Arrogance of the ‘oxygen’ exporter

Unclear: Buildings across the Causeway in Johor are shrouded with haze as seen from Singapore on Oct 16. Toxic haze has covered parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore for weeks as Jakarta struggles to contain fires that have scorched large tracts of Borneo and Sumatra, with the smoke drifting across the region. — AFP

MALAYSIA has recently been busy hosting a string of high profile leaders – from Egypt, Jordan, and Myanmar – arriving one after another for short official visits, all within one week.

While Malaysia’s greetings were, as usual, warm and welcoming, its weather was not, making for a very different kind of “foreign” welcome. We are, of course, talking about the haze that has engulfed the country for several months, no thanks to the smoke exported from Indonesia.