Things are rather hazy

By A. Kathirasen (NST)

Before someone interprets that as a comment on the current political atmosphere, let me assure you I am not talking about politics.

I'm not saying it isn't true, mind you, just that I'm not talking about politics.

For one thing, in politics, you often miss the forest for the trees. Right now, I would be happy if I can continue to see the trees, never mind the forest.

The annual Haze Dance is here. The Department of Environment reported on Friday that air quality readings in Cheras and Port Klang — with the Air Pollutant Index (API) at 107 and 138 respectively — had crossed into the "unhealthy" range.

The API readings indicated that other areas might cross into the unhealthy range of between 101 and 200 soon. At 9am on Friday, visibility in Petaling Jaya was down to 2km but improved to 5km by noon. Visibility at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport was at 4km at noon.

I'm hoping I won't have to see again ranks of masked schoolchildren huddled in closed classrooms, gleeful that lesson plans had gone awry. I'm hoping I won't have to pass someone wearing a face mask nodding at me, and wonder, like those guys in the Lone Ranger movies: "Who's that masked man?"

I'm hoping I won't have to queue up with the long line of people seeking treatment from the harassed but happy doctor at the private clinic or the harassed but unhappy houseman in the government hospital.

The nation has enough on its health plate, what with the continued refusal of the dengue-causing Aedes aegypti mosquito to practise family planning, and the spread of the influenza A (H1N1) virus, which is making life difficult for those who, like me, prefer proper names to alphabets and numbers.

Are the authorities prepared?

I'd say they have mastered the Haze Dance: Tell the public to stop open burning, warn them of stern action, announce that the authorities are in contact with Indonesian officials, get the media to highlight one or two culprits who have the bad luck to being caught in the act of open burning, get a VIP to go up Menara Kuala Lumpur or the Petronas Twin Towers to peer out at the great nothingness and assure citizens that action is being taken.

If that doesn't work, stop making the API readings public.

An indication of how prepared the authorities are can be gleaned from a statement issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on June 9.

It said the ministry hoped to be ready for any eventualities, including the haze and that the "National Haze Committee and the relevant agencies have been directed to prepare for any eventualities". The keywords are "hoped" and "to prepare".

Every time the haze descends, Malaysian voices rise against the perceived cloudy judgments and inaction of the authorities. This, too, is part of the annual Haze Dance. As is today's column.

Why, they ask, does the government handle Jakarta with kid gloves if open burning in Indonesia is the main cause of the haze.

Why, they ask, does the DOE not smoke out those responsible for open burning every day of the year, instead of acting only after the haze appears?

I should think these are legitimate questions, considering the declaration of a state of emergency in Sarawak on Sept 19,1997 when API readings there shot beyond the 650 mark. Any reading above 650 means the air is hazardous to health.

Official figures show that more than 25,890 people in Sarawak sought treatment for respiratory complications and conjunctivitis.

In Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, the figure reached 14,000.

The authorities will say that people are not cooperating; that they continue to burn rubbish in the open.

That's true.

But I think that's because they can only see the small picture; they can only see one tree burning.

The authorities, on the other hand, with their sophisticated surveillance technology, should be able to see the bigger picture.

They should be able to see the forest burning, not just the trees, and act accordingly.

Unless, of course, the haze has blocked their view.