensified Demonstrations by Mongolians
By ANDREW JACOBS Published: May 30, 2011
HOHHOT, China — Ethnic Mongolians seething over the killings of two Mongolians by Han Chinese drivers took their anger to the streets of this capital of Inner Mongolia on Monday in a rare expression of antigovernment sentiment here.
----Until now, the authorities have met the protests with a heavy-handed police response and highly publicized efforts to appease ethnic Mongolians, who make up less than 20 percent of the region’s population of 24 million and have long complained that migration of Han Chinese is diluting their language and culture.
----“The root cause of the problem is not money,” Mr. Togochog said. “The problem is the conflict between the Mongolian people’s efforts to maintain their distinct culture and way of life and the Chinese authorities’ attempts to exploit the natural resources of the region.”
Occupying 12 percent of China’s land, the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region has become an increasingly vital source of the coal, natural gas and rare earth elements that help fuel the Chinese economy. Critics complain that in addition to environmental degradation and forced relocations, mining provides few tangible benefits to ethnic Mongolians.
---- Separating out the minerals is usually done by dousing the rare earths in acids and other chemicals. The tailings from Huamei and other nearby metals plants end up at a 10 square kilometer dam.
The reservoir can hold 230 million cubic meters of the dark, acrid waste. That, according to a sign on its banks, is equal to 92,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The residents of Xinguang village said the chemicals from the dam have been seeping into the underground waters that feed their wells, crops and livestock, including fluoride.
Cleaning up the mining and the refining processes, once started, will probably impact the level of REE output from the region. Given that the rest of the world won’t really be in a position to replace Chinese output until about 2013 – 2015, assuming no unexpected delays, our increasingly REE intensive world is flirting with disaster through at least 2015.
Source: http://www.raremetalblog.com/2011/05/inner-mongolia-unrest.html
Inner Mongolia Unrest.
At the heart of Baotou's rare earths smelting, those environmental aspirations are blighted by pollution that can cut visibility around the main plants to a few dozen meters.
Su Wenqing, the Baotou industry official, wrote that companies there had dumped tailings, including mildly radioactive ore scrap, into local water supplies and farmland and the nearby Yellow River, "creating varying levels of radioactive pollution."
Not to get too alarmist about it, but trouble has come to Inner Mongolia, home of Batou Iron and Steel Group, aka Baogang Group, producer of about 45% of China’s total production of Rare Earth Elements through their subsidiary Baotou Steel Rare Earth (Group) Hi Tech Co Ltd. No trouble has been reported at the mines at Bayan Obo, the largest rare earth mine in the world, but the mines there plus the refineries at Baotou are one of the biggest source of pollution in China, and a source of much potential local discontent. Lately China has begun to address the issue of industrial pollution there, especially ground water pollution. Given the importance or the region to world supply, this development needs careful watching.
Anger Over Protesters’ Deaths Leads to Intensified Demonstrations by Mongolians
By ANDREW JACOBS Published: May 30, 2011
HOHHOT, China — Ethnic Mongolians seething over the killings of two Mongolians by Han Chinese drivers took their anger to the streets of this capital of Inner Mongolia on Monday in a rare expression of antigovernment sentiment here.
----Until now, the authorities have met the protests with a heavy-handed police response and highly publicized efforts to appease ethnic Mongolians, who make up less than 20 percent of the region’s population of 24 million and have long complained that migration of Han Chinese is diluting their language and culture.
----“The root cause of the problem is not money,” Mr. Togochog said. “The problem is the conflict between the Mongolian people’s efforts to maintain their distinct culture and way of life and the Chinese authorities’ attempts to exploit the natural resources of the region.”
Occupying 12 percent of China’s land, the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region has become an increasingly vital source of the coal, natural gas and rare earth elements that help fuel the Chinese economy. Critics complain that in addition to environmental degradation and forced relocations, mining provides few tangible benefits to ethnic Mongolians.
---- Separating out the minerals is usually done by dousing the rare earths in acids and other chemicals. The tailings from Huamei and other nearby metals plants end up at a 10 square kilometer dam.
The reservoir can hold 230 million cubic meters of the dark, acrid waste. That, according to a sign on its banks, is equal to 92,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The residents of Xinguang village said the chemicals from the dam have been seeping into the underground waters that feed their wells, crops and livestock, including fluoride.
Cleaning up the mining and the refining processes, once started, will probably impact the level of REE output from the region. Given that the rest of the world won’t really be in a position to replace Chinese output until about 2013 – 2015, assuming no unexpected delays, our increasingly REE intensive world is flirting with disaster through at least 2015.
Source: http://www.raremetalblog.com/2011/05/inner-mongolia-unrest.html
Friday 9 March 2012
When “motive” flew out of the window of justice in Malaysia
When “motive” flew out of the window of justice in Malaysia
LETTERS/SURAT
Friday, 09 March 2012 admin-s
The Judge’s verdict also places Malaysia’s legal standards on the global legal table of scrutiny. It has far reaching ramification not only from the socio-political perspective of human rights but also from socio-economic as well as judicial dimensions.
Indeed we have with this concluding verdict demonstrated to the world in no uncertain terms that the way we interpret the law around here need not conform to what universally acceptable law books teach and how justice is dispensed in the democratic worldover.
J. D. Lovrenciear
The long awaited but only just concluded verdict by Shah Alam High Court Judge, Mohd Zaki Md Yasin on the Mongolian Altantuya case is not only causing a spasmodic arrest within the legal circuit in Malaysia but is also the very talk of the simpletons – Ahmad, Muthu and Ah Beng nationwide.
Legal students and practicing professionals are shocked at the Judge’s conclusion. Teaching lawyers will have nightmares in trying to make sense of the verdict that has completely negated “motive” from murders.
The learned Judge is reported to have said that “motive, although relevant, has never been the essential to constitute murder.”
Now even High School students are asking if motive is not essential then what is, in so far as a murder goes? Just the act of killing? Or just the person who carried out the actual killing?
The Judge’s verdict also places Malaysia’s legal standards on the global legal table of scrutiny. It has far reaching ramification not only from the socio-political perspective of human rights but also from socio-economic as well as judicial dimensions.
Indeed we have with this concluding verdict demonstrated to the world in no uncertain terms that the way we interpret the law around here need not conform to what universally acceptable law books teach and how justice is dispensed in the democratic worldover.
In our own backyard, this verdict also delves a lethal blow to the government of the day. Voters will all the more connect one plus one and make three. The BN party will be the one that must now carry this yoke of suspicion transpiring from the conclusion of the judge.
Citizens are asking a simple yet profound and logical question: How could two trained, disciplined and uniformed members of the elite forces who are known and reputed to carry out their duties to the last letter of command have killed (murdered) a helpless, unarmed, defenseless and solitary woman?
People are asking, even the very murder was planned to completely annihilate all traces of evidence by blowing a fragile female lass with deadly military grade C4 explosives and yet “motive’ is not “essential”?
The Judge stated that ‘motive (is) relevant’. But he went on to disqualify the crucial importance of motive in this case.
And so the citizens are now asking why. Why is motive not essential in this grisly, brutal and heinous crime against humanity when all indicators bleep that motive was the cause of the murder? They are reasoning at kopitiam outlets in the big cities and the humble warongs in villages that how could two salaried, uniformed and specially tasked armed personnel carry out this murder of helpless lady with whom they had no relationship with nor knowledge of?
People are saying that there was a motive for the act of killing to take place. And they want the law to establish that motive so that the person or persons who are party to the crime will be dealt with by the law adequately and with fair justice.
But alas, “motive” has just flown out of the window of Malaysia’s judiciary. The precedent has been set. The rakyat are drawing down their blinds. There is now a foregone conclusion in the minds and hearts of the citizens here – a verdict that will be almost insurmountable in the resurrection of Malaysia’s justice system and its reputation.
Some citizens are even going the distance to say that if this transpired in another civil and democratic nation, by now the entire legal fraternity would have downed their tools of trade and demanded right-thinking action. Will this happen in Malaysia? Only time can tell. But in the meantime the credibility of leaders and political parties and government systems have been dealt a lethal blow by this verdict on the Altantuya case.
J. D. Lovrenciear
Source: http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/letterssurat/47905-when-motive-flew-out-of-the-window-of-justice-in-malaysia
LETTERS/SURAT
Friday, 09 March 2012 admin-s
The Judge’s verdict also places Malaysia’s legal standards on the global legal table of scrutiny. It has far reaching ramification not only from the socio-political perspective of human rights but also from socio-economic as well as judicial dimensions.
Indeed we have with this concluding verdict demonstrated to the world in no uncertain terms that the way we interpret the law around here need not conform to what universally acceptable law books teach and how justice is dispensed in the democratic worldover.
J. D. Lovrenciear
The long awaited but only just concluded verdict by Shah Alam High Court Judge, Mohd Zaki Md Yasin on the Mongolian Altantuya case is not only causing a spasmodic arrest within the legal circuit in Malaysia but is also the very talk of the simpletons – Ahmad, Muthu and Ah Beng nationwide.
Legal students and practicing professionals are shocked at the Judge’s conclusion. Teaching lawyers will have nightmares in trying to make sense of the verdict that has completely negated “motive” from murders.
The learned Judge is reported to have said that “motive, although relevant, has never been the essential to constitute murder.”
Now even High School students are asking if motive is not essential then what is, in so far as a murder goes? Just the act of killing? Or just the person who carried out the actual killing?
The Judge’s verdict also places Malaysia’s legal standards on the global legal table of scrutiny. It has far reaching ramification not only from the socio-political perspective of human rights but also from socio-economic as well as judicial dimensions.
Indeed we have with this concluding verdict demonstrated to the world in no uncertain terms that the way we interpret the law around here need not conform to what universally acceptable law books teach and how justice is dispensed in the democratic worldover.
In our own backyard, this verdict also delves a lethal blow to the government of the day. Voters will all the more connect one plus one and make three. The BN party will be the one that must now carry this yoke of suspicion transpiring from the conclusion of the judge.
Citizens are asking a simple yet profound and logical question: How could two trained, disciplined and uniformed members of the elite forces who are known and reputed to carry out their duties to the last letter of command have killed (murdered) a helpless, unarmed, defenseless and solitary woman?
People are asking, even the very murder was planned to completely annihilate all traces of evidence by blowing a fragile female lass with deadly military grade C4 explosives and yet “motive’ is not “essential”?
The Judge stated that ‘motive (is) relevant’. But he went on to disqualify the crucial importance of motive in this case.
And so the citizens are now asking why. Why is motive not essential in this grisly, brutal and heinous crime against humanity when all indicators bleep that motive was the cause of the murder? They are reasoning at kopitiam outlets in the big cities and the humble warongs in villages that how could two salaried, uniformed and specially tasked armed personnel carry out this murder of helpless lady with whom they had no relationship with nor knowledge of?
People are saying that there was a motive for the act of killing to take place. And they want the law to establish that motive so that the person or persons who are party to the crime will be dealt with by the law adequately and with fair justice.
But alas, “motive” has just flown out of the window of Malaysia’s judiciary. The precedent has been set. The rakyat are drawing down their blinds. There is now a foregone conclusion in the minds and hearts of the citizens here – a verdict that will be almost insurmountable in the resurrection of Malaysia’s justice system and its reputation.
Some citizens are even going the distance to say that if this transpired in another civil and democratic nation, by now the entire legal fraternity would have downed their tools of trade and demanded right-thinking action. Will this happen in Malaysia? Only time can tell. But in the meantime the credibility of leaders and political parties and government systems have been dealt a lethal blow by this verdict on the Altantuya case.
J. D. Lovrenciear
Source: http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/letterssurat/47905-when-motive-flew-out-of-the-window-of-justice-in-malaysia
Thursday 8 March 2012
Lynas pledges to send rare earth waste abroad
Source: The Malaysian Insider
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/lynas-pledges-to-send-rare-earth-waste-abroad/
KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — Australian miner Lynas Corp has told the Malaysian government that it will send waste from its planned rare earth refinery to a location outside the country if a suitable disposal site cannot be found locally.
Last week Lynas had maintained that waste from its refinery in Gebeng would not be hazardous, and that the radioactive residue could be recycled for “commercial applications”.
But International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed (picture) said today that the Australian company had now submitted a letter of undertaking to send its rare earth processing residue abroad if it cannot find a suitable waste disposal site in Malaysia.
“Even though the government is satisfied there will be no radioactive residue produced during the plant’s operation, we have ordered Lynas to guarantee and plan the provision of a permanent waste disposal facility far from human population as recommended by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“Failing which, Lynas has already expressed willingness to take the residue out of Malaysia,” Mustapa was quoted by The Star’s online edition as saying in a joint statement with Pahang Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob today.
He said an independent monitoring panel had also been set up to audit the plant’s construction.
“The fact is, the rare earth does not need to be controlled by Australia because it is not dangerous but in Malaysia, AELB is overseeing the project after considering the public’s opinion.
“This does not mean the government is bowing to the Himpunan Hijau chairman’s threats as we are doing all these for the sake of the people,” Mustapa was quoted by The Star as saying.
Himpunan Hijau 2.0 chairman Wong Tack had threatened to hold another anti-Lynas rally if the government refused to shut down the project.
Lynas had stressed previously that dregs from its refinery will not require “long-term storage”, in response to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s announcement last Friday that its rare earth waste disposal site will be relocated away from the Gebeng area and local communities.
“Lynas is absolutely confident that any residues from the Lynas Advanced Material Plant (LAMP) may be recycled and will have commercial applications, so will not require long term storage,” a Lynas spokesman had told The Malaysian Insider last week.
“In the event that commercial applications cannot be found for some products which will have very low levels of radioactivity, the stringent rules, standards and conditions of the temporary operating licence (TOL) are quite clear and Lynas has every confidence it will meet those stringent standards,” added the spokesman.
The Australian miner’s refinery in Gebeng has caused a controversy over its lack of plans for a permanent waste disposal. Anti-Lynas lobby group Himpunan Hijau 2.0 has demanded Najib state where Lynas Corp’s rare earth waste disposal site will be relocated to, claiming that it was “impossible” for a “safe” location anywhere in the country.
On February 26, Najib said the Lynas refinery was scientifically and factually safe.
Thousands of anti-Lynas protestors attended an opposition-backed mass rally organised by Himpunan Hijau two weeks ago in the single largest protest yet against the rare earth refinery that is expected to fire up operations later this year.
Critics of the Lynas refinery want the government to halt its construction and direct the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) to reverse a decision to grant Lynas a temporary operating licence (TOL), which will let it embark on a two-year trial run.
They allege that the Australian miner has not given enough assurances on how it will handle the low-level radioactive waste that will be produced at the refinery.
The government has been under pressure from groups to shut down the rare earth project over safety fears. But Putrajaya has stood its ground on the project that was first earmarked for Terengganu.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai told the Sin Chew Daily last week that Lynas will have to send the waste back to Australia even though the Western Australian government has said it will not take back the residue from the ore mined from Mount Weld in the state.
But anti-Lynas groups have charged that Malaysia risks breaching international laws if it ships Lynas Corp’s rare earth waste out of the country.
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/lynas-pledges-to-send-rare-earth-waste-abroad/
KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — Australian miner Lynas Corp has told the Malaysian government that it will send waste from its planned rare earth refinery to a location outside the country if a suitable disposal site cannot be found locally.
Last week Lynas had maintained that waste from its refinery in Gebeng would not be hazardous, and that the radioactive residue could be recycled for “commercial applications”.
But International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed (picture) said today that the Australian company had now submitted a letter of undertaking to send its rare earth processing residue abroad if it cannot find a suitable waste disposal site in Malaysia.
“Even though the government is satisfied there will be no radioactive residue produced during the plant’s operation, we have ordered Lynas to guarantee and plan the provision of a permanent waste disposal facility far from human population as recommended by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“Failing which, Lynas has already expressed willingness to take the residue out of Malaysia,” Mustapa was quoted by The Star’s online edition as saying in a joint statement with Pahang Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob today.
He said an independent monitoring panel had also been set up to audit the plant’s construction.
“The fact is, the rare earth does not need to be controlled by Australia because it is not dangerous but in Malaysia, AELB is overseeing the project after considering the public’s opinion.
“This does not mean the government is bowing to the Himpunan Hijau chairman’s threats as we are doing all these for the sake of the people,” Mustapa was quoted by The Star as saying.
Himpunan Hijau 2.0 chairman Wong Tack had threatened to hold another anti-Lynas rally if the government refused to shut down the project.
Lynas had stressed previously that dregs from its refinery will not require “long-term storage”, in response to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s announcement last Friday that its rare earth waste disposal site will be relocated away from the Gebeng area and local communities.
“Lynas is absolutely confident that any residues from the Lynas Advanced Material Plant (LAMP) may be recycled and will have commercial applications, so will not require long term storage,” a Lynas spokesman had told The Malaysian Insider last week.
“In the event that commercial applications cannot be found for some products which will have very low levels of radioactivity, the stringent rules, standards and conditions of the temporary operating licence (TOL) are quite clear and Lynas has every confidence it will meet those stringent standards,” added the spokesman.
The Australian miner’s refinery in Gebeng has caused a controversy over its lack of plans for a permanent waste disposal. Anti-Lynas lobby group Himpunan Hijau 2.0 has demanded Najib state where Lynas Corp’s rare earth waste disposal site will be relocated to, claiming that it was “impossible” for a “safe” location anywhere in the country.
On February 26, Najib said the Lynas refinery was scientifically and factually safe.
Thousands of anti-Lynas protestors attended an opposition-backed mass rally organised by Himpunan Hijau two weeks ago in the single largest protest yet against the rare earth refinery that is expected to fire up operations later this year.
Critics of the Lynas refinery want the government to halt its construction and direct the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) to reverse a decision to grant Lynas a temporary operating licence (TOL), which will let it embark on a two-year trial run.
They allege that the Australian miner has not given enough assurances on how it will handle the low-level radioactive waste that will be produced at the refinery.
The government has been under pressure from groups to shut down the rare earth project over safety fears. But Putrajaya has stood its ground on the project that was first earmarked for Terengganu.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai told the Sin Chew Daily last week that Lynas will have to send the waste back to Australia even though the Western Australian government has said it will not take back the residue from the ore mined from Mount Weld in the state.
But anti-Lynas groups have charged that Malaysia risks breaching international laws if it ships Lynas Corp’s rare earth waste out of the country.
Wednesday 7 March 2012
EPA to receive appeal on rare earths transport, by Anti Nuclear Alliance of Western Australia
EPA to receive appeal on rare earths transport, by Anti Nuclear Alliance of Western Australia
ANAWA is currently working with the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) to lodge a referral to the EPA regarding the Lynas operations at Mt Weld and their mining of rare earths. Lynas has made a number of changes to their procedures, which have not gone through the appropriate approvals and they are currently operating under approvals given to them 14 years ago.
There are major concerns about the amounts of this radioactive substance being transported from Mt Weld to the ports of Fremantle and health & safety issues for those involved in handling the material that will be exported to their controversial processing plant in Malaysia. ANAWA will be going to the EPA with the EDO lawyer Josie Walker on Tuesday the 28th of February at 10.30 am.
Source : www.uranium-news.com
Read More : http://uranium-news.com/category/rare-earths/
ANAWA is currently working with the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) to lodge a referral to the EPA regarding the Lynas operations at Mt Weld and their mining of rare earths. Lynas has made a number of changes to their procedures, which have not gone through the appropriate approvals and they are currently operating under approvals given to them 14 years ago.
There are major concerns about the amounts of this radioactive substance being transported from Mt Weld to the ports of Fremantle and health & safety issues for those involved in handling the material that will be exported to their controversial processing plant in Malaysia. ANAWA will be going to the EPA with the EDO lawyer Josie Walker on Tuesday the 28th of February at 10.30 am.
Source : www.uranium-news.com
Read More : http://uranium-news.com/category/rare-earths/
Lynas must go
March 6, 2012
Lynas is the harbinger of death for those who live and for those to come.
The message was loud and clear: Lynas must go. Lynas must be buried. Lynas must never see the light of day. The proponents may say what they like but nothing will wash away the stark truth – there is danger stalking in the corner. The thousands of concerned citizens who gathered not long ago to show their displeasure over this reckless venture have made a point which cannot be ignored. The Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) represents a clear and imminent danger to the residents on the frontline. It is imperative that the state act to protect its citizens and not leave them in harm’s way.
But the government is stubborn. It refuses to hear reason or accept sound argument. It treats all the people who turned up at the green rally as enemies of the state working in cahoots with the opposition. Elected by the people, the government does not want to work for the people. Instead, it prefers to ally itself with big business. Government and big business have always been the bane of the ordinary folk. They always work against the interest of the common good. Money is all they think and money is all they want.
In doggedly pursuing the Lynas rainbow, the government “experts” have made up their mind that the rare earth plant is safe. Don’t worry, call the prime minister. He will sing the same mantra: it is all harmless. If it is hazardous, the licence would not have been issued – as if this would allay public fears. The government relies on its own studies and only listens to the counsel of the few. This is a wrong approach. There are always two sides to a story. There are also the other experts who would say with conviction that refining the “radioactive ore” poses health hazards. Remember Bukit Merah? The rare earth mine there which was shut down in 1992 was linked to many cases of “infant deaths, congenital disease, leukemia and lead poisoning”. There is certainly no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
The fact that Australia has refused to accept the waste by-product – thorium – produced by the Lynas operation tells something of the risks hidden in the rare earth. Australia will only mine the ore and ship it to Malaysia. Australia is safe. Malaysia will refine it and has to take care of the waste. Malaysia is not safe. Where do you bury the waste? Call the prime minister and he will say the thorium will be dumped far from human settlements. Not a good answer. The waste can seep into the ground and eventually contaminate the water. Relocate the affected residents? Pointless. The radioactive gas called “radon” – which is released when the ore is crushed to remove thorium – will bring menacing clouds to the whole country on the wings of the winds. There is no place you can hide.
The rare earth plant is located only 2km away from a residential area (Gebeng) with a population of about 30,000 and some 25km from Kuantan. It is estimated that the combined population of the two towns – about 400,000 – will be put at risk from possible toxic leaks and emissions. Yet the government experts are cocksure that LAMP is totally safe. One minister even had the audacity to advance his perverted logic that the waste water can safely be discharged into drains. The call for him to resign is fitting. He does not have the foggiest idea about the Lynas operation or understand the horrors that await the people who live in the vicinity of the refinery. Every hour tonnes of waste water will be discharged into a nearby river and thousands of cubic metres of radon will be released into the atmosphere hourly. On earth and in the air, the angels of death are ever present.
The RM2.5-billion Lynas refinery is seen as a potential cash cow. When there is a cash cow, there will political vultures gather. The rare earth metals have useful industrial and military applications and they are worth their weight in gold. It is estimated that the plant can generate revenue of RM8 billion per year from 2013 onwards. This is big money. This is big business. This is the mine that can feed crooked politicians and keep them forever happy. It will be a ready source of instant cash for wasteful mega projects and a godsend for political warriors who need a war chest to stay in power. While the Lynas party goes on, the people who live under the ominous shadow will have misery as their constant companion. The billions minted from the rare earth are not theirs to enjoy. They can see the glitter but they cannot touch the pile. Lynas is the harbinger of death for those who live and for those to come.
Lynas is the harbinger of death for those who live and for those to come.
The message was loud and clear: Lynas must go. Lynas must be buried. Lynas must never see the light of day. The proponents may say what they like but nothing will wash away the stark truth – there is danger stalking in the corner. The thousands of concerned citizens who gathered not long ago to show their displeasure over this reckless venture have made a point which cannot be ignored. The Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) represents a clear and imminent danger to the residents on the frontline. It is imperative that the state act to protect its citizens and not leave them in harm’s way.
But the government is stubborn. It refuses to hear reason or accept sound argument. It treats all the people who turned up at the green rally as enemies of the state working in cahoots with the opposition. Elected by the people, the government does not want to work for the people. Instead, it prefers to ally itself with big business. Government and big business have always been the bane of the ordinary folk. They always work against the interest of the common good. Money is all they think and money is all they want.
In doggedly pursuing the Lynas rainbow, the government “experts” have made up their mind that the rare earth plant is safe. Don’t worry, call the prime minister. He will sing the same mantra: it is all harmless. If it is hazardous, the licence would not have been issued – as if this would allay public fears. The government relies on its own studies and only listens to the counsel of the few. This is a wrong approach. There are always two sides to a story. There are also the other experts who would say with conviction that refining the “radioactive ore” poses health hazards. Remember Bukit Merah? The rare earth mine there which was shut down in 1992 was linked to many cases of “infant deaths, congenital disease, leukemia and lead poisoning”. There is certainly no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
The fact that Australia has refused to accept the waste by-product – thorium – produced by the Lynas operation tells something of the risks hidden in the rare earth. Australia will only mine the ore and ship it to Malaysia. Australia is safe. Malaysia will refine it and has to take care of the waste. Malaysia is not safe. Where do you bury the waste? Call the prime minister and he will say the thorium will be dumped far from human settlements. Not a good answer. The waste can seep into the ground and eventually contaminate the water. Relocate the affected residents? Pointless. The radioactive gas called “radon” – which is released when the ore is crushed to remove thorium – will bring menacing clouds to the whole country on the wings of the winds. There is no place you can hide.
The rare earth plant is located only 2km away from a residential area (Gebeng) with a population of about 30,000 and some 25km from Kuantan. It is estimated that the combined population of the two towns – about 400,000 – will be put at risk from possible toxic leaks and emissions. Yet the government experts are cocksure that LAMP is totally safe. One minister even had the audacity to advance his perverted logic that the waste water can safely be discharged into drains. The call for him to resign is fitting. He does not have the foggiest idea about the Lynas operation or understand the horrors that await the people who live in the vicinity of the refinery. Every hour tonnes of waste water will be discharged into a nearby river and thousands of cubic metres of radon will be released into the atmosphere hourly. On earth and in the air, the angels of death are ever present.
The RM2.5-billion Lynas refinery is seen as a potential cash cow. When there is a cash cow, there will political vultures gather. The rare earth metals have useful industrial and military applications and they are worth their weight in gold. It is estimated that the plant can generate revenue of RM8 billion per year from 2013 onwards. This is big money. This is big business. This is the mine that can feed crooked politicians and keep them forever happy. It will be a ready source of instant cash for wasteful mega projects and a godsend for political warriors who need a war chest to stay in power. While the Lynas party goes on, the people who live under the ominous shadow will have misery as their constant companion. The billions minted from the rare earth are not theirs to enjoy. They can see the glitter but they cannot touch the pile. Lynas is the harbinger of death for those who live and for those to come.
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