Malaysia's haze-haters go online

Malaysia's haze-haters go online

Furious at a worsening haze fouling the skies over Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysians launched on Thursday an online protest pleading with
neighboring Indonesia to "stop choking our guts out" with its
forest fires.

Internet users posted photographs of themselves standing in
front of smoke-shrouded skylines, wearing face masks and holding
up signs that urged Indonesian authorities to stamp out the fires
that are threatening Malaysians' health.

"This is to send a message to our Indonesian friends and those
responsible, to let them know what is really going on and how we
feel," said the website for "Haze Haters in KL"
(http://hazeinmy.blogspot.com). "Perhaps the authorities would be
more inclined to act if they hear all our voices."

Officials have warned the haze could last until October, when
rains would help wash it away after the current dry spell, and
urged people to cut down on outdoor activities. Schools in and
around Kuala Lumpur were closed on Thursday and Friday.

Some of the people in the photographs carried posters that
read, "You are choking us every year. Please stop", "Don't burn
your forests: A warning from Malaysians", "Stop choking our guts
out" and "We have to wait for this to clear in October?
Intolerable!"

Snapshots taken by office workers in Kuala Lumpur's Petronas
Twin Towers, once the world's tallest buildings, showed barely
visible structures nearby blanketed in smog.

The website, which was set up anonymously and is being
aggressively publicized through online word-of-mouth, said
Malaysians are falling sick, the air in the city stinks and
"things are generally depressing."

The haze has turned into Malaysia's most intense ecological
crisis since 1997, when similar forest fires led to weeks of
haze.

On Thursday, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar
acknowledged people were upset, but said he hoped there would be
no conflict or tension with Indonesia.

"We must sit and discuss this," Syed Hamid was quoted as
saying by the national news agency, Bernama. "If we cannot
completely resolve (the haze situation), we'll reduce it to a
minimum."

Malaysia has offered to dispatch firefighters to help
extinguish hundreds of forest fires and blazes set by local
farmers trying to clear land in the Indonesian provinces of North
Sumatra, Riau and Central Kalimantan. -- AP