State of Perpetual Haze

What’s a good topic to talk about everyday? Most people would rant about the weather, whether is too hot, too cold, too rainy, to dry etc. It would not fail as an ice breaker to start a conversation going on. And why not? Since it is a common factor to all living in the same locality. For the past 2 weeks, Malaysia has been besieged by the haze due to open burning from our neighbour. This situation has been happening for the past X years, and every time it happens, our elected government would make a big hoohaa regarding this. But it keeps repeating year in and year out..

Now the most followed after index is the Air Pollution Index next to the key bourses. The magic number is 300, where it would be declared as a state of emergency and everybody gets the day off. I pity those who have respiratory condition. Some of them have been reported to flee to other country where the smoke would not reach them and vow only to return once it cleared.

For me, I’m seething to the point that smoke is coming out of my ears – better not as it will worsen the haze – but I definitely feel something had to be done. We are inhaling secondhand smoke people! Maybe our CSI could get the sample of the haze, synthesize them and know where exactly they came from, and slap them with a big fine that they’ll think 100X to commit open burning. Some radical suggestion is that we nuke them to kingdom come, but since we’re so close with them the radioactive fall out would affect us as well. Others would be erecting giant fans and blow the smoke back where they came from.

It goes to show that all our actions have consequences, even though it would be minute and far away from us, it might become major and closer to somebody else.