Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

I remember the first thing that I had learnt in the economic class. It was the three basic needs for human to survive. They are air to breathe, fire for heat and light and land for vegetation & dwelling. Without any one of these, human race will not survive. God has created & given all of these to us human for free. Natural resources such as trees, river, rain and hills are in abundance and never lacking.

Unfortunately, majority of the human kind is destructive to nature. Trees were felled, rivers were polluted, hills were flattened for development and last but not least air was polluted. Personal greed under the disguise of social development. Gradually, our basic necessities are becoming scarce and expensive.

We have to pay rental to put a roof over our heads and water bills to have clean filtered water to drink. There goes our free land and water, leaving air the only ‘free’ natural resources available to us or is it?

With the increasing air pollution from forest fire set by loggers, emission from factories and vehicles, major cities especially in the developing countries are constantly covered in smog & haze.

I’m sad to say that I live in one too. For the past one week, I wanted to wake up to the cool morning breeze and fresh air, only to be greeted by a blanket of haze. Day in day out I saw only smoke in front of my eyes and breathed air with faint burning smell. Ironically, this is a very good time to sing, ‘Smokes get in your eyes’. I long for the days when I can see the mountain views from my office, clouds in the blue sky and mask-free days when I walk on the street. A week without a clear blue sky and limited visibility outdoors is enough to drive a city dweller like me up the walls.

Now, we are paying for clean air to breathe. For those who are affordable, air filters are installed indoors. Others will just have to be contented with a mask on their face. Soon, air will be just like a bottle of filtered water that one can find in the convenient stores.

What does the future hold for us and our children? I dare not imagine but can only hang on to what little hope is left in the human race.