Haze Horror: Why Our Lungs Pay for Corporate Greed and Political Inaction
WHY DO WE, THE RAKYAT, HAVE TO SACRIFICE OUR LUNGS AND OUR CHILDREN’S HEALTH FOR THE PROFITS OF A FEW CORRUPT CONGLOMERATES ACROSS BORDERS, WHILE OUR POLITICIANS OFFER NOTHING BUT THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS?
By Outraged Citizen Reporter, Kuala Lumpur – August 23, 2025
Oh, here we go again, folks! The choking, eye-watering haze is back with a vengeance, blanketing our skies like a toxic blanket straight from hell. As of late July 2025, NASA satellites have spotted a massive surge in fire hotspots across Indonesia, with thick smoke drifting right over to Malaysia, turning our once-clear air into a hazardous soup.  And who suffers? Us, the rakyat – the everyday Malaysians coughing up a storm, shielding our kids from playgrounds turned poison zones, and watching our elderly wheeze through another “seasonal” nightmare. But why? Why must we pay the price with our health while fat-cat conglomerates rake in billions from palm oil empires built on scorched earth?
Let’s cut through the smog and get real: This haze isn’t some act of God or a freak weather event. No, it’s man-made misery, courtesy of slash-and-burn tactics in Indonesia’s vast peatlands and forests.  These fires, spiking every dry season between July and October, are lit deliberately to clear land for agricultural expansion – read: more palm oil plantations to feed the insatiable global demand for cheap oil in everything from your shampoo to your snacks.  And who’s behind it? A handful of corrupt conglomerates, often with ties across borders, including Malaysian interests quietly profiting from Indonesian operations. They burn, they earn, and we burn in our lungs!
Picture this: Little Ahmad and Siti, your neighbor’s kids, masks strapped on like tiny warriors, missing school because the Air Pollutant Index (API) is skyrocketing past 150 in multiple districts.  Hospitals are filling up with asthma attacks, respiratory infections, and long-term health horrors that could shave years off our lives. The haze is back, and it’s predicted to return again and again, as experts warn of a medium risk of severe transboundary events for the rest of 2025.  Yet, these greedy tycoons sit in their air-conditioned boardrooms, counting profits from the very destruction that’s poisoning our children. It’s cross-border corporate crime, and we’re the victims!
And what do our politicians do? Zip. Nada. Bupkis! They trot out the usual platitudes – “thoughts and prayers” for the affected, vague promises of “discussions” at ASEAN meetings, and maybe a half-hearted apology from Indonesia that we’ve heard a million times before.  Malaysia’s taking the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2025, and sure, there’s talk of pushing for action on transboundary haze.  But where’s the real bite? It’s 2025, and we still don’t have a transboundary haze pollution law, despite it being dangled like a carrot during elections!  Instead, we get endless summits, like the 26th Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Transboundary Haze Pollution, where ministers pat each other on the back and achieve… what? More smoke and mirrors!
Enough is enough! Why should we, the rakyat, choke on this annual apocalypse while politicians hide behind diplomatic niceties and conglomerates laugh all the way to the bank? These fires aren’t accidents – they’re fueled by corruption, lax enforcement, and a blatant disregard for human life across borders. Demand accountability! Boycott palm oil giants complicit in this mess! Force our leaders to enact real laws, impose hefty fines, and shut down the burners for good. Our lungs, our kids’ futures – they’re not for sale. Rise up, Malaysia, before the haze claims us all!