Fisherwoman · Penang
Sharifah Hawa, "Vivi"
Poor visibility makes going to sea unsafe. Without strong sun, fish and squid will not dry, and income drops.
Special report · Haze 2026 · Malaysia and the region
The sky may clear. The crisis will not clear itself.
Smoke from burning peatland in Indonesia has hung over Malaysia for weeks. Rain is on the way. This report shows why rain is not the answer, and what would be.
Every number carries a label:
Official data Research Report finding Testimony Model estimate Forecast Company statement Our analysisIn brief ·
The 2026 haze in five points.
At 2pm on 19 October, 25 of 48 air monitoring stations in Peninsular Malaysia read unhealthy, with JOHAN SETIA in Selangor highest at an Air Pollutant Index of 172.21 On 8 October, when this report was published, it was 38 of 68.2
From 9 October, Malaysian schools must close where the index passes 180, and from 12 October where it stays above 150 for three days.4
The smoke comes from peatland and forest fires in southern Sumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesia.7,9
Between 8 August and 1 October, satellite analysis traced 6,811 haze-source points in Indonesia. 2,719 of them were on land that had burned before.1
Rain should ease the haze, but it does not rewet drained peat or block canals. Unless that work is done, the same land can burn again next dry season.8
Live readings: Department of Environment APIMS. Jump to questions and answers or the decision game.
01 Right now
Latest reading · · refreshed daily
25 of 48
air monitoring stations in Peninsular Malaysia read unhealthy at 2pm on 19 October. JOHAN SETIA, in Selangor, was highest at 172.21
When this report was published: 38 of 68 at 9am on 8 October, with Segamat highest at 187.2
Where 172 sits on the scale.
GoodModerateUnhealthyVery unhealthyHazardous
0100200300550
Malaysia's Air Pollutant Index. 172 was JOHAN SETIA in Selangor at 2pm on 19 October. On 4 September the index in Serian, Sarawak, reached 519 and an emergency was declared there.21,6
Schools close above 180.
From 9 October, schools must close where the index tops 180, and from 12 October where it stays above 150 for three days. Putrajaya and Selangor shut their ministry schools on 9 October.45
The same smoke, across the region.
Latest reading · · refreshed daily
At 2pm on 19 October, Singapore's 24-hour PSI ranged 85 to 115 across the island, with the highest in the unhealthy range.22 On 7 October it reached 105 to 140 as smoke drifted in from southern Sumatra and Kalimantan.7
Fires seen from space.
Latest count · · refreshed daily
8,658 fire detections
in Indonesia in the 24 hours before the time above: 1,212 in Sumatra and 5,389 in Kalimantan. Malaysia had 2.23
Satellite detections of heat from active fires. Clouds and smoke hide some fires, not every detection is on peat, and island totals use approximate boundaries.
Rain is forecast. The risk stays.
METMalaysia expects the haze to ease gradually as rain becomes more frequent. It also warns the risk remains through October, while dry weather and hotspots persist in the south of the region.8
02 At home
What haze takes from an ordinary day.
Mother · Kuala Lumpur
Tikka Hun
She keeps the house shut and runs an air purifier to protect her baby.
Farmer · Johor
Akata Yang
A harvest that usually takes 40 days stretches to 50 or 60, and the yield roughly halves. School visits to the farm are cancelled.
Father · Kuala Lumpur
Muhammad Syahir
His daughter was admitted to hospital with bronchitis during the haze.
Accounts recorded in the report.1 They show how haze reaches a household. They are not national estimates, and not every account is dated to this month.
55 haze days
in Malaysia between 8 August and 1 October, by the report's satellite detection. Sarawak counted 55 and Sabah 16.1
03 Where it starts
6,811 points of smoke.
The report's satellite analysis traced 6,811 haze-source points across Indonesia between 8 August and 1 October. More than half were in Kalimantan.1
- Kalimantan3,628
- Papua1,634
- Sumatra1,322
- Maluku152
- Sulawesi75
The busiest districts.
- MeraukeSouth Papua · 1,285
- KetapangWest Kalimantan · 881
- Ogan Komering IlirSouth Sumatra · 639
- Pulang PisauCentral Kalimantan · 561
A haze-source point is the report's unit of detection. It is not one fire, a burned hectare, or proof of who lit it.
In August, Europe's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service reported that Indonesian fire emissions and regional haze were already enhanced, in line with past El Niño years.9
04 Again
Two in five burned before.
2,719 of the 6,811 points sat on land that had already burned between 2015 and 2023. That is 39.9%.1
980points in 233 oil palm concessions
970in 120 timber concessions
862in 44 conservation areas
These groups overlap, so they do not add up.1
Why do the same landscapes stay ready to burn, after years of restoration money and promises?
05 The fuel
Peat is a wet sponge.
Peat is soil made of plants that never fully rotted, because water kept the air out. Kept wet, it holds water and carbon built up over thousands of years.
Indonesia has 24.2 million hectares of peat hydrological units. The report classes 16.4 million of them as fire-prone.1
Then the water is let out.
Canals drain peat for plantations and roads. Dry peat oxidises, sinks and can smoulder below the surface.
At drained plantation sites in Sumatra, peat sank 1.42 metres in the first five years, then about 5 cm a year.10
281,253 km
of canals cut through peat in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua, mostly inside concessions. End to end, they would circle the Earth about seven times.11
06 Repair
Built is not the same as working.
70%
of canal blocks observed were damaged. Most were wood and bamboo, which rot without upkeep.
52%
of monitored restoration sites still had water below the safe level.
3%
of peat burned in 2015 to 2019 grew back as forest. 41% became shrubland and 54% plantation.
Pantau Gambut's monitoring.12 Sample sizes are not published, so read these as warning signs, not national rates.
07 The bill
The bill lands on people who never chose the risk.
33,100
adult premature deaths a year were estimated from peat-fire smoke in Sumatra and Kalimantan, plus 2,900 infants, using 2013 to 2017 data. The adult range is 19,900 to 64,800. The same study estimates 8.9 million lost workdays a year.13
A model of past years in Indonesia. Not a count of deaths in 2026, and not a Malaysian figure.
US$16.1 billion
at least, was the cost of Indonesia's 2015 fires: 1.9% of that year's GDP.14
Prevention pays.
Restoring 2.49 million hectares of degraded peat would cost US$3.2 to 7 billion. Had it been done, a study estimates it would have avoided US$8.4 billion in losses across the big fires of 2004 to 2015.15
US$3.2 to 7BCost to restore
US$8.4BLosses avoided
08 Accountability
Investment flows one way. Smoke flows the other.
Malaysian and Singaporean groups hold land in Indonesia's fire zones. That makes Malaysia a stakeholder in prevention, not only a place downwind.
Indonesia is acting.
Its environment ministry is investigating 42 companies and sealed a site in Ketapang with about 1,500 hectares burned. By 6 September, police had named 138 suspects, and 8 corporations faced legal proceedings.1617
A Malaysian link, and its answer.
The report lists PT Menteng Jaya Sawit Perdana, a subsidiary of Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK), with 19 haze-source points over 6 days.1
KLK says the fires started outside its concession, all have been put out, and it has added water supply, patrols, and drone and satellite monitoring.18
Neither statement settles who lit the fires. Dated, geolocated records can.
The rules that exist.
The ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, signed in Kuala Lumpur in 2002 and ratified by every member, covers cooperation, monitoring and prevention. It does not put companies on trial.19
In 2024, Malaysia's human rights commission, SUHAKAM, recommended a Clean Air Act and an ASEAN protocol so each country can hold its own companies to account for fires abroad.20
09 Your move
The rain is coming. What do you do before the next dry season?
Choose up to three moves. Each one acts on a different part of the system. Watch the chain, the four gauges and the sky behind you.
Your plan
3 moves left
People
Nature
Livelihoods
Accountability
Next dry season: High haze risk
The research brief's answer: protect people this week, establish the evidence within 30 days, and secure prevention you can check within 90 days.
Illustrative. Scores show the direction of effect described in this report, not a forecast model.
10 The case stays open
Do not let a clearer sky close the case.
This week
Protect people
A timestamped local bulletin, school and workplace rules, and clean-air rooms for people who cannot buy filters.
Within 30 days
Establish the evidence
One reconciled data set, a regional evidence request, and site-level disclosure from Malaysian-linked companies.
Within 90 days
Secure prevention you can check
Named landscapes, owners, budgets and water-table targets, with progress reported every month.
Check the air where you are
Hourly readings from the Department of Environment's Air Pollutant Index system.
Open APIMSRead the research
Explainers and briefs on nature, energy and people in Southeast Asia.
Go to sustainabilityseaShare this report
Send it to someone who will be making decisions before the next dry season.
Questions
Questions people ask about the haze
Why is there haze in Malaysia in October 2026?
Smoke from peatland and forest fires in Indonesia, mainly in southern Sumatra and Kalimantan, is drifting over Malaysia and Singapore. Singapore’s National Environment Agency reported smoke plumes from both areas on 7 October 2026, and the Copernicus monitoring service said Indonesian fire emissions were enhanced, in line with past El Niño years.7,9
How bad is the air quality in Malaysia right now?
At 2pm on 19 October 2026, 25 of 48 monitoring stations in Peninsular Malaysia recorded unhealthy Air Pollutant Index readings, with JOHAN SETIA in Selangor highest at 172. From 9 October, schools must close where the index exceeds 180. This page refreshes its readings daily, and hourly readings are on the Department of Environment’s APIMS portal.21,4
Will rain end the haze?
Rain should ease it. METMalaysia expects gradual improvement as rainfall increases, but warns the risk remains through October. Rain does not rewet drained peat or block canals, so the same landscapes can burn again in the next dry season.8
Why does peat burn so easily?
Peat is waterlogged plant matter that never fully rotted. Canals drain it for plantations and roads, and once dry it oxidises, sinks and can smoulder below the surface. About 281,253 km of canals cut through Indonesian peat, and 2,719 of this season’s 6,811 haze-source points were on land that had burned before.11,1
Are Malaysian companies linked to the fires?
The fire facts report lists PT Menteng Jaya Sawit Perdana, a subsidiary of Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK), with 19 haze-source points over 6 days. KLK says the fires started outside its concession and have been put out. A point inside a concession does not prove who lit a fire, so dated, geolocated records are needed.1,18
What can Malaysia do about transboundary haze?
Protect people this week with local bulletins, school and workplace rules and clean-air rooms. Within 30 days, build one reconciled evidence base and request records through ASEAN channels. Within 90 days, secure prevention commitments with named sites, budgets and water-table targets. SUHAKAM has also recommended a Clean Air Act for Malaysia.20
How this report was checked
What we checked, and what we left out.
✓
Checked against the original source
The 6,811 points and the 2,719, 970 and 980 overlays against the report's publication page. API readings, school rules, the Serian emergency, Singapore's PSI, the METMalaysia outlook, the health, cost and restoration studies, Indonesia's enforcement figures, KLK's statement, the ASEAN agreement and SUHAKAM's recommendations.
R
Report findings, shown with a label
Island and district totals, haze days, the testimonies, peat-area figures and the PT Menteng count come from the report and were not independently re-measured.
×
Left out
The report's figure of 126.88 million tonnes CO2e of fire emissions and its global ranking, because the dataset and units are not documented. Historical burned-area claims against named companies.
?
Unresolved in the report
Monthly totals add to 6,808, not 6,811. Points in peat hydrological units are given as 3,577 on one page and 3,463 on another.
+
Updated beyond the brief
Malaysian API readings from 7 and 8 October and the school closures of 9 October. Since publication, the latest Malaysian and Singapore air readings refresh daily from the official feeds; the story text stays as of 9 October.