Pray for Rain, calls by Pak Lah

Pray for rain

BBC News:

Malaysia's Muslim community has been asked to pray for rain to lift the smog that has enveloped the capital, Kuala Lumpur, and surrounding areas.The request came from the country's prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, a day after he declared an emergency in two areas worst affected by the haze.

Jakarta has been urged to do more to stop the fires on the island of Sumatra which cause the pollution.

So Malaysia's Mr Abdullah has asked Muslims to use their Friday prayers to ask for divine intervention, preferably in the shape of rain.

Dozens of demonstrators turned up outside the Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur to make their feelings known.

Like many Malaysians, they want to know why nothing has been done over the last decade to prevent this recurring problem.


COMMENT:

I think we should pray that Indonesia would be more considerate and prevent all those bush fires and human-made fires in Kalimantan which had caused us distress over the last decade or so.

In the words of Jonathan Kent, the BBC correspondent, "if the prayers and demonstrations do not work, and if there is no action in Indonesia, Malaysia may have to wait for relief until October, when air-clearing monsoon rains are due.