I have been involved in several environmental campaigns over the last 10 years. I was rather proud that I was part of a team that managed to collect over two thousand petitions to oppose a plan to build a highway through a state park. With this background I was incredibly impressed that the Himpunan Hijau grouping, led by its chairperson, Wong Tack, has succeeded to collect more than one million signatures of people opposed to the Lynas rare earth plan near Kuantan.  

It is to their credit that this hard-working green group collected the signatures manually and purposely did not take the easy route and accept digital or online signatures. The signature collection included Wong Tack personally camping out at Dataran Merdeka for 36 days, where I had the honour to meet him and add my signature to the list.

This is the first time that an environmental campaign in Malaysia has garnered such tremendous support and it is clear that there is significant concern among Malaysians regarding the threat of the rare earth industry to the environment.  

Citizens throughout the country has previously voiced concern over the lack of transparency regarding the Lynas project. In particular, many groups have been alarmed to note that the plant has started operation before the identification of a permanent disposal site for the radioactive waste.

I salutes the efforts of Wong Tack and the Himpunan Hijau team in drawing the attention of the public to this issue. I strongly urge the authorities to take note of this remarkable grassroots initiative and to heed the valid concerns they raise.