Indonesia is facing its worst wildfire season in a decade and toxic haze is suffocating millions of residents across the region.
The skies in Kalimantan (Borneo) and Sumatra have turned an unsettling amber color, and air quality has recorded dangerous levels.
The smoke - known as smog - has drifted across Indonesia's borders into neighboring countries, raising public health concerns. It obscured Singapore's skyline and forced some schools in Malaysia to close.
Today, anger is rising against companies accused of burning farmland, and against government authorities who have been unable to effectively stop the practice.
This year's annual dry season wildfires have been particularly intense due to the unusually strong El Niño phenomenon. El Niño is a natural climate phenomenon that changes global weather patterns.
According to the Nusantara Atlas, an independent forest monitoring platform, Indonesia has recorded 1,043,377 wildfire hotspots, burning a total of 900,000 hectares of land.
Slash-and-burn farming - an old custom that continues to be forbidden
Many fires in Indonesia's forests and peatlands are caused by cutting down and burning vegetation to clear the land, a practice known as "slash and burn" (commonly known as "Shaoba" in Southeast Asian Chinese and "burning straw" in mainland China).
This is a farming method that Indonesian farmers have traditionally used to create nutrient-rich soil for new crops.
But today, many of these fires are associated with commercial agriculture, are much larger and more difficult to control than in the past. Environmentalists and government investigations have repeatedly alleged that some companies use incineration as a cheap way to clear large tracts of land.
Although slash-and-burn farming is illegal in Indonesia, enforcement of the ban has long been difficult.
However, the persistent smog this year has prompted Indonesian authorities to step up their efforts to punish violators.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has called for tougher sanctions on slash-and-burn farming, describing the practice as "ecological terrorism."
Last month, Indonesian authorities announced that they had suspended the operating licenses of 26 companies related to wildfires and launched investigations into other companies. Officials vowed that cases with criminal elements would be brought to court.
But Indonesian companies are not the only ones involved in the smog controversy.
A report published this month by Greenpeace found that some companies based in Singapore and Malaysia were linked to wildfires in Indonesia.
These include Singapore-based palm oil company First Resources. According to Greenpeace, between August and September, more than 30 haze source points were recorded on the land managed by the company's two Indonesian subsidiaries.
In a statement to the BBC, Yi Resources said it maintains a "strict zero-incineration policy in all cultivation activities and implements strong fire prevention, monitoring and fire-fighting measures throughout its operations."
Greenpeace also named Kuala Lumpur Kepong, a Malaysian plantation company. 19 haze source points were recorded in the Indonesian land managed by its subsidiary PT Menteng Jaya Sawit Perdana (PT MJSP).
Kuala Lumpur Kepong said in a statement that "most" of the fires originated in areas outside its concession area and that all fires had been extinguished.
"We do not condone or permit the use of open burning for land preparation or any other purpose in our business operations," the company said.
"When there is no smoke, we send out oxygen."
It remains to be seen whether governments can effectively sanction illegal companies.
In 2014, Singapore passed the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act, allowing the government to take action against local and foreign companies found to be causing haze problems.
The following year, when Singapore was hit by severe smog, the authorities issued summonses to several Indonesian companies suspected of clearing land through burning, in an attempt to prosecute them under the new law.
However, this move aroused strong dissatisfaction in Jakarta, and Indonesia said that this approach harmed bilateral relations. As Indonesia refused to cooperate, the Singaporean authorities said they were unable to obtain information about the companies involved.
Also in 2015, Indonesia's then Vice President Jusuf Kalla said: "For 11 months, they have enjoyed the high-quality air from Indonesia, but they have never thanked us... Now they are dissatisfied just because of the haze for a month."
These remarks angered many Singaporeans.
Similar tensions surfaced again last weekend. Syahganda Nainggolan, director of the Indonesian government's communications agency, said the wildfires were beyond human control, adding that neighboring Singapore and Malaysia's oxygen "also comes from our forests."
He further said in a video widely circulated on social media: "When there is no smoke, we send oxygen." This comment triggered criticism and ridicule from people in Malaysia and Singapore.
However, Indonesia has apologized to neighboring countries in the past for the haze problem.
This year, Indonesian officials thanked Singapore and Malaysia for offering to help deal with the wildfires, although Jakarta has yet to formally request international support.
In Indonesia, civil society groups have been trying to push the government to take action.
In Pontianak, West Kalimantan, several groups have filed a class-action lawsuit against the Indonesian government and Prabowo, accusing them of "gross negligence" in the recurring toxic haze.
Many people have no choice but to go out and live in toxic smog every day.
