Cover Your Mouth When You...Breathe?

At just shy of two months in Kuala Lumpur, I already have a few simple pleasures. I love my balcony that overlooks the leafy green suburb of Ukay Heights with a backdrop of the entire KL skyline. I love my sweaty but refreshing runs and discovering new routes in my new neighborhood. And I love dropping in to the French Bakery (that's it's name) for almond croissants on Saturday morning and picking up my bread for the week.

At present I am enjoying none of those things. Well, I am still frequenting the French Bakery but the walk there leaves me feeling slightly asthmatic. The reason?  "Haze."

My balcony view then and now. Both are in the middle of the day.
Today was actually more "white" if that's possible.

Now, this is supposedly blamed on a couple factors, all as shady as the euphemistic pollution itself. The first finger gets pointed at Indonesia. Allegedly, whenever they burn things (think forests) over on the island to the west it ends up here. And while the air does have a subtle burnt smell, it's not the first thing you notice. The forests are burning because of illegal deforestation techniques to plant more palm oil plantations. Bad Indonesia! Except...Malaysia is also guilty of the same thing. So, how sure can the government be that these air particles are coming from just Indonesia?

On top of that, this "illegal" deforestation, while being monitored, doesn't seem to deter those who are burning more and more forests. (This is seriously a huge problem.) Money talks and if Mr. Corporation tells Mr. Poor Farmer to burn a few tiny acres for a bit a money, he'll do it. Mr. Corporation will pay the fine - if any - and then everyone basically throws there hands up and says, "well, I guess since that part of the forest is gone, we should just use it for palm oil?!" 

Second is the topography of Kuala Lumpur. The city itself sits on the western side of the central mountain range, in a sort of basin. If there is "bad air" it is just going to sit here until some major wind comes through or the particulates dissipate naturally, as long as more aren't being added.

Found on Facebook: "Come See All Malaysia's Sites!"

Third is the government. Now, while they are not physically doing the burning, they have the power to own up to it and act. There are corruption issues, as I mentioned earlier with the cozy/relaxed relationship the powers that be have with "Big Palm Oil" but there is also a certain amount of gas-lighting going on. The Air Quality Index (AQI) is an international standard, however, each country runs their own. Lately - and this "haze" has been around for a good couple weeks, getting worse and worse - the numbers don't match what one's eyes see and lungs feel, leading many to accuse the government of manipulating the data to keep those in the labor industry working ("It's still safe, go back outside!") or that they need to check the batteries on the AQI machine.

Today, according to the Malaysian AQI, KL is between 129-156.
Source: AQI website

I know my small problems of not being able to run and work out outside are petty in the grand scheme of things. I am grateful to be fortunate enough to have an apartment with air conditioning to filter the smog and to work indoors with air-conditioning as well. Many people do not have that option and are becoming ill. This not healthy for people and the root cause - palm oil plantations that do not use sustainable practices -  is not healthy for the environment.