The air thick with smoke from fires burning in that legendary "neighbouring country" we're all too polite to name.
So thick that the traffic lights are on at midday along the expressway, and I can hardly see the buildings on the other side. The sun an orange ball, sick and unreal.
he streets and open-air cafes are deserted. Shop doors firmly closed. Folks scuttle indoors as quickly as they can. The cautious ones wearing face masks.I'm sneezing, my eyes sting.
Indoors, with windows shut, the smell of burning still.
Someone on the e-group says that the air pollution index (for too long classified information although now apparently we're permitted to know) reached 410 in Klang at noon. Way past hazardous. 500 is emergency. Or does it mean you're dead?
My husband tells me to leave the country. He wants Malaysia to declare war. ("I'm serious." He is. I'm glad he never entered politics.)
Someone on the e-group suggests a petition.
Someone else suggests this has become Mordor. There should be Orcs running around.
Someone else declares that the end of the world is at hand now that the winged-chariot space shuttle has landed.
This apocolyptic afternoon.
Only rain can help, but when will rain come? No real rain expected till October.
Can't they seed a cloud?
Just drink more water, stay indoors, eat cucumbers. The usual drill. You've been here before. Almost every year. Don't get dramatic about it. You'll live.
Or have we just grown so used to this that we treat it just as another season of the year? We who have no seasons but monsoon and heat and musim buah might perhaps relish the variety? Or perhaps we'd like our fish from Klang ready-smoked?
9 comments:
They just did I think. Helped a little.
Maybe we should "liberate" them (and us !) from their forest fires. Blah. :P
I don't think the neighbour is at fault this time. It's closer home.
I don't know. From what I hear, there's some over here but the majority is over there. We've pretty much put out our fires, but they haven't done a thing about theirs yet.
i live in Klang, and i feel like a piece of smoked salmon.
and now, the watre supply has been cut.
bugger!
Yow. Why the water cut ? MPK gotta do something.
Porty - yes, let's "liberate" them ...
Chet - eyewitness acounts say fire around Cyberjaya has been put out but peat continues to smoulder, so yes there could well be a local contribution still, but satellite pictures show most is from out neighbour ...
visitor - no water either?! that's not at all fair ...
going to the hometown today, but not until after 5pm.
in the meantime the atmosphere outside has this spooky orange glow since noon. i am trying not to fall asleep even though i'm so tired right now.
blehh.
one good tip from a blog post read yesterday was to mix your drinking water with honey.
Q - have a good time back home. thanks for the honey tip - honey has great healing properties especially the organic kind ... some kinds of Manuka honey from New Zealand are now used in mainstream medicine, especially to heal wounds which are infected.
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