Show us the real dirty stuff

By Dr. Azmi Sharom, The Star

Videos on those in power with enough money to make Midas go green with envy make for more pertinent viewing than nasty clips of consenting adults.

SO, the infamous video has been making the rounds. I received a message on my mobile phone a few nights ago telling me which website to go to if I wished to take a gander.

I did not.

Neither did I do so when a link was conveniently placed on an Internet news portal.

The reason: My lack of curiosity in such matters is manifold.

First, it’s none of my business what consenting adults do to one another.

Second, come on, these are old people getting busy here; it is not what I would call scintillating viewing.

Rather gross actually, in a wobbly wrinkly way.

Finally, the reason these things float around is because they are supposed to make some sort of statement about our leaders and potential leaders, and frankly I don’t care about this kind of moralistic thinking.

I’ll tell you what videos I would like to watch.

I would like to see videos about leaders and their obscene wealth.

I want to see investigative work done on those in power with enough money to make Midas green with envy.

I want to know how they got it and whether there was any abuse of power in the process of them getting it.

In fact, I’d like to see what their family members’ wealth is like, too.

For me, that would be a far more pertinent issue with which to clamber upon one’s moral high horse for.

I would also like to see a video about strange decisions made, like the one proposing to build a rare earth plant in Lynas, Pahang.

It seems odd to me that, after the tragedy of Bukit Merah in Perak some 30 years ago, such a plant would find a welcome home on Malaysian soil.

In case you don’t know what rare earth is, it is a radioactive substance used in the electronics industry.

Its waste product releases low-level radiation, which can cause a host of potentially lethal ailments.

In Bukit Merah, the residents, upon discovering the dangers of the factory (called Asian Rare Earth) in their midst, fought back, taking the case all the way to the highest court in the land.

They won in the High Court on the grounds of nuisance and the factory was ordered to shut down.

This decision was reversed by the Supreme Court.

Fortunately, due to public pressure in Japan on Asian Rare Earth’s parent company, Mitsubishi, the place was finally shut down.

Many of the residents of Bukit Merah suffered major illnesses at a rate far higher than the national average.

Are we going to see that happen to the people of Lynas?

Perhaps someone should make a video of this issue.

This one I guarantee I’ll watch.