What's that I smell in the air?

I used to drive to Kuantan during a job assignment every week for 1.5 months and I always drive at night. When I get to this particular stretch, I always get the eerie feeling because of limited visual, like in one of those horror movies where there's always white haze appearing prior to the ghost's grand entrance...haha.

At first I thought it was because of the haze. There was even a sign "Jalan Berkabus Di Hadapan". Then one day, my car air conditioner went kaput on me, so I had to drive with my window down. When I came to that stretch, ewwwww....the smell of smoke and smog. That got me curious, and since I am a trained Quality Lead Auditor, I began my investigation.

What I found out was, its actually smoke emitted by a factory hidden somewhere amongst the palm oil plantation. Some would say the smoke is a by product of palm oil processing. Even if that is true, there must be a rule written somewhere limiting the amount of smoke that you can release to the air.

Thus, as fate would have it, I had a 'Kementerian Teknologi dan Alam Sekitar' senior officer as a diving student. So on the drive to Pulau Redang, I presented my case. Its unhygienic, bad for the 'penduduk setempat' and with the haze limiting visual on the highway, it also affects road safety. As with the case of the sharks, this case is being investigated. Finally, some action.

Location: the new East Coast Highway (Lebuhraya Pantai Timur) KL-Kuantan
From KL, its on the right side of the highway