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SERIAN, Malaysia: Acrid smoke hung heavily over the Malaysian town of Serian, seeping into homes and cloaking roadside stalls, as residents navigated an air\u2011quality emergency fuelled by transboundary haze from Indonesia\u2019s raging fires.<\/strong><\/p>\n Malaysia declared a state of emergency in Sarawak state\u2019s Serian district on Borneo island on Friday, after air pollution readings reached critical levels.<\/p>\n Toxic haze has shrouded parts of Indonesia and Malaysia for weeks as Jakarta struggles to contain fires that have scorched large tracts of Borneo and Sumatra, with the plumes drifting into neighbouring Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.<\/p>\n In Serian, about 65 kilometres (40 miles) southeast of Sarawak\u2019s capital Kuching, residents tried to carry on with weekend routines but said the thick haze forced them to plan shorter trips to avoid the worst of the smoke.<\/p>\n \u201cI rarely leave the house when it\u2019s like this (the haze). I only come out to buy food and groceries, then I\u2019ll immediately head home,\u201d said Ajen Anak Kunok, 64, a local retired technician.<\/p>\n Ajen told AFP he had spent the past week battling shortness of breath and a sore throat due to the ongoing haze, before going to the hospital Saturday for treatment.<\/p>\n But the smoke was difficult to escape even at home, a mere 10 kilometres (six miles) from Indonesia\u2019s Kalimantan province where the fires were raging.<\/p>\n \u201cEven when I turn on the air conditioner, I can still smell the smoke in my house,\u201d Ajen said.<\/p>\n Hazardous levels<\/p>\n Sarawak, which shares a border with Kalimantan, has borne the brunt of pollution in Malaysia.<\/p>\n On Friday, Serian became the first district in the country this year to declare an emergency over the worsening air quality when API levels passed 500 and peaked at 512.<\/p>\n Under Malaysian guidelines, API levels above 300 are classified as hazardous, while readings beyond 500 usually trigger consideration of a local emergency.<\/p>\n At the town\u2019s markets, the usual bustling throng dwindled, while roadside sellers of Serian\u2019s famous durians waited in vain beside their piles of fruit for customers that came in diminished numbers.<\/p>\n The district\u2019s scenic Ranchan Waterfall \u2014 usually popular with locals and tourists alike \u2014 was unusually quiet, with just a few visitors dotted around.<\/p>\n Roadside durian seller Siaw Thien Ha, 53, said the emergency has already hit his livelihood hard.<\/p>\n He struggled to earn even half of his usual income of 400 ringgit ($98) for the weekend.<\/p>\n Friday\u2019s emergency declaration will also keep some 647 schools closed until at least the end of the week in Serian district, which has a population of around 154,000 people.<\/p>\n Sister Irmina Peter, 64, who teaches at the St Joseph\u2019s Private Primary School in Kuching, told AFP she was worried that the emergency could drag on and spill over to other districts in Sarawak.<\/p>\n Rain in Serian on Friday night and Saturday morning, believed to have been the result of ongoing cloud seeding operations, brought some respite, with API levels dropping to 219.<\/p>\n Serian\u2019s state of emergency however remained in place.<\/p>\n Sister Peter said \u201cwe don\u2019t want the schools to be like during Covid-19 lockdown, where we couldn\u2019t do much.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t go on with our normal routine\u2026 we have to go to work, children have to go to school. It affects us very much.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n