Indonesian Haze

Assalamualaikum,

Today marks the fourth consecutive days that schools are closed. Malaysia is plague by haze caused by Indonesia farmers. When the API (Air Pollution Index) hit 200, it is deemed dangerous & schools will be directed to close. The visibility over here is about 300-500m. I have not seen clear blue skies in maybe a month!

We had one of the worse case of haze in September when Singapore hit the 300 API mark. After that it subsided a bit and when we thought it was getting better, the smog hits us again. Flights are being delayed or cancelled. People are getting sick. My kids cannot play outside now, not even in the front lawn.

I wonder how does the people in the affected regions in Indonesia are surviving. Their API is above the 1500 mark! Seriously. It is sad and disturbing that one, they keep clearing their lands by lighting fires; two, these people who does this does not seem to care about other people's (esp children's) health; three, that there seem to be little done by their government. Even if the people lighting the fires are from companies owned by Malaysia or Singapore, then the Indonesian government should do something about these companies.

I watched a movie few days ago, that help me understand about Indonesia a bit. Corruption is a major problem over there. I'm assuming that there have to have some "under the table" activity going on over there...which is why these haze problem keep happening annually and that it keep getting worse and not better. Not blaming entirely on the Indonesian goverment, but more on the farmers & the people who started these wildfires.

The latest news is that people living in the hotspots Indonesia is breathing toxic gas & the air has become toxic yellow. And it now emits more carbon than the whole of the US. Unbelievable.

The great Southeast Asian haze of 2015: What you need to know

Let's pray to God that this will all pass and that perhaps we won't have the same issue again in the years to come. Amin.