When PSI hits 700, work from home

When PSI 300 is very unhealthy, when PSI above 400 is hazardous, life goes on. No emergency will be declared. Put on your masks and soldier on to keep the economy going. For those vulnerable groups, put on your H95s when outdoor.

At what level of PSI would there be an emergency declared, 700 or 800? Or is it 700 on an hourly reading or 700 on the 24 hour average? Would haze kill at 700 or 800? Maybe not, maybe not immediately. Maybe the symptoms will show in 5 or 10 years down the road.

Assuming that the medical specialists have worked out a number to declare an emergency and all should stay indoors or at home, the best thing then will be to work from home. Some may want to work from their Johore or Iskandar homes. Unfortunately the haze situation there could be much worst than over here. For those with homes in Australia, New Zealand, UK or France, working from home could be nice.

With today’s technology and communication, internet, mobile phones, satellites, working from home in any part of the world can be a reality. A speech on TV from the Istana or from Perth or London would just look the same. 3 ways, many ways live conferences can always be hooked up. And if one has a home in Paris, can sign up for a cooking class at the same time. In Australia, one can park in a vineyard and work from there. Really nice?

Working from home will take on a new meaning, for those with the means. We can even locate our govt overseas temporarily if the haze situation gets pass the emergency level. Come to think of it, I quite like the idea. The Govt should start to explore this idea of an office in one of our overseas training venues and the whole cabinet cum permanent secretaries can be relocated when needed. The world is our oyster.

Science fiction? Not really. Obama’s office will be in Air Force One when the US home land is under attack. In the mean time we can teach the Indonesians that they can arrange meetings with the plantation owners and work out something on a win win basis, maybe with Singapore and Malaysian participations. Singapore and Malaysia can bring a few blank cheques along just in case. There must be a way where money can do the trick for a more permanent solution. With money, all problems can be solved, and haze is not something that is so formidable that money cannot help. Any problem that can be solved with money can be solved. And we are damn good at it. Tiok boh? Even the Indonesian ministers have admitted it. It is only how much. We must not insult them by offering peanuts. Make it meaningful.