theSun | WEDNESDAY AUGUST 19 2009 13

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Natural forest cover

figures suspect
IN a recent report, Deputy
Plantation Industries and Com-
modities Minister Datuk Hamzah
Zainudin denied claims by some
international NGOs that Malaysia
is destroying its natural forests
to plant oil palm. He also as-
serted that 60 % of Malaysia was
covered by natural forests.
These are incredulous claims.
According to the book, Defor-
esting Malaysia, by Jomo K. S.,
Chang Y. T. and Khoo K. J., only
56% of Malaysia was covered
by natural forests in 1991. Since
then, there has been rampant
destruction of natural forests for
conversion to commodity crops,
for hydro-electric and water sup-
ply dam-building projects and
other types of land development.
In addition, logging activities
have degraded our forests.
Once a tropical forest is de-
stroyed it takes millions of years
for comparable biodiversity to
evolve again. In 2008, Malaysia
gained new notoriety around
the world when it emerged as
the country with the third long-
est list of plants and animals
threatened with extinction in
the International Union for Con-
servation of Nature’s Red Alert
of Threatened Species.
I beseech the deputy minister
to tell Malaysians and the world
by what magic has Malaysia
been able to destroy her forests
so aggressively on the one hand
and on the other hand increase
its reported cover of natural
forests year by year?
JC Tansen
Petaling Jaya
Support effort to tell full PKFZ story
TRANSPORT Minister Datuk Seri Ong
Tee Kiat seems to be besieged by all
kinds of problems simply because he
refuses to succumb to the “tidak apa”
attitude so often adopted with rela-
tive ease by others when challenged.
Furthermore, he wants to live up to
his reputation as a straight talker, a
reformer and a fighter.
He could have just laid back and
savoured his election to MCA’s presi-
dency and his appointment to a top
cabinet post. Of course what he does
in his party is of little concern to most
Malaysians but how he leads a ministry
with such a huge budget and so much
on its plate is of much concern to all
the people of this country especially
when it is saddled with a multi-billion
ringgit scandal of the Port Klang Free
Zone (PKFZ) – probably proving to be
the most expensive debacle ever.
He could have relegated it to the
bottom of his priorities as the scandal
happened during his predecessors’
watch but he decided that the rakyat
must know about the billions that were
spent and the billions more that may
have to be spent to rehabilitate the
zone. To him the government and the
ministry he leads owed them that. And
so he sanctioned several independent
investigations, one of them by Pricewa-
terhouseCoopers, into the badly man-
aged project. The results highlighted
the poor level of oversight and govern-
ance and numerous conflicts of interest
in PKFZ’s development. That was the
beginning of the problems for him.
There were moments when it
seemed he would be overwhelmed by
them. The onslaughts against him have
not stopped and may look like they are
meant to distract him from his minis-
try’s current priority of getting to the
bottom of the scandal. It is for a cause
like this that everyone from those in
the cabinet to the poor taxpayers must
rally behind the man who is leading
the charge.
In the past Malaysians had been
shocked by a number of public
scandals. But after some days or even
weeks of front-page treatment by
major newspapers they subsequently
were relegated to the inside pages and
eventually just faded away. They
resurface occasionally in reports on
preliminary findings of a task force
or special committee. But by that time
Malaysians had already lost interest in
whatever had happened even though
it was their money that was involved.
Even though the culprits were exposed
– the public had known about them long
before the findings were announced
– reactions were mostly muted.
But the PKFZ scandal just refuses to
die or fade away. Malaysians should,
therefore, support the efforts to keep it
that way until they know the full story
of the PKFZ.

Steer clear of prejudice and stand united

A COUNTRY that is built on pluralism
such as Malaysia should ideally be
free of prejudice. However, prejudice
appears to be growing more rampant.
Unlike 25 years ago where the different
races were at ease mixing with each
other, now each race views the other
with suspicion. Worst, these prejudices
are reinforced by statements made by
certain public figures and stereotypes
propagated by the mass media.
Consequently, when an individual
from a certain ethnic group encounters
another individual from a different
ethnic group, he/she will regard that
person with suspicion. As prejudice is
self-reinforcing and self-fulfilling, any
action that the individual does which fits
the stereotype will serve to strengthen
it, whereas those that run contrary to
stereotypes are ignored.
Many of the prejudices are borne
out of past experiences which do not
necessarily hold true in our modern
world. Some are due to acts by a few
black sheep from a community which
are amplified by the media. However,
these represent a tiny fraction of the
community, while the rest of the com-
munity is made up of decent, peaceful,
hardworking people. Furthermore, no
single community is perfect and without
flaws. Upon introspection, each com-
munity will find within itself the traits
that it so abhors in other communities.
All Malaysians must stand united by
their common humanity.
Aloysious Roy
Kuala Lumpur