The Palm Oil Contraversy

STUPID BLOGSPOT KEEPS DESTROYING MY PARAGRAPHING. IM FED UP OF CORRECTING IT ONLY TO FIND IT RUINED WHEN PUBLISHED. SORRY BUT YOU'RE JUST GONA HAVE TO READ THIS BIG BLOCK OF TEXT

This is a picture I just HAD to upload. It was in an advertisement I saw for fair-trade cookies in the portland building. Like I have said before, environmental awareness and social responsibility is something which the people here have very much more of compared to us Malaysians.

However this doesn't mean that it's always right. Before you start thinking "Oh great its yet another environmental blabber or another dumb East vs West argument" allow me to say this, I am not presenting any hardcore evidence in this post. While I have done a very tiny amount of research into this subject, the purpose of this post is mainly to get you thinking, and for you to find out information for yourself. Therefore, I do not claim everything I say to be true, mainly because I am stating my opinions.

In the days before I left for the UK the Malaysian government was blasting western environmental organizations for being racist and 'anti-palm oil' saying things like

"they are actively discouraging the use of palm oil by telling false lies about how palm oil is destroying the Orang-Utan habitats. In truth they are being payed by western crop farmers to make such claims so that sales of western oils such as sunseed and canola will rise at the expense of palm oil. The west will stop at nothing to destroy our palm oil industry. First they said that it was bad for health. Now that we have proven otherwise they say this instead."

Again I remind you that I am not stating any facts. This is not a direct quotation. It is however, the gist of what I remember a government spokesman was saying that was published in the NST several weeks ago. At first I was just thinking Nonsense! Typical of the government being anti-environmentalist as usual.(which they are btw). Why? Most of us should be quick to defend our country and our industry in one way or another. (belive me you will feel something once you leave malaysia. trust me. Its one thing when you are at home, and another when you are not)

But the fact remains that it is true, at least in Sabah. Sabah as we all know is famous as the habitat of the orang utans. Unfortunately Sabah is also famous for logging and deforestation. Now, it is becoming a heaven for Palm oil plantations. Some time ago the Sabah government gave permission to vast ammounts of land to be turned into palm oil plantations. Since most of this will come from Sabah's vast tropical rainforests what is going to happen to the orang utans?

Why should we care? Well, for starters orangutans of Sabah are highly endangered, and in Indonesia it is even worse. Like most other Indonesian wildlife the Sumatran Orangutan is critically endangered. Typical of Indonesia isn't it? Yes I am Anti-Indonesian, and if you don't like it screw you! (the anual haze, the flood of criminals into Msia and the extinction of the Javan Rhino are just several of the reasons btw)

BTW, Sabah is not the only place in the world there are orangutans. While Sabah is most famous for them, the Borneo Orangutan lives mainly in Sabah and Nothern Kalimantan, but there are some even in Sarawak. Yes! This is yet another catalyst for the issue above. You see, the Penan resistance towards deforestation of their ancestral land (in Sarawak) has gained some prominance here in the west. The fact that there are orangutans just makes it worse dosen't it? The irony here is that the Penan people are traditionally migratory farmers, ie: they burn down forests to grow their crops.(hmm not exactly the most environmentally friendly is it?).

However the penan people have a terrible struggle fighting against deforestation, mainly because they are fighting those supported by the government. As usual the government onyl care about filling the pockets of their cronys whithout any regard for the environment or the rights of others. This is one of many good reads http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penan Anyway Im going off topic here.

So far with everything I've said it completly contradicts what I've said about defending our country hasn't it? Well yes. But that is because It is true. Or at least I believe it to be true. I do hate the political system of our country, and I d hate the politicians of our country. And I especially hate the fact that our government dosent give a damn bout the environment despite the facade they so often put on.

HOWEVER, there are several arguments I have against the west that I have too. For one, besides the orangutans, the argument is that the rising demand for palm oil is a cause for global warming because of increasing deforestation. Now I am vilhlemntaly environmentalist.(did I spell that right?) I am completaly and definately against continued deforestation. However, the fact remains that the humble oil palm is actually a big consumer of carbon dioxide. Yes palm oil plantations are like a sponge helping to suck up those vile green-house gases. LOL I remember during a visit to a palm oil estate, the manager of the estate was proudly explaining how palm oil is good for the environment because it helps reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide. "Well managed oil palms sequester more carbon (C) per unit area than tropical rainforests, and oil palm estates are predicted to become an important part of C offset management in the next century. ("Oil Palm – The Great Crop of South East Asia: Potential, Nutrition and Management" by Ernst W. Mutert and Thomas H. Fairhurst, Potash & Phosphate Institute, Paper presented at the IFA Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 14-17 November 1999)"

There is one other thing, here there is an avid promotion of healthy vegetable oils. That is good, but unsuprisingly, it is promoting western oils. For example, Doritos corn chips (aka Nachos) proudly advertises that they use 100% sunseed oil. Supposedly better for your health. Now I'm sure that sunseed oil is healthy, but ist palm oil healthy as well? Much of the promotion of healthy oils is also an anti-promotion of certain asain oils, particularly palm oil, since it is by far the most popular asian oil. One anti palm oil website stated that tropical oils such as palm oils are bad because they are high in saturated fats. They claim that because of the warmer climate these plants do not need to produce the harder to make, but healthier unsaturated fats present in western oils. Im sorry I lost the website so I can't give ypu a link or an exact quotation.

Correct me if Im wrong, but this sounds explicitly anti-asian. Palm oil has been proven time and again to be one of the healthiest oil in the world. Also, we do not fully understand the roles of fats and cholestrols in our body, so we shouldnt blindly state that all saturated fats are bad and vice-versa. Also, red palm oil (which is also expensive btw) contains many vitamins and some rare fats which are supposed to be good for us.

Anyway, I wont comment too much on this issue because, not only is this debate raging on, but also cause this is a very long post. To top it all off, I dont particularly have a stand on the issue.

What I am urging you to do however, is to do your own research on to the matter and find out the truth. Read up on arguments from both sides, as they are always leaning towards their own benefit. Wikipedia is not sufficient. The article on palm oil IS biased.

Also I remind you that I have done very little research on the subject. I do however ask that you tkae what I have said with at least some degree of seriousness. I am very sure that what I have said is fairly correct.

One other thing, Malaysia is often singled out in the anti-plam oil campaign because we are the most famous for it. However, West Malaysian palm oil has largely been unchanged in the past 30 years. We have not increased our plantations that much compared to East Malaysia and especially Indonesia. Indonesia is now the largest producer of palm oil in the world. The Indonesian palm oil industry is also the biggest cause of the Malaysian Haze. Also, not all oil palm cultivation is bad. Venezuella is now supposedly trying to promote itself as the base for environmentally friendly and sustainable palm oil.

So how do I sum it all up?

Indonesia is evil. Most of the 'environmental disaster' of palm oil applies to Indonesia and East Malaysia. The oranguatans ARE losing their habitat because of palm oil. Its not fair to blanketly unsupport palm oil because of this issue. Palm oil IS good for you (imho) and PLEASE DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!!

PS: The Sabah government recently realised the environmental impact of uncontrolled oil palm plantations, when it found the Kinabatangan River to be polluted with chemicals from oil palm plantations. This not only affected the river life but posed a hazard to pygmy elephants and also humans living downstream.