- REE industry in Malaysia is well and alive
- IJM Corporation senyum-senyum kambing with its current performance
IN MALAYSIA
Putrajaya says Malaysia lacks the capabilities for the rare earth industry. But, do we really?
The Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES) Ministry told the Parliament that Negaraku lacks the technology and expertise needed to harness its rare earth elements (REE) resources. NRES claimed that despite multiple parties said that they possess the relevant expertise and technology, it has yet to be proven at a commercially viable level.
But, if the NRES Ministry stated that there is no commercially viable technology adopted for the REE industry in Malaysia, then why is Australian-based Lynas Rare Earths Ltd planning to utilise RM2.07 bil of its future share sale’s proceeds to modify an Australian mine and expand Malaysian processing plants? Recently, in May, Lynas’ plant in Kuantan, Pahang successfully produced a heavy rare earth named dysprosium oxide, making it the only commercial producer of separated heavy rare earths outside of China.
While our ministry blamed our so-called incompetencies for the slow growth of the local REE industry, other countries are rushing in to provide solutions that the ministry was supposed to come up with, as China is prepared to provide Malaysia with technical and technological assistance in rare earths processing. This is big news as traditionally, China is quite protective of its rare earth processing technology. NRES Minister Johari Abdul Ghani stated that Chinese President Xi Jinping had conveyed Beijing’s readiness to help Malaysia in its rare earths ambitions during a visit to Kuala Lumpur in April. According to a 2019 estimate, Malaysia has 16.1 mil metric tons of rare earth deposits. In comparison, China has 44 mil metric tons of deposits.
Early Raya came for IJM Corporation
IJM Corporation Bhd’s wholly owned subsidiary, New Pantai Expressway Sdn Bhd (NPE) has hit the jackpot and secured an agreement with Putrajaya to extend NPE by another 15km. The extension will start from the Pantai Dalam toll plaza and stretch to Jalan Istana via Jalan Syed Putra. IJM also has secured approvals from to banks to front up to RM1.4 bil to finance the project. Zzz Klang Valley and its highway addictions.
In another related news, IJM CEO Lee Chun Fai confirmed that it has submitted a proposal for Permodalan Nasional Bhd’s (PNB) highway assets. Not only Klang Valley, perhaps IJM also suffers from the same highway addiction. Although Lee did not provide details on what the highway assets are, it was speculated that PNB’s highway assets, such as Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (SUKE) and Damansara-Shah Alam Elevated Expressway (DASH), are up for grabs.
Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/768563
ROUND THE SEA
Southeast Asia countries are not looking well
- Indonesia is literally down in flames
After more than a week of unrest in major cities across Indonesia, the Government has decided to max up the security scale, leading to some Indonesian students and civil society groups have cancelled protests in Jakarta. While Malaysia’s protest normally end peacefully, akin to our slogan, ‘Budi Bahasa Budaya Kita’ (even our protests started with bacaan doa), the protests in Indonesia for the past week have been deadly and already claimed eight lives, including the death of the motorcycle taxi driver that was hit and ran over by a militarised police vehicle. Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto also decided to a Mahathir and U-turn his decision, agreeing to cut the lawmakers’ benefits, which were the main trigger of the protests. To put things into perspective, MPs in Indonesia pocketed 16-20x more compared to the minimum wage of the country. Given that, that was why the rakyat were pissed when Prabowo announced that the MPs benefits will be further increased during the country’s Budget 2026 announcement.
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/1/indonesia-tightens-security-after-deadly-protests
- Thailand without a leader
Thailand Constitutional Court has officially dismissed its former PM Paetongtarn Shinwatra from the top seat, due to an ethics violation. In the latest upheaval in a turbulent, two-decade battle for power and patronage among Thailand’s rival elites, 39-year-old Paetongtarn became the sixth premier from or backed by the billionaire Shinawatra family, to be ousted by the military or judiciary and the second in the space of a year. So, what’s next? The biggest party in Thailand’s Parliament and the main Opposition party, the People’s Party, is poised to be the kingmaker as the party confirmed that it does not want to join any government despite holding nearly a third of the house seats. Thailand has to wait until Wednesday before the country know who is its new PM as the Parliament is due to hold a special session. In the end, the fate of a country is still in the hands of the elites, tak kisah lah Malaysia, Thailand or Indonesia. Sebabtu kita serumpun hehe.
- Philippines is in yet another corruption scandal, kalini building imiginary flood-related infrastructures
In a country that always suffered flood issues, it has emerged that billions of pesos worth of flood-control projects that were awarded, never materialised (except maybe at Ayah Pin’s Kerajaan Langit), and has fueled public outcry. In respond to the alleged corruption, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has removed the head of the Department of Public Works and Highways, Manuel Bonoan and replaced him with Vince Dizon. The new head will conduct a ‘full organisational sweep’ and an Independent Commission to Investigate Flood Control Anomalies will also be established to conduct a comprehensive review of projects, identify irregularities, and recommend accountability measures to ensure public trust in infrastructure spending.
For Your EYES Only
If you want to help the plight of Indonesians, in our small little way, do make orders to the delivery riders in Indonesia, as you can make orders in Indonesia from Malaysia.
Untuk warga Malaysia & sekitar, boleh membantu dengan cara ini ya. Terima kasih. pic.twitter.com/5pgIM1ccQp
— om (@xallehrazax) September 1, 2025
