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.