Forthnights

'Haze'ardous

The haze has finally lifted! And what a sight of relief it has been, all of us finally getting a breather. For the past week, there has been a cloud of haze that swept over the entire Klang Vallley. The cause of it? Forest/Open burning from Sumatra. The funny thing it, no one is sure if the fire is natural, or as widely speculated, an illegal act from people. Just to give you a rough idea of what it was like. By Thursday, the haze was so thich, visibility dropped to 150m! From our place, the usual view of KLCC and KL Tower was totally gone, replace by a blanked of white smoke. Even staying in-doors, you could see the smoke across the room. Breathing was difficult. Mask sold like hot cakes, and very soon, everyone was wearing them, If you thought the last haze a few years ago was bad, this was just plain horrible. With everywhere being covered with mist of smoke, people wearing mask, you'd think there was some kind of chemical attack or the world has fowarded to the next century with the polution beyond any rescue.

By Thursday also, a state of emergency was declared in Klang and Kuala Selangor, where the haze was the worst. All schools, universities, outdoor activities were cancelled. People were discouraged from using their cars and going out. Back in Indonesia, there was a push to quickly pass the law proposed last year for the death sentence fot those who created forest fires. 2 Ministers went to Indonesia to help, and the Malaysian government sent some help to put out the fires in Sumatra

Today, though the haze hasnt totally gone, at least you can see the sky. Once again, i realise another thing we take for granted constantly. The simple and unassuming sky. Just being able to see the clear blue above now seems a blessing. I'll be sure to appreciate it more from now on.

posted by Compulsive Blogger @ 11:56 pm Comments: 0