Malaysia ordered schools to close on Friday 9 October 2026 in its capital and several states as smoke from forest fires in Indonesia pushed air pollution to unhealthy levels, according to Al Jazeera.
The report said schools were closed across Kuala Lumpur, the administrative capital Putrajaya and the states of Johor, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang and Selangor. The closures affected roughly two million students. Kuala Lumpur recorded an Air Pollutant Index (API) reading of about 170, the report said; the API is a government-run measure of air quality. Under Malaysian guidelines cited by Al Jazeera, readings above 100 are classed as unhealthy, above 200 as very unhealthy and above 300 as hazardous.
Government response
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the haze situation “is indeed at a worrying level” and that he had spoken to Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who agreed to take “the necessary steps”, though no details were given, according to Al Jazeera. Anwar also said he had asked Malaysia’s foreign minister to press for an urgent meeting of ASEAN environment ministers, and that Kuala Lumpur is stepping up cloud seeding to trigger rain.
The report said King Sultan Ibrahim called for measures to protect schoolchildren, older people and patients with respiratory illnesses, and stated that schools should close when API readings reach 150 or higher. Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek promised parents more advance notice of closures in future.
The regional picture
Singapore’s air quality fell into the “very unhealthy” range, according to IQAir, as cited by Al Jazeera. The outlet reported that Indonesia’s coordinating minister for political and security affairs warned in August that El Nino conditions were threatening more fires in the dry season, and that smoke began to blanket the region a month later during what the report called the country’s worst fire season in more than a decade.
Al Jazeera’s reporter said fires have burned across six Indonesian provinces, with at least 200,000 hectares scorched. Indonesia’s Ministry of Health has recorded more than 170,000 respiratory infections, though the actual figure is likely higher because it only counts people who sought healthcare, the report said.
Why It Matters
Cross-border haze is a recurring test of regional cooperation, because the smoke ignores borders while responsibility for fire prevention rests with national governments. The decision to close schools shows how quickly air pollution can disrupt daily life, and Malaysia’s call for an ASEAN ministers’ meeting suggests Kuala Lumpur wants a collective response rather than a bilateral one. What Indonesia does next, and how quickly conditions improve, will determine how long families and schools stay affected.
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