The Jakarta Post
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad wonders aloud why a neighbor clearly in desperate need would dismiss offers for help — as thousands of schools remain closed, orangutans are relocated and millions choke on smoky haze across parts of Sumatra, Kalimantan, Malaysia and Singapore.“We had offered help all the time. We have airplanes that are special, which spray water,” he said, as quoted by the New Straits Times Friday, referring to forest fires in Indonesia. “I don’t know why Indonesia is not accepting our help. I would also like to ask [President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo] why the government doesn’t want to receive our help but I have not done that yet,” he added.Indonesian diplomats seem to have given up, deferring queries on neighbors’ complaints to the Environment and Forestry Ministry, for instance — whose officials tell journalists to ask the Foreign Ministry ...