Hazy Kuantan September 2015

The annual open burning across Indonesia brings trouble to large parts of Malaysia as winds blow the smog our way. Kuantan is now blanketed in a thick layer of haze which has now reached unhealthy levels.

The haze limits visibility of Bukit Sekilau as seen from Jalan Bukit Sekilau, Kuantan

The haze limits visibility of Bukit Sekilau as seen from Jalan Bukit Sekilau, Kuantan

The haze in Kuantan almost entirely covers The Zenith Hotel as seen from Berjaya Megamall

View of the haze from our home in Bukit Sekilau, Kuantan

View of the haze from our home in Bukit Sekilau, Kuantan. There is usually a clear view of a large hill directly behind that apartment block in the background

We are trying to avoid going out at all, only for necessary things like filling up our drinking water and getting food etc. We decided to keep our daughter home from school today as the haze had worsened considerably.

Today's air quality index for places in Malaysia including Kuantan at a rating of 144 - unhealthy

To add one bombshell to another, we also don't have any water at all for today and tomorrow. Fortunately we were aware of the arrival of a water tanker which came to provide water for our block. I made 4 journeys carrying two buckets of water to add to our storage.

Carrying buckets of water from the water tanker in Bukit Sekilau, Kuantan

Carrying buckets of water from the water tanker in Bukit Sekilau, Kuantan

MALAYSIA COVERED IN A BLANKET OF SUFFOCATING HAZE

It's haze time again in Malaysia and Singapore and Kuantan has been hit badly too. This time every year, fields are mass-burned in Indonesia in preparation for plantation. Unfortunately, the winds blow all the suffocating smoke our way.

The picture at the bottom centre of the above collage is how a normal day looks here. The other three pictures were all taken this morning. It's terrible. It stinks and it's suffocating. We are not going out today.

So much for the super moon tonight. And my poor flowers on the balcony have died.

This is Kuantan

This is Kuantan as seen from the Shahzan Inn. The large letters by the river denote the name of this town on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Kuantan, or Kampung Teruntum, as it was called, is said to have been founded in the early 1850s by Haji Senik. In 1854, a group of Malays from Sumatera, Indonesia, arrived in this land through the river and named it Kampung Kuantan, the place where they came from. Today it has been shortened to 'Kuantan'.

It has come a long way since then!

A photograph a day from Kuantan: #3 Burning Rubbish

A man burns rubbish by the roadside at the foot of Bukit Bay Route. Disposal of rubbish is a tricky dilemma in Malaysia. Mass burnings from Indonesia each year brings thick haze to many parts of Malaysia.