Yesterday morning, Malaysians of all creeds and religions woke up and thanked God for their answered prayers clear skies. But it is my fervent hope that the experience has also cleared the fog in our brains so that we can see the facts as they really are:

The haze, like a lot of calamities which have befallen us in recent times, was caused by the wanton indifference and irresponsibility of several parties, including our own government.

The haze, which has taken several lives over the past week, will recur until and unless we continue to put strong pressure on our government to elicit a firm commitment from the Indonesian government to put a stop to the open burning in Sumatra while taking steps to enforce stricter anti-air pollution legislation within our own country.

For the sake of our own health and that of our families, we need to also take personal responsibility for the air we breathe. This we can do by refraining from open burning and by making sure the authorities come down hard on owners of motor vehicles which emit unacceptable levels of noxious fumes.

Furthermore, even though our government would rather we not see it, Malaysia's Air Pollutant Index (API) has much to do with the number of APs given out each year. In flagrant support of the car industry, the government has put aside its responsibility towards the health and well-being of Malaysians.

Instead of working hard to develop a more efficient public transport system to help reduce the number of vehicles on the road, the government has focused on fulfilling Dr Mahathir Mohamad's vision of two cars (preferably Proton, of course) for every family.

As a result, no matter how many highways are built (at Malaysian taxpayers' expense too, mind you), we will always have traffic jams, giving rise to higher emissions and worsening air quality in our cities.

So, by all means, let us pray for our problems to go away. But let us first pray for the strength and will power to do all we can in our personal capacities to solve the problems. After all, God helps those who help themselves.