Travels in the Land of Hunger

MALAYSIA

Wednesday, April 7, 2004

I took a six-hour, air-conditioned bus ride to Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia.

The journey began with a short ride to the Singapore border where all passengers were required to get off the bus to go through passport controls. We then boarded the bus to cross the Johor Strait via the kilometer-long Johor-Singapore Causeway. Once on the Malaysian side the bus stopped again as we had to go through another passport and customs checkpoint.

The bus journey north through Malaysia revealed endless oil palm tree plantations on both sides of the expressway–it was a glimpse of the "14 million tons of palm oil" produced "from more than 38,000 square kilometers of land, making it (Malaysia) the largest exporter of palm oil in the world."1 Although Malaysia has a tropical rainforest climate I saw little evidence of any rainforests from the road because they had been cleared away by the palm oil industry–an industry that provided employment for nearly 500,000 people.2 In recent years, the negative environmental impacts caused by the production of palm oil (reduced biodiversity, habitat destruction, displacement of indigenous people,3 and increased greenhouse gas emissions due to exposed peat bogs that release CO2 into the atmosphere4) have been criticized both domestically and internationally. But it is an industry that accounts for 5-6 percent of the nation's GDP and thus has led–over the past two decades–to the reduction of poverty through the narrowing of the income gap between rural and town populations and improved social infrastructure.5 It is evident that a balance between sustainable palm oil production, employment, and the preservation of vital ecosystems must be found for a newly industrialized country (NIC) such as Malaysia.

It has been argued at times by the Malaysian government that the palm oil industry provides more positive than negative effects on the environment and society as biodiesel is one of the goods produced from sustainable palm oil, which could reduce greenhouse gas emissions6 compared to its dirtier rival petroleum. But a study by Greenpeace argued that the net effect of the palm oil production process and the consumption of biodiesel did not collectively reduce the amount of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere.7 One of the main concerns expressed by Greenpeace is that the process of clearing rainforests, "draining the peat and burning it releases vast amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere."8 For example, "Indonesia's peatlands represent just 0.1 percent of the Earth's landmass, but contribute a staggering 4 percent of global emissions."9 To address environmental issues such as deforestation the Malaysian government has passed legislation to preserve 50 percent of their natural rainforests while also limiting the expansion of oil palm tree plantations.10

But more must be done at the consumer, producer, and government levels to protect vulnerable ecosystems as the global demand for "biofuels for road transportation will grow from 32.4 billion gallons in 2013 to 51.1 billion by 2022."11

The expressway the bus traveled on was modern, perhaps of a standard to be found in any developed nation; a sign of the government's long run investment in what economists call physical capital. But I should have expected to see such investments in infrastructure as Malaysia is one of the strongest economies in Southeast Asia where 20 percent of the population spoke English12–the residual effect of a nearly two-century long colonization by the British that formally ended in 1957.

I arrived at the Puduraya Terminal at around 3:30 p.m. As soon as I got off the bus I was approached by an Indian man who sought to lure newly arrived backpackers into a hostel that most likely provided him with a commission. I had no hotel or hostel reservation and since he explained that the place was right next to the bus station I decided to follow him. We crossed a busy street and walked down a sidewalk that was lined with various low-end shops and restaurants that catered to budget travelers. He then led me through an open iron door gate and up a flight of stairs to the Anuja Backpackers Inn where I got my own air-conditioned room without bath; there was a communal unisex bathroom that I could use.