Kuala Lumpur, 2 September 2026 — The Artivist Network, Greenpeace Malaysia, Monitoring Sustainability of Globalisation (MSN), and Rimbawatch staged a flashmob in front of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre this morning, timed to coincide with the opening of Oil & Gas Asia (OGA) 2026, the region’s largest oil, gas, and petrochemical trade exhibition. This year, OGA boasts the theme “Powering Progress, Shaping Tomorrow.”

The performance in front of the convention center used references to wayang kulit styles. A figure in a suit is seen eating chunks of the earth, mushroom clouds appearing, symbolising explosions from gas pipelines. A woman’s voice interrupts the destruction to say, “Oi! Oi! Oi! Amboi… Sedapnya! Kenapa bercerita tanpa buka panggung? Lepas tu? Pak Dogol dekat mana?” The character Pak Dogol appears to take up space with people dressed in diverse traditional clothing, dancing, pushing the suited figure away and undoing the destruction on the earth figures. The demonstration ends with a large, loud, long fart released by Pak Dogol to shoo the suit away.

With the creative action, the coalition of allies are calling for:

  • No expansion of gas projects.
  • Review, monitor, and investigate current infrastructures and accidents.
  • Less greenwashing with false solutions
  • More accessible reporting and reporting mechanisms.
  • More consultations with the people before and throughout the implementation of gas projects.

Cheryl Yesudas, Regional Campaigner of the Artivist Network said:
“This peaceful demonstration intends to break wind towards the winds of change in the secrecy and mystery of the gas industry in Malaysia. The National Energy Transition Roadmap shows the way towards green transitions of phasing out of coal, but gas is seen as the transition fuel which is counterproductive to the climate. The environmental groups and Malaysian residents call for the commitment to the research of renewable energy sources and implementing them to power Malaysia instead of all this hot air.”

Why Oil & Gas Asia matters to ordinary Malaysians

Oil & Gas Asia brings together thousands of industry professionals, procurement decision-makers, and executives from across the globe to strike deals, sign contracts, and set the direction of the region’s energy industry. Largely, these negotiations happen almost entirely behind closed doors, among a small circle of corporate executives, government officials, and investors.

The communities living nearest to gas plants, pipelines, and Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminals, and the workers and households who ultimately pay the price through environmental harm, health risks, and rising energy bills, are rarely, if ever, in the room. The organising groups point out the core problem: decisions with nationwide consequences are being made by a small percentage of people, for the rest of the country, without transparency and minimal consultation.

This flashmob was also staged with the objective to express solidarity with communities in Thailand, who will face a similar reckoning when the Gastech Exhibition and Conference, the world’s largest gas and LNG exhibition, opens in Bangkok from 14 to 17 September 2026. Thailand and Asia Pacific communities are being treated in the same manner as their Malaysian counterparts: as an afterthought in a multinational bidding process that determines the fate of their environment and livelihoods without their input.

The information gap

Access to information on Malaysia’s gas industry remains severely limited. Companies and regulators are rarely required to disclose the details of contracts, environmental assessments, or community impact data unless they choose to, and when disclosures do happen, the language and format are often too technical or fragmented for the public to meaningfully engage with. This runs counter to the principles of Free, Complete, Informed and Prior (FCIP) disclosure, which hold that communities have a right to clear, timely, and complete information about developments that affect them, before those developments proceed. As highlighted in the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAPBHR), communities are to be given a full disclosure on the safety zones, Environmental Impact Assessment in order to make an informed decision.

There has been political will to move the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act forward, and the groups welcome this progress; criticism of the current draft bill remains as it is still very restrictive to the freedom of expression in Malaysia. With the insertion of clauses where Official Secrets Act (OSA) superseding the spirit of the FOI Act itself to accord the rights to access information among people. Instead, it further solidified the culture of secrecy among government officials. Once passed, FOI will not cover corporations or private companies since it is only specified only for public bodies. This leaves a critical gap: the private companies driving gas expansion, negotiating contracts, and winning bids at events like OGA and Gastech will remain outside the law’s reach.

Apart from that, there is still a lack of accountability in the terms of monitoring, and mitigation as well as safety standards on national level of safety, ending up for communities to be left stranded/stunned in the case where an accident occurs. In ensuring the corporation that is driving this expansion to be held accountable, authorities such as the Energy Commission, should play the role to oversee the process in ensuring prioritising and safeguarding the communities and environment.

In practice, this means civil society and the public are still left with no direct route to real information about industry decisions, and must instead rely on publicly disclosed information on corporations or government agency websites and parliamentary questions as one of the only ways to access some measure of energy democracy. There is no transparency and limited separation between State and corporate interests, leaving no independent oversight. Information on tender specifications, background of the bidders, and the parameters for the decision-making for any contracts should be made available for the benefit and safety of the public.

Greenpeace Malaysia Climate and Energy Campaigner Hamizah Shamsudeen said:
“It is imperative that gas industry data, including contracts, environmental assessments, and community impact reports, be made accessible by default, published in clear formats, and paired with genuine consultation with affected communities before, not after, decisions are made. Powering progress must include the people as stakeholders instead of shaping tomorrow without a more transparent and democratic process.”

A gassy picnic at the park

In conjunction with the oil and gas conferences, the Artivist Network, Greenpeace Malaysia, MSN, and Rimbawatch welcomes the public to join them for an open picnic with learning sessions about gas and other false solutions at 10:30AM at a park in Kuala Lumpur. More information is available upon registration at this link.

About the Organisers

  • Artivism Network is a collective of arts-activists and facilitators who support the movements in strategically engaging creativity and arts-organising to create change. https://www.artivistnetwork.org
  • Greenpeace Malaysia is part of Greenpeace, an independent global campaigning organisation that acts to protect the environment through research, advocacy, public mobilisation, and non-violent peaceful action. https://www.greenpeace.org/malaysia/
  • RimbaWatch is an environmental think-tank conducting research and advocacy on climate-related issues in the Maritime Southeast Asian region. rimbawatchmy.com
  • Monitoring Sustainability of Globalisation (MSN) is a research based advocacy organisation focusing on trade, labour and water issues in the country and the region. The organisation provides research and advocacy support to trade unions, labor groups in the region, besides working with parliamentarians, media, activists and policy makers. https://msglobalisation.blogspot.com/