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Malaysia closed schools in Kuala Lumpur and several states due to severe air pollution from fires in neighboring Indonesia, with some areas experiencing an Air Pollutant Index (API) of around 224. Malaysia’s Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek instructed full closures in four states, two federal territories, and partial closure in central Pahang State. The country’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim discussed the issue with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and requested an urgent meeting between environmental ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to address the haze problem.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-09,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
On Friday, Malaysia closed schools in Kuala Lumpur and other parts of the country due to severe air pollution from fires in neighboring Indonesia. The Air Pollutant Index (API) reached around 224, making Kuala Lumpur one of the most polluted cities globally according to IQAir. Schools were fully or partially shut down in four states and two federal territories, with respiratory issues surging among residents. Malaysia's King Sultan Ibrahim advised closing schools when API readings reach 150 or higher. The education minister, Fadhlina Sidek, promised future advance notice for school closures.
Written for “Malaysian Haze Crisis” on 2026-10-09,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 67932 · logged 2026-10-09
Malaysia closed schools in Kuala Lumpur and other parts of the country on Friday, as haze from fires in neighbouring Indonesia again plunged local air quality to among the world’s worst.
asserted
haze → close → world
Toxic smoke from peatland as well as forest fires has shrouded towns and cities in the region for more than a month, sending respiratory complaints skyrocketing.
asserted
smoke → shroud → complaints
The school closures came as Malaysia’s leader discussed the choking smoke with his Indonesian counterpart and called for an urgent regional meeting.
asserted
leader → come → meeting
Kuala Lumpur’s air quality worsened on Friday to hit a reading of around 224 on the index of Swiss-based monitor IQAir, which said that change pushed Malaysia’s capital past Singapore to be the “most polluted global major city”.
asserted
change → worsen → Singapore
Malaysia’s Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said she has instructed full school closures in four states and two federal territories as well as one partial closure in the central Pahang State.
asserted
she → say → State
Schools were also closed on Friday in three districts in western Perak State.
asserted
Schools → close → State
Malaysia’s education ministry could not immediately be reached for comment on whether schools will reopen on Monday.
“In the future, we will ensure that any decision to close schools is notified in advance so that parents have sufficient time to prepare,” Fadhlina said late on Thursday.
uncertain
Fadhlina → reach → Thursday
Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim weighed in on the matter on Thursday, saying schools should be closed as air quality readings reached 150 or higher on the Air Pollutant Index (API).
“Appropriate measures must be taken by the relevant ministries and agencies to protect schoolchildren and students, including senior citizens and patients with respiratory illnesses,” King Sultan Ibrahim said.
asserted
Ibrahim → weigh → illnesses
Under Malaysian guidelines, API readings above 100 are classified as unhealthy, above 200 as very unhealthy, above 300 as hazardous, while readings beyond 500 constitute the threshold for declaring a local emergency.
asserted
readings → classify → emergency
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Thursday he discussed the fire situation with the Indonesian leader Prabowo Subianto.
asserted
he → say → Subianto
“The haze issue is indeed at a worrying level. And I have personally contacted President Prabowo,” Anwar said.
asserted
Anwar → contact → Prabowo
“And he also agreed to take the necessary steps,” Anwar said, without going into specific details.
asserted
Anwar → agree → details
He said Malaysia has been taking measures to combat the haze, including increasing attempts to trigger rain via cloud seeding.
asserted
Malaysia → say → seeding
Indonesia’s government said “regular dialogue between the leaders is a natural part of the close relations” of the two nations.
asserted
dialogue → say → nations
Experts said the flames are being fanned by a turbo-charged El Nino weather phenomenon, causing the worst pollution conditions in years.
asserted
flames → say → years
Anwar said he asked Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan to contact the 11-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ secretariat for an urgent meeting between environmental ministers to discuss the matter.
asserted
he → say → matter
“So these are all the steps we are taking, but we are monitoring and will try the measures that we ought to take next,” Anwar said.
asserted
Anwar → take → measures
Singapore’s air quality levels too dipped into the “very unhealthy” range with a reading of 209 on the AQI in Friday afternoon, according to the IQAir website.
uncertain
levels → dip → website
The AQI converts measurements of pollutants into a single figure indicating air quality and potential health risks.
asserted
AQI → convert → quality
Readings above 150 are classified as unhealthy, while levels above 300 are considered hazardous.
asserted
levels → classify → 300
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