The haze has become an annual affair. The governments is more concerned about tourism than the health of its citizenry. The political will to do something about it is lacking. I recall the year the Commonwealth Games was held, there was little to no haze. Somehow, the farmers of Indonesia decided not to burn and clear the lands in 1998, maybe because they were scared of our prime minister.

I believe that the only reason the haze returns each year to affect our health and productivity is because there is a lack of will between the governments of Indonesia and Malaysia.

It is time the rakyat took things into their own hands. Let's awaken the Indonesian government to our impatience on this issue which affects us each year. The Malaysian rakyat should call for a ban on all Indonesian products until this annual affair ends.

We should demonstrate outside the Indonesian Embassy. We should support NGOs and the Greenpeace movement which have long called for a stop to tropical forest burning in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

We are tired and fed up. Something needs to be done. Leaving it to the politicians has brought us nothing but hazy September days year in and year out. My family now suffers from asthma and the newspapers reported today that mortality among the 60 to 70-year-olds (elderly) has risen by 70% this week.