Englishmum

Wow - I was just looking at the 'Straits Times' and it seems that the haze (air pollution from the slash and burn practice of clearing the rainforests in nearby Indonesia) is the worst on record It's an ecological disaster - no wonder the Orang Utan and Sumatran tigers are in grave danger of extinction.

I remember the strong smell of smoke and stinging eyes after coming back to Singapore after going on 'home leave' every Summer; I also remember that some expat families where the kids were asthmatic were evacuated back home for a few weeks (this was in 97 when there was also a drought blamed on 'El Nino'). It seems particularly bad this year, has there been very little rain lately?

http://www.straitstimes.com/the_haze_in_singapore (the photos are horrifying and someone tweeted a photo of the birds that are dropping dead ).

http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-...ue-haze-201306

http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking...-haze-20130620

I was also surprised to read that there is also a dengue-fever epidemic in Singapore too

http://www.straitstimes.com/dengue_e...c_in_singapore

bakedbean

Yep it's very very bad. We've been discussing this in the Malaysia forum. Friends in Singapore are posting some very creepy photos on Facebook. I gather that the south of peninsula Malaysia is affected quite badly too.

Well...about time PM Lee and PM Najib sorted out the Indonesians eh? Been going on too long.

xizzles

Kinda hard to "sort out" the Indonesians, when the culprits involved are more concerned about making ends meet and less about environmental damage. I read that they survive on less than $2 a day - and that's the amount they get when they successfully clear a tract of land for the big boys to plant/dig/whatever.

When big "First World" companies continue to exploit cheap labour & take advantage of weak-willed, corrupt local officials, this is what happens. "Not in my backyard, mate", they'll yell, but it's perfectly OK if they take the mess to somebody else's (cue Australia's Lynas in Pahang & cue the French atomic test @ the Mururoa Atoll - ironically, in Australia's backyard).

Englishmum

Wow...just scroll down the page on this link and see the photos of the same scene taken within a day of each other (20th and 21st June)...


http://singapore-forum.com/forum/vie...php?f=5&t=7749 (2 pages)

http://www.expatsingapore.com/forum/...,96736.15.html
(just love the title of this thread; "The Haze, the Haze, and it Ain't Purple" by 'Smoke Gets In Your Thighs"