Pollutant Standards Index

The haze over Singapore has been the hot topic on our lips ever since it was brought about by monsoon winds blowing in our direction from Indonesia. It has reduced visibility, increase out health problems & brought general inconveniences to our small country. What is the point of restricting smoking when even all of the smokers smoking all at the same time will not bring about an effect 1/10 the scale of the haze?

Anyway anti-smoking laws sentiments aside, the haze is caused by Indonesian land owners who want to clear their land for the planting of new crops. They employ a primitive to clear & enrich the land, called slash & burn method. Basically they slash the vegetation, put them into a pile & set fire to them. The fire will burn everything & anything in it's path & reduce them to ash, which ironically fertilizes the land. If done in a controlled manner, it is a cheap & somewhat effective method to prepare the land for the next cycle of crops as these farmers are mostly uneducated about the advances in modern farming. Anyone who can dispute this, I gladly welcome clarifications & debates over this matter. If not, it is their fault & they should be punished many times over in proportion to their thoughtlessness & selfishness.

The number that we Singaporeans monitor more closely than the weekly 4D in recent times is the PSI index. It can be monitored online throught the website maintained by the National Environment Agency (NEA). As you can see, the PSI is made up of measurements of 5 different air pollutants, namely Sulphur Dioxide, Nitrogen Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Ozone & PM10 (Particulate Matter less than 10 microns in mean diameter). The PSI will be listed as the highest "score" of these 5 pollutants. If the highest score of 82 comes from Carbon Monoxide, then the PSI for that particular time period will be 82, with the main pollutant being Carbon Monoxide. If the highest score comes from PM10, then the main pollutant will be PM10 which is the case for this season's haze. PM10 to the man in the street would be very fine dust, which can cause all sorts of respiratory problems.

While the haze looks like it is extending it's unwelcomed stay, we can only hope that the Indonesian Government is capable of doing something to stop this from being an annual event. While I believe the majority of any country's citizens are peaceful & law-abiding people, those recalcitrants should be made to bear the full extent of the law, if there is any.

The personal comments found in this post are mine & mine alone. If you do not agree, I welcome ur constructive & factual debate. If you are thinking of litigation, I'll see you in court & put your horse come over.

Gasp gasp...