School visits palm oil estate after furore over 'anti-palm oil' play

The International School @ Park City said its students had an enjoyable field trip to Sime Darby's Palm Oil Experience Centre and palm oil plantation in Pulau Carey on Wednesday.

The same school had once drawn the ire of Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok after its students staged a performance that is said to put the palm oil industry in a bad light.

"Secondary student leaders had an informative and enjoyable day at the Sime Darby Pulau Carey plantation and their new experience centre," read the school in its website and social media handles.

When contacted, the school's spokesperson said it has no further comment on the trip.

Meanwhile, Kok (below) told Malaysiakini that she is pleased by the visit.

"It is most gratifying to read that the teachers and students of the international school paid a visit to the Sime Darby Oil Palm Plantation.

"The visit is the aftermath of the controversial anti-palm oil and 'Rangtan' (the video 'Rang-Tan' produced by the NGO Greenpeace) fiasco sparked by my criticism against the school on July 19," she said.

"I am also very pleased with the effort taken by the school in bringing their students to visit the palm oil estate," she said.

She encouraged the people to pass judgement only after learning the truth behind the issue.

"This is the testament that the school management is conscious of the need for their students to see and judge for themselves, first hand, the real aspects of the palm oil industry and not to fall for negative propaganda by certain irresponsible elements," she said.

She urged other international schools to follow suit.

Students queried palm oil's sustainability

Palm Oil Experience Centre is an educational hub that set up by Sime Darby Plantation Bhd to promote awareness about palm oil and counter negative perception levelled against the commodity.

Sime Darby Plantation Bhd also posted the images of some 30 students and their teachers, together with the school principal, visiting the education centre and the estate.

The company said the students had raised questions on sustainability issues during their trip and got some answers in return.

In July, Kok had criticised the school's performance where schoolchildren claimed that the planting of oil palm trees has led to deforestation and killed up to 3,000 orangutans annually.

During the performance, Greenpeace's video "Rang-tan" was also played.

Kok had urged the headmaster and teachers to stop emulating European countries.

The Educations Ministry had said it would take action against the school for sowing anti-palm oil sentiment.

Kok and the school's senior managment then met on July 5, where the school apologised over the incident.

Malaysia is sufferring from massive palm oil stockpiles and plunging of palm oil prices. This is aggrevated European Union's move to phase out palm-oil based biodiesel by 2030 over environmental concerns.

The government has launched the "Love My Palm Oil" campaign to promote the sale commodity and dispel negative perception caused by the anti-palm oil movement. - Mkini