Malaysia Rejects Stronger Action Against Indonesia Over Haze

Malaysia has ruled out stronger measures against Indonesia despite worsening haze and widespread school closures, the South China Morning Post reports. Anwar says Malaysia has done everything it can. That position meets a public demanding greater accountability, with the consequences of the smoke already reaching schools. The immediate result is a dispute over whether the government's response is adequate when children cannot attend class. A declaration of effort is proving a difficult answer to a question about results.

The fires in Indonesia have brought requests for help and scrutiny of political leadership. Jakarta is welcoming assistance from neighbours struggling with the smoke. An Indonesian governor's visit to Singapore has meanwhile intensified criticism during the crisis, according to the Post. Those developments put two demands on the authorities at once: accepting practical help against the fires and explaining how their own conduct matches the seriousness of the emergency. The criticism concerns leadership during a disaster whose effects extend beyond the country where the fires are burning.

In Singapore, parents are asking for classroom air conditioning similar to Hong Kong's, the Post reports. That request makes the regional crisis concrete: families want schools where children can spend the day without concerns about the air. Bloomberg also reports that Singapore is investigating firms behind haze-causing fires. The responses address different parts of the problem. Classroom protection concerns the air children encounter now; investigating companies concerns responsibility for the fires producing it. Neither, by itself, establishes that the smoke has been brought under control.

Malaysia's refusal to go further therefore has a consequence beyond the diplomatic relationship with Indonesia. It leaves the government defending the adequacy of its existing response while schools close and public demands grow. Regional assistance can help fight the fires, investigations can establish responsibility, and better classrooms can reduce exposure. The crisis requires all three kinds of work because the damage is already crossing borders. Claims about how much governments have done carry less weight when families are still living with the result.