Can’t See What’s Happening: The Haze Emergency in Sarawak
Updated: Sep 19
By: Samuel Ong Kai Xuan
Gone out jogging recently? Maybe you took a stroll through the park with your partner or rode your bike down the street. If so, you may have noticed that it was rather difficult to breathe. On top of that, you might have found that the scenery around you is more obscured than ever.
By this point, I am certain you are all aware of the haze; your school or work might have issued warnings about the air quality. But I am willing to bet quite a number of you aren’t actually aware of the root cause – sure, the haze is bad for many of us in Kuala Lumpur or the Klang Valley; however, if it is this bad for us, imagine the drastic effect it has on those at the origin of the haze: Kalimantan (Indonesian portion of Borneo) and the Malaysian states that directly border Palangkaraya, Indonesia.
But this begs two simple questions: “What happened in these regions to cause this?” and “Why should we care?”
Slash-and-Burn Agriculture
Essentially, once farmers in Palangkaraya are done harvesting their crops, they are left with only the waste products of the crops: the inedible parts of rice, corn, wheat, and other mass-produced vegetation. It is a common practice for the farmers to burn said waste products. This practice, known as slash-and-burn agriculture, is one of the most efficient methods to diffuse the nutrients back into the soil, primarily in the form of carbon and nitrogen. Despite its efficiency, this process actually leads directly to even worse side effects on public health and air pollution.
The Indonesian government and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have acted against these practices. In the words of the current president of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, we must:
“Make it clear that land burning is strictly prohibited”
Initiatives such as ASEAN’s Haze-Free Roadmap have been outlined, and Indonesia itself has placed a nation-wide ban on slash-and-burn agriculture. Despite this, curbing this issue is not as simple as implementing laws.
Indonesia is a large country; that fact alone makes new regulations hard to impose. On top of that, to meet the demands of Indonesia's large population, farmers have to resort to methods such as slash-and-burn agriculture to ensure maximum agricultural yield. In the end, this short-term gain in efficiency has led to a downward spiral of general health and air quality, with lasting impacts. Today we’re witnessing the impacts first-hand as well as the actions the government is taking to reduce them…
The State Lockdown
There was recently a Movement Control Order (MCO) in Sarawak, during which residents were advised to stay indoors and keep the air conditioners on. Aside from just affecting public health, many locals who worked outside were deprived of their income.
On the bright side, as of September 7th 2026, the MCO in Sarawak and Sabah had just recently been lifted under instructions from the respective Jabatan Kesihatan Negeri. The Air Pollutant Index (API), has dropped from a previous hazardous reading of above 300, due to rain clearing the haze. Even so, the air remains unhealthy to inhale for long periods.
What It Means
Whilst the situation is recovering, it should not distract us from the fact that we must treat this as a serious wake-up call. And it is a wake-up call because haze in Malaysia is nothing new.
This phenomenon has been persisting in Malaysia for at least the past 30 years; it was merely exacerbated in the past few months. In 1997, the haze in Kuching, Sarawak was so bad that locals claimed they could barely see more than 100 metres ahead. According to the Department of Environment, the API spiked at 839 on 18 September 1997. This was not only well above the 300 API hazard class, but it remains the highest API in Malaysian history.
As of the time of writing, it is clear that if the Indonesian government and ASEAN as a whole do not tighten regulations surrounding slash-and-burn agriculture, the situation will persist for decades to come.
For sources click here.
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