COMMENT Australian rare-earth miner Lynas may have stolen a march on the environmental pressure group Himpunan Hijau and outfoxed Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) as it sneaked in over 100 sea-borne containers of ore concentrate to its refinery in Kuantan late last night.

NONE At the moment, Himpunan Hijau is on a 300km Green March ( right ) from Kuantan to Kuala Lumpur, while SMSL is in Australia to lobby against the plant.

One has to wonder if the out-of-character lack of strident police response against the march to protest the rare-earth refining operation was a subtle Machiavellian ploy to facilitate this plan.

Taking a page perhaps from ancient Chinese strategist Sun Tzu's teachings, that in warfare victory is assured if "you attack a place the enemy does not or cannot protect".

Whatever the case, to paraphrase a popular saying that speaks of excrement impacting upon an electrical cooling appliance, the "rare-earth" has hit "Kuantan", so to speak. If you would excuse my French.

Under the protective embrace of cops and under the apparent cover of Trojan Horse port documents, over 100 containers of ore concentrates from Lynas' extraction facility in Mt Weld, made discreet landfall on Malaysian shores sometime late last night.

azlan Lynas' first rare-earth ore beachhead into our country after surviving legal bombardments against its Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB)-issued Temporary Operating Licence (TOL), from environmental activists in past months.

The shipment was reportedly greeted by uniformed Lynas employees before being whisked away via roads sealed off to other traffic, to the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (Lamp) at the Gebeng Industrial park, under heavy police guard.

The proverbial Lynas ship has sailed so to speak, as the rare earth miner's shares soared like full sails in South East Asian monsoon winds after it announced this to its investors and the press earlier today.

Jack Sparrow or St Nick?

NONE Riding high upon its quarterdeck is none other than Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nicholas Curtis ( right ), though in what guise is up to the eyes of the beholder.

Some imagine he stands there in Jack Sparrow get-up complete with eye-patch and beaded-braid hair, "Lamp" cutlass and "TOL" flintlock in hand, ready to pirate and plunder our environmental shores.

Others may see him as post-American Civil War carpetbaggers or Banana Republic era industrialists, massaging local politicians and building industries unwanted in more developed climes, in the American South and South American propped-up dictatorships respectively.

Though I bet to some, with Christmas just around the corner, he is St Nick, complete with the red suit, red-nosed reindeer, goodie-sack and sleigh bells, delivering investment dividends to some and holding the promise of breaking the Chinese monopoly on rare-earth processing to the West.

In the end, what matters now is that the controversial plant will begin operations soon and the moment of truth is nigh.

The moment of truth for the government that as 13th general election looms, it is still adamant in not listening or negotiating with the rakyat on such matters, perhaps a green tsunami awaits them.

It is also the moment of truth for the the AELB and its director-general Raja Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan, who said that they need to see Lynas in action under the TOL to see if there will be any truly adverse effects.

Let us hope their need to 'experiment' to find out the truth will not cause the residents of Kuantan and Malaysians at large another case of grief, not Gangnam, but Bukit Merah style.

'Playing footsie' on radioactive waste management

The moment of truth awaits for the Malaysian constructed Lamp, if our tradition of lax maintenance and cutting corners had taken place there, and if so will we be another Bhopal?

NONE There was already a furore over reports that the Lamp's temporary waste storage facility's lining used to protect and insulate it from leakage was unable to be installed due low specifications on-site, the problem was apparently rectified, but the truth will now show itself.

And more importantly now will the truth be told on what will really happen to the radioactive waste from the plant, as our government, Lynas and the AELB has been playing footsie with the serious matter much contested by opposing activists.

We can also now see perhaps if Lynas, whose plans for an Australian plant previously came with strict requirement that it will take back its waste, will really fulfill its " Zero Harm and Sustainable Development" promise in its Kuantan operations, where its undertaking over the wastes is less clear.

Most importantly, it is the moment of truth for our resolve as Malaysians, are we the same rakyat led by the nose since after Merdeka?

NONE Or are we united enough, aware enough, mature enough and wise enough to transcend the sectarian barriers of race and religion enforced by the powers that be, to stand together and stand a clear message, not only do we want 'bersih' elections, we want a clean environment too.

I would like to end with an old question "for whom does the bell tolls?", to each and everyone of us "the bell tolls for you".

HAZLAN ZAKARIA is a member of the Malaysiakini team.

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