Haze Watch

[tenpa]

I am starting a Haze watch at www.tenpay.blogspot.com

Cheers
Tenpa

[fRaNkY]

digital watch or winding watch? where can buy that watch? :P
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tempted.... jes kidding!

[mon]

I am starting a Haze watch at www.tenpay.blogspot.com

Cheers
Tenpa

hey do keep us updated. all de best in your haze watch! :)

[monster]

It was indeed a welcomed sound to wake up to this morning.... chip chip chip :)
Looked out the window and the ground wet and can see the sky!
Burned smell still there tho

[fRaNkY]

Yeah! the drip drip came from the air cond... :(

However, the traffic was smooth! From USJ 23 to Bangsar, 30mins flat.

[Chermaine]

However, the traffic was smooth! From USJ 23 to Bangsar, 30mins flat.


Wonderfull!......Wonder...when there is not school......mean parents no work? :rolleyes: why no car? leave later or earlier? or.... :rolleyes:
So much different so much so that I just couldn't believe

[Ski]

At least a relief for my good friend who suffers of chronic asthma :) hope the situation improves fast for other sufferers too.

[mon]

At least a relief for my good friend who suffers of chronic asthma :) hope the situation improves fast for other sufferers too.

when bad things happen to us, it's not over, just altered..glad the skies are bluer again.....
:)

[fatslab]

when bad things happen to us, it's not over, just altered..glad the skies are bluer again.....
:)

OH OH I think the wind is blowing the haze back la. Yesterday morning seemed fine, like this morn but what happened after that? the hase worsened. Fingers crossed.

[monster]

Was great this morning but now starting to get hazy again. It can rain and rain and rain but if the source is not solved, we are back to square one.... the fires of Indonesia still burning. Expect the haze to continue on and off for the next month or two :(

[mon]

u r so right on. just went out and really, it looked and felt better an hour ago.

[chookyan]

Finding good corporate citizens during disaster
This haze is a disaster.

I would like you to help me monitor those non-media organisations that make megabucks from consumers, and report on how they contribute to the society during major crisis like this.

For a start, I saw Watsons taking up a half-page ad in The Star (Aug 12, Pg 30) to advise people on Haze Care.

Help me to fill in what you have discovered about good corporate citizenry among our blue-chips companies. Please record the time of their action so that we know who are the most reluctant companies but shout the loudest.


Posted by jeffooi at August 12, 2005 08:20 AM | TrackBack

BRAVO to Watson, this morning saw the GIANT AD in THE STAR - Air Revitalisor offer for RM39.99 with a big SAVE RM60. Went to Giant USJ at 10.30am looking for it, can't find any -ask the staff and the reply was Supplier belum hantar - mungkin lambat sikit - Called that GIANT a good corporate citizen!! Wonder what the ministry has to says - IKLAN TIPU!!!

[fRaNkY]

BRAVO to Watson, this morning saw the GIANT AD in THE STAR - Air Revitalisor offer for RM39.99 with a big SAVE RM60. Went to Giant USJ at 10.30am looking for it, can't find any -ask the staff and the reply was Supplier belum hantar - mungkin lambat sikit - Called that GIANT a good corporate citizen!! Wonder what the ministry has to says - IKLAN TIPU!!!

With an equipment worth RM39.99, what do you expect it to do? most likely blows like a fan.

I once bought an air filter, now rosak. The filter itself already RM50! and there are 3 in it. The whole thing cost about RM1200.

My suggestion, dont waste money. If really want to buy... get the sanyo one... RM1500++, post by patrick (i think)

[MOYSC]

I would like to correct Franky...it should be Sharp Plasmacluster which costs RM1599 (market price). It contains a 3-stage filter, ie. HEPA, active carbon & dust + an ionizer. It comes with an auto-detection of surrounding air & dust.

Go for air cleaners with HEPA filters, or otherwise, it is just a waste of money! :)

[KH EE]

Looks like it's moving inland...

10/8: 11am - P.Klang 392 / S.Alam 290 / PJ 196 / KL 176 / PutraJaya 197
10/8: 5pm - P.Klang 424 / S.Alam 349 / PJ 304 / KL 276 / PutraJaya 337

11/8: 11am - P.Klang 529 / S.Alam 371 / PJ 349 / KL 321 / PutraJaya 364
11/8: 5pm - P.Klang 486 / S.Alam 430 / PJ 326 / KL 295 / PutraJaya 354

12/8: 11am - P.Klang 314 / S.Alam 412 / PJ 363 / KL 365 / PutraJaya 351
_____________________________________________

http://www.jas.sains.my/jas/API+12-8-05.htm

[monster]

Got up this morning to sounds of birds and saw a clearer sky... :p
shall see how the haze will be come afternoon....

[mad1126]

Good bye Haze and welcome traffic jam..............on Monday :D

[Ski]

Ah!! good times are back? weather is cooler, sunnier and clearer from my window. Pity the East Coast ppl are getting a small dose of it
now.


Hope there is a diversion of the wind that wont bring back the caustic acrid air again.

Most of all Indon Govt should ensure there is no repetition of this anymore. Disappointing to say the our Goverment did not handle this problem in a very professional way. They dragged their feet and were unable to provide us with definite solutions and decisions. Its was more like trial and error stuff.

I dread to think how the Government would handle something more catastrophic then this.

[kwchang]

Just an update for those who are not in KL. The air is sooo clear that it is unbelievable. KL/PJ/USJ actually looks beautiful. Was in KL and I tell you, the skyline never looked more beautiful. KL Tower was crystal clear.

As for the Govt inaction, I guess they were waiting for divine intervention (seen the front page of TheStar on Saturday's papers?) and they got it. The winds changed direction and blew all the smoke up north. Did not really solve the problem, just pushed it to another part of the country.

[Ski]

Our sympathy to our friends in Penang...blame it on the wind direction, hope it does not turn towards us again..afterall the burning is still not fully douced yet.

[penangkia]

Our sympathy to our friends in Penang...blame it on the wind direction, hope it does not turn towards us again..afterall the burning is still not fully douced yet.


Yea.. I have family members and friends living in Penang and don't we all know how the feeling is with the f@cking smog. What must be worse are the Selangor folks escaping to Penang for the weekend. Wonder how assam laksa taste like in the smog.

Anyway, it's all about wind direction as the fires in Sumatra are still raging. A few degrees shift in direction and central is going to get it again. Don't know why people are praying for rain in Malaysia to rid the haze. Haze cannot be wash away by rain as new smog from the south will just blow in...remember SJ/USJ thunderstorm and hailstone..smog came back within hours. Pray for heavy rains in Sumatra/Kalimantan. No fire=no smoke. Having said that ,we do need some rain here for other obvious reasons.

[Ski]

Good news I hope and the last of it .

Rains have cleared skies over Indonesia's Sumatra where fires caused a choking haze which smothered the region, officials said Thursday as probes into companies continues.

[VeeJay]

Well said...


Thursday August 18, 2005

The air that we breathe

By TAN CHENG LI

What are we breathing in? This information has been kept from us for some six years but was recently revealed when the haze worsened. But will it go missing again once the sky clears up? TAN CHENG LI reports.

Many Malaysians woke up to clear skies on Saturday. Most were eager to get out and enjoy the sunny day, after over a week of being stuck indoors because of choking smoke.

But should they?

Yes, the Air Pollutant Index (API) in many towns did show a “moderate” level of below 100. But then, those figures are only on particulate matter.

What about the API for other pollutants found in the air, such as ozone, nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide? Are they at levels which are non-hazardous to health?

Well, there is no way of knowing since such information is withheld.

But air pollution scientist Azman Zainal Abidin would rather stay indoors. “Blue skies do not necessarily mean clean air,” he cautions. “There are other gaseous pollutants in our air which we do not see.”

Azman, who has studied air pollution for 20 years and assisted the Department of Environment (DOE) in formulating the API, wants the index to be disclosed daily and not just during the haze. This is simply because our air quality can take a dive even with no haze.

“I have seen days when the API goes above 100 (the unhealthy level) and yet, the sky is clear and blue,” says Azman. On such days, he explains, the culprit is ozone. Ground-level ozone is generated from photochemical reaction between hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds, which are emitted by motor vehicles.

He says the public should not worry about air quality only when the sky turns grey because other invisible pollutants are fouling our air each day.

“The public must know what the API really is. It is not just an index for the haze or particulates but of air quality in general. They must not forget that air pollution happens not only during the haze but daily, especially from motor vehicle emissions. These emissions can be very high in congested city spots and they can be even more dangerous to health than the haze because we are talking about daily exposure.”

Ozone, for instance, causes respiratory problems and damages vegetation, and is usually highest around noon when it is warmest.

In Singapore, information on air quality is disseminated freely. The media publishes the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) daily. The National Environment Agency website has hourly updates of the PSI for particulates (three-hour average), and the 24-hour average of the PSI for ozone, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and hydrocarbons.

Things in Malaysia could not be more different. Data on the API and the general air quality are tightly guarded. In 1995, Alam Sekitar Malaysia Sdn Bhd (ASMA) obtained a 20-year concession to monitor air and water quality for the DOE.

Asma is essentially a profit-driven operation. Massive amounts of air quality data, obtained from its network of 51 telemetric monitoring stations, are available – at a price. Buyers consist mostly of environmental consultancies, researchers and foreign embassies.

API figures, however, are the sole property of the DOE, which also restricts Asma from releasing air pollution data during certain periods, such as the haze.

Asma now has twice the number of stations it started with. But, Azman says, more are needed to ensure comprehensive monitoring. He cites the case of Japan which has over 2,000 stations. A state of emergency was declared for Port Klang in Selangor after the API breached the 500 mark, but the adjoining Klang town was not included simply because Klang does not have a monitoring station.

Azman believes it is only fair that the API is made public from now on. “It is not only to inform people of the air quality but for them to be familiar with the index. There will then be greater awareness and concern over our degrading air quality.”
--STAR

PS: Mods, not sure if its okay to post this long articles, if its not, pls remove it. Thought that this well written article needs more publicity. Happy that someone from from DOE was brave enough to comment on API