Frustrated and anxious Malaysians await the outcome of this whole intriguing saga with bated breath. Meanwhile, let’s just see things from a more international or “interesting” perspective…as expressed by a columnist/political commentator in the Nanyang Siang Pau 2012-03-05 17:06
BTW, this column is namedζ
’εδΈε, literally translated into “Slow and yet Inaccurate” J A little tongue-in-cheek…
The following is my own translation, as Google’s master piece is, as usual, simply incomprehensible!
The West applauds Malaysia for the production of rare earth ● Wong
Deng Xiaoping once said: there is oil in the Middle East, there is rare earth in China. (GSL: 20/20 foresight!)
The importance of rare earth in today’s advanced technology cannot be overstated. The value of rare earth will continue to skyrocket in the many years to come.
Since the nineties, the price of rare earth has risen at least tenfold, but this is just the beginning. Advertisements on the Internet abound that rare earth price is really rock-bottom right now, almost like the low pricing of pork a decade or two ago. I am sure in time to come, it will be better to invest in rare earth rather than in gold or stocks! So, come, come, let’s jump on the bandwagon, and invest in rare earth now! There are experts to help you. You do not have to hoard rare earth in your backyard, just swipe your plastic card, and voila! The experts will do the rest. You can just watch online how the value of your investment soar day after day, and year after year, while you sit back, relax and collect interest or dividend……....
No production of rare earth, therefore no waste
Years ago, both the US and France mined rare earth. However, such activity has been discontinued because their mining and production technologies, so said pundits, have since lagged behind those of China, the newcomer. Although the US is said to still have a rare earth capacity of 13 million tons, accounting for 13% of the total rare earth stock worldwide, their production is now zero. The Malaysian Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Mustafa remarked recently that if the Malaysian government cancels Linus's license, it will be the joke of the international industry. Well, maybe it’s true. But to say that the US disposes their rare earth plant waste directly into the sewage drains is a bigger joke - the US is not even producing rare earth, where does the waste come from?
Going back to Deng Xiaoping’s famous words about rare earth in China, one can see that the Chinese people over the past years have been acting like the Arabs. The Arabs were once sitting blissfully on their oil wells, not knowing how to manipulate oil prices to their advantage. But everything changed after the oil crisis of the 1970s….. God’s gift of black gold is no longer cheap these days, as oil prices have since soared from a few US dollars a barrel to hundreds today. The Yankees crank their printing press for endless supply of green notes, but rare earth, like oil, will definitely be exhausted one day. Exchanging a limited resource for unlimited green notes? How can anyone continue to foolishly sell rare earth cheap?
China’s big rare earth reserve
Right now, China’s 36% of the world’s rare earth stock is monopolizing more than 90% of the world market. Countries in the West like the US (13%), Russia (19%) and Australia (5%) have zero output. Are they just hoarding and waiting for a better time in the future?
Other than the high cost of production and the wait for a “better time”, zero production may well be a calculated move to avert mass destruction of their environment and jeopardizing their citizens’ precious health and lives. If Third World factories are sweatshops, rare earth plants definitely involve more than sweat, there are tears and blood! (GSL: ...if not lives!)
Deng Xiaoping once said: there is oil in the Middle East, there is rare earth in China. (GSL: 20/20 foresight!)
The importance of rare earth in today’s advanced technology cannot be overstated. The value of rare earth will continue to skyrocket in the many years to come.
Since the nineties, the price of rare earth has risen at least tenfold, but this is just the beginning. Advertisements on the Internet abound that rare earth price is really rock-bottom right now, almost like the low pricing of pork a decade or two ago. I am sure in time to come, it will be better to invest in rare earth rather than in gold or stocks! So, come, come, let’s jump on the bandwagon, and invest in rare earth now! There are experts to help you. You do not have to hoard rare earth in your backyard, just swipe your plastic card, and voila! The experts will do the rest. You can just watch online how the value of your investment soar day after day, and year after year, while you sit back, relax and collect interest or dividend……....
No production of rare earth, therefore no waste
Years ago, both the US and France mined rare earth. However, such activity has been discontinued because their mining and production technologies, so said pundits, have since lagged behind those of China, the newcomer. Although the US is said to still have a rare earth capacity of 13 million tons, accounting for 13% of the total rare earth stock worldwide, their production is now zero. The Malaysian Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Mustafa remarked recently that if the Malaysian government cancels Linus's license, it will be the joke of the international industry. Well, maybe it’s true. But to say that the US disposes their rare earth plant waste directly into the sewage drains is a bigger joke - the US is not even producing rare earth, where does the waste come from?
Going back to Deng Xiaoping’s famous words about rare earth in China, one can see that the Chinese people over the past years have been acting like the Arabs. The Arabs were once sitting blissfully on their oil wells, not knowing how to manipulate oil prices to their advantage. But everything changed after the oil crisis of the 1970s….. God’s gift of black gold is no longer cheap these days, as oil prices have since soared from a few US dollars a barrel to hundreds today. The Yankees crank their printing press for endless supply of green notes, but rare earth, like oil, will definitely be exhausted one day. Exchanging a limited resource for unlimited green notes? How can anyone continue to foolishly sell rare earth cheap?
China’s big rare earth reserve
Right now, China’s 36% of the world’s rare earth stock is monopolizing more than 90% of the world market. Countries in the West like the US (13%), Russia (19%) and Australia (5%) have zero output. Are they just hoarding and waiting for a better time in the future?
Other than the high cost of production and the wait for a “better time”, zero production may well be a calculated move to avert mass destruction of their environment and jeopardizing their citizens’ precious health and lives. If Third World factories are sweatshops, rare earth plants definitely involve more than sweat, there are tears and blood! (GSL: ...if not lives!)
After thirty to forty years of “blood, sweat and tears”, China has made some money. They no longer need to foolishly trade 8 tahils of work without getting back half a kati of reward. Look at the West, Apple is a shining example of trading one tahil of effort for tens of thousands of gold in return! (GSL: So is the Third World’s pirated software trade that unforgivable?) Now the well-fed Chinese can see all this quite clearly, even with their drunken eyes. Rare earth can no longer be sold cheap.
Don’t even think about polluting the Australian Environment
The Chinese want to up rare earth price, the rest of the world can’t say no. So, what’s the way out? Break China's monopoly! But, who would do it?
The Chinese want to up rare earth price, the rest of the world can’t say no. So, what’s the way out? Break China's monopoly! But, who would do it?
The Yankees and the Russians are not budging, so this leaves Australia to play hero. Australia has the rare earth to mine, but is averse to polluting their environment. So, FDI-hungry 1Malayisa and even hungrier Pahang are their ideal partners, or targets!
This is why in response to Linus setting up a plant here in Malaysia, we have the hopping-mad Himpunan Hijau 2.0, but the contrasting Western media’s loud applause! Yes, applause for Malaysia’s sacrifice of its environment and national health, to break the Chinese monopoly!
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