It looks like the damp mist of a cooler clime but it is dry, tickling the throat and irritating the eyes. It gives people hacking coughs and aggravates nose and chest complaints. This is the ubiquitous haze with which Malaysians have been living for the past three months. By day it lies across Kuala Lumpur and much of the rest of Malaysia, obscuring the sun and reducing buildings to shadowy shapes. By night, it swirls sluggishly around lampposts, giving Malaysians a taste of Victorian London. At first, people heeded warnings to reduce outdoor exercise. But tennis courts at the fashionable Lake Club are fully booked again and joggers can be seen - through the mist - in residential areas at all hours of the day. But people worry about their health. 'I don't know if my morning jog is doing me more harm than good,' a lawyer said in the Lake Club locker room. 'This haze is probably taking years off our lives.' A government official laughed. 'You can't blame this on us. Talk to the Indonesians.'
