The ongoing Himpunan Hijau nationwide one million sign collection campaign against the Lynas rare earth plant in Gebeng, Pahang saw the special appearance of former Asian Rare Earth (ARE) factory worker, Lai Kwan from Bukit Merah in a show of support.

The septuagenarian came all the way from Ipoh, Perak, to arrive at Merdeka Square at about 10.55am to submit the signatures she had collected from her home state.

hinpunan hijau signiture campaign 240813 lai kwan from bukit merah 02 Lai, wearing dark sunglasses, headed slowly towards the square with the aid of a walking stick and straightaway some Himpunan Hijau members approached her to welcome her.

Lai said she had insisted on participating in this campaign to raise public awareness on pollution.

"The ARE factory at my hometown is so much smaller compared to that of the Kuantan one, but the damages are already very devastating," she said.

Asked if she was tired after travelling from Ipoh to Kuala Lumpur, Lai enthused: "My legs are weak and can't walk for long, but this time the hard work is worth it."

  Driven to prevent past's return

She added that she had been gathering signatures from her Ipoh friends for the past few weeks before handing them over to Himpunan Hijau chairperson Wong Tack.

"Previously, I wanted to go to Kuantan to take part in the rallies, but my children were worried about my heath condition and in the end, I didn't go," she said.

She added that she arrived in Kuala Lumpur at 9pm last night and is staying in her daughter's house.

NONE Wong, who was deeply touched by Lai's appearance, said the public should learn the lesson from the Bukit Merah incident.

"Our struggle is not to let our future generation suffer," he said.

ARE was dragged back into the spotlight recently in the wake of the controversial plan of Australian company, Lynas, to build a rare earth refinery plant in Pahang.

Opponents to the project had frequently raised the problems created by the rare earth plant in Bukit Merah as a cautionary tale.

Lai Kwan, 70, worked as a bricklayer for a building contractor during ARE's expansion in 1982 to support her seven children, and was at that time pregnant with her son Cheah Kok Leong, who died last year at the age of 29.

lay kwan and son bukit merah rare earth 300312 02 She quit when she heard that ARE, owned by Japanese multinational Mitsubishi, was producing radioactive waste.

Cheah was underweight at birth and suffered frequently from asthma attacks. He had also been diagnosed with Down syndrome, cataract as well a a hole in his heart.