Toxic haze from Indonesia's wildfires hits Singapore and Malaysia, straining ties between neighbours

Toxic haze from wildfires in the Indonesian regions of Kalimantan, Papua and Sumatra has drifted on the winds into neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia. In recent weeks the smog across maritime South East Asia has triggered respiratory illnesses and headaches.

The haze knows no borders, and it is also giving the region's governments a different kind of headache — split between the mounting frustrations of their citizens and the risk of souring diplomatic ties with Indonesia.

Eugene Tan, associate professor of law at Singapore Management University, said: “People are fed up, angry and anxious. The governments have to respond to them, or else what is more an external issue has become an internal one with ample headroom for politicisation.”

Indonesia's wildfires are a yearly occurrence, widely associated with industrial-scale land clearing to make way for crops like oil palm. This year the blazes have been particularly difficult to tame due to a strong El Niño, which has exacerbated drought conditions in the country's forests and peatlands.

Whereas previous haze episodes in Singapore and Malaysia have typically lasted a few days, this time it stretched into weeks. Schools were closed in parts of Malaysia when the haze reached unhealthy levels this month.

In Malaysia, locals started a boycott of Indonesian products in protest against the haze. Lawmaker Syed Saddiq called for sanctions on companies linked to the wildfires and said Malaysians should “treat them as an outcast in the region.”

There have also been complaints in Singapore. According to Tan, there appears to be a view that the government dropped the ball in dealing with the haze, given that the severity of El Niño was known and early warning was given. Singaporeans, he said, expect the government to decisively deal with the polluters.

Singapore's government has made clear the haze problem is a priority. Hundreds of haze shelters have been set up across the island, and masks are being distributed to children, the elderly and other vulnerable residents. Authorities have also said they are looking to strengthen existing haze legislation and are investigating 10 Singapore-registered companies for potential links to the wildfires in Indonesia.

Last week Singapore's foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan met Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta for what Balakrishnan described as “honest” and “sincere” conversations that produced “constructive approaches.” After the meeting, the two countries announced they would set up a joint task force to deal with the haze — an apparent détente after weeks of simmering bilateral tensions.

As the haze spiralled into another crisis for Prabowo's administration, some officials pushed back against criticism. One senior official said the wildfires were out of human control and that oxygen in neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia “also comes from our forests” — a remark that ruffled feathers.

Singaporean senior minister K Shanmugam called that remark “disappointing” and “not right” — a rare rebuke from the city state, which prides itself on its diplomatic prowess. “The haze is affecting our health seriously, and it's really unacceptable,” Shanmugam told reporters. Because the haze impacts citizens on both sides of the border, he said, there should not be “any bilateral issues” in addressing it, and the Indonesian public is suffering as well.

Days later, Indonesia announced it would reduce gas exports to Singapore, citing domestic energy needs — a move many saw as retaliation for Singapore's rhetoric. Singapore says the reduction amounts to less than 2 percent of its total daily demand and will have little impact on its gas supply. Indonesia has also faced recent electricity shortages in parts of the country. But the abrupt announcement came just days after Indonesia's energy minister warned that gas exports could be halted to countries that do not “respect Indonesia.” That same day, Prabowo made reference to “countries that like to insult Indonesia” when talking about the wildfires.

Malaysia's official rhetoric has been relatively muted. Foreign minister Mohamad Hasan has ruled out lodging a formal diplomatic protest with Indonesia or taking legal action, saying such actions “would mean we were prepared to sever relations.” For now, Malaysia has agreed to explore a memorandum of understanding with Indonesia to strengthen wildfire prevention efforts, and would rely on diplomatic mechanisms such as the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, which came into effect in 2003.

Many see that agreement as toothless, because it cannot punish agricultural companies linked to wildfires or force individual governments to do so. James Chin, professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania, said the agreement has turned out to be “just not worth the paper it was signed on,” and that once the haze disappears and political pressure eases, it is back to business as usual. In 2016, Asean countries set a goal to eliminate haze in the region by 2020; when that deadline drifted quietly by, they set a new target of 2030.

Complicating Malaysia's position is the fact that it is also a major palm oil producer, a commodity often linked to commercial “slash-and-burn” practices widely blamed for the region's wildfires. In 2019, when Malaysia pointed to hotspots in Indonesia's peatlands as the cause of the haze, Indonesian authorities pointed the finger back at Malaysia. Ei Sun Oh, principal adviser at the Pacific Research Centre of Malaysia, said: “As long as we place a lot of importance on oil palm planting, [the haze] is going to recur.” Malaysia, he added, “doesn't want to unduly provoke Indonesia,” and its government is “just wringing their hands till the wind blows [the problem] over. Because eventually it will blow over.”