Kuala Lampur, Sept. 16 -- Earlier this month, Serian in Sarawak recorded an Air Pollutant Index (API) reading of 518 and an emergency was declared. Once again, Malaysians were reminded that a fire burning somewhere else can very quickly become our problem. We have been here before. Every serious haze episode produces the same questions: why is this happening again, and why, after so many years, has it still not been solved? We already have an Asean agreement, ministers meet, satellite monitoring has improved, Indonesia deploys resources to fight the fires, and Malaysia and Singapore offer assistance when conditions become serious. Yet once the fires are brought under control, the problem does not really disappear. It waits.

That is why I...