Sunday, August 13, 2006
8/13/2006 04:40:00 PM
8/13/2006 04:40:00 PM
Guess?
posted by Francis Ho
nice 'napping' snap of me by a lovely anonymous 'sleeping' doctor guest on our tripDespite the haze and with ashes falling down like snow flakes from the sky (I wished I was kidding) we had a wonderful time kayaking at Borneo Highlands on saturday and sunday. Without any rain for the whole week, the water level was low and we had to get out of the kayak a couple of times to pull it along. But the water was crytal clear unlike the air (with the haze getting gradually worst since wednesday) as well as the information we are getting on the situation from the authorities.
And to think that something as important as the air that one breathe would be relegated to a third or fourth page of the local main newspaper in a tiny mention about the API being in the moderate range. And guess what? This is an annual situation and again the authorities concerned think that we are all (locals and tourists alike) morons with inaccurate/misleading figures and if the fires are in Indonesia how come we are getting the ashes here? Look at the air quality and look at the figures given and you might as well don't need to look at the figures so as not to insult your intelligence and sanity. And don't give me any crap about everything as being 'relative'. I no stewpig ok?
I guess we just have to guess what 'stories' we'll be told this year; and if stories are what people really want to read about, it would be much better that they come here as at least the pictures are much nicer and the stories more enriching and truthful and you do not have to guess what I'll be up to on the weekends. *sigh*
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Post a Comment At Sunday, 13 August, 2006 
Wuching said:
unker for pm!
Neither air nor water quality are relative. Neither is health. They are either what they're supposed to be or they aren't...absolutely!
Do you think your government is kissing butt to Indonesia for the sake of peace?
Do you think your government is kissing butt to Indonesia for the sake of peace?
At Monday, 14 August, 2006 Francis Ho said:
wuching - cm first lah! ;)
mm - the bushfires are in Malaysia! hence the ashes and the authorities are apparently unduly concerned as there's no mention of the bad air situation in the papers this morning!
mm - the bushfires are in Malaysia! hence the ashes and the authorities are apparently unduly concerned as there's no mention of the bad air situation in the papers this morning!
At Monday, 14 August, 2006 
said:
Haze Watch - 8 August 2006
August 08, 2006
ASEAN Secretariat - The report is compiled by the ASEAN Secretariat based on feedback from relevant ASEAN Member Countries and will be updated on a regular basis.
Report of Current Situation
Numerous hotspots with smoke haze were detected in central part of Sumatra and western part of Borneo . Isolated hotspots were also detected in Java, Viet Nam, Cambodia and Peninsular Malaysia.
The ASMC detected a significant increase of hotspots in Kalimantan from 18 hotspots on 6 August to 273 hotspots on 7 August. The dry conditions in Kalimantan are expected to persist and the prevailing winds are blowing towards Sarawak.
From 5 to 7 August, no fire was reported in Brunei Darussalam. The air quality in the country was within good range (12–24). South-westerly winds were blowing with the speed of 10-30 km/hr. Few occasional stormy showers crossing sea area from southwest to northeast may extend to some land areas at times during the period.
Most fires occurred in the ex-plantation/ abandoned areas and peatlands. LAPAN predicted that rainfall is likely in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and part of North Sumatra. The air quality in several cities in Riau was within good range (i.e. Rumbai (19), Minas (32) and Duri (30)), while in Dumai, moderate (64) air quality was recorded. The visibility in Palembang of South Sumatra and Pontianak, West Kalimantan was 10 and 6 km, respectively.
On 7 August, NOAA 12 detected 1 hotspot in Peninsular Malaysia (Pahang) and 10 hotspots in the State of Sarawak, while NOAA 18 detected 4 hotspots in Peninsular Malaysia (3 in Pahang, and 1 in Perak) and 29 hotspots in the State of Sarawak. The air quality status recorded on 7 August was within good to moderate range. On 8 August, as of 11.00 a.m., 10 stations recorded good air quality and 40 stations recorded moderate air quality. None of the stations recorded unhealthy status . It was also reported that at 12 p.m. the visibility along the west coast states of Peninsular Malaysia was between 9 km to more than 10 km. In Sabah and Sarawak , the low visibility was observed in Kuching (6 km), Miri (8 km), Kota Kinabalu (5 km) and Tawau (9 km) but elsewhere it was more than 10km. For more latest information on visibility reading please visit www.kjc.gov.my
No fires were detected in Singapore. The PSI reading was within good range (38). The visibility readings were 10 km, with maximum temperature of 32 ° C. Showers are likely on the next three days.
Based on FDRS reading, all fine fuels will easily ignite, potentially resulting in many fires in Thailand, most parts of southern Sumatra, and Borneo. In mixed fuels, severe drought conditions and moderate and high-intensify fires can occur in many parts of Borneo and Sumatra. Peat areas will produce widespread and severe haze from deep and long-burning fires in parts of Viet Nam. Drought conditions in peat areas and high-intensity fires are possible in southern Borneo and southern Sumatra.
Source: http://www.haze-online.or.id
August 08, 2006
ASEAN Secretariat - The report is compiled by the ASEAN Secretariat based on feedback from relevant ASEAN Member Countries and will be updated on a regular basis.
Report of Current Situation
Numerous hotspots with smoke haze were detected in central part of Sumatra and western part of Borneo . Isolated hotspots were also detected in Java, Viet Nam, Cambodia and Peninsular Malaysia.
The ASMC detected a significant increase of hotspots in Kalimantan from 18 hotspots on 6 August to 273 hotspots on 7 August. The dry conditions in Kalimantan are expected to persist and the prevailing winds are blowing towards Sarawak.
From 5 to 7 August, no fire was reported in Brunei Darussalam. The air quality in the country was within good range (12–24). South-westerly winds were blowing with the speed of 10-30 km/hr. Few occasional stormy showers crossing sea area from southwest to northeast may extend to some land areas at times during the period.
Most fires occurred in the ex-plantation/ abandoned areas and peatlands. LAPAN predicted that rainfall is likely in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and part of North Sumatra. The air quality in several cities in Riau was within good range (i.e. Rumbai (19), Minas (32) and Duri (30)), while in Dumai, moderate (64) air quality was recorded. The visibility in Palembang of South Sumatra and Pontianak, West Kalimantan was 10 and 6 km, respectively.
On 7 August, NOAA 12 detected 1 hotspot in Peninsular Malaysia (Pahang) and 10 hotspots in the State of Sarawak, while NOAA 18 detected 4 hotspots in Peninsular Malaysia (3 in Pahang, and 1 in Perak) and 29 hotspots in the State of Sarawak. The air quality status recorded on 7 August was within good to moderate range. On 8 August, as of 11.00 a.m., 10 stations recorded good air quality and 40 stations recorded moderate air quality. None of the stations recorded unhealthy status . It was also reported that at 12 p.m. the visibility along the west coast states of Peninsular Malaysia was between 9 km to more than 10 km. In Sabah and Sarawak , the low visibility was observed in Kuching (6 km), Miri (8 km), Kota Kinabalu (5 km) and Tawau (9 km) but elsewhere it was more than 10km. For more latest information on visibility reading please visit www.kjc.gov.my
No fires were detected in Singapore. The PSI reading was within good range (38). The visibility readings were 10 km, with maximum temperature of 32 ° C. Showers are likely on the next three days.
Based on FDRS reading, all fine fuels will easily ignite, potentially resulting in many fires in Thailand, most parts of southern Sumatra, and Borneo. In mixed fuels, severe drought conditions and moderate and high-intensify fires can occur in many parts of Borneo and Sumatra. Peat areas will produce widespread and severe haze from deep and long-burning fires in parts of Viet Nam. Drought conditions in peat areas and high-intensity fires are possible in southern Borneo and southern Sumatra.
Source: http://www.haze-online.or.id
At Monday, 14 August, 2006 Francis Ho said:
qv - thanks for sharing that with us. i've also posted the 'Regional Haze Map' to my post above.