Another Craze

Ok this is not my craze but it IS crazy. The haze is back. I repeat, be on your guards, haze is back. I said haze, not Hazel.

Every year or so this condition reoccurs and though every year it will clear, one tends to wonder why it reoccurs. Does noone in authority take more drastic action to prevent this from happening. The newspapers alerts the most hazardous areas to be plagued and the government close down schools in that area. And after some time we happily breathe fresh air again as the haze thins down. But another year rolls by and it comes, yet again. One wonders why.

I guess our government cannot be blame. You can't control what other people do in other people's country. You can only complain. Lately, star reports the condition of haze in Malaysia. In fact the current API (air pollution index) as stated by the Department of Environ is:

NEGERI / STATE	KAWASAN/AREA	MASA / TIME 11.00 am	MASA/TIME 5.00 pm
PERLIS	Kangar	29*	38c
KEDAH	Langkawi	48*	49*
	Alor Setar	32c	70c
	Bakar Arang, Sg. Petani	40*	64c
P.PINANG	USM	36c	56c
	ILP, Perai	53*	60*
	Seberang Jaya 2, Perai	55*	65c
PERAK	Jalan Tasek, Ipoh	40*	54c
	S K Jalan Pegoh, Ipoh	35*	51*
	Kg. Air Putih, Taiping	40*	52*
	Seri Manjung	63*	76*
	Tanjung Malim	56*	67*
SELANGOR	Gombak	72*	84*
	Pelabuhan Kelang	62*	70*
	Petaling Jaya	72*	82*
	Country Heights, Kajang	80*	89*
	Shah Alam	73*	84*
	Kuala Selangor	83*	97*
W.PERSEKUTUAN	Kuala Lumpur	77*	87*
	Putrajaya	83*	90*
	Labuan	88*	78*
N.SEMBILAN	Nilai	109*	116*
	Seremban	107*	106*
MELAKA	Bukit Rambai	100*	101*
	Bandaraya MELAKA	91*	91*
JOHOR	Pasir Gudang	50*	51*
	Larkin	59*	58*
	Muar	92*	95*
	Johor Bahru	66*	65*
KELANTAN	Pengkalan Chepa	47*	49*
	M.Sult.Ismail, K.Bharu	27*	30c
TERENGGANU	Kemaman	67*	69*
	Paka	51*	54*
	Kuala Terengganu	48*	53*
PAHANG	Jerantut	33*	50c
	Indera Mahkota, Kuantan	59*	64*
	Balok Baru, Kuantan	77*	78*
SARAWAK	Kuching	171*	186*
	Sibu	135*	148*
	Bintulu	123*	116*
	Miri	103*	89*
	Sarikei	136*	156*
	Limbang	92*	81*
	Samarahan	177*	191*
	Sri Aman	167*	182*
	Kapit	99*	100*
	Petra Jaya	187*	213*
SABAH	Kota Kinabalu	78*	71*
	Tawau	133*	117*
	Keningau	80*	75*
	Sandakan	70*	69*

Keterangan / Explanation

Taksiran IPU API Indication	Bilangan Kawasan Number of Areas 11.00 am	Bilangan Kawasan Number of Areas 5.00 pm
0-50 Baik /Good	13	5
51-100 Sederhana / Moderate	27	35
101-200 Tidak Sihat /Unhealthy	11	10
201-300 Sangat Tidak Sihat /Very Unhealthy	0	1
>301 Berbahaya /Hazardous	0	0

Looks like Sarawak got hit the worst this time. Take a wild guess where the smoke must be coming from this time. Seremban has reached an unhealthy level as of today.

I took this picture this morning. Almost 9am while at a traffic juntion. It looks worst than it actually is cos well my PDA camera is not that canggih and that I took it through tinted glass. Looks a lot scarier than it actually is. Think this picture pass for some doomsday horror flick?

Final note of caution to Malaysias: drink more water, stay indoors. Sigh* I cant keep up my weekly jogging stint. I actually managed to keep it up for a month now, or more, every week.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On another note, I found that Seremban is not that invinsible after all. It is recognized on Wikipedia - a free comprehensive online encyclopedia, and with updates on the town and development as well. Not bad i would say. Muahah... Seremban is no longer dead nor unheard of. There used to be once when people would reply "Where? Melaka ah?" when told of Seremban. We'd need to say "No, half hour from Port Dickson." Despite many comments to Seremban being dead, I'm still a big supporter of this town. How many towns you know where people flock back from KL (where they work) every weekend.

In Secondary School, I wrote an essay about Seremban entitled "The Blooming Fu Yong". If you don't know yet, Fu Yong is a small blooming flower, the name given to Seremban by Chinese people. Of course, most of what I said then is no longer applicable with the sudden bloom and development of the town. The jams, and the major makeover. But as Joshua once put it, "it's neither city nor village - something awkwardly in between."

You gotta appreciate that.