Indonesian Official’s ‘Send Oxygen’ Remark Draws Sarcasm Amid Regional Haze

An Indonesian official’s remarks about oxygen from the country’s forests have triggered sarcasm and disbelief among Malaysians as toxic smoke from forest fires chokes neighbouring nations.

The backlash followed comments by Syahganda Nainggolan, head of Indonesia’s government communications agency.

He was questioned on Saturday about severe smog that has forced school closures and prompted health warnings across Malaysia and Singapore.

“We don’t just send smoke; when there is no smoke, we send oxygen,” Nainggolan said in a widely circulated video published by Indonesian media outlet Kompas.

He added, “The oxygen in Singapore and Malaysia also comes from our forests.”

Malaysians question the claim

The remarks quickly drew a mocking response on social media, where users questioned whether they were breathing imported air.

Some also asked how such air would be sold, while others questioned why Malaysia’s own forests appeared to have been forgotten in the explanation.

The comments came as smoke from forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan was affecting neighbouring countries.

The haze has already been linked in the source material to school closures and health warnings across Malaysia and Singapore.

Against that backdrop, the official’s attempt to contrast smoke with oxygen from Indonesian forests became the focus of the online reaction.

The response centred not only on the claim that Indonesian forests provide oxygen to the region, but also on the question of whether that argument addressed the severe smog confronting Malaysia and Singapore.

Some social media users continued to question whether the air they were breathing had effectively been imported from Indonesia and how it could be sold.

Source: South China Morning Post