Four towns, including Kuching, recording hazardous air quality as at 12noon

KUCHING, Aug 30 2026: As at 12noon today, weather monitoring stations have recorded four towns registering air pollutant index (API) at hazardous levels. 

INDEX	STATUS	HEALTH EFFECT
0 – 50	Good		Low pollution without any bad effect on health.
51 – 100	Moderate		Moderate pollution that does not pose any bad effect on health.
101 – 200	Unhealthy		Worsen the health condition of high risk people who is the people with heart and lung complications.
201 – 300	Very Unhealthy		Worsen the health condition and low tolerance of physical exercises to people with heart and lung complications. Affect public health.
> 300	Hazardous		Hazardous to high risk people and public health.

IPD Serian recorded an API reading of 399, and this is followed by Samarahan with an API reading of 332.

The state capital Kuching has just joined in with an API reading of 304 and Tebedu with an API reading of 302. 

Overall, the air quality throughout Sarawak is deteriorating further in each passing hour. hour. 

Only Limbang still has a moderate air quality, but it may soon turn unhealthy. As at 12noon, the API reading for Limbang was 97 level.

AIR POLLUTANT INDEX (API) FOR SARAWAK

Sunday 30 August 2026, 12:00 P.M.

 

STATION	INDEX	STATUS
KUCHING	304	Hazardous
SAMARAHAN	332	Hazardous
IPD SERIAN	399	Hazardous
SRI AMAN	228	Very Unhealthy
SARIKEI	197	Unhealthy
SIBU	190	Unhealthy
MUKAH	176	Unhealthy
KAPIT	161	Unhealthy
BINTULU	183	Unhealthy
SAMALAJU	175	Unhealthy
MIRI	159	Unhealthy
ILP MIRI	156	Unhealthy
LIMBANG	97	Moderate
LUNDU	236	Very Unhealthy
TEBEDU	302	Hazardous
LUBOK ANTU	243	Very Unhealthy
LAWAS	114	Unhealthy
BARIO	121	Unhealthy
Nota: i. API is calculated based on 24-hour running average of the most dominant parameter.

 

Malay unity crucial for Malaya to negotiate fairly on MA63 issues with Sarawak and Sabah, suggests former law minister

KUCHING, Aug 30 2026: Former Law minister Zaid Ibrahim suggested that national solidarity could not be established when Malayan parties are weak and that Malay unity is crucial, among other things, for Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA) to be negotiated fairly with Sabah and Sarawak.

Caption: Former Law Minister claims the Malay states are weak. When Sarawak says it has the right to oil and gas under its domestic ordinance, the PDA (Petroleum Development Act 1974) becomes meaningless.

“Malay unity is essential so that the Malay states in the federation have the necessary political strength to determine the trajectory of national issues,” he wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).

“Today the Malay states are weak. When Sarawak says it has the right to oil and gas under its domestic ordinance, the PDA (Petroleum Development Act 1974) becomes meaningless.

“When Sabah and Sarawak proclaim their territorial waters as 200 nautical miles, it renders our Law of the Sea of 2012 meaningless. They also have different ideas about what constitutes the continental shelf,” Zaid believed.

He added although education is still part of the Federal list, “Sarawak has autonomy, and you never know where that autonomy will lead us.”

He said Sabah has also its own Ministry of Education.

“You want a special grant of 40 per cent of revenue derived from Sabah. You want one third of all parliamentary seats. You have 29 items you are pursuing under MA63 and countless other claims you claim to be in “the spirit of MA63”

“You can say that it was all part of MA63. You can even rely on some passages in the IGC. But that’s what happened in 1963 when we were weak. We could not object to the terms dictated by Whitehall in 1963,” Zaid said.

He said today, as the political configuration stands, the Malay states are still weak, saying “if we were to visit Sabah and Sarawak, we could be denied entry for no reason. Similarly, we could not practice our profession or business in Sabah and Sarawak.”

“Then you want Borneonisation of the civil service. You want the ports and other infrastructure under your control. Sarawak already achieved that .

“Now you know why we need to be united so that the national interests that are fairly defined can be agreed upon.

“We want to be a good, reliable partner in the federation, but we can’t achieve that if we are not in a position to negotiate with Sabah and Sarawak from equal strength

“Sabah and Sarawak like to say they have red lines in the negotiation. Everyone can draw red lines. Only political power can change the red lines,” he concluded.

Zaid noted that former Sabah Chief Minister Salleh Said Keruak “totally misunderstood the politics of Malay unity.”

He said it is not racist in character; it’s not to consolidate power to the detriment of the non-Malays. “It’s also not to undermine the solidarity of the national framework—none of that,” he asserted.