Air Quality and Visibility

• In October, visibility dropped to below 2km on about 60% of the days.
• By end-October, Singapore had 14 days of unhealthy levels of pollution, with the PSI shooting above 100. In 1994, there were 17 such occasions.
• The PSI hits an all-time high of 226 on September 18, prompting the Meteorological Service to provide hourly updates.
• The Meteorological Service reported on October 31 better conditions over the next few weeks, with more rain and a change of wind expected. But wind shift on November 3 brought the haze back, prompting health alerts.
• The Japanese team here to clean up the oil spill found it hard to conduct aerial surveys over the Singapore Strait. Team members also complained of sore throats and eyes from the haze.

Regional Co-operation

• Researchers from the Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (CRISP) had stumbled on satellite images of Indonesia forest fires, which thus revealed the cause of the haze over Southeast Asia.
• Singapore sent two teams of technical experts to Indonesia in September, the first team to survey the situation and the second to start the fire-fighting operations.
• 144,000 expatriates working in Sumatra were evacuated and ferried to Singapore.
• The Singapore Armed Forces sent a C-130 aircraft to Indonesia in October to help in 12 air dispersion operations, mainly over the Jambi area in Sumatra.
• Indonesia received information on the haze movement with Singapore's satellite maps. These maps helped them to put out fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
• Singapore Environmental Minister, Mr Yeo Cheow Tong, met his Malaysian counterpart on Nov 1 to develop a stronger regional plan to prevent future haze problems

Environment

• The Environment Ministry unveiled the haze action plan in mid-September, which spelled out staggered measures that would be taken at various PSI levels.
• The Meteorological Service put up a web site to provide daily updates of satellite pictures of Kalimantan and Sumatra, showing where fires were burning, and charts indicating the hot spots and wind directions.
• The Nature Society (Singapore) reported fewer migratory birds in September. Fewer than half of the species, which visited Singapore in August last year, was seen this year.
• Botanists said that the dry spell associated with the haze had caused a floral bloom all over the country, chasing away the bloom of the season.

Tourism

• The Singapore Tourist Promotion Board (STPB) had bright news on tourist arrivals in September despite the haze. The number of visitors went up by 2.8%, with double-digit growth from Indonesians and Malaysians.
• Japanese tourists avoided Singapore, with STPB posting a 5.2% decline in their numbers in September.
• Singapore Airlines said that the haze might have killed travel plans and slowed passenger traffic. The passenger seat factor fell 2.9% points in August. Earnings could suffer if the haze persists till December.

Health

• In the last week of September, asthma cases seen at polyclinics shot up by more than 200.
• The Labour Ministry issued guidelines on October 2 on outdoor work during the haze and advised employers to provide masks to outdoor workers with heart or breathing problems when the PSI rises to between 100 to 200.

Lifestyle

• Veterinarians said that they were seeing s few more pets than usual, mostly for eye, respiratory and skin aliments.
• The National Healthy Lifestyle campaign may run mass outdoor activities such as mass runs, cycling and swimming events, outside the haze months next year as a precaution.
• The Singapore Sport Council advised against the holding of mass outdoor sport activities when the PSI exceeded 100.
• Singaporeans were reported travelling overseas in search of fresher air and bluer skies. Travel agencies reported an unusual increase in tour bookings in September and October, which are usually off-peak months.
• Bird fanciers reported singing birds being silenced by the haze. Other pets' owners lamented that their mongrels and pedigree cats had been out of sorts.
• The Singapore Symphony Orchestra moved its regular Botanic Gardens concert indoor on September 27. Free tickets were distributed at the Victoria Concert Hall, but picnic food would have to stay out.