Media

Social Survey

Introduction

The social survey was conducted online from 23 February 2007 to 9 March 2007. It consisted of a few knowledge questions to test the population’s understanding of the haze situation and opinion questions to hear the voices of the people. Overall responses were good.

Result Details

Below are some important questions selected from the survey. Figures are rounded off to 2 decimal places

Question 1 (Knowledge Question)
How is the haze level measured in Singapore?

Analysis
All survey respondents knew that the “haze level” was measured using the PSI. This shows that respondents had an overall good basic understanding of the haze.

Question 5
(i) Has the haze affected your health in anyway?

Analysis:
From the results, the general population is evenly split over this. However, when cross-referenced with other results, it seems that most actually are affected.

(ii) If “Yes”, could you provide us with some examples?

Analysis
As predicted, it seems that the most common ailments during the haze period are sore throats, respiratory difficulties and red/sore eyes.

Question 6
What precautionary measures do you take during the haze period?

Analysis
It is seems that although most of the population are conscious about the haze, they do not take much precautionary measures. Some reasons generated might be that the haze was not as bad as the 1997 one where the PSI went over 200 as compared to the highest 150 in 2006. However, it is still worrisome that not all take measure as the haze could be potentially detrimental to one’s health.

Question 7
On a scale of 1 to 10, how badly has the haze affected you with 1 being it has not really made a difference to me and 10 being I am disrupted from my daily routine.

Analysis
Note: This question is really a sum up of the respondent’s overall feelings to the haze.
It appears that most of the population are coping with the haze rather well but there is also an equal number who feel that the haze is affecting them rather badly.

Question 9
Could you kindly provide us with an explanation of your response in Q11?

Most responses indicate that the respondents do know the cause of the haze. Below is one of the more comprehensive response.

“The haze situation, compared to previous years, seems very much worse, save for maybe 1997. All indications also point towards the fact that the situation will probably worsen as time goes along.” [*Note: There have been recent news reports that meteorologist predict a worse haze this year (2007) due to El Nino]

However, there are some who clearly pointed out the actual situation.

“I cannot really say that. In 2005 the haze situation didn't affect S'pore at all but during Oct last year (2006) the situation was terrible!” [Edited for grammar]

“It has been improving and deteriorating(…)”

Question 10
Do you think the haze situation will stay with us forever? Why?

Majority are unsure of this with hopes that technology might be able to turn this situation around. Also, an equal majority feel that the haze is going to stay forever. Reasons for this include the people being unaware/uneducated about the consequences of their actions and that there is only empty talk.

Some responses are listed below:

“Yes, as long as the other side remains unconcerned about the consequences and repercussions of their actions, the environment will never improve.”

“Yes. Forest fires are caused by a mix of natural and human factors. Even if we reduce the human factors area, the natural factors will still stay and there will still be forest fires which will lead to haze, but less.”

“Hopefully not. We just need to help the people to enforce laws and stop these forest burnings.” [Edited]

“Not necessarily. One day, maybe the farmers will find new techniques for clearing their land. Or one day, technology will be such that fires can be put out quickly and easily.”

Question 11
How do you think we can solve this annual haze situation?

Analysis
Most respondents chose a combination of Option 2 and 3. It shows that the general population does have an idea of how we can help but when cross-referenced with Question 12, it seems that most of them think that we cannot really help.

Overall Analysis of the survey (Full Analysis report)

Our main aim for this survey is to get the opinion of the public and at the same time, see how much they actually know. Through the many open-ended questions, we concluded that most of the public are aware of the haze situation and know of measures to take. Respondents were familiar the cause of the problem and what can actually be done. However, when asked about what we can do, most felt that we could not do much as an individual.

Overall, this survey has definitely improved our understanding of the public opinion and it has helped us to determine what areas the public needed more understanding in.

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Interview (Full Transcript)

Interview 1: Face-to-face interview with Mr Lee

The haze situation for different countries can be different during different years – Singapore was not really affected by the haze, though Malaysia was severely affected. When wind blows smoke haze to other regions, it is known as transboundary pollution. It is also mentioned that
Indonesia took action to extinguish the forest fires by getting a Russian aircraft. This shows Indonesia’s effort and sincerity in curbing the haze problem. The real reason behind the slashing and burning of trees is that the land is needed to grow plants like palm trees (very popular and in high demand for palm oil). If there were less demand for such plants, the situation might change for the better.

Interview 2: Telephone interview with Dr Chang

Dr Chang mentioned that the environmental impacts were reduction in visibility and air quality. He also cleared our doubts about haze contributing to global warming. It is the cause (forest fires) that contributes to the global warming. The ones that are contributing more to the haze are usually the richer ones. They can afford the machinery, not like the subsistence farmers. 2007’s haze may not necessarily be worse as predictions are not fully accurate. Whether the haze becomes worse or not depends on the human and nature factors. Should both do things
to worsen the haze, then there really is cause to worry. As the laws passed down were not followed through, many people still continued slash and burn with little chance of getting caught.

Interview 3: Face-to-face interview with Dr Huang

From this interview, we understand that there would be many health implications caused by the haze such as skin problems, respiratory problems, eye problems and possibly other human systems that are exposed to the haze particles. Particulate matter may indirectly cause permanent damage to undeveloped lungs. HEPA filters (air purifier) and masks can be used to filter out the pollutants at indoors and outdoors respectively, but the effectiveness of the masks will be reduced after a while when the moisture from breathing wets the mask. Doctor Huang also gave us some precautionary measures such as avoiding maximum exposure to the haze and stay indoors. Elderly and children are more advised to stay at home because they are more prone to health complications. During the haze period, Doctor Huang saw an increase of patients with respiratory problems.

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Testimonials

Office Worker: I wasn’t really affected because I was working in the air-conditioned building the whole day. Only when I stepped out for lunch did I feel some pain in my eyes.

Hawker: Very difficult to work with the haze. I kept on coughing and had to go back home to rest. Even if I stayed on, customers would be afraid that they would be eating germs with food.

Student 1: It was very difficult to study and we had to take more precautions during our physical education lessons.

Student 2: The smell affected my senses and my eyes felt quite painful. When I returned back home, I immediately turned on the air con and studied.

Office Worker 2: I had to stay in my office for most of the time as the haze made my eyes water. It also made my skin feel dry and I had to do a few facials.

Environmentally Concerned person: During this period, the air pollution is very high. And because people turn on their air conditioners, more fossil fuels are used. This will emit out a lot of carbon dioxide into the air.

Housewife: The haze was too much for me to take so I had to turn on the air con. When I received my bill, I found out that I had used twice the amount of electricity. I was quite shocked and my husband was not too happy about it too.

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Interactive Media

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