As we sit trapped in our homes by the severe smog all round us, perhaps now is the time to do some soul searching and to rue our fate at how we arrived at this predicament. This is not a natural phenomenon, such as an earthquake or tsunami which can be blamed on geographical forces.

It is our own doing, a man-made phenomenon that springs from our own callousness to fellow human beings; and our utter disregard to nature. The genesis of the severe smog crisis began in 1998, and in the successive years was compounded by the cavalier and indifferent attitudes of governments in the region which forgot their primary responsibilities to provide a healthy and safe environment.

Didn't anyone ask that the severe smog periodically witnessed in places such as Balik Papan, Indonesia could happen here? As the tsunami in late 2004 revealed, this crisis also shows how ill-prepared the government has been.

Add to this complacency and the naivete of a public which believes that the problem, like so many other problems, will sort itself out. Failing which, we will find an ad-hoc solution like we did when the quality of our water deteriorated.

When the taps in the Klang Valley gushed out murky water, we decided to install all sorts of filters to clean the water. The more money you had, the bigger and better quality filter you got. But shouldn't it have been the responsibility of the government to provide basic clean water for consumption?

Shouldn't we have protested instead of opting out meekly and dealing with the problem in our own way? Now we are told that the solution for clean water lies in privatisation. And this from a government then led by a medical doctor who should have known the hidden health costs for millions of people as a result of pollution.

So what do we do now with poor air quality? Install a unique ventilating system in our houses, the best that money can buy? That will somehow provide us with cleaner air?

If a government cannot guarantee clean water or the air we breathe what is it there for? And for us all, there are no ad-hoc solutions. Be it the water problem, the avian flu, the Sars crisis, we are in this all together. Whether we are in gated communities, terrace houses, or the kampungs, it's the same air that we breathe.