Haze haze go away

I had lunch with some of my cohorts on Wednesday and I took this picture of the haze that had been enveloping Penang for more than a week already. I posted the picture on whatsapp with a caption saying, quite cynically, "an absolutely breathtaking view from the E&O Hotel in Penang this afternoon. As far as the eyes can see too."

Unfortunately, someone in that whatsapp chat group took my comments literally at face value and told me quite as a matter of fact, "I am afraid the horizon in your pic is actually haze." Thank you for informing me. I am overwhelmed by your response. 😂

Intrigued, I posted a second picture of the hazy day in Penang, this time taken from the Penang Bridge. Aiming my camera northwards, I captured this scene below. Now, would anybody care to comment this time? Unfortunately, no. 😞 They must've wised up to me by now.

Spectacular view of The Channel this afternoon from the Penang
Bridge with George Town on the left and Butterworth on the right
as far as the eyes can see (again)

Okay, it doesn't matter. No great disappointment there. Let's see whether there would be any more noteworthy pictures to take in the next day or two. Then came Saturday, the 14th of September. It rained quite a bit the whole day through and it cleared away quite a lot of the haze particles in the air. When I was driving back to the mainland that night, I stopped again at the emergency area on the Penang Bridge and I snapped this shot:

Same direction as the above but whereas I couldn't even see George Town
and Butterworth during the day time, the distant lights were so clearly seen
at night. It showed how much of the haze had disappeared.

I hope the clear skies can remain for the next few days or even weeks, but I am not convinced that it can last as long as open burning continues to be a problem in Sumatra and Kalimantan. The winds are bringing the haze particles northwards into Malaysia and I am truly disappointed by the Indonesian authorities' claim that they are not responsible for it. Come on! It doesn't matter whether the rogue companies behind the burning are owned by Malaysian conglomerates. They are still located within Indonesia and it is the Indonesian government who must first take action against these conglomerates. I don't care what they do; just stop them from burning your land further. That all.