I know that the current news is rather filled with Dr Mahathir Mohamad's very petty and petulant jibes that are aimed at our current PM who is very sensibly ignoring the tirades of a has-been who is desperately trying to justify and account for all the mistakes and profligacy that he presided over during his 22-year near-dictatorial reign.

But to the ordinary people of Malaysia and particularly those in the very under-developed states like Sarawak, there are some far more important issues that must urgently be addressed.

I wish to particularly raise the issue of the mad and seemingly headlong rush to plant more and more oil palm and the total disinterest in the benefits of rubber as a cash crop.

The main reason why oil palm has become of such interest is both a function of its price and also because it is so greatly suited to the interests and aspirations of the already over-wealthy timber tycoons and their political puppets. They can get their hands on large areas of state or Native Customary Rights land at virtually nil cost and can proceed to make vast fortunes at the expense of our future heritage and integrity of the land.

The poor rural people benefit hardly at all from this process since most of the labour is brought in from outside Malaysia. Oil palm is a disgustingly polluting crop upon which large quantities of fertiliser and pesticides are dumped on with little or no concern for resulting water quality or harm to local populations. Oil palm does not in any way lend itself to smallholder participation because of the problems of milling and extraction of the crop.

Any yet staring us in the face has been one of the best and most enduring of crops for Sarawak and other states of Malaysia - rubber. This is a crop which requires very little work to plant with minimal terracing and none of the appalling soil erosion that occurs with oil palm. It can easily be undertaken by rural farmers and smallholders in remote parts of the country and no large mills are required to process the crop.

Modern clones and varieties of rubber are extremely high yielding and even a few acres of the crop can give a very good income indeed to farmers. If a few hundred acres are combined together then a very effective, long-term, non-polluting and profitable estate can result.

In addition, rubber is a crop that is like 'money in the bank'. If you want, you can stop harvesting (tapping) it and it will be quite happy and you can come back and start harvesting at virtually any time and income will flow again. Also rubber wood has a very good value now for furniture timber and so it will provide a sustainable income from there as well.

But, as so often in Malaysia, we see the interest of the small, poor, rural people being completely ignored over the avaricious aims of the very few tycoons and cronies who want to further inflate their already bulging bank accounts. They're slowly depriving the real land owners of their birthright and that of their children and children's children.

Let us seriously review this ridiculous rush to plant oil palm and look rather towards crops like rubber which puts cash into the hands of those that really need it and who are prepared to work hard in the sun to get it instead of those fat cats who want to sit in air-conditioned board rooms and government departments and be supported in their 'Mercedes' lifestyles.