Surviving the smog

The ‘haze’ that has settled over Singapore normally only hangs around for about two weeks apparently, and yet here we are almost a month later, and I still have to dress like I’m entering a nuclear war zone before I can leave the house.

Whilst I complain about third world problems, like the fact the facemasks make it hard to drink coffee while I walk to work for 6am calls, and the heavy air means that swimming for ten minutes in our outdoors pool is on a par with chain-smoking a whole pack of extra strong cigarettes, the reality is that there is still a lot of industrial development going on out here in Asia. Outside of our tiny city of Singapore the rest of Southeast Asia is very much still a developing country, and slash and burn farming out here is the most efficient and cost effective way for small tiny, poorly paid farmers to get the most out of their land.

            The Sumatran slash and burn that causes these great big smokey clouds of ash to drift over Singapore (and then settle, thanks to the lack of air circulation and strong breezes here) has been outlawed by the Indonesian government because it causes so much pollution, and impacts so many countries in the area, but it’s still being used to clear land in the most cost effective and fastest way possible.

            There is the added fear that a portion of these fires (set in peat which makes them virtually uncontrollable) are also being used to ‘accidentally’ clear large areas of the rainforest for big international corporations to then use the space for palm oil plantations.  I can understand the small time farmers needing help to speed up their work, but if this is big US companies ripping down the rainforest to set up plantations then I hope that Singapore stands by its legal threats to start holding the Indonesian government accountable for it’s actions.    

             I also hope that we get some fresh air and some clear skies in Singapore soon. It's been almost a month of heavy white smog hanging over the city, and I'm getting close to having had enough now...