The haze is partly literal. Over the last month, raging fires have consumed over two million acres of Indonesia. The fires have produced a fog of dust and soot so thick that 20 million Southeast Asians are breathing pollution equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. The fog has blanketed Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and parts of Thailand and the Philippines. Poor visibility due to the fog was cited as the primary cause of the recent Garuda Indonesia plane crash which killed all 234 people on board, and an Indonesian police helicopter crash which killed four. All Indonesian airports were closed, and the vital tourism industry shrank to virtually nothing for a month.
The fog, diplomatically being called a "haze" in political circles, has apparently been affecting every living thing in the region, from the smallest children right up to the top political leaders attempting to negotiate the crisis. When asked at a news conference in Tokyo about the cause of the fires, Indonesian Finance Minister Hartarto opined, "The cause is El Nino, which has created dry forest beds that burn quickly." Hartarto, apparently ascribing the spark that started the blaze to spontaneous combustion, ignored the actual cause of the inferno — companies who clear the land for industrial use through widespread slashing and burning. Don Henry, head of the World Wildlife Fund's Global Forest Program, said that "much of the blame for the current crisis should rest at the feet of timber barons and plantation owners . . . who have systematically cleared and degraded these vast, diverse rain forests." Until recently, the Indonesian government, more concerned with development than environment, looked the other way during the slash and burn campaigns that are destroying Indonesia's forest faster than the Brazilian rainforest.
Despite Hartarto's insistence that Indonesians are innocent victims of vicious, evil weather patterns, the Indonesian government has retained a little sense, and revoked the licenses of over thirty companies for their illegal practices. Furthermore, Indonesia has diverted its army from quelling political protests to help fight the fires. At Indonesia's request, the United States, several European and ASEAN countries, and Japan have sent monetary and technical assistance, as well as fire-fighting equipment. The best assistance, however, comes from the seasonal rains, which have just started to fall, and are starting to extinguish the blazes.
The lasting effects of the haze, however, have permeated other nations of Southeast Asia, and seriously addled some of its denizens. In particular, Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad continues to behave in a manner which, if we were generous, we could ascribe to the effects of breathing smog for a month. A few months ago, the Malaysian currency collapsed, falling as much as 26% against the dollar, mostly due to shaky fiscal policy and the aftershocks of Thailand's currency devaluation. Mahathir, however, ascribed responsibility for the mess to "rogue speculators," particularly singling out US financier George Soros, calling him a "moron." Mahathir further suggested that currency trading was "immoral," and on October 1, he argued that there should be tighter regulation, if not a total ban, on foreign exchange. In less than two hours, the currency fell 4% to a new low.
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