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Iman Muttaqin Yusof

Malaysia’s haze crisis has flared again just weeks after emergency measures and cloud-seeding operations brought temporary relief, with experts warning that smoke from Indonesian fires could continue drifting across the country until monsoon winds change.
All 108 schools in Serian, a district in the state of Sarawak on Malaysian Borneo, were ordered to close on Thursday after the air pollutant index (API) breached 200 on Wednesday night, forcing pupils back to home-based learning.
By noon, Serian’s API reading was still at 211, making it the only location nationwide in the “very unhealthy” category, while nine other stations across Sarawak recorded unhealthy air. Malaysia classifies API readings above 300 as hazardous.
Serian’s schools have been stuck in a stop-start cycle since mid-August, shutting when pollution worsens and reopening when air quality improves. The disruption peaked on September 4 when the API hit 518, causing the King to approve a state of emergency for the district.

The emergency declaration was lifted three days later as conditions eased, although pollution remained very unhealthy and schools finally reopened on Monday last week.
A 28-year-old teacher in Serian, who asked not to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media, said the constant switching between classroom and online learning was taking a toll.
“Some students were not able to join [online classes] as they did not have their own device and their parents are working, so they missed class,” the teacher said.
The teacher added that older colleagues struggled to set up online lessons, while weak internet connectivity in rural villages made home learning difficult for both teachers and pupils.
“This was the pattern: open, close, reopen, close,” the teacher said. “We thought everything was getting better.”
Groundhog haze
Malaysia has repeatedly turned to cloud seeding during the recent dry spell, with the latest operation in Sarawak running from September 3-7. It brought rain to several targeted areas, including Serian, though the Malaysian Meteorological Department reported that total rainfall fell below expectations.

University of Malaya meteorologist Azizan Abu Samah said the relief could only go so far while southwesterly monsoon winds continued carrying smoke from fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra.
Because the haze was mixed through the lower atmosphere – roughly 1km to 2km (0.6 miles to 1.24 miles) above the ground – rain could briefly wash pollutants out of the air, only for another polluted air mass to move in, he said.
“Cloud seeding and local rainfall only help,” Azizan said, adding that until the fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra were dampened by rain or the winds changed direction, “the haze will persist”.
Relief could arrive in October as Malaysia enters into the inter-monsoon period and wind patterns shift, with the northeast monsoon later in the year expected to bring heavier rainfall. By late October and November, Azizan said conditions should finally improve enough for Malaysians to “see blue sky again”.
Douglas Uggah Embas, deputy premier of Sarawak, made the same point when cloud seeding began earlier this month.
“We hope the rainfall will help us reduce the haze,” he told reporters on September 3. “But we cannot promise the haze will disappear because we must not forget where the source of the haze comes from.”
Smoke signals
Transboundary haze has spread far beyond Malaysia this fire season, affecting Singapore, Brunei and parts of the Philippines as smoke moves across Southeast Asia.


The Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ Specialised Meteorological Centre has kept its highest alert level – Level 3 – for southern Southeast Asia since August 26.
In an update on Tuesday, the centre reported scattered to widespread hotspots across Kalimantan and Sumatra, with moderate to dense transboundary smoke over northern Borneo.
Strong El Nino conditions and prolonged dry weather have raised the risk of severe haze, with the southwest monsoon expected to persist into early October.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto was briefed on Wednesday that active firefighting operations were ongoing across roughly 210 hectares (519 acres) in Sumatra and Kalimantan, according to state news agency Antara, while large-scale weather modification efforts would continue until seasonal rains returned.
Last week, Prabowo accepted Malaysia’s offer of an aircraft, three helicopters and 52 firefighting personnel to help contain the fires in Kalimantan.
Jakarta has also stepped up enforcement. Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni revoked the licences of five companies on Tuesday over fires on concessions across Kalimantan covering a combined 92,464 hectares.
Randolph Jeremiah, vice-president of the Environmental Protection Society Malaysia, said Kuala Lumpur had little choice but to focus on measures reducing exposure while the fires continued elsewhere.
“This is the best that the Malaysian government can do to try to reduce the effects of haze locally,” he said. “We have measures in place, such as health advisories by the Ministry of Health and the temporary closure of schools when API readings are high.”
But repeated exposure carried risks that were harder to measure, Jeremiah warned.
“There may be unseen risks related to periodic, prolonged exposure to haze over the long term, particularly for children, the elderly [and] individuals with cardiopulmonary diseases.”


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Malaysia

The Kuala Lumpur Tower is obscured by toxic haze from Indonesian wildfires on Monday. Photo: AFP

Firefighters battle forest and land fires in Banjar, South Kalimantan, Indonesia on Monday. Photo: AFP

A helicopter drops water on forest fires in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan province, Indonesia on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Motorists travel along a road as the prime minister’s office is partially obscured by haze in Putrajaya, Malaysia, in September. Photo: AP

Firefighters arrive to battle peatland and forest fires in Banjar, South Kalimantan, Indonesia on Monday. Photo: AFP

A helicopter drops water on forest fires in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan province, Indonesia on Monday. Photo: AFP

Indonesia opens its skies to Malaysian rainmakers as haze crisis deepens

Firefighters extinguish a peatland fire at Tambang in Indonesia’s Riau province on Tuesday. Photo: Wahyudi/AFP

Tourists look at the skyline of Kuala Lumpur shrouded in haze from Indonesia’s wildfires earlier this month. Photo: Reuters

Malaysia deploys air force aircraft for cloud seeding to combat worsening haze

Malaysia’s prime minister’s office in Putrajaya is partially obscured by haze on Thursday. Photo: AP

People swim in a sky pool against a city skyline blanketed in haze in Kuala Lumpur, on September 7. Photo: EPA

Indonesia’s Prabowo mulls labelling wildfires as ‘ecological terrorism’

The Singapore Flyer and commercial buildings are shrouded in haze at the Marina Bay area in Singapore on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

A Regional Disaster Agency staff member sprays water to extinguish a fire in a peatland area burnt by wildfires in Kubu Raya, West Kalimantan province, Indonesia, on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

A Japan Self-Defence Forces soldier looks at a CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopter, which will be used to help  Indonesia in forest and land fire battling operations, on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Malaysia lifts haze emergency in Sarawak, but warns pollution risks remain

Kuching riverside in the city center is shrouded in thick haze in Kuching, Sarawak state on Friday. Photo: AP

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All 108 schools in Serian close again as API readings break 200, highlighting the limits of cloud seeding while monsoon winds persist


All 108 schools in Serian close again as API readings break 200, highlighting the limits of cloud seeding while monsoon winds persist.


‘Open, close, reopen’: return of choking haze traps Malaysian schools in limbo

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}All 108 schools in Serian close again as API readings break 200, highlighting the limits of cloud seeding while monsoon winds persist

All 108 schools in Serian close again as API readings break 200, highlighting the limits of cloud seeding while monsoon winds persist