Once again the haze hovers over and haunts us. More hype than hope is offered in bringing it to a halt. The ' tell-me-the-truth ' government chooses to hide vital air quality reports from the public. Why handle it with such a hush?

It says the foreign press would create harm with the truth. We understand. It must be hard for the people on the top to think and see straight as a result of the haze. Below is an attempt to explain to the public what has been really going on. We hope it helps.

Action: A process of doing something about the haze many years later, when there is little choice or option left.

Air pollution task force:

Set up in 1993, it disappears and re-appears with the haze.

API: Abbreviation for Air Pollution Index. The department of environment defines air quality in five broad categories. Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister S Sothinathan however has a different definition - Malaysia's air quality is either similar to, worse than, or better than Santiago's (Chile).

Asean: A regional group that shows its solidarity by waiting for the international community, like France and Japan, to help put out forest fires in Indonesia, and the Australians, Danes, British and Russians to help in hazy studies.

Asean Working Group on Transboundary Pollution:

A group that first met in 1990 and has shown how adept it is at transboundary procrastination on pollution control.

Cabinet:

A place for shelving and storing vital government plans on air pollution control such as the Clean Air Action Plan.

Clean Air Action Plan:

A plan which some ministers very successfully acted upon to get the cabinet to put it on hold in 1994, when they felt that Malaysia's air was too clean and 'had yet to reach a serious air pollution level'.

Clearer picture: When things become clear and the natural resources and environment ministry provides you its reports and readings which you have no need of by then.

Cloud-seeding: An attempt to cloud the real causes for the haze - the government's inaction over the years, being one of them.

Car-pool: The ever-expanding pool of car models which Proton comes up with for Malaysians to help contribute to air pollution in the country's cities.

Early warning committee: Set up in as early as in1992, it has always proven itself to be late.

Haze action plan: Approved by the cabinet in August 1997, it has for its motto: 'See no haze, hear no haze and speak no haze'.

Haze-ccentricity: Lapses in straight thinking as a result of the haze. (According to air pollution expert Azman Zainal Abidin, the haze will cause people to 'think slower due to the poorer quality air that we inhale".) Latest victim - Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister S Sothinathan.

Haze alert: A meeting of the national disaster relief management committee.

Hog-wash: When the government does nothing about the worsening and recurring haze but waits for the rain to wash away evidence of its years of inaction.

Local participation: Malaysian companies or shareholders responsible for some of the forest fires in Indonesia. It also refers to local contributing factors to the haze - industrial pollution, car emissions and open burning.

Masks: The act of putting on (masking) and hiding the haze problem after having not done enough for many years.

National Committee on Haze: Set up in 1991, its role and effectiveness is still as hazy as the haze.

National disasters: The manner in which the government has allowed the haze crisis to recur.

Open burning: An open secret why the haze is still a burning issue after a very long time.

Public transport: The government's transporting of the public from one plan to another without going anywhere. Since 1963, eight transport master plan studies have been done to improve public transport in Kuala Lumpur and to curb air pollution.

Public health: That which is not as important to the government as the tourism industry.

Serious view: Viewing the haze situation long enough to declare that it is not serious enough for bold measures.

Studies: Efforts to make the voluminous findings of the past 30 years on the haze more complicated.

Winds of change: The swiftness by which the various authorities change their minds and/or contradict themselves and one another on matters related to the haze.