Inspired by the popular English idiom "the straw that broke the camel's back", several Malaysian students studying overseas have produced a do-it-yourself video to garner international support to reject the Lynas rare earths refinery.

world anti lynas short film 30412 03 The five-minute video , uploaded on YouTube, features foreigners from 54 cities in 30 countries expressing their support for the anti-Lynas movement in their native languages.

The countries include China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Mexico, Costa Rica, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Russia, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Belgium, Venezuela, New Zealand, Switzerland, Iran, Puerto Rico, Vietnam, Germany, Thailand and Botswana.

Just a day after it was uploaded, it has accumulated more than 800 views and has gone viral on Facebook .

According to local writer Echo Koh, who was involved, the video project was initiated by Nicole Wong, a Malaysian student studying in the United States.

"Wong panic after knowing Lynas will start operating soon but there was nothing she could do. She said she want to collect all the anti-Lynas footage from people all around the world and compile them into a video," Koh says on her Facebook website.

'Malaysia will be doomed if we do not come forward'

Then, across the Pacific Ocean, Low Wawa, a Malaysian studying in Taiwan, volunteered to take up the editing and post-production work for Wong's effort.

With the help of several other volunteers, the two students rallied people from 54 cities to tell the anti-Lynas activists in Malaysia that they were not alone.

"You and I are all straws with little strength, but one by one we bind together, trying hard to do something.

"We do not know how much we can change, but we know that if we do not come forward, Kuantan will be doomed soon and so does our country.

"Will you be the last straw that breaks the camel's back? Let's join us," Low said on his Facebook posting.

Global anti-Lynas video l 5 mins