If what FMT reported above is true, and if most people in Sabah think the way that FMT says they think, then Sabah is doomed. And so is Sarawak. The people there would not vote based on good governance, transparency, justice, and whatnot. They would vote based on whether the people they vote for can make them happy. And without Sabah and Sarawak, Pakatan Rakyat’s dream of marching into Putrajaya will be merely angan-angan.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

LYNAS shares surge after granting of licence in Malaysia

MELBOURNE : Shares in Lynas Corporation have surged by more than 50 per cent in early trade after the rare earths miner was granted a temporary licence for its US$800 million rare earths refinery in Kuantan.

After the close of Wednesday’s trading session, the company said the Malaysian Atomic Energy Licensing Board had issued a temporary operating licence (TOL) for its advanced materials plant in Kuantan.

At 10.40am (Melbourne time) on Thursday, Lynas shares were 50 per cent higher at A91 cents before dropping back to A78 cents at 11.10am, the Australian Associated Press reports.

The long-delayed plant has been opposed by environmentalists concerned about potential radioactivity risks.

The plant will process rare earths from the Lynas Mount Weld mine in Western Australia.

China currently produces about 95 per cent of all rare earth materials, which are vital for many electronic products. -- Bernama

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Lajim still a good bet for opposition

KOTA KINABALU: Irrespective of what blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) writes and Barisan Nasional leaders reveal, Sabah MP Lajim Ukin is still a good investment for Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Among his constituents and ardent local political observers, the currently much-talked about Beaufort MP may still win big in the coming polls.

They opined that the former federal deputy minister of housing and local government, who jumped from ruling Umno to the opposition side recently, would win in least two parliamentary and three state assembly seats.

Malik Unar, 74, a Sabah political writer, is one of those who believes so, saying Lajim would win easily in his former state seat of Klias and retain even his Beaufort seat if he decides to go for both.

“He will win there easily… He or his men or associates will take Kuala Penyu and Lumadan state seats and the Sipitang parliamentary seat,” claimed the veteran writer who hailed from Membakut in Beaufort.

Malik has written several political books during his prolific years including while Lajim was still with PBS (1984-1994).

“Lajim served his constituents very well… people identify with him easily. He will win no matter what others say about him,” he claimed when asked for his opinion at a meeting in Kota Kinabalu recently.

Even though Lajim has become a subject of ridicule in RPK’s blogsite Malaysia Today, many here still believe it would not harm his reputation, at least among his own “Bisaya folks” in Beaufort vicinity. -- Free Malaysia Today

READ MORE HERE: http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/newscommentaries/51427-lajim-still-a-good-bet-for-opposition

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We tend to believe that everyone thinks the way we do and that everyone shares our same values. When we flock with those of our same feather that impression becomes even stronger. Most times, however, we do not really know whether we are in the minority or the majority and when the minority shouts while the majority keeps quiet this become even more illusionary.

At the end of the day, when it comes down to choices, what choice will you make? What would be your immediate concerns? Would you worry about the world? Would you worry about your country? Would you worry about your community? Would you worry about your neighbourhood? Or would you worry about your family?

Some people would worry about themselves even before they worry about their family. Hence the neighbourhood, community, country and the world would have to be the last things you worry about, in that order of priority.

We consider LYNAS, or rather the opposition to LYNAS, as a noble cause. Hence if we oppose LYNAS then we are certainly fighting a noble cause. And opposing LYNAS would involve making sure that they do not get a licence to operate. And certainly the world would share this noble cause, would it not?

Then their licence is approved and the company’s share price jumps 50%. And that is definitely most puzzling because we thought that everyone shared our noble cause -- and the noble cause would be about doing the right thing and not about making money. It appears, though, that making money rather than fighting noble causes is still the priority of some people, or maybe even many people.

So, are we alone? Or is the world with us? Or is it all about making money in the end?

Then we look at this issue regarding Lajim Ukin.

“Lajim still a good bet for opposition,” screams the headlines of the Free Malaysia Today (FMT) news report. FMT then goes on to say:

Irrespective of what blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) writes and Barisan Nasional leaders reveal, Sabah MP Lajim Ukin is still a good investment for Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Among his constituents and ardent local political observers, the currently much-talked about Beaufort MP may still win big in the coming polls. Lajim served his constituents very well… people identify with him easily. He will win no matter what others say about him. Even though Lajim has become a subject of ridicule in RPK’s blogsite, Malaysia Today, many here still believe it would not harm his reputation, at least among his own “Bisaya folks” in Beaufort vicinity.

The key to the above report is: Lajim served his constituents very well… people identify with him easily.

Again, we thought this was about noble causes, honour and integrity. Apparently it is not. Apparently it is about whether you can make the voters happy. And what better way of making the people happy than by giving them a good life? And a good life would involve money.

If what FMT reported above is true, and if most people in Sabah think the way that FMT says they think, then Sabah is doomed. And so is Sarawak. The people there would not vote based on good governance, transparency, justice, and whatnot. They would vote based on whether the people they vote for can make them happy. And without Sabah and Sarawak, Pakatan Rakyat’s dream of marching into Putrajaya will be merely angan-angan.

And would this be the same formula that will apply to Lembah Pantai? Will Nurul Izzah Anwar win because she is perceived as a sincere and noble person of honour and integrity or will Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin win instead because he is able to make the people happy? And how would he go about making the people happy?

At the end of the day, most people are selfish. How many would be prepared to make sacrifices? Would they sacrifice their comfort and security in the interest of doing the right thing? Or would their decision be based on ‘what’s in it for me’?

We would like to believe that we uphold noble values and that the world shares these same values. Then we discover that the shares of a business we are opposed to spirals because it received its licence to do the business we are opposed to. So the world is not really with us after all. What really makes the world go round is money.

We would like to believe that we uphold noble values and that the world shares these same values. Then we discover that the people who have no integrity get to win because they get the support of voters who put money above noble values. So the world is not really with us after all. What really makes the world go round is money.

We hear a lot of ‘statements of support’ for Nurul Izzah. Yes, many statements of support from people who place noble values and doing the right thing above everything else. But how many of these people will be voting? How many of these people will be voting in Lembah Pantai? In fact, how many of these people even donated to the measly RM35,365 election fund that was collected over the last ten days?

At the end of that day, if we can talk without losing anything we will talk. But if it is going to cost us something then it is not worth talking. Talk, if it is free, is okay with us, as long as we do not need to pay or sacrifice. That is the nature of the beast of Malaysian voters.

Even Malaysia Today has such freeloaders. These are people who scream about freedom of speech and the right to post comments in Malaysia Today as long as they need not take the trouble of registering and need not pay even RM1 to post comments. To deny them their privilege to post comments is a breach of their civil rights. Where they got the notion that posting comments in Malaysia Today come under the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights is beyond me.

It is all about what they want. It is about meeting their demands. It is about everything they see in this world as being their right. And causes must be something that does not cost them anything. But if between noble causes and their personal comfort, then their interests must always come first.