‘Plastic Man’
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia will go to the polls on November 19 in what is set to be a highly competitive race between three major coalitions led by incumbent Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, long-time Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, and former premier Muhyiddin Yassin. No single coalition is expected to win a simple majority in parliament, which is needed to form a government, as the votes are set to be split more than ever before among the three blocs and numerous other smaller parties.
■ Incumbent Ismail is the prime ministerial candidate for the Barisan Nasional coalition, which has won all but one election in Malaysia’s history.
■ He only served as premier for 14 months, before a power struggle forced him to call for early polls.
Ismail faces the difficult task of convincing Malaysians to vote for Barisan despite corruption charges against some of its leaders.
■ Former Barisan leader and ex-premier Najib Razak is in jail for the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB graft scandal, which cost the coalition the election in 2018.
■ Ismail is part of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) political party, which leads Barisan and prioritises interests of the dominant ethnic-Malay community in multi-ethnic, Muslim-majority Malaysia.
DAKAR, Senegal — On a beach in Senegal with so much plastic trash that much of the sand is covered, one man is trying to raise awareness about the dangers of plastics—by wearing many of the bags, cups and other junk that might just as soon be part of trash piles.
Environmental activist Modou Fall, who many simply call “Plastic Man,” wears his uniform — “it’s not a costume,” he emphasizes — while telling anybody who will listen about the problems of plastics. As he walks, strands and chunks of plastic dangle from his arms and legs, rustling in the wind while some drags on the ground. On Fall’s chest, poking out from the plastics, is a sign in French that says, “No to plastic bags.”
A former soldier, the 49-year-old father of three children says that plastic pollution, often excessive from people who chuck things wherever without a second thought, is an ecological disaster.
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