[UPDATE - 4 Aug 2019] Johor Menteri Besar Dr Sahruddin Jamal has apologised to Pasir Gudang residents, admitting that the incident could have been handled better. He also expressed his disappointment that the development plan did not consider the long-term consequences - he said in a statement quoted by Bernama.

The fateful industrial town that's literally the talk of the town

Often times the truth is a bitter pill to swallow and so is the case with Johor Bahru’s long-standing industrial town, Pasir Gudang. A quick Google search would bring to light close to 40 chemical (or chemical-associated) plants right off the bat for public display which most would consider, a safe-ish number but truth to the matter is - Pasir Gudang has about 300 chemical-based plants churning unknown gas and chemicals into the water and up in the air.

With hundreds of school children from 30 schools and a couple of thousands affected, we’re pretty sure that most of you have been keeping a tab on the news, bringing us to an agreement that Pasir Gudang is simmering in a pot of health hazards not fit for life since decades ago.

It goes without saying that the 359.57 km2 town needs a certain kind of reform to purge and cleanse Pasir Gudang back to when life was not at stake. Therefore, let’s look at this situation from a different, more scriptural perspective - of man's true nature, committing deadly, atrocious sins.

Lust

Tanjung Langsat Port, a crucial water way for Johor. Photo by tlpterminal.com.my

While it’s easy to narrow down the trait to insatiable desires of sexual nature, lust also describes the unruly appetite for money and power, confusing even the greatest minds, corrupting own’s conscience to set apart good and evil.

And Pasir Gudang is no exception.

The National Property Information Centre (NAPIC) released a report revealing the state's RM19.33 billion worth of transactions with 2.1% of it generated by - the industrial sector.

This billion dollar industry lights many houses, supporting the country’s economy with investors and stakeholders coming all the way from Japan, China and Korea. As one of the state’s major players, Johor’s investment agency, Johor Corp (Jcorp) alone attracted close to RM12bil investment for its industrial sector with the Tanjung Langsat Industrial Complex under its wings.

And that’s just one company. What about the rest of the power brokers in Pasir Gudang? What about those who crawl under the radar, milking the town dry with their insatiable lust for money and invincibility?

Gluttony

Johor was in its 4th phase of the Proclamation of Governance in 1918 when Pasir Gudang was established. Photo by thepatriots.asia

Gluttony is simply a misdeed of ravenous overindulgence but in the toxic town’s context, this sin is putting one’s own material interests above the wellbeing of others.

When the town was established in 1918, it only had lesser than 10 kampungs and the main catch was literally fish.

Over the years, Pasir Gudang grew from the small district of Kampung Pasir Udang to a sand mining hub in the 1920s before black pepper and consecutively rubber (and also opium) was brought in by the British. Slowly, man start to chew away the good bits and pieces of the land, leaving dark trails of debauchery and gluttony.

Greed

Back when black pepper (and opium) was real business

Clearly, the only evil that stood out from this whole sinful setting, greed is excessive desire to pursue material, worldly possessions. Why stop with one when you can go for all?

From the colonial era of rubber and black pepper, Pasir Gudang rises slowly to what it is now, an industrial town packed with manufacturing and heavy industrial operations. The growing petrochemical industry, for example, has initiated growth by big players like Petronas with its numerous plants producing from Ethylene to Propylene while the shipping sub-sector continues to grow from its Parameswara days to international tankers of today, not stopping for nothing.

Sloth

Too little too late as years of chemical dump had seeped into the mud. Photo by BERNAMA

Although sloth translates to a wider scope of discussion, this wicked trait simply correlates one’s failures towards responsibilities, lacking any sense of transgression and guilt toward others. Simply put, not doing anything in the face of evil.

Sungai Kim Kim, the location of the first case in March this year uncovered dirty deeds made by men for decades or more. A clean river in its early days, Sungai Kim Kim is now convoluted in a thick black toxic sauce of unknown origins. According to The Johor Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) vice-president and ecologist, Vincent Chow, the pollution started from at least five years ago when he conducted water samplings over the years for comparison.

Pasir Gudang Municipal Council (MPPG) released a number of statements of work done to sweep the river clean but alas, it's too little too late as years of chemical dump had seeped into the mud and water.

Did You Know? MPPG (formerly known as PBTPG) is the first local authority in Malaysia that was privatised. It's a subsidiary of Jcorp, the state government's investment arm.

There’s no life in Kim Kim, according to Vincent. The stench? Nothing but hydrogen sulphide where the locals call it rotten eggs. So where are the men in charge? Could a five year (or maybe five decades) of pollution go under the nose without a whiff?

Wrath

Probably the two most featured faces in the wake of the tragedy, Yeo pictured with Health Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad. Photo by NST

Unsuppressed anger will one day inflict unimaginable pain and anguish, bringing the wrath from those who seek not justice but vengeance. Wrath is basically the love of justice perverted to revenge and spite.

Fingers pointed and cursed crossed, the Pasir Gudang tragedy has irked all sides of the war with no single party backing down - The people rallying against the ministry, the minister against the plants and the internet calls for justice. But what about the victims?

A fair and just ‘vengeance’ has been filed in the form of a lawsuit against the state government, Johor chief minister, Department of Environment and even the City Council is not spared. Yet across the opposite corner, MOE Minister Yeo Bee Yin is also calling her shot for a lawsuit against her accusers, linking her husband to the source of the incident. When wrath takes over morals, even the sultan is not spared.

EARTH And What's Left Of It

We were once graced with an empty sheet, a pristine piece of land without a single spot of scar.

We may not see what the future brings for our children but neither did our forefathers when they grazed the land with greed and gluttony in the name of progress.

Let’s not carry the guilt, the sins of yesterday. The same effort to ravage our panoramic planet could very well be used to create beautiful journals of rainbows and butterflies. Educate yourself, learn to voice out and do the right thing. Pasir Gudang may be the first environmental catastrophe for this decade but it may very well not be the last.

Do you think there's still hope for Pasir Gudang? Share your feeback in the comment. To read more on how bad river situation is in the whole country, read here. Read here if you'd like to know our pollution 'contribution' to our beaches.