Behind These HAZY Eyes...

Written on 8/19/2005 08:22:00 pm by sikapitan

The sky is blue, the air is clean – but it will not last. Latest report states that by this coming Monday, the dreaded haze will re-enter our lives. Therefore, Malaysians should take this chance, go out, and enjoy themselves. Never mind the fact that the haze was never really over in the first place, never mind the fact that forests in Sumatra is still blazing – just take your car out, pollute the environment while you can still see the sky and waste money. A prime example of the “tidak apa” attitude that is synonymous with Malaysia and got us into this big mess in the first place. As soon as the sky cleared, everyone stopped caring about Indonesia and their obviously insufficient effort to douse out the flames engulfing Sumatra. Everyone forgot about the fires still burning in our OWN BACKYARD.

Am I better than the rest? Nope. Seriously, all I could think about when I woke up and realized that there is no smoke coming through the windows was that I could go out and play football again. And I’m willing to bet that most of us think for ourselves first, how this would be beneficial to us and us alone. Let’s not care about Penang, unless we have relatives in Penang. You can’t see Gurney Drive? Too bad, we get to see KLCC! All the hu-ha and ramblings from the public (towards Indonesia especially) dissipated as quickly as you can say Alhamdulillah.

Have we forgotten the fact that every time Indonesia messed-up we pay the price? This year was one of the worst, but every year the same thing happens. And what did Indonesia do? All we saw in the newspapers was them saying “they’re sorry”. This is not an anti-Indonesia campaign. I love Indonesia, especially Dian Sastro. The issue lies in accountability, and Malaysia’s apparently docile nature that allow states like Indonesia to just push aside their problem which affects us as much as it affects them.

I do not care if Malaysian companies were involved in burning their forests. Malaysian does not have to care. Why? Because we do not have jurisdiction my dear. It does not matter if it is a Malaysian company, or a Mauritius company; what matters is that it happened in YOUR backyard so it is YOUR responsibility to bring those perpetrators to justice and deal with it. What can we do if the crime is committed in another country?

In any case, Malaysians should take a firm stand against this indifferent attitude of the Indonesian government. They refused our help, and yet every day we see photos of shirtless firefighters fighting fire with buckets, I repeat – BUCKETS, of water. That is not enough for this year, nor will it be enough the next time, and trust me there will be a next time.

Nevertheless, what about us? What about our own disregard for environmental safety? It is no mere coincidence that the worst time of the haze in the Klang Valley was during the peak hours where commercial activities and millions of vehicle roar to life. The haze was bad enough, but we did not help the cause by going on with our lives as if nothing happen. No one car-pooled; buses with fumes spewing out of their exhaust still rule the roads; factories keep on “smoking”. “Tidak apa, ini semua Indon punya pasal…”. Yeah, right.

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