| Yang Berhormat (YB) Fuziah Salleh |
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|---|---|
| Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Kuantan, Pahang |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2008 |
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| Preceded by | Datuk Fu Ah Kiow |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 13, 1959 Johor, Malaysia |
| Political party | People's Justice Party (PKR) – Pakatan Rakyat |
| Spouse(s) | Dr. Russly bin Abd Rahman |
| Children | 2 sons and 4 daughters |
| Occupation | Member of Parliament |
| Religion | Islam |
| Website | http://fuziahsalleh.my/ |
Fuziah Salleh (transcription into Chinese characters: 傅芝雅), born on 13th July 1959, is a Malaysian politician and is currently the Member of Parliament for Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia. Fuziah has been elected to Parliament in the Malaysian General Election held in March 2008[1], defeating the incumbent Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Fu Ah Kiow from Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), one of the major component parties of the Barisan Nasional (BN) ruling coalition. Presently, Fuziah is the elected National Vice President and Kuantan Division Chief of People's Justice Party (PKR) in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposition coalition.
Before entering politics, Fuziah was a corporate trainer and training consultant for multinationals, corporate institutions and NGOs in the area of human resource development and women’s empowerment. She is experienced in counselling various interest groups in both the United Kingdom (UK) and Malaysia, ranging from youth, students, married couples, and women involved in domestic violence. In the mid-90s, she was attached to a state government institution as a counsellor and was also responsible for setting up a voluntary counselling unit, which is named Unit Kaunseling Islah JIM (1993) where she later became the advisor and trainer for the volunteers there.
Born in the state of Johor, Fuziah grew up in Pahang, where she received her early and secondary education at Methodist Girls’ School in Kuantan. She graduated in Counselling Psychology from University of Reading, and later completed her Master of Business Administration (MBA) from University of Wales, both in the UK.
Fuziah is married to Dr. Russly bin Abd Rahman with six children and six grandchildren.
Contents |
| Year | Opposition | Votes | Pct | Barisan Nasional | Votes | Pct | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Fuziah Salleh (PKR) | 12,177 | 36% | Fu Ah Kiow (MCA) | 21,324 | 63% | ||
| 2008 | Fuziah Salleh (PKR) | 18,398 | 52% | Fu Ah Kiow (MCA) | 16,572 | 47% |
Fuziah Salleh has spearheaded the “Stop Rare Earth Refinery” campaign in Kuantan after being elected as Member of Parliament for Kuantan in 2008. Fuziah first parliamentary speech to raise concern over the risks of having Lynas Advance Materials Plant (LAMP) project in Gebeng, Kuantan, Malaysia was on 18th November 2008[3].
“Concerned Citizen of Kuantan” is a civil society group initiated by Fuziah and her PKR Kuantan team in 2008 to discuss the LAMP issues and to distribute leaflets in creating public awareness about the hazardous rare earth refinery. The awareness campaign organized between 2008 and 2010 was taxing with limited organizations and individuals willing to render assistance. Also, only the local Chinese media picked up the LAMP issues, while both the English and Malay media didn’t. In 2009, Fuziah’s team managed to get media coverage of the LAMP problems in Kuantan via the Malaysian television channels, both the NTV7’s [4][5][6]and the TV2’s[7] Mandarin programs.
In early March 2011, public awareness has been heightened by the articles on Lynas’ project published in the New York Times[8][9][10], which was also under the initiative of Fuziah’s PKR Kuantan team. At the same time, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster has sent a timely wake-up call to the Malaysian people about the risks of radioactive exposure. Since then, the “Stop Rare Earth Refinery” campaign has started to gain momentum.
“Concerned Citizen of Kuantan” initiated by Fuziah and her PKR Kuantan team has then gradually evolved into a bigger civil society group. i.e. “Save Malaysia! Stop Lynas”. “Save Malaysia! Stop Lynas” was loosely formed with the first 10 committee including the chairperson were appointed by Fuziah’s PKR Kuantan assistants in March 2011. Fuziah’s passed her research team and all the necessarily contacts to “Save Malaysia! Stop Lynas” committee with the agreement that all “Stop Rare Earth Refinery” NGOs, activists, professionals and experts to work together, and under the umbrella of Kuantan MP YB Fuziah Salleh. Then the “BADAR”, professional bodies, other stop rare earth refinery volunteers and NGOs also come into sight in stages.
Fuziah has led local residents and environmentalists in petition collecting, PicBadging, leafleting, briefing and a civil protest movement[11][12][13] [14][15]against the LAMP in Gebeng, Kuantan that they say will be a source of radiation pollution. The alternate media have played a significant role in keeping more people informed about the hazardous LAMP. Particularly The Malaysian Insider has been very supportive to Fuziah and the Stop Rare Earth Refinery campaign in Kuantan.
On 2nd May 2011, Fuziah presented the Lynas rare earth refinery case study that has far-reaching consequences on Kuantan communities’ civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, as well as the environment at the ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN Peoples’ Forum in Jakarta, Indonesia.
In May 2011, the LAMP issues have started to attract more attentions from both the local and the international media – especially both Al-Jazeera 101 East[16] and Australian Network Newsline[17] broadcasted their programs observing the present predicament of Kuantan’s people over Lynas. This followed by the local television channel NTV7 Siasat Mandarin[18][19], which aired the updated LAMP issues on 9th June 2011 with Malay subtitle.
In July 2011, Fuziah has also stepped up the campaign in Europe trying to stop Lynas rare earth refinery plant from operating in Malaysia, after completed her dialogue on ASEAN Women Leaders with European partners.
The federal government of Malaysia has bowed to public pressure in April 2011[20] and brought in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to conduct a month-long review by a team of 9 international experts[21], which was concluded on 28th June 2011. The review led by the IAEA panel put forward 11 recommendations for Lynas to meet before beginning operations which have been adopted by Putrajaya[22].
Despite the potential hazards, the Malaysian government is eager for investment by Lynas, even offering a 12-year tax holiday. Fuziah, local residents[23], environmentalist and the professional bodies such Malaysian Medical Association and Malaysian Bar Council have questioned the credibility of the IAEA review[24][25]. They have called for the LAMP to be scrapped[26][27] by pointing out the IAEA review panel didn’t include the medical experts and the IAEA report doesn’t assure LAMP is safe. Also, neither the long-term waste management nor the possible contamination of surface water and atmosphere by radioactive waste material were addressed in the radiological impact assessment (RIA) report. These worries have been further spurred by the New York Times article dated 29th June 2011[28], reporting the rare earth refinery plant near Kuantan may have serious construction defects, with memos, e-mail messages and photos from Lynas and its contractors provided to the journalist by the engineers who worked at the LAMP. However, Putrajaya dismissed offhand this New York Times report without probing, and such flippant attitude of the Najib administration was slammed by Fuziah[29].
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