In 1997 Malaysians were assaulted by a phenomena unknown previously -
the HAZE... no..it aint a horror movie nor was it a Stephen King novella of
some ungodly attack by monsters hiding in the haze.
It was mankind at his worst, pure and simple. An un-wanton destruction of
nature for ease of profits and an uncaring attitude towards the environment.
This time however the magnitude of the destruction was such that the an entire
region of the planet was engulfed by smoke from the burning of tropical forests
in Sumatera and neighboring zones in Indonesia.
Malaysia being the caring and sometimes unrealistic neighbor sent help as never
seen before. Men and equipment to fight these fires even at the cost of lives
and money unaccounted till now, all in the name of ASEAN brotherhood.
So, what have the Indonesians done since then?
Eermm....hurmmm....eerrrr...lemme see...
Yes siree, thats right! Nada! Nyet! Zilch! Langsung tiada!
Am i exaggerating? Well go look out of your window today then! by the way folks
its September 2015 and in 1997 it was about this time of the month too...
Rhetorics aplenty! Promises a zillion on what, when, how that government is
going to tackle and stop this yearly nuisance!
Nuisance?? Hmmm....to us ordinary people...but in reality a medical hazard, an
ecological catastrophe, an extinction event for some creatures and a list that
can go on and on..none of which is good.
Jokowi said last week at Palembang, Sumatera that everyone know what needs to
be done to stop this fires from causing such misery to everyone. Kudos to
Jokowi as he had also extended the Moratorium on land that cannot be touched
for deforestation. While Mr Jokowi must be commended for his tough talk
which i believe will carry some weight, i cannot but be amused at his Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya.
She was on her way back to Indonesia to join Jokowi after cutting short an
official trip to Norway on climate change talks! Duh..... charity begins at
home laa Kak...
So, come August, September every year, Malaysia, Singapore gets a
very unwelcome visitor via the southerly winds from Sumatera...get
out your face masks folks, its that time of the year again!
Abdul Aziz Wahab
It was mankind at his worst, pure and simple. An un-wanton destruction of nature for ease of profits and an uncaring attitude towards the environment. This time however the magnitude of the destruction was such that the an entire region of the planet was engulfed by smoke from the burning of tropical forests in Sumatera and neighboring zones in Indonesia.
Malaysia being the caring and sometimes unrealistic neighbor sent help as never seen before. Men and equipment to fight these fires even at the cost of lives and money unaccounted till now, all in the name of ASEAN brotherhood.
So, what have the Indonesians done since then? Eermm....hurmmm....eerrrr...lemme see...
Yes siree, thats right! Nada! Nyet! Zilch! Langsung tiada!
Am i exaggerating? Well go look out of your window today then! by the way folks its September 2015 and in 1997 it was about this time of the month too...
Rhetorics aplenty! Promises a zillion on what, when, how that government is going to tackle and stop this yearly nuisance!
Nuisance?? Hmmm....to us ordinary people...but in reality a medical hazard, an ecological catastrophe, an extinction event for some creatures and a list that can go on and on..none of which is good.
Jokowi said last week at Palembang, Sumatera that everyone know what needs to be done to stop this fires from causing such misery to everyone. Kudos to Jokowi as he had also extended the Moratorium on land that cannot be touched for deforestation. While Mr Jokowi must be commended for his tough talk which i believe will carry some weight, i cannot but be amused at his Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya.
She was on her way back to Indonesia to join Jokowi after cutting short an official trip to Norway on climate change talks! Duh..... charity begins at home laa Kak...
Abdul Aziz Wahab
