Musings of a Virgin

Copyright 2005 by United Press International.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Aug 11, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Malaysia declared a state of emergency along its west coast Thursday as smoke from fires in Sumatra brought air pollution to hazardous levels.
The National Security Council said the pollution index had exceeded the emergency level of 500, caused by illegal fires used to clear land on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan, Channel NewsAsia reported.
Hundreds of schools were closed in the capital of Kuala Lumpur and surrounding areas. Citizens were advised to stay indoors or wear masks outdoors.
Kuala Lumpur's second airport at Subang was closed late Wednesday with visibility at less than 1,000 feet. The main airport remained open but contingency plans were made in case it too had to close.
Haze in the Malacca Strait between Indonesia and Malaysia affected shipping and caused a major port facility to close briefly Wednesday.
The Meteorology Department said the situation was likely to continue for several days, but conditions could improve next week as winds from Sumatra shifted.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said emergency talks with Indonesian officials would begin Friday in Jakarta, but he said Malaysia would take a soft approach so as not to damage fragile relations with its neighbor.

Good grief, 2 actual pieces of news in 1 day. This is interesting to me because Singapore neighbour's Malaysia, and what happens to Malaysia usually impacts Singapore in some manner. Heck a southward wind would blow the smoke to Singapore.

So anyone got any news or updates about this? Of course I could simply pick up the cell and phone home but that would take too much effort :P

Posted by emyln on Thursday, August 11, 2005 at 1:02 PM | Permalink