A few weeks ago, I complained about the haze was sucking the life out of me. (Or rather, choking me up.)
Last week, the skies finally cleared up. The buildings were not covered with a misty grey layer. I could actually see the edges of the buildings and the actual colours. On Threads, Malaysians gleefully shared panoramic shots of blue skies and city skylines, free from misty, toxic haze at last.
So, I put on my sneakers and went for a walk, the first time in three months. The air did not smell gritty. My nose did not react with a tickle or a sneeze. It felt normal. The air did not smell of soot at last!
On that day, in my area, the AQI was 70. Still unhealthy, but not catastrophically unhealthy, like nearly 180 a few weeks ago.
Last Sunday morning, I resumed my weekend walks around my neighbourhood’s park. Ah, walking around the lake, grabbing a sourdough sandwich and a cup of coffee, seeing people exercise, spotting the occasional crane, monkey, beaver or monkey was such a delight. I felt life finally returning to my bones.
Indonesia burning: A decades-long problem
Now, let’s talk about the Southeast Asian haze crisis.
If you are not aware, Southeast Asia (namely Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and even the Philippines) has been and is currently blanketed by haze coming from forest burning in parts of Indonesia.
When it started back in August, the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, did not suffer from the haze. But karma is a bitch, and now the winds have blown the terrible pollution back to Jakarta. Social media posts by Jakarta folks complaining about the haze were met with scoffs from Malaysians and Singaporeans who have borne the brunt of the haze for months.
“Appreciate this because we had it for three months. Now we’ve given it back to you!” Basically, the mocking comments said that they shouldn’t be snowflakes and just endure what they went through for the last three months. When Indonesians posted on Threads that they’re protesting, many reacted with caustic replies: “You only protested when the haze came to Jakarta!”
But the truth is, protests on the streets have been going on for months. Many Indonesians are not just protesting the cost of living crisis, but the haze that is currently choking their children.
Something is terribly wrong in Indonesia. The economy is melting. Forests are burning. Even the volcanoes are reacting in fury.
I read a Threads post about an Indonesian woman who was driving Grab. She’s from Indonesia, and she told her passenger that her husband had died due to an asthma attack because he was based in Kalimantan, and now she had to drive a Grab to keep her family of two alive. Sigh.
As a Malaysian, I admit that for the first few weeks I was deeply furious at the inaction of the Indonesian government. I mean, how would you like it if you had to live and breathe in this for months?
However, I also empathise with the citizens because Malaysians understand how it feels to be saddled with a government that isn’t effective in taking care of people, and at being helpless in the face of the blatant corruption that you see. We too have inept officials spouting enraging things. (One Indonesian minister said Malaysians and Singaporeans should be grateful because Indonesian forests also give us oxygen, and that made a lot of people in Southeast Asia mad, predictably.)
Even the warm “Seablings” moniker Southeast Asians call each other took a beating. “Don’t use Seablings anymore. We are not SEAblings!” some shout.
To add to the confusion, there is evidence that paid actors are being given money to stir up trouble. These “buzzers” spread misinformation, post inflammatory posts and attack anyone for talking ill of the Indonesian government.
Seeing all this chaos online further cements my belief that social media is really a bane. It only shows you what you want to see, and it amplifies content that enrages you. Just get off Twitter and Threads already, SEAblings.
Is ASEAN toothless?
Sometimes I do feel frustrated at ASEAN. While it is one of the most successful political bodies in the world, it is effective because we don’t interfere in the affairs of each other’s countries. There’s a lot of “tolak ansur” (give and take) between the members to keep things peaceful.
However, at times like this, I really do feel very frustrated that ASEAN is not doing something more forceful. But that’s diplomacy for you. It’s delicate and difficult to navigate, especially if not all countries are on the same wavelength. But we have avoided wars for a reason, and I firmly believe it is because of this strict non-interference that ASEAN practises.
But still, having to endure the haze for months on end was torture. We’ve endured haze yearly, but it has always been bearable. And sometimes, I can even ignore it.
But this year’s haze was apocalyptic, and lasted longer than the one we endured in 1997, when they actually asked us to keep our pets indoors because it was going to kill them if we kept them outside.
Will this repeat again? Probably.
The truth is, these forest fires were not natural occurrences; they were purposely set on fire by companies that were clearing the land to plant oil palm.
So, what can ASEAN do next? I just have a feeling that nothing is going to be done. But with Singapore involved and having suffered one of the worst impacts, it is kicking up a fuss.
Malaysia, however, prefers to keep things low-key and not make loud proclamations, but who knows what kinds of negotiations are going on behind the scenes?
Anyway, to complicate things even further, firms in Singapore and Malaysia are said to be also responsible for the slash-and-burn practices in Indonesia. So, Indonesia is saying: You guys deal with them! And Singapore and Malaysia snaps back: These companies are doing this on your land. You deal with them!
Some say the majority of companies involved in the slash-and-burn practices are Indonesia and only a handful of companies in Singapore and Malaysia are doing this. Greenpeace says there are [more than a handful](https://www.greenpeace.org/malaysia/press/84676/malaysian-and-singaporean-in-top-20-entities-linked-to-fires-in-indonesia/. Whatever it is, we don’t really know as Indonesia isn’t releasing the full names of the companies, only the initials of the companies.
Meanwhile, Malaysia has denied that any Malaysian companies were involved in the slash-and-burn activities.
It is a mess.
There are limits to what Singapore and Malaysia can do. We can stomp our feet, but short of invading the country with fire hoses, we can’t really do anything, and that’s the main frustration about this situation.
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