The main reason why the anti-Lynas folks were attacked in front of the police station in Kuantan recently is because the kampung folk and their friends were getting really incensed by the persistence of the ant-Lynas campaigners in trying to destroy their livelihood.
If someone were to try to break your rice bowl, you would have done the same!
The anti-Lynas folk may not realise that what they are doing is trying to destroy the livelihood of 1,750 mainly Malay folks who are directly or indirectly dependant on Lynas to put food on the tables to feed their children. This is definitely not green and not fair!
It is obvious that when someone tries to break your rice bowl and destroy the future of your children for no reason other than for an imaginary radiation danger and a non-existent toxic waste problem, you would react violently sooner or later.
Their actions may also trigger off a nasty racial riot with unmentionable results in Malaysia similar to the one which happened many years ago on May 13.
I was once accused of crying wolf over the danger of the anti-Lynas movement developing into a racial conflict but we must remember that the wolf did come in the end.
The main feature of this anti-Lynas movement is the obvious polarisation of the pro and anti groups into very distinct racial lines...and this is extremely dangerous.
That the anti-Lynas movement has provoked such a violent reaction from a certain section of the Malaysian population in front of the police station recently is not a surprise at all.
The vast majority of the workers in Lynas and those indirectly dependant on Lynas for a decent living are of a certain ethnic group and practically all anti-Lynas folks are Chinese and practically all pro-Lynas are Malays and this is turning into a Chinese versus Malays conflict.
What is being perceived here is that these Chinese demonstrators are trying to destroy the jobs of about 1,750 innocent hardworking people of a certain ethnic group who directly or indirectly depend on Lynas feed their children and families.
Who is going to feed the children of these 1,750 people if Lynas was forced to close down?
In Malaysia we don't have any special social security. Good jobs are hard to come by and if you do not have a job nobody is going to feed your children!
The main reason why I get myself involved in this Lynas debacle is that I found that the younger generation of our population have started to practise irrationally abusive and confrontational politics and if we carry on as such we may end up with a replay of the May 13 tragedy.
This tragedy is something that nobody wants.
On one occasion, a group of local peace-loving kampung people confronted the Anti-Lynas folks and it was fortunate that the police were there to defuse the tension.
As such when the first shipment of Lynas ore arrived in Gebeng, the police were there to escort the consignment in order to defuse the potential racial conflict.
I live in the kampung area and I could feel the tension heating up and if nobody does something, the country may explode into another frenzy of violence.
If the younger generation of our population continues with the type of abusive and confrontational politics as practised by the supporters of certain political parties, we may end up with a replay of the May 13 tragedy.
This tragedy is something that nobody, including members of the opposition, wants. If we do not heed the signs, the consequences are just too horrific to contemplate.
May God bless this beautiful country.
DR LOOI HOONG WAH has been quoted by several news organisation as a consultant physician with an interest in nuclear science who supports the Lynas plant.
In his writings on the pro-Lynas blog ‘Say Go to Lynas’, he explains that although Lynas only directly employs 300-plus workers, the multipler effect would create 1,750 jobs in the community.
