Singaporeans flee overseas as air quality worsens
Singaporeans flee overseas as air quality worsens
SINGAPORE (Reuter): Singapore's air quality was heading toward unhealthy levels again yesterday, and the persistent smog is sending increased numbers of residents overseas.
The Environment Ministry's three-hour Pollutants Standard Index (PSI) was at 91 at 9 a.m., up from 84 at 7 a.m.
At PSI levels of 101 or higher, the ministry warns the elderly and those with heart or respiratory diseases to reduce physical exertion and outdoor activities. The general public is also told to cut back on heavy outdoor exercise.
Like much of Southeast Asia, Singapore has for weeks been suffering from a blanket of smog generated by forest and bush fires in nearby Indonesia.
The air in the island state hit unhealthy levels for four consecutive days last week after a break Monday and Tuesday.
The smoky air is driving more and more residents elsewhere in search of clearer skies, the Sunday Times newspaper said.
One major travel agency reported bookings up by almost a third.
Another travel agency said reservations for its Australian tours had risen by 60 percent as people looked for destinations well away from the smog. September and October usually are slow travel times for Singaporeans.
"My daughter has congenital heart disease and she's had surgery, so we're worried that she might be susceptible to the haze," architect Patrick Lawrence told the Sunday Times at Changi Airport, where he was sending his wife and daughter to Taiwan for a month.
Also headed for Taiwan were housewife Fen Cheng Cheng and her son. He was having a school break, she said, "but the weather's so awful, he can't go swimming or do anything outdoors."
The smog so far has affected Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth sent a message of sympathy over the weekend to the smog victims in the region.
"The Queen has seen the reports of the forest fires in Indonesia and the damage and environmental pollution they are causing in Malaysia and through the region," a Buckingham Palace spokesman said.
"She has sent her sympathies to the heads of state and the people of Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore."
Britain has sent $100,000 in emergency aid to help smog victims in the area.
Meanwhile, Malaysia's opposition leader said yesterday he had filed an emergency motion for a parliamentary debate on Indonesia's failure to put out raging forest fires blamed for the thick haze enveloping the region.
Lim Kit Siang, secretary-general of the Democratic Action Party, said the motion should also discuss Malaysia's apparent failure to take firm and effective measures to check the problem despite seven years of government assurances.
But Indonesia rejected yesterday blame for the hazardous haze.
Indonesian officials said one of the culprits was El Nino, a climatic phenomenon which sucks moisture from the western side of the Pacific Ocean, disrupting normal weather patterns and inducing prolonged dry spells in much of the region.
Thailand will take the soft approach rather than any immediate legal action against Indonesia over the toxic cloud, Thai Science, Technology and Environment Minister Yingphan Manasikarn said yesterday.
"We have to discuss the next measures because neighboring countries have been affected, particularly in tourism because when the reports went out, flights were canceled," he said
Thailand should not initiate legal action before broaching the issue in friendly discussions with Indonesia, said Kittipong Kittayarak, director of the Thai Criminal Law Institute.
"Indonesia is a neighboring country in ASEAN and this situation has never occurred before," he said.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Burma, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.