Malaysia: Tourists Advised To Reduce Outdoor Activities Due To Haze

Bernama 30 Sep 15;

MELAKA, Sept 30 (Bernama) -- Tourists are advised to reduce outdoor activities in view of the current haze situation to avoid health problems, Deputy Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said.

She said the current haze situation has to some extent affected the tourism sector and reduced tourists arrivals compared with the previous count.

"Nevertheless, there are some tourists continuing their holiday here as scheduled," she told Bernama here.

In this regard, she encouraged tourism operators to carry out more indoor activities and advised tourists to take precautionary measures such as wearing face mask when doing outdoor activities.

According to the Department of Environment portal, as at 9 am Wednesday 18 areas recorded unhealthy air quality with Bukit Rambai, here recording the highest air pollutant index (API) reading of 150, followed by Port Dickson in Negeri Sembilan (142).

-- BERNAMA


Tap into local research on API readings
AHMAD FAIRUZ OTHMAN New Straits Times 1 Oct 15;

THE haze returned with a vengeance last Thursday during Hari Raya Aidiladha. It had been gone for a week, but it has now blanketed many parts of the state, which caused the closure of schools and affected flights at the Senai International Airport in Johor.

However, a recent debate occurred on social media that the haze was not about the hot spots in Sumatra or Kalimantan or the blame game on who should be held responsible for the smog.

It was about Malaysia’s Air Pollutant Index or API reading, which is used by the Department of Environment (DoE) to measure air quality.

In Johor, many folk compared the API provided by the DoE with the system used to measure air quality by the Singaporean authorities.

There were stark differences in the readings between Johor and Singapore last week and this week.

While many people saw thick blankets of smog outside their windows in Johor, it was not reflected in the API readings, which were in the early range of the unhealthy band of between 101 and 200.

This newspaper reported on Monday that the Singapore National Environment Agency’s Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) hit the hazardous range (above 300) last Thursday evening and climbed to 341 at 5am on Friday.

In Johor Baru, the API readings during the same period were in the unhealthy band of between 139 and 192.

DoE director-general Datuk Halimah Hassan said the API readings were not watered down, but explained the different figures were due to Singapore’s inclusion of a sixth parameter in determining air quality.

Malaysia measures five parameters to determine API: carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and particulate matter (PM10).

Since April last year, Singapore has included a sixth parameter, known as fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in measuring its air quality under its PSI.

The PM2.5 refers to particles 2.5 micrometres in diameter or smaller, which can only be seen by electron microscope. Fine particles come from combustions, such as motor vehicles, forest fires or agriculture burning.

Experts and the layman had a lot to say about the story. Environmental Protection Society Malaysia vice-president Randolph Geremiah said he was all for having better API equipment if there was a need for it.

Johoreans were more brash in their comments.

“Our API system is a joke,” said a friend, who has been posting photographs of the haze in Johor Baru and API readings on Facebook.

One photograph was a view from one side of the Johor Straits, which saw the haze blanketing the view of Singapore from Johor.

A father of two from Taman Mount Austin, Johor Baru, Frankie Tan, was rather worried about the fine particulate matter or PM2.5 in the air, which is yet to be measured in the API.

“I think our health is important and I know that PM2.5 molecules are very harmful if it gets into your lungs,” said the senior manager at a property development company, who has now limited his family’s outdoor time.

The issue raises a lot of questions about the API readings and its technology, but it is something that can be improved with budgeting and the use of available technology.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) has been using its own calculations to measure fine particulate matter in the air.

UTM campus sustainability director Associate Professor Dr Mohd Fadzil Md Din said recent readings of air quality at its Skudai campus proved that its instrument showed almost similar readings as those shown in Woodlands, Singapore.

The instrument calculated a fine particulate matter (PM2.5) reading of 229 at noon on Tuesday. This was comparable with Singapore’s three hour PSI of 240.
“This shows the instrument used by UTM is at par with the one used by Singapore,” said Fadzil.

There is hope for our API system, but perhaps more effort must be made to unearth the research and development that has been done by Malaysian researchers on air pollutant calculations.

These systems are changing with the times and can produce accurate readings of air pollution.

And accuracy is very much needed when measuring the haze, which has an impact on health and workers’ productivity as well as affects sectors, such as education, tourism and sports.

Haze choking farms too
LOH FOON FONG, ZAZALI MUSA, JOASH DE SILVA, CHONG KAH YUAN, MOHD FARHAAN SHAH, AND VINCENT LIAN
The Star 2 Oct 15;

PETALING JAYA: Chickens are dying by the millions in a month, farm produce is dwindling, vegetables are wilting, and end consumers are set to be the biggest losers – all because of the haze.

Vegetables production in several states is down by a third, sending prices up by more than two-fold. And farmers are saying that if the haze were to continue, prices will go even higher.

Penang and Province Wellesley Farmers Association chairman Loo Choo Gee estimated that on average two to three million broiler chickens in the northern region of Penang, Kedah, Perlis and Perak die in a month because of the haze.

He added that this was a big issue every year and that at times the mortality rate could rise up to four million of the 50 million that are produced in a month in peninsular Malaysia.

“Chickens are more sensitive to the haze than humans. They have respiratory problems and become weak. We have to give them vitamins. When they are weak, they are slow to grow and that is not good,” said Loo, who is also a farmer.

He said that during the haze they would need to increase the price of chicken by 10sen to 20sen per kilo from around RM4.50 to RM4.70.

“Many farmers try and keep the breeder chickens that are meant for culling alive so they can lay more eggs. But even hens become weak during the haze and lay fewer eggs,” said Loo.

Sarawak Livestock Breeders Association chairman Lee Jin Chiaw said that egg production has dropped by about 2%.

In Johor, the owner of Lew Brothers Poultry Farm Sdn Bhd, Lew Kim Huat said that egg production at its two farms in Ulu Tiram and Layang had declined to about 5% since the start of the haze.

“Our hens are becoming restless and weak,’’ he said adding that about 28,000 of the 700,000 birds also died due to suffocation, about twice the usual number of deaths.

Lew said, normally each bird produces 25 eggs per month but for the past one month they produced between 15 and 20 eggs each.

In Kota Tinggi, Johor, long beans cost RM6 per kg compared with RM2 to RM3 before the haze period.

A wholesaler, Tan Pak Looi, cautioned that the price of chillies, now at RM6 per kg, was expected to rise in the next two to three months.

The current batch of chillies survived as they were planted and harvested before the haze, he added.

Tan said vegetables production had fallen due to a lack of sunlight while the lack of rain had worsened the situation.

Penang Island Vegetable Wholesalers Association chairman Tan Ban Ben said the prices of certain vegetables had doubled due to the haze.

“The weather has also affected the production of spring onions and celery which have doubled in price,” he said adding that spring onions used to cost RM5 to RM6 two weeks ago, but the wholesale price is now RM12.

A vegetable supplier in George Town, V. Raj, 47, said wholesale prices of vegetables from Cameron Highlands have gone up by 50%.

“Profits have also been cut by at least 20%. Chinese broccoli (kai-lan) increased from RM2.50 to RM5 while Chinese cabbage also rose to RM2.50 from RM1.20 and tomatoes from RM4 to RM6,” he said.

Farmer Khor Tiam Seng, 38, from Cameron Highlands, said vegetable production there had dropped by 10% to 20%.

“I had to increase my prices in order to maintain profit. And it is the customers who will have to pay more.”


Two-month-long haze shrinks fruits along with profits
LOH FOON FONG, ZAZALI MUSA, JOASH DE SILVA, CHONG KAH YUAN, MOHD FARHAAN SHAH, AND VINCENT LIAN
The Star 2 Oct 15;

PETALING JAYA: The two-month long haze is causing a lower yield of crop, fruits and vegetables.

One of the main producers of Cavendish banana in the country, Kulim (M) Bhd is expecting a low year-end harvest due to the haze.

Kulim Montel Farm manager Omar Rohani said the haze had badly affected the growth of new buds at its two banana farms in Kota Tinggi and Renggam, Johor.

He said the banana trees at the 165ha and the 110ha farms only produced about 4,500 and 6,000 new buds.

“This is about half of what our farms normally produce,’’ Omar said yesterday.

He pointed out that in July and August, the plants at the Kota Tinggi produced about 11,948 buds and those in Renggam 10,538 buds.

Omar said the estimated sales from the July and August fruits were expected to be between RM240,000 and RM260,000.

“We expect our sales in October and November to go down to between RM180,000 and RM200,000,’’ he said adding that even the size of the fruits were also smaller because of the haze.

Omar said this year’s haze, which had prolonged for almost 35 days, was the worst compared with last year’s which lasted less than a month.

According to Dr Mohd Norowi Hamid, who is the director of Agrobiodiversity and Environment Research Centre in Mardi, the haze reduced the photosynthesis rate because less sunlight reached the plants.

He cited the case that occurred in Serdang during 2013 when a 50% reduction in sunlight caused a 40% lower photosynthesis rate in the corn plants. This in turn had reduced the yield.

Dr Mohd Norowi said with padi, if the haze occurred during the grain filling stage, the crop would face a reduction of 1.2%.

He said the two rice planting seasons in Sekinchan, Selangor were from the start of January to the end of April and the start of July to the end of October.


Haze affecting migratory birds
LOH FOON FONG, ZAZALI MUSA, JOASH DE SILVA, CHONG KAH YUAN, MOHD FARHAAN SHAH, AND VINCENT LIAN
The Star 2 Oct 15;

JOHOR BARU: The haze is also affecting migratory birds making their annual journey here to escape the winter of east Asia.

“People think the haze has caused them problems but animals, in particular migratory birds, have it much worse,” said Malaysian Nature Society Johor chairman Vincent Chow said.

“They need to see the stars to guide them from East Asia to South-East Asia, making their way to the coastline of Johor to find food such as small fish,” he said.

Chow said the haze this time around was much worse than previous years. Migratory birds usually choose Johor to escape the winter cold of China, South Korea and Japan. The birds usually begin their thousand-mile journey when winter is near in East Asia and they travel south by using the East Asia-Australia flyway.

In spring, which is between February and March, they will make their return journey up north, as food such as insects would be plentiful for them there.

Chow said other animals were also finding it hard to live through the haze which brought ash and a nauseating smell with it, making it difficult for them to find food in the wild.