Haze Dayz

Getting political.

I've lived in Malaysia now for a little over four years and for the second time in that period a good portion of the country is covered in a choking smog, euphemistically called "haze." Once again, this "haze" is caused by the illegal burning of peatland and tropical forest to clear land for oil palm plantations, a major export of both Malaysia and Indonesia.

For a more in-depth breakdown of the situation, check out this guest blog post I did for Earth Mama's International (and then give them a follow).

Obviously, this is an environment, health, humanitarian, and political disaster any way you analyse it. While the burning tends to occur every year, those of us who live away from the fires only find out about it during unseasonably dry periods when the rains fail to arrive, effectively extinguishing the flames. We then don masks, attempt to stay indoors near air purifiers, or leave town to bluer skies (if we are so privileged to do so).

At the risk of entitlement, this year in particular was tough on my preparation for the KL Standard Chartered Marathon at the end of September, forcing me inside on a stationary treadmill for five weeks of "training." Coaching Cross Country also became difficult and a good portion of the season was effectively scrapped; runners can only do laps in the gymnasium so many times without going crazy.

While the "haze" has disappeared and the skyline reemerged from behind it's grey cloak, the spectre of continued and unregulated deforestation by torch remains in the back of everyone's mind.

In the meantime, here is information about avoid palm oil in common products or sourcing from sustainable plantations that are RSPO certified.

This is the middle of the afternoon with, what should be, downtown
and the Petronas Towers in the background.

Depending on the winds, the burning in Sumatra and Borneo covered Singapore
and Malaysia, earning the political name "transboundary haze."

Literally:
I used one long weekend to go as far north as possible for some clean
air in Penang, only about 350 km away and a nearly 250 AQI improvement.

A particularly bad day in September.
(Yes, thats a gas mask...)

Escaping to Bangkok for the weekend
and finding an old Colombian friend: Botero!

And another, actual, Colombia-friend!

You know it's bad in KL when you run away to Bangkok for better air.