HAZE

Woohoo! It is that time of the year again when the blasted haze makes its presence felt the strongest. The Star newspaper reported on Sept 30 that the number of hotspots in Sumatra is now in the region of 332.

The report says that these hotspots are "widespread open burning" and "Indonesia's Forestry Minister M.S. Kaban was quoted as saying that the number of hotspots in the provinces was already on the rise as the country entered the peak season for land-clearing activities."

As you would have noted from the WOOHOOO! -- I was being sarcastic. It is sickening to me that we in Malaysia are constinuously forced to endure the haze year in and year out. And, of course, an apology will be forthcoming from the Indonesian government soon for having caused the haze.

How long more must the newborns and the elderly and our parents and siblings in Malaysia endure the haze. Are we really amused at all that helpless infants and the elderly are inhaling haze to the equivalent of smoking umpteen packets of cigarettes a day? Through no fault of theirs?

Oh, and I have heard people say, "But, the companies behind the burnings are sometimes owned by Malaysians."
My response has always been, "So what?!" It does not matter where the companies/owners come from -- it is where they are committing the "crime" that matters. I am sure that Malaysians are not going to tolerate foreigners coming to our land and burning forests and slowly killing our people with the resulting pollutants. So, why should the Indonesians? Is their system of governance really that weak?