I had previously wondered why there was this burning smell and hazy feel about the place – for the past few weeks, but I didn’t think that much of it. I knew that the summer heat and the Indonesian fires annually create a risk of haze floating across the Singaporean island, but this year it seemed to have been really bad.
At the beginning of June, the 24 hour PSI rating reached a range of 18-46 – which was healthy and relatively low – this was the normal rating that we would expect to see. Since 13th June, the haziness and smog clouds started to come across and it got progressively worse each day until earlier last week when it went from “very unhealthy” (200+ PSI), to “hazardous” (300+), it even went past the magic 400 PSI market – which is “very hazardous” during a couple of occassions. The previous worst smog reading was 226 PSI in 1997.
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Marina Bay Sands from Marina Bay MRT
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MBFC from Marina Bay MRT
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Fullerton and Merlion from MBFC Office
The worse thing is that we are helpless – we have to breathe, we have to go to work, we have to live – and unfortunately, we have succumbed to someone elses selfiness acts and performance.
Me and My N95 Mask
In fact, it appears that all of the fires were manmade, including clearing forests and peat-land to create Palm Oil agricultural farmland. The irony is that a number of the big customers and ‘land owners’ are from companies who have HQs in Singapore. I guess, these are the ones to blame, but lets see what happens.
With all this talk about global warming, and environmental damage, I am amazed that our Indonesian friends are still have to get away with clearing land with this very poor and old agricultural technique! It should be banned, they should be fined and they should be monitored to avoid it happening – it’s happening every year – so really makes me question, whether it is worth being in Singapore when my health is at risk! Well I am stuck at the moment, so I just have to live and bear it…and hope it doesn’t cause long-lasting damage to my health!
Latest haze forecast are pictured here (live forecast – so will regularly update on this page).
Source: NEA
