Football games, night markets carry on in Johor amid haze and school closures

PONTIAN, Johor – Sundry shop owner Kek Kim Teck had hoped school closures due to the worsening haze would bring more children to his stall at a seaside park to buy snacks and toys, but instead, the place was deserted.

On the morning of Oct 9, thick white smog blanketed the old town, obscuring the sea facing Indonesia’s Sumatra island across the Strait of Malacca. The 80-year-old was left cutting honeydew slices in his stall, with a few people in sight, including a handful of breakfast goers at a nearby food court.

“It’s a holiday today, I know there’s some haze, but why are the kids not out to play?” he told The Straits Times.

As Kek – who grew up accustomed to the open burning of betel palm and rubber crops in his village – saw it, the haze was not an issue to worry about, until it started to affect his daily takings.

“Business has always been slow, you know we earn RM50 (S$15.70) to RM70 a day, we’re happy enough, but now it’s RM10 to RM30? It’s really bad,” he added.

Worsening haze has pushed air pollution to unhealthy levels in Johor, prompting the authorities to announce school closures and curb some outdoor activities. 

However, it is business as usual for some weekend events, including football matches and night markets in Johor Bahru.

The haze stems from forest and peatland fires in neighbouring Indonesia, with dry weather worsening the spread of smoke across South-east Asia. 

Sarawak in East Malaysia, located close to Indonesia’s Kalimantan province – a burning hot spot – was the first Malaysian state to be badly affected in August.

Johor turned up on the haze radar last week as the state became the first in the peninsula to order school closures. 

Schools in Batu Pahat town were ordered shut on Oct 6 after Air Pollutant Index (API) readings exceeded 200. According to Malaysia’s Department of Environment, API readings of 201 to 300 are classified as very unhealthy. On Oct 7, Johor’s top education official Muhammad Naqib Ghazali announced a two-day closure of all its 1,198 schools, affecting more than 617,000 students. 

Johor has since extended its shutdown until Oct 16.

The federal government on Oct 8 extended closures to Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Rompin district in Pahang. Schools in Melaka, parts of Perak and Kuala Lumpur are set to reopen on Oct 12 as air quality improves.

Pasir Gudang, about 20km from Johor Bahru and across the Tebrau Strait from Singapore, repeatedly recorded some of Malaysia’s highest API readings in recent days. At 5pm on Oct 9, it recorded the highest nationwide API reading at the time of 190.

Sarawak declared an emergency in Serian district on Sept 4 when it recorded an API reading of 521, but the air quality across the state is currently in the “moderate” category.

The haze has been linked by some to a tragedy in Pontian district in Johor. On Oct 8, three siblings were killed when their motorcycle collided with a lorry on a rural road. Social media users blamed it on poor visibility due to the haze, even as the cause of the accident is still under police investigation.

“I saw news of the accident… even when I was driving here, the visibility was really bad and things can get dangerous with the haze,” said Iskandar Samsudin, 34, a wiring contractor from Pasir Gudang, who was at the Pontian seaside park on Oct 9 with his three children.

“I’m concerned too, about my health, my children’s health and my safety,” he added.

Across Johor, residents and businesses reported weaker sales. 

Khaleeda Mohd Khuzzan, 27, who owns a cafe in Batu Pahat, said lunch crowds remained steady but evening business had declined over the past week.

Oil palm farmer Ahmad Zamri Daris, 46, from Parit Raja in Batu Pahat, said some of his family members are experiencing symptoms like coughing. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is the main pollutant of concern. These particles can be deposited within the lower airways and lungs, causing irritation.

On a more positive note, lawyer Alias Rasman said conditions in Kota Tinggi, on the eastern side of Johor near Desaru, were clearer than at his Johor Bahru office.

Night markets continued to operate in Johor Bahru and Iskandar Puteri, but vendors said crowds have thinned. 

At a night market in Eco Botanic in Iskandar Puteri on Oct 10, sales assistant Lim Wei Yang said he had sold just 20 packets of laundry capsules by 9.30pm, after starting work at noon. This is just half of the amount he usually sells in a day.

In Johor Bahru’s popular central square, Sri Gelam, crowds – mostly families – were still seen at the public playground and field, but members of running clubs that usually train there at night were absent.

In Iskandar Puteri, football proved to be a bigger draw. Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT), the state’s national champion club, drew 15,000 and 13,000 fans to home matches at Sultan Ismail Stadium on Oct 8 and 9 – which the club specifically scheduled – respectively. 

At all these locations, it was rare to see people wearing masks.

“My eyes do feel a bit irritated and the air smells of thick charred chocolate or cocoa powder,” said Hizan Abdullah, 60, who attended the club’s ASEAN Club Championship match against Cambodia’s PKR Svay Rieng FC on Oct 8.

While sales have taken a hit, the matches were a silver lining for roving drinks seller Khairil Azwan, 45, who was at the JDT game on Oct 8.

“Johor is unusually quiet these few days and it’s really weird,” he said, noting that sales had dropped 40 per cent the past few days.

Experts told ST that relief from the haze might not come until December, as an El Nino event was contributing to hotter, drier conditions prolonging the haze situation.

Citing data from the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre, Forestry researcher and University of Nottingham Malaysia adjunct professor Teckwyn Lim said: “The western side of the Malaysian peninsula, such as in Johor and in the Klang Valley, is more affected by the haze because they are closer to Sumatra.”

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar has urged schools in affected areas to close if API readings remained between unhealthy levels of 150 and 180 for prolonged periods. He also advised the public to wear masks and limit outdoor activities.

Johor Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi on Oct 7 called on ASEAN to convene an emergency meeting to address the transboundary haze.

“Our approach here is not to point fingers at any party, but rather to find a collective solution,” he said.