The HAZE

Yep, during my net-absence, Singapore had a record air pollution problem aka the Haze. In fact this happens to some extent every summer here (and in Malaysia, as I was in Kuala Lumpur 10+ years ago when we had it.) The cause: smoke from bushfires in Indonesia.

It is like when your neighbour has a bonfire in their garden* and if the wind blows the wrong way, you get the smoke, particles and whiff on your own property. Only on a much larger, and lengthier, scale!

The fires are apparently a time-honoured, slash-&-burn land-management practice for Indonesian farmers. But I guess over decades some farms and plantations have grown hugely in scale. And this year there were accusations that corporations were clearing land cheaply (and I think illegally) with fire, and I suppose hoping nobody would notice amongst the annual expected smoke output. If that was the case: we noticed!
 
This year was Singapore's worst case of Haze since 1997. They use a Pollution Standards Index (PSI) to monitor Haze here, where under 50 is healthy; at 100 it becomes 'unhealthy', 300 'hazardous'. This year we had readings of over 400.
 
In daily life, everything was foggy. Even at street level, and across the whole country. At first I couldn't work out what was happening - I spent summer here last year with no noticeable Haze issue. I genuinely thought someone was having a nearby bonfire. But when you find familiar tall buildings 'whited out' you realise it might be something else!

View, Chinatown 21 June 2013

To be honest, I'm in a high risk group for air pollution (asthmatic, though sporty!) and I didn't notice any effects lung-wise. I didn't wear a mask, even though our office was giving them out. On the streets, however, many people were wearing masks, and you could find mile-long queues for the outlets that still had stock of the N95 recommended mask type. But we all had burning eyes during the haze period, and I would wake each morning to find them gummed (as if with conjunctivitis, though it came and went with the pollution.)

And the smog got in everywhere ..I kept my tiny apartment sealed, but left half a slatted window open in the bathroom one night. In the morning I found a dusty, fogged room!

TV every day was awash with haze news, haze discussion, political to-ing and fro-ing as SG and Malaysia tried to get things changed in Indonesia. TV channels posted up a permanent PSI indicator on their broadcasts.

Also, everything got cancelled. Parties, sports activities ...friends were even vetoing indoor drinks in favour of 'going home because of the haze' (a bit far fetched I have to protest!) On the worst day, our office closed and sent everyone home at midday. We have an outdoor hawker area near my workplace, which come sundown is usually full of locals. During the haze: maybe three customers. These traders must have lost a lot of business. 1997's three month haze crisis apparently lost SE Asia $9 billion in retail, tourism and other things. It only lasted for two weeks in Singapore this year (the fires are apparently minimised now, so let's hope it doesn't come back), and they say tourism has not been significantly impacted. But if you are a small trader here, you must have noticed dents.

After it all died down, I ventured out onto my tiny (and usually very clean) balcony to hang out laundry, and found the tiles and rails covered in a fine layer of brown ash! I guess this is what we had been breathing for two weeks :/



You can just make out Singapore's largest and tallest HDB complex 'The Pinnacle at Duxton'
in the background. It normally looms clearly over this street!

 You can click on the pix to enlarge them.

* I don't know if this is a universal thing - but in Europe, homeowners in rural areas often do hedge-trimming etc at weekends, and then burn the offcuts and other garden debris in a 'bonfire'. It's not uncommon to have smoke in your garden in late summer and autumn, especially on Sunday afternoons!