Coping with the hazy situation

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Woes aplenty as Singapore struggles to handle problems relating to the haze, dengue and even train failures.

THERE are times when Singaporeans would feel themselves lucky for avoiding typhoons, earthquakes, floods, or the feared tsunamis – the bane of South-East Asia.

Last week wasn’t such an occasion. In recent days, some of the optimism dissipated with many inhabitants asking themselves: “What on earth is happening to Singapore?”

At the same time, Singapore is bracing itself for the worst dengue epidemic as the number of infections this year has exceeded the total for the whole of last year.

The biggest emergency is the threatening smog.

The city was covered by a “hazardous” blanket of haze – by far the worst in the Republic’s history, with PSI (Pollutant Standards Index) hitting a historic high of 321 at 10pm on Wednesday.

The next day, it hit another high – 371.

A government task force comprising 23 state agencies has been formed to mitigate the impact.

A furious Environment Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said on Facebook on the eve of scheduled talks with Indonesians: “This is now the worst haze that Singapore has ever faced.

“We need urgent and definitive action by Indonesia to tackle the problem at source,” he said on Facebook.

“Singaporeans have lost patience, and are understandably angry, distressed and concerned.

“No country or corporation has the right to pollute the air at the expense of Singaporeans’ health and wellbeing.”

It was one of the strongest statements made by a Singaporean minister on this longstanding problem.

The response came swiftly.

“Singapore should not be behaving like a child and making all this noise,” Agung Laksono, the minister who is coordinating Indonesia’s response to the haze crisis, told reporters in Jakarta.

He said Jakarta would reject any offer of financial aid from Singapore unless it was a large amount.

“Unless (Singapore) wants to give us a large amount, we won’t consider accepting it,” he said.

“If it is only half a million, or one million dollars, we don’t need that. We would rather use our own national budget.”

The Singapore government has urged children, the elderly, and those with heart or lung diseases, to avoid outdoor activities and seek medical treatment early if they feel unwell.

On Thursday morning, the PSI fell briefly but the smog was back with a vengeance and by 1pm, the reading registered another record – 371.

Sports like football and netball tournaments were cancelled.

Restaurants were near deserted as people chose to stay indoors.

Medical clinics reported more complaints by senior citizens with coughing ailments and difficulty in breathing.

“Please stay indoors where possible and avoid heavy outdoor activities.

Look out for one another – we will get through this together,” appealed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Some Singaporeans blame the government for being too soft on the offenders in discussing this long-standing problem.

A number of cabinet ministers, from Prime Minister down, called on Jakarta “to do the right thing”.

On Thursday, Foreign Minister K. Shan*mugam flew to Jakarta for talks on the crisis.

Smog is only one of Singaporeans’ recent problems.

The next major threat is a dengue epidemic, which has already claimed two lives and some 10,000 patients.

PM Lee has launched a nationwide campaign, calling on 30,000 volunteers to fan out and eliminate mosquito breeding spots such as stagnant pools of water, garden pots and roof drains.

The number of cases had been climbing relentlessly for 11 consecutive weeks.

Recent torrential rains worsened the problem in certain areas.

For Singaporeans, these recent problems of smog and dengue epidemic have added to the feeling of gloom.

“It is lucky we didn’t see a repetition of last year’s series of flash floods that played havoc with public transportation.” said a commuter.

Some train users had their evening of woes, though.

As Singapore was covered by the strong acrid smell of fog, some transit stations on the North-East line were disrupted for two hours.

Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew had harsh words for the operator, SMRT Corporation.

Writing on his Facebook, he said that he was “dismayed” by their handling of the situation.

The commuters were stranded for “an unacceptably long period” before they were eventually detrained and asked to walk towards the nearest station.

“I know that this must be a frustrating and uncomfortable experience for affected commuters,” he said.

“The whole situation was also made much worse by the haze.”

These misfortunes – fog, dengue, train failure – following one after another seemed to have struck Singaporeans like a bad nightmare, just like the stock market this week.

A few hours after PSI hit records levels, US stock market fell dramatically, pulling down world markets, including Singapore’s by some 2.5%, erasing some Singaporean savings.

But, the handling of relations with Indonesia over the invasive smog will be a test of diplomatic skills for PM Lee.

He faces a populous country, which is proud and requires sensitive handling.

On the other hand is a more outspoken generation of Singaporeans which already feels its government is too scared of upsetting its giant neighbour.

As blogger Bertha Henson wrote in a column: “The Government is being soft? Don’t want to offend the Indonesians?

“Yeah. But they (Singapore leaders) have to speak louder now because we are all so angry and upset.”


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