Educating the public While the Malaysian government has been asking people to stay indoors, it has not taken any initiative to educate the rakyat about the dangers of the haze. The haze consists of tiny particles measuring 2.5 microns in diameter or smaller. For example, they are 1/10,000 of an inch in size or 30 times smaller than the width of one hair strand. These particles are therefore small enough to get past our defensive nose hairs and into our lungs. They can cause the cells in the lungs to mutate and become cancerous. And these tiny particles can also pass from our lungs into our blood stream and be carried throughout our bodies. In short, particles in haze can increase our risk of developing bacterial and viral infections, cancer, stroke, or heart and lung diseases. And yet, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s government does not see it necessary to create public awareness so that everyone understands what he or she can do to minimize any health complications. For example, we see most Malaysians walking around with surgical masks that would not help to keep off the tiny particles. It is the responsibility of the government to educate the people to wear N95 masks as well as cap the price to make it affordable. On top of that, the Health Ministry should already have started distributing these masks so that the poor have access to them as well. Therefore, while we are busy pointing fingers at Indonesia, the fact that Najib’s administration has not done any of this is beyond the pale. Not to mention that Malaysia, as part of Asean, prefers looking pretty at the dinner table with Indonesia as opposed to doing the right thing by the people. -Charles Santiago is DAP’s member of parliament for Klang
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 03:17:41 +0000
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