echo *DISCLAIMER: This article discusses topics that may be deemed sensitive to some, as it discusses systemic injustices and their impact on the involved communities. Reader discretion is advised.
Environmental Racism: What is it?
Environmental racism refers to the systemic issue whereby environmental policies disproportionately impact low-income, minority communities. The phrase was coined by civil rights leader Dr. Benjamin F. These forms of environmental injustice are shaped by patterns of racism and inequality.
Prime examples of environmental racism point to landfills, waste disposals and oil/gas projects being located in close vicinity to minority communities, such as low-income and migrant ones. This demonstrates a clear lack of concern for the communities’ health and wellbeing, as these hazardous sites pose serious health risks to them, which include cancer and respiratory issues.
The Trash Wars
For decades, Western countries have been exporting their trash to Asian countries under the guise of recyclables. Due to the lack of definition and regulation for said recyclables (recyclable plastic is not differentiated from contaminated, unrecyclable plastic), Western countries were able to get away with sending waste items that loosely fell under contract terms. It wasn’t until China refused to accept the West’s trash anymore in 2018 that action was taken. While this was a good decision on China’s end, the waste was merely redirected to other nearby countries such as Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. That same year, Malaysia imported the most plastic waste globally at 872,526 tonnes, followed (not so closely) by Thailand at 552,727 tonnes.
Malaysia importing the most waste globally in 2018
Following in China’s footsteps, Malaysia has sent shipments of toxic waste back to its country of origin. Yeo Bee Yin, Malaysia’s minister of environment and climate change, questions why the “burden of controlling plastic waste movement falls on the shoulders of the receiving country,” rather than exporting countries having to bear responsibility as well. Ms. Bee Yin is not wrong in having these sentiments, as often developed countries criticise countries with emerging economies for their lack of sustainable development, while actively stunting their growth by polluting their lands. Developing countries point out this hypocrisy, stating that said developed countries grew their wealth by employing the same environmentally damaging methods they now denounce.
Right Heart, Wrong Place
Aside from governmental actions, non-governmental organisations such as Greenpeace and WWF can also participate in environmentally racist activities; for example, by protesting against the development of dams and power plants in developing countries, which denies poorer communities access to electricity and clean water in the name of environmental conservation. And yet, the lack of electricity in these communities causes its people to seek warmth by cutting down trees to burn their wood. This pollutes the air and endangers wildlife, essentially backfiring from environmental preservation and causing exactly what said activists are protesting.
While the fossil fuel industry is destructive, certain developments can be crucial to the well-being of communities and countries, such as easier access to electricity, heat, and water; all of which can help further boost the countries’ development as their people wouldn’t be so preoccupied with fulfilling their basic needs, allowing them the capacity to then care about sustainable development. Environmental activists from the Western world should instead refocus and target fossil fuel expansions in unneeded areas (in their own countries), rather than speak on the “behalf” of indigenous groups and prevent developments that they (and the environmentalism cause) would greatly benefit from in the long run. They should stop butting in in the name of environmental preservation when developing countries are given the chance to develop, and not be so rigid in disallowing poorer countries to “make the same mistakes the developed world did”, as it was those very “mistakes” that helped launch those developed countries to where they stand now.
More Racism to Worry About
However, focusing on the misdemeanours of the developed world shouldn’t distract from the fact that the environmental governance of our local government leaves much to be desired as well. Environmental racism also operates on a local scale, affecting communities and areas throughout Malaysia.
Malaysia, despite being one of the leading South East Asian countries – in terms of economy, and having a civilisation built on the numerous contributions and collaboration of multiple cultures – has a lot to work on in terms of acknowledging the rights and organising true equality for all its citizens. Migrant ethnic groups and indigenous groups within Malaysia experience high levels of discrimination within the country, and environmental inequalities experienced by these groups are often overlooked.
Migrant Workers
Migrant workers have been occupying a rather large amount of the Malaysian workforce, mostly contributing to the positions that local workers would rather avoid, such as heavy labour and sanitary jobs, however, they also contribute to much of the agricultural, construction, mining and quarrying, and service sectors. Unfortunately, migrant workers are often underpaid and are not provided with any health and safety rights, resulting in unsafe, unsanitary residential and working environments.
The Selayang Wholesale Market is a case in point, residing in the Pusat Bandar Utama Selayang area, which was said to be the dirtiest place in Kuala Lumpur by the Federal Territories Solid Waste Management and Public Health Cleansing (SWCorp) director, Ummi Kalthum Shuib. The main contributor to the area garnering this title, is the several metric tonnes of food waste that the wholesale market produces, being one of the city’s most important food and produce exchange and transport hubs.
Selayang Wholesale Market walkways
The Kuala Lumpur Vegetable Wholesalers’ Association President Wong Keng Fatt has mentioned that foreigners used to make up more than 90% of the workforce in the wholesale market, however, they took a huge hit during the 2020 MCO, which caused many of the migrant workers to lose their jobs, as the market was considered a zone prone to the spreading of COVID-19. To address the shortage of manpower, the market had tried to employ locals, which the government also supported, however, locals found it hard to continue working in unsafe, unsanitary environments, with most not even lasting past a day of work, even when offered up to more than one hundred Ringgits a day. In the minds of the locals, these jobs were migrant worker jobs, those who they saw as “other” people. This just goes to show that the jobs migrant workers have been tasked with are jobs not suited for average people and that more thought and effort have to be put into creating safe and sanitary work environments for the sake of both local and migrant workers. The Selayang Wholesale Market workforce being negatively affected also led to the effects being felt by all other businesses relying on the market for produce among other things. A strong economy and community rely on strong foundations, and establishing better working conditions for core sectors such as agriculture and so on will result in healthier development of the two.
Indigenous Peoples
As for Indigenous peoples’ rights, most Malaysians living in rural areas will notice that a lot of Indigenous groups struggle with navigating and maintaining customs but also integrating into modern society and its capitalist dominance. Oftentimes, there is the idea that Indigenous lifestyles are too old-fashioned and that they need help to modernise, however many Indigenous people would rather keep their land and continue the traditional lifestyle they had been practising for years. The middle ground would be finding a way to have these lifestyles coexist, which would be possible with communication between the government and the respective Indigenous villages involved, and possibly a redesign of the Bumiputera status, which has not done much to benefit the Bumiputeras of lower income. Even now, indigenous Malaysians find that their land is often encroached upon illegally, by private sectors, and sometimes even the government itself, which certainly does not help improve the prospects of teamwork.
Environmental Justice
Environmental justice is a social movement advocating for just treatment towards people who are harmed by detrimental environmental policies, regardless of their background and social position. It also advocates for meaningful involvement of the people in policies that shape their communities.
A few simple ways for us to exert environmental justice include educating ourselves on the issue and spreading awareness by having conversations about it with those around us. Another way is to exercise our privilege to practise sustainability and reduce our waste, as this reduces the amount of waste that ends up in the areas of less fortunate communities. On a larger scale, we can donate to and volunteer with organisations that combat environmental racism, as well as advocate for policy changes by organising protests and signing petitions.
All members of society deserve equal basic rights and treatment regardless of ancestry, and those of us from privileged backgrounds should exert that privilege by advocating for equal rights for all, in the ways that we can.
Written By: Sarah Tan, Mario Rozells
Edited By: Tisyha
