Science from a Faraway Land

The questions of "Who should we trust?" and "Is science a thing in other cultures (besides Western civilization)?" are two of the most interesting topics that I have encountered during our Science Studies class discussion. These two questions can be discussed, not necessarily be answered, by the issue of the establishment of a rare earth metal production facility by Lynas Malaysia in a small rural area called Gebeng.

Now let me give really brief explanations about some of the terms I'm writing here. Malaysia is a small country in Southeast Asia, acquired its independence from the British empire 55 years ago, considered by the Westerns as a "third-world country" and surrounded by island countries namely Singapore, Indonesia, and Philippines. Rare earth is a group of 17 elements in the Periodic Table, used in manufacturing electronics and renewable energy components, and highly demanded because of the expanding electronics and energy industry and also of the elements' own rarity. China is currently the world's biggest rare earth producer. Lynas Malaysia is a branch of Australian rare earth company, was given the contract to build a facility and manage the rare earth resources by the Malaysian government. Gebeng is a district in the state of Pahang which has a significant population with an already established domestic economy. 

The construction of the rare earth facility in Gebeng began in 2011. Since then, protests against the project have sparked by a number of local environmental activist groups, politicians and the public, mainly because of the concern over its radioactivity effect as claimed by some people. However, there are resources which claim that although the rare earth production industry has some level of radioactivity, its effect is not harmful to human and the industry itself is a good economic booster for the country. The clashes between those who are supporting it and those who are against it have reached way past mere environmental and health concerns, but also is involving political intervention. The government uses mainstream media to say that rare earth production is safe and good for the economy, using commentaries from experts and research publications to back up its claim. On the other hand, the coalition of opposition parties, known as Pakatan Rakyat, use alternative media and public demonstrations to claim otherwise. Although the government has been trying to convince the people that rare earth is safe, there are those who are skeptical because of the government's bad reputation in managing corruption issues since they took office many years ago (current Malaysian parliament has a majority of BN members and they have never lost the majority seats since independence). 

Public concern about the effect of Lynas project to the community

As a Malaysian, I am quite impressed by how far our country has progressed since its independence. Malaysia is not really known as a producer of latest technologies, but it has been working hard to catch up with the world's scientific progress by improving its education system and bringing in investors and R&D projects to its shores. Scientific issues, particularly environmental and economical has been one of the main topics discussed openly between the public, government, and scientists. This might not be really apparent because of the fact that Malaysia is an Islamic country that has some degree of conservatism. Other issues such as religions, politics (especially for the past few months when the election day is drawing near), and social problems might overshadow the scientific and knowledge progress the country is making. To most of them, science is a thing, but it is not everything. Comparing the scale of technologies between the Western civilization and other cultures, the scientific progress a small country like Malaysia is making might be considered insignificant; but a progress is a progress nevertheless, no matter how small it is.   

I think that in order to discover and answer the questions of "Who should we trust?" and "Is science a thing in other cultures?", one should look beyond hard scientific facts. Science is how one look at the world through careful studies of nature and this often involves perceptions molded by the society. 

Government official explaining Lynas