THE natural rubber industry, which was once the darling of the nation’s economy, is struggling to cope. The situation is especially critical in the upstream sector, according to a recent letter by the Malaysian Rubber Board, “Leading in rubber research” (The Star, Jan 6), which said that funding for research and development, a significant life support, is drying up.
I remember when I worked for the Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia (RRIM) in the 1970s and 1980s that research projects then were mainly funded by industry contribution through cess collection. But as production declined, mostly because of the shift to oil palm by the big companies, RRIM had to seek funds from the government. As years went by, the cess collection continued to dwindle, further eroding the ability of the institute to sustain its research efforts.
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