Where’s the fire?

Its July.

Right on the dot of the mid-point of the year, the familiar burnt smell starts to tickle your nose when you try to inhale a deep breath of fresh air.

You raise your head to sniff it better but you can’t trace where that burning smell in the air is wafting from.

You look out your window and notice that your once clear view outside your window is not so clear as it was a week ago. You wonder if your windows are dirty, but then you realise that they can’t be, for your windows are open.

Then you remember. Its July. In the past few years, July marks the time when there’s a surge in the sale of face masks, when you try to stay indoors as much as you can, when you wonder if the next day will bring unhealthy air again. Its the time of the year when the Air Pollution Index (API) is closely monitored by everyone.

Welcome to July and the annual “Haze Event”!

It should be featured on our Visit Malaysia calender you know. July should be blurred out because its hazy and smells like we are perpetually on fire. Is it our fire? Is it our neighbours’? I don’t know but enough is enough. No one seems to be doing anything about it. Is it new? No. We just sit on our butts and point fingers at others. Can someone up there wake up and smell the smoke already?

This annual “Haze Event” deserves mention in our calendar because its a sign to tourists to “Stay away! Your delicate breathings systems cannot handle this!” We on the other hand, have been living it for years now. Our lungs have adapted to accomodate this annual event. We train for this!

So, tourists to Malaysia, bring your raincoats and a floatation device when visiting in May-June and bring your face masks and portable oxygen tanks when visiting in July-August.

Selamat Datang to the annual Haze Event where even the chickens must wear masks!

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