Lessons from the Past

Consequences of success
There is no doubt that Malaysia has made a great success of the oil palm plantation industry. When in the oil palm’s region of origin in west Africa, it was a common sight to see people daily picking the fruit from the few trees around their houses in order to crush the fruit and use the oil for cooking, we in Malaysia had already introduced the estate concept successfully and were benefitting from it.

We need to remind ourselves though, that being successful does bring along with it serious challenges. It is because we are successful that the world started to take notice of us. We were the ‘new kid on the block’, growing very fast into a giant. Trying to rein in the perceived threat of this giant was not easy for others, since we were well organised, efficient, productive and, most important of all, competitive.

Within just around a decade of our emergence as a major world player, we were everywhere. Whether in the US or in Europe as two of the most developed regions of the world, palm oil was fast emerging to be an important part of daily dietary needs.

Within the developing world earlier on, palm oil was dominated by the so-called ‘Basra Contract’ which restricted it to the only channel through which the commodity could be sold. Worse still for us producers was that palm oil was designated as an ‘industrial oil’, just allegedly to restrict its accessibility.

It was in this sort of competitive environment that the anti-palm oil lobby resorted to scaring consumers with claims that consuming palm oil was a health hazard. But thanks to intensive scientific research, it was proven that the allegations are untrue; as a bonus, it was discovered that the palm oil actually brings about positive health benefits!

In searching for anti-palm oil arguments, though, they have found a very credible and strong case against us. The oil palm plantations, they claimed, have destroyed the environment, destroyed wildlife and destroyed the eco-system … believe me, those are very strong arguments indeed.

To begin with, let us admit that we did do what was claimed about us, in the process of developing the oil palm industry. Personally, I thought that we used to exploit our forests as though they were vending machines! We cut down valuable forests. We caused havoc for wildlife.

Much to our credit, though, we ourselves accepted accountability and responsibility and, within a few years, took various steps to ensure sustainable development. As Minister of Primary Industries, I did say: ‘Malaysia should be ashamed of ourselves to be the No. 1 exporter of tropical timber. That means we are raping our forests!’

Following that statement, the numerous legislative steps taken – like the formation of the National Forestry Council, and other steps that led to the formation of PORIM and related bodies – were indeed meant to develop awareness and ensure that our palm oil is produced with sustainability in mind.

Let the lobbying and explanations of our method of sustainable palm oil development be left to the real experts, among whom is [MPOC CEO] Tan Sri [Dr] Yusof Basiron and his dedicated team. Tan Sri Yusof deserves mention here because he is the one I regard as being indefatigable in pursuing our case on palm oil.

On my part, whenever I am involved in arguments and discussions on the subject, I always offer a simple counter-argument as per these brief examples:

• In Washington I would remark: ‘Today I had such a smooth landing and, as a Malaysian, I am thankful for the rubber that we produce that makes up the resilience of the tyres that aeroplanes use. It is unfortunate, though, that rubber trees have to be planted on huge areas of land. Forests have had to be cut to make way for rubber trees, and surely wildflowers and fauna must have been sacrificed. Looking around at the very rapid development of the US, and particularly Washington, there must been forests cut down and even natives of the land displaced.’

• When I was with quite a few NGOs in Holland to face their criticism of our palm oil production, I simply praised Holland for its success. I also praised the beautiful setting for our meeting at a lodge in a rather small area of forest.

  But then I said: ‘Driving through here, I could not help but think how much of forest there must have been that are now replaced by wheat and tulip fields, not to mention the thousands of acres for cattle grazing. Maybe we will never know what animals of different species have roamed here, but have become extinct!’

My message was simple. You have developed, but we also want to develop. You committed mistakes, but we must avoid those mistakes and learn from those big mistakes. While your development much earlier was never based on sustainability, we on our part must base ours on sustainability. We surely wish it to be so and we will deliver.

So, let us be sure of these promises, and let us get on with it with hard work, dedication and confidence. There rests my case.

May Allah bless us all, and thank you again for the honour you have bestowed upon me.”