Role cards

• Government

  An officer at the Department of Environment who publishes the daily air pollution readings

  

  You are an officer at the Department of Environment. Your team publishes Malaysia's official air pollution readings (API). Schools now close when these readings pass a new, lower limit, so every number is watched. Some people point to air quality apps that show different numbers. Your department says the apps measure air differently. In Parliament, a deputy minister said there is no official report of Malaysian companies being involved in the fires. You can measure the air, but the fires are in another country.

  Sources: Bernama, 8 Oct 2026 · Malaysiakini, 8 Oct 2026 · The Star, 14 Oct 2026

• Business

  The sustainability manager at a Malaysian palm oil group that an NGO report has just linked to the fires

  

  You are the sustainability manager at a Malaysian palm oil group with plantations in Indonesia. An NGO report has linked land your group manages to this year's fires. The report says this does not mean your company started them. Your company says it follows a zero-burning policy and that most fires started outside its land. Your certification body agrees that a fire near a plantation does not prove the owner started it. Indonesia is investigating 19 companies but has not named them.

  Sources: Greenpeace, 5 Oct 2026 · New Straits Times, 9 & 11 Oct 2026 · The Vibes, 9 Sep 2026

• Affected public

  A food delivery rider in the Klang Valley whose daughter has asthma

  

  You deliver food by motorbike in the Klang Valley. You earn by the delivery, so a day off is a day without pay. On haze days, more people order in, so there is more work outdoors. If the smoke makes you sick, there is no guaranteed compensation. Your daughter has asthma. Schools now close when the air gets bad, and someone has to stay home with her.

  Sources: New Straits Times, 20 Sep 2026 · Malaysiakini, 8 Oct 2026

• NGO

  A campaigner at a small Kuala Lumpur environmental NGO with a team of three and a long list of demands

  

  You are a campaigner at a small environmental NGO in Kuala Lumpur, with a team of three. You want companies linked to the fires to be held responsible, including Malaysian companies operating in Indonesia. In September, groups like yours protested at the Indonesian Embassy. They asked Indonesia to publish its maps of who holds which land, and to name the companies involved. So far, Indonesia has not named the companies it is investigating.

  Sources: Greenpeace, 4 Sep & 5 Oct 2026 · New Straits Times, 11 Oct 2026

• Smallholder

  An oil palm farmer in Indonesia with a small plot of land

  

  You grow oil palm in Indonesia, on two hectares of land or less. Fire is a cheap way to clear land. In August, Indonesian police arrested 72 people over this year's fires. Big companies say the fires came from the land next to theirs. In 2023, a farmers' union said smallholders are victims of the haze, not the cause.

  Sources: AP, 24 Aug 2026 · The Star, 20 Oct 2026 · New Straits Times, 9 Oct 2026 · Eco-Business, 14 Nov 2023