Letters: The current parliamentary session is a shot in the arm for politics in Malaysia. Led by younger members of parliament (MPs), the debates are much better than in the past. The young breed of MPs, unlike their seniors, are better prepared with facts for their well-researched arguments.
Contrary to some views, we are not really short of young leaders who can carry the country forward. We have many from both sides of the political divide. We should be encouraged by this positive development. More substantive issues are being debated in the current session.
I am particularly pleased with the fact that more MPs are now talking about science. This is healthy as we are struggling to attract more students to pursue science.
Though I do not agree with all the views on science that have been shared, I am at least happy there is a level of intellectual discourse taking shape. If that positive momentum can be maintained, there is no reason why the government should not televise all parliamentary sessions to the public.
The live debates can be a good form of education for our students on major issues the country is facing.One aspect of science that I think some of the MPs have been misguided on is the issue of radiation.
Even though some of them are highly trained in science, I sensed from the discussion that they still cannot distinguish between high and low radiation levels.
They seem to lump all radiation at whatever levels as dangerous. What is more disturbing is that they equate the low-level radiation of rare earths facilities with nuclear waste.
Without realising it, they have become the laughing stock of the more enlightened radiation experts in the country. I think the continuing harassment of Lynas, the country's sole rare earths producer, is not productive at all.
Instead of talking to real experts, these MPS have been relying on the views of pseudo-experts.
Instead of continuing to harp on the water leached purification (WLP) residue from Lynas, we should be planning on how to capitalise on the availability of rare earths in Malaysia.
Many of our experts in agriculture have produced evidence that the WLP residues can be put to better use as a source of phosphate fertiliser.
Scientists at Universiti Putra Malaysia have conducted extensive trials to demonstrate this. As we ask Lynas to store such residues, the nation is importing large quantities of phosphate fertiliser to feed the oil palm industry.
Imagine the foreign exchange that we can save if we exploit the WLP-based fertliser formulation developed by prominent fertiliser experts at UPM.
I will not be surprised that in the future when Lynas moves its early stage of processing to Western Australia, we will be importing the same fertiliser recipe from Australia.
Not a wise move at all.We are also not doing anything to capitalise on the rare earths that are now produced at our doorstep. We talk a lot about embracing Industry 4.0 and going digital.
What we fail to realise is that rare earths have become an important ingredient of the Industry 4.0 equation.
The components that go into the making of robots and the other parts of industry automation include, to a large extent rare earths. Instead of harassing Lynas, we should be thinking of how to attract investments in the rare earths-based downstream industry.
The manufacture of high powered magnets, for example, is destined to be a high-growth business worldwide to feed the expanding digital economy.
No wonder developed economies shudder at the thought of being deprived of a constant supply of rare earths.
The United States had a taste of that when China threatened to stop the rare earths supply to the US during their trade war. It is time to stop this unproductive harassment of Lynas and focus on building Industry 4.0 components in the country by capitalising on our own supply of rare earths.
Professor Dr Ahmad Ibrahim
Fellow, Academy of Sciences Malaysia, UCSI University
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times