Kuala Lampur, Oct. 19 -- First comes the haze. Then the rains. Then the heat. And on it goes.

Trying to predict the weather these days is like playing Russian roulette whether you believe in climate change or not. It's almost like a joke, the way we would make sure we have our umbrellas and our N95 face masks before we leave the house.

(Now we understand why Brigitte Lin's woman in a blonde wig character in the 1994 Wong Kar-wai film Chungking Express would put on both a raincoat and sunglasses before going out, quipping, "Who knows when it will rain, or when it will be sunny?")

Perhaps the best precaution is simply to strengthen our body's defences, our immunity to whatever ailments the air pollution index and unending humidity may wr...