And so, the wind blows
Just like that, the haze is gone from the Klang Valley. The winds blew and within two days, denizens of the valley are able to see the sun again. We were further boosted today by two hours worth of heavy downpour, which hopefully will banish the dreaded jerebu, for now at least.
Have we learnt anything from this particular episode? Like a friend pointed out to me, we Malaysians have notoriously bad memories. He said it is not as if this haze had not occured before, remember 8 years ago? But looking at our reaction, it’s as if it was something new to us, and everyone is clamouring looking for answers. What were we doing for the past 8 haze-free years? Just assuming that what happened 8 years ago wouldn’t happen again without actually doing anything to prevent it? I hope we’ve learnt something this time. Sure, we can say Indonesia is to blame, but our idleness means that we’re not entirely guiltless.
And the jerebu resulted in some positives. I really liked the front cover of a local English newspaper (can’t remember which), carrying the story that people of all faiths all over Malaysia were praying for the haze to go. It goes to show that really, we’re not all that different, be we Malay, Chinese, Indian… Muslim or not, Malaysian or foreign, man or woman… we all want the haze to go. We all want to breathe clean air again and we all want to be able to see the horizon clearly again. In times when a prominent politician plays with fire by demanding for the return of the New Economic Policy (NEP) for reasons which at best is ‘dubious’, the haze is a poignant reminder that in the end, regardless of what religion, race, status or standing, we are all humans. Fragile and weak, especially in times of crisis, and it would indefinately serve our interests better to be united in our similarities than to be divided by our petty differences.
Rapid-fire thoughts
- The English Premier League season started again yesterday, and as for my team, it was a losing start. I was downbeat and sore afterwords…. signs of a true fan, I suppose.
- As high-progfile as Suria KLCC may be, I still think that there is a severe lack of variety in the place. Too many boutiques and clothing stores, in my opinion.
- I really recemmond food lovers to pay a visit to Johnny’s in One Utama. It’s a Thai Food place (yeah, I know, I think the name is weird too) and the tom yam there is simply divine!
- I somehow think that the AP issue has degenerated from something that concerns the nation into no-holds-barred Datuk Seri Rafidah-bashing. She was never my favourite, but I think it’s time we cut her bit of slack.
