The Great Marron

Rare Earth Refinery at Gebang, Kuantan

Production of Rare Earth oxides generate Radioactive waste

Chief Minister of Pahang, Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob said the whole of the Gebeng industrial zone may as well be closed if the public continues to protest against the setting up of a rare earth refinery because every industry in Gebeng, the nation's chemical and petrochemical hub, produced some form of emission.

“If the people really feel strongly about it, then we can recommend for a total closure of Gebeng, and we shall see the reaction of the 20,000 people working there and that of their families,”

Sorry, Kuantan folks, you have elected him.

As many as 2,500 construction workers are racing to finish the world’s largest refinery rare earth metals at Gebang, Kuantan - the first rare earth ore processing plant to be built outside China in nearly three decades.

Refining rare earth ore usually leaves thousands of tons of low-level radioactive waste behind. So the world has largely left the dirty work to Chinese refineries that control 95% of the global rare earths supply. The refineries have also generated thousands of tons of low-level radioactive waste.



This helps explain why Australian mining giant, Lynas, is spending $230 million to build a rare earth refinery in Kuantan to refine radioactive ore that are transported from the Mount Weld mine, deep in the Australian desert, 4,000 km away all the way to Kuantan by container ship. The Australian are not even prepared to refine their rare earths in their own zero population desert.


At this moment not many people is aware that

Mitsubishi is quietly spending $100 million cleaning up its former refinery site at Bukit Merah, Perak.


Lai Kwan prepares to bathe her son, who was born with severe mental disabilities. She remembers that while pregnant, she was told to take an unpaid day off only on days when the factory bosses said that a particularly dangerous consignment of ore had arrived.

Residents blamed the Mitsubishi rare earth refinery for birth defects and leukemia cases, many have since died.

The Bukit Merah case is little known even elsewhere in Malaysia because Mitsubishi Chemical quietly agreed to fix the problem even without a legal order to do so. Local protesters had contacted Japanese environmentalists and politicians, who in turn helped persuade the image-conscious company to close the refinery in 1992 and undertake to clean up the site.

Workers in protective gear have already removed 11,000 truckloads of radioactively contaminated material, and tainted soil from beneath it, down to the bedrock as much as 25 feet below to a hill three miles away in a forest reserve and buried the material inside the hill’s core and then entombed it under more than 20 feet of clay and granite.

The toughest part of the Bukit Merah cleanup will come this summer, when robots and workers in protective gear are to start trying to move more than 80,000 steel barrels of radioactive waste from a concrete bunker. They will mix it with cement and gypsum, and then permanently store it in the hilltop repository.

To read more click : Bukit Merah, Perak.



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US Dollar is about to give way.

The US Dollar Index is an index that measures the strength of the US dollar relative to a basket of weighted foreign currencies as shown below.


The index goes up when the US dollar gains strength against the above currencies.

The index was started in March 1973, when Bretton Woods system (the gold standard) was abandoned. The value of the Index was started at 100.000. It has its historical height of 148.124 in February 1985, and its low of 70.698 on March 16, 2008, the lowest since its inception in 1973.

The dollar index has been dropping since June 2010 and is fast approaching its November 2009 low of about 74. The faster the Federal Reserve prints the dollar, the faster the index will drop and gold price will go up.


At this moment the index is 74.717, once it breaks its neckline at around 73 the index will have a minimum target of about 60 based on its 'double tops' formation. This may affect its status as the world's reserve currency. There may be great volatility in the currency, stock and commodity markets as the dollar index slides.




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Dow - Still can survive for a while

Mid April - Cherry Blossom Season in Japan

Sooooo Beautiful

Looking at Nasdaq, last Wednesday height of 2,799 is too low to be the end of sub-wave 5. The last few days of pullback is more likely to be the mini wave ii of 5. Since Dow and Nasdaq always move in tandem with each other, the current pullback for Dow is likely to be the mini wave ii of sub-wave 7.

If the sub-wave 5 of Nasdaq marks the end of wave (iii) of major wave B, it is possible that Dow has another missing wave, the wave 9 at this major turning point, similar to what had happened at the October 2007 market peak and March 2009 market bottom. In both cases, the fifth waves were missing when sentiment started to swing to the opposite side.

The Industrial Index of Bursa Malaysia may have completed its major wave B as shown below.

It is possible that the major wave C has started, if so, there is a 1000 points drop in front.

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Ekovest - head and shoulders

From Ashikaga Garden, Japan

The current pullback for Dow can either be mini wave ii of sub-wave 7 or it can be sub-wave 8 if it drops below 12,000.

At this moment, Pworth has a bullish wave count of (I)-(II), 1-2 and i-ii. Quite hard to believe that this is the reading at a time when Dow is about to end its major wave B, and I always believe when Dow started to plunge, the whole world will follow. Pworth has a medium term 'Double Bottoms' and a longer term 'Triple Bottoms' formation. A surge over 71 sens may bring it to the Rm1.00 level. Just wonder whether it has time to complete its pattern.

Ekovest looked rather bearish, it closed below its 'Head & Shoulders' neckline today. Once it started to pull away from the neckline, it is likely to drop to Rm 2.20 or below to complete its 'Head and Shoulders' journey down South.

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Wisteria

Dow continues with its sub-wave 7. The next pullback can be sub-wave 8 or the starting of mega wave C if sub-wave 9 is missing, the last minor wave can choose to disappear. Dow is at its last journey with no sign of turning so far. Any entry to the market at this level is a test of your judgement and luck.

My friend emailed to me some beautiful images of Wisteria



Wisteria flowers can be white, violet or blue, usually start to bloom in April and reaching full blossom in mid-May.


Wisteria is a woody, deciduous, perennial climbing vine. A plant native to China.

This plant can be trained into a tree-like shape, usually with a wavy trunk and a flattened top.

It can grow to 20 - 30 m long if it is well supported. The hanging clusters (racemes) can reach more than 40 cm in length.

The flowers on each raceme open simultaneously before the foliage has expanded. The flowers have a distinctive fragrance similar to that of grapes.

This is a fantastic shot

To read more about this plant click Wistaria Story

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Swan Lake

It is weekend again, just sit back and relax.
I love weekend.

Act I

Prince Siegfried arrives at his 21st birthday celebration on the palace courtyards to find all of the royal families and townspeople dancing and celebrating, while the young girls are anxiously seeking his attention.

During the exquisite celebration, his mother gives him crossbow and informs him that because he is of age now, his marriage will be quickly arranged.

Hit with the sudden realization of his future responsibilities, he takes his crossbow and makes haste to the woods with his hunting buddies.

Act 2

Prince Siegfried finds himself a peaceful spot by an enchanted lake where swans gently float across its surface. While Siegfried watches, he spots the most beautiful swan with a crown on its head.

As dusk falls, the swan with the crown turns into the most beautiful young woman he has ever seen. Her name is Odette, the Swan Queen. She informs the young prince that an evil sorcerer, Von Rothbart, who so happens to be disguised as Prince Siegfried’s mentor, has turned her and the other girls into swans and that the lake was formed by the tears of their parents' weeping.






The only way the spell could be broken is if a man, pure in heart, pledges his love to her. The Prince, about to confess his love for her, is quickly interrupted by the evil sorcerer. He takes Odette from Prince Siegfried’s embrace and commands all of the swan maidens to dance upon the lake and its shore so that the prince cannot chase them. Prince Siegfried is left all alone on the shore of Swan Lake.


Act 3

The next day at the formal celebration in the Royal Hall, Prince Siegfried is presented with many prospective princesses. Although the princesses are worthy of his attention, he cannot stop thinking about Odette.

His mother commands him to choose a bride, but he cannot. For the mean time, he satisfies his mother's request by at least dancing with them. While the prince is dancing, trumpets announce the arrival of Von Rothbart. He brings his daughter, Odile, on whom he has cast a spell to appear as Odette.

The prince is captivated by her beauty as he dances with the imposter. Unknown to Prince Siegfried, the true Odette is watching him from a window. The prince soon confesses his love to Odile, thinking that she is Odette. To Odette’s horror, she flees into the night.

Prince Siegfried sees the real Odette fleeing from the window and realizes his mistake. Upon his realization, Von Rothbart reveals to the prince the true appearance of his daughter Odile. Prince Siegfried quickly leaves the party and chases after Odette.

Act 4

Odette has fled back to the lake and joined the rest of the girls in sadness. Prince Siegfried finds them gathered at the shore consoling each other. He explains to Odette the trickery of Von Rothbart and she grants him her forgiveness.

It isn’t long before when Von Rothbart and Odile appear in their evil, un-human, somewhat bird like forms. Von Rothbart tells the prince that he must stick to his word and marry his daughter. A fight quickly follows. Prince Siegfried tells Von Rothbart that he would rather die with Odette than to marry Odile. He then takes Odette’s hand and together they jump into the lake.

The spell is broken and the remaining swans turn back into humans. They quickly drive Von Rothbart and Odile into the water where they, too, drown. The girls watch the spirits of Prince Siegfried and Odette ascend into the heavens above Swan Lake.



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