Thursday, June 20, 2013

When Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

The Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) soared to 172 at 3 pm on Wednesday, Singapore's worst haze reading since September 1997 when the number peaked at 226. Then at 10 pm last night the PSI hit a new record high of 321.

Indonesian forestry ministry official Raffles Panjaitan said his government will be sending helicopters  into the skies above Sumatra to seed the clouds.  Injecting chemicals would prompt the formation of heavy ice crystals and speed up the production of rain to put out the fires that are mainly centred on peatlands in Riau province.

In Singapore Minister of Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan said whether a stop-work order will be issued will depend on the severity of the haze conditions. Apparently 321 is not scary enough, it's still short of the 387 number he racked up in millions to show off the city sights. Too bad they are all hazed over every year, this time of the year.

Balakrishnan insists cloud seeding will not work for Singapore as his meteorological boys are saying there's not enough cloud cover at the moment. Instead of sending helicopters over to help the Indonesians with the preparation work, he is sending the spanking new ex-army NEA CEO Andrew Tan over to attend a haze meeting. What the Indonesians need is more hardware, not more hot air.

Meanwhile Foreign Minister K Shanmugam got hot under the collar, when one sinful comment on his Facebook pages railed against the "million dollar minister" and called, quite accurately, the Government inefficient. As expected, the minister shafted the Indonesians for not ratifying a treaty on Transboundary Haze Pollution signed in 2002. It proves the point, doesn't it? The Singapore Foreign Minister had been sleeping since 2002, just going with the flow like the brigadier-general, until the wind changes direction. With FMs like that, who needs enemies?

Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew had to contend with another hallmark inefficiency of his own. About 250 commuters were  stuck in an immobile train for 1 whole hour. It would be interesting to hear the explanation from the SMRT CEO - another expensive bum parachuted in from the armed forces - why his staff could not move a stalled train with another working one. At evening rush hour when the 2 hour disruption occurred, the haze was edging towards 190, so be prepared to be smoked by (lack of) visibility excuses. More likely, someone forgot to release the brakes.

The irresistible force paradox is formulated along Newton's laws of physics, as when "What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object." This paradox is a form of the omnipotence paradox, such as when the Minister refuses to budge, even as the COE hits another high of $81,751, another candidate for the Guinness Book of Records. Mr Sin was too kind to use the word "inefficient". Hokkien expletives are more in order.
I love the smell of haze in the morning.

67 comments:

  1. Our past relief efforts to the Indons counts for nothing. Maybe we should tweedle our thumbs next time another tsunami or volcano hits them, after all, its their domestic problem.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agung Laksono aka Minister of People's Welfare is also founder of the now defunct and multiple-crashed Adam Air. He can stand there and watch the farmers' lungs burn, and passengers die in plane crashes, you think he gives a damn about us? Save your breadth. He will get his comeuppance.

      Delete
  2. Good note.
    Just some factual corrections.

    Andrew Tan is still the NEA CEO. He was former Principal Private Secretary to LKY.

    Ronnie Tay, the incoming NEA CEO, was former Chief of Navy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, I stand corrected. It's all too hazy.

      Delete
    2. So why bother to send an outgoing CEO to the meeting?
      Isn't Ronnie Tay already announced as the CEO-designate starting from June 15? So what's the hold up in this so called 'crisis' transition? Shouldn't the new guy get on top of it asap? Another one still on honeymoon?

      http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/national-environment-agency-get-new-ceo-july-20130605

      Delete
    3. I am curious why Andrew Tan is not ex-army. Does it mean he did not serve NS? Or did he serve NS by being PPS to LKY, just like somebody served NS by "saving babies' lives", or hiding in laboratory like the President's son?

      Delete
    4. //he is sending the spanking new NEA CEO Andrew Tan over to attend a haze meeting//.

      Tattler, Andrew tan is NOT the new CEO. He is the current/outgoing one. Still hazed ;-)? New one is still MIA.

      Delete
    5. Maybe new CEO is overseas on leave, just like SMRT CEO Desmond Kwek was enjoying holiday overseas while all hell broke loose at the trains.

      Delete
  3. For years, they are hoping to retrieve the billions stash by their corrupt official with smoke.

    ReplyDelete
  4. /// Apparently 321 is not scary enough, it's still short of the 387 number he racked up in millions to show off the city sights. Too bad they are all hazed over every year, this time of the year. ///

    Then this will scare you into shitting in your pants. Just after 10pm last night, the NEA website posted a PSI of 393 (that's much high than the $387 million he squandered on the children Olympics). Surprise, surprise, a few minutes later, the 393 figure disappeared from the NEA website and replaced by 321. My nephew was quick enough to have a screen capture of the figure. I have the photo to prove this.

    Maybe the 393 figure wasn't budgeted?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=381787835260005&set=a.126483780790413.19898.121806387924819&type=3&theater

      https://twitter.com/Rynnah_/status/347365673896382465

      No wonder he has to tell us not to get fixated on the numbers, but to get things fixed first. Won't you say the same thing for the economy? So why worry about putting stop-work order for construction workers? What does it take? PSI 400?

      Delete
    2. Be careful with your report. You may be pulled up for breaching the Official Secrets Act, or perhaps run to HK to be with Edward Snowden......hahaha, just a joke!

      Delete
    3. Why should anyone be surprised ? Even a $23 millions town council software can be sold to a $2 PAP company for $140,000 and get rent back for profit , and downplay the amount by extraordinary magnitude of times, what's more with PSI index ? It is said that cat has 7 lives, but it is proven that Sinkies has more than 7 lives. How many times have sinkies supposed to die already when those shameless clowns manipulate inflation, accounting, and psi, cpf index etc ?

      Delete
  5. Analogous to Chinese Emperors in the past, Lee Hsien Loong has lost the heavenly mandate with so much evidence of MAN-MADE disasters. He's really an incompetent PM, who can lose everything in less than a decade.

    Woe to Singaporeans who have to bear with his incompetence.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What to expect, emperor sons are normally good for nothing except for taking millions from peasants.

      Delete
    2. They had years/decades to prepare for this scenario, but they didn't. Result of running the country on auto-pilot.
      One word = Complacency.

      Delete
  6. It should be SBS Transit because it was the NEL not SMRT.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hey. not everything is bad. Just read that the number of dengue cases have dropped. Thanks to the smoke from Sumatra?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Even 6 pigeons are already spotted dead at circuit road.
      So it must take some very strong mozzies to survive.

      Delete
  8. wait until the "ft"/expats/PRs start leaving SG, the cost of living will surely be lowered in SG and also much less crowded here !

    ReplyDelete
  9. Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has just posted a strongly-worded statement on Facebook that "no country or corporation has the right to pollute the air at the expense of Singaporeans' health and wellbeing".
    Wah, talk so tough, then why send the NEA CEO to Indonesia instead of himself hiding in Singapore?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This ass hasn't got balls to talk to Indonesian generals ministers.

      Delete
    2. From Jakarta Post:
      Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa talked tough on the issue, saying that ASEAN members should collaborate to address the situation rather than lay blame.
      “The approach must be one of collaboration and partnership, not one of apportioning blame here and there. Let’s focus on putting the fires out,” Marty told a press conference.

      No wonder VB dare not meet the Indonesians face to face. He sure wet his pants one.

      Delete
    3. The Indonesians are saying the burning companies are also from Malaysia & Singapore as well.

      So far nobody wants to shoulder the blame?

      Delete
    4. No surprise none of the burning companies will claim for their acts.
      But what I'm surprised (and most Singaporeans should be) are the silence of the Indonesian residents here! Many are rich or well to do, and are long term PRs/FTs. Why are they not standing up to their embassy or Ministers? They should go rally and picket a protest and our MHA should allow that. Their silence means they condone it, and only add to the fume of singaporeans that they are here for their selfish comfort.

      http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-the-haze-indonesia.html

      Delete
    5. Haha......

      Bcos they are well to do and rich; they can afford to go elsewhere to escape from the haze and return whence it is smog free.

      An opportunity for them to take a break and maybe have family get together as it is oso school holiday for a month.

      Delete
  10. Was watching the news last night. They seemed more
    concerned about the NDP. WTF!

    ReplyDelete
  11. It is quite confusing. If the PSI is based on a 3-hourly average, why bother to update it every hour? Let's say the PSI changes dramatically, as was the case yesterday, the actual hourly figures could have been 40, 110, 150, 310, 410, 243, 190, but due to the 3-hour averaging, the figures shown to us were 100, 190, 290, 321, 281 instead. NEA is obviously trying to play down the seriousness of the haze. Even when I was watching the figures on MediaCorp show yesterday, the 321 figure is never shown at all!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We'll never find out?

      In BJ, the 'official' PSI number is always much lower than the reality. But expats and people always go with the one issued by American Embassy. Maybe we should have one here too. Unless someone can find another reliable satelite reading that comes with PSI scores.

      Delete
    2. See this

      http://therealsingapore.com/content/did-nea-tamper-psi-reading-last-night-so-not-alarm-population

      Delete
    3. Lol, even NEA is trying to smoke us. This is exactly what happen during GE 2011 when WP won Aljunied. They tried all means and ways to not announce the result.

      Delete
    4. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/mar/16/air-pollution-biggest-threat-china

      So far, the Health Minister Gan is very quiet, as usual.
      Why don't he give out free N95 masks to elderlies? Not even a gesture while 25,000 mask are freely given out to residents in Indonesia already with 200 PSI. In fact, many places have run out of them!

      Delete
    5. I think the 3-hourly average does serve a purpose - longer term exposure which is more harmful. Say, the PSI could have peaked at 450, but only for a few minutes, and then come down to 200 and 100 within the next few hours. The 3 hourly average will show a more realistic number.

      That 321 figure was for the 3-hourly average, so of course it won't appear on the live update or hourly update, unless the hourly figure also happens to be 321.
      Say, the hourly figures were 300, 321, 342 - which averaged out to 321. Then during the 2nd hour, it will show the hourly figure at 321.

      Delete
    6. I Not Stupid6/20/2013 12:06 PM

      This blogger DK has a good explanation.
      Another curious point. The Press Con was held at 11.30pm.
      Which means Vivian would have already gotten the latest PSI which was recorded (their official) 321. So why did he choose to go with the 9pm PSI 290 instead? Plus stressing the non-fixation, it's become clear he was trying to downplay the seriousness of the situation - ie. not truthful. In other words, he is worried about the other 'economy' number.

      http://blog.dk.sg/2013/06/20/is-nea-trying-to-downplay-the-haze-situation/

      Delete
    7. @ The, for long term exposure, a 24hr average already suffice. If what you write regarding the figure changing radically in a matter of minutes, then a continuous live update would be required instead of hourly reading. Anyway, there is no point in obscuring the data. What is the problem with presenting what it is instead of showing what you think is right to us?

      Delete
    8. //What is the problem with presenting what it is instead of showing what you think is right to us?//

      It matters to them if they have to issue STOP work orders to all the outdoor construction workers. Any idea what impact that is on $$ and productivity and GDP? Not to mention STOP class and schools and planes/ships landing/to-ing & fro-ing etc..and the list goes on.

      Delete
    9. Never knew he was never 'fixated with data'.
      Now that explains a lot why he kept busting his numbers by 200%!!!

      Delete
  12. That clown VB can only bully opposition party members. Let's see whether he is worth the million dolar salary. 1st world salary but cannot solve problems from our 3rd world neighbour. Time to throw all these 1st world nonsense out of the window.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Cannot handle outside situation but only got guts to bully local citizen. This sham of a minister waves white flag to Indonesia but talk big to Mr Sin. Fxxk you lah. Go tell Smarty pants off, you dare?

    ReplyDelete
  14. We Singaporeans are at the receiving end of our leeder's karma when he delivered his distasteful jokes about Beijing's polluted air and Shanghai's polluted waters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. First, karma for the smoke joke. Hopefully no more karma for the water joke. I dread to think in what form it will come in.

      Delete
    2. What no karma for the water joke.

      Our Newater comes mixed with our shit water before it is filtered, is that not a joke itself!

      Delete
  15. BREAKING NEWS6/20/2013 1:10 PM

    BREAKING : - ok. PSI just hit 371 at 1 p.m.

    what now?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Means = Bala and his MET team failed. 200 range?

      Delete
    2. Even McD has the common sense to stop delivery by its staff.
      Guess Chuan-Jin has to get PM Lee's approval first.

      https://www.facebook.com/mcdsg/posts/554510061262238

      Delete
    3. They sent some brigadier general and lots of equipment to Acheh to rebuild the tsunami hit areas, why can't they send a similar team to help clear the air for us to breathe?

      Delete
  16. WOW. BALA KEEPS BREAKING RECORDS:
    YOG RECORD
    DENGUE RECORD
    NOW PSI RECORD

    CONGRATS TO OUR MINISTER
    WELL DONE

    ReplyDelete
  17. I wonder if burglar and robbery cases have gone up.
    Such an opportune time. If I were the police, wont be able to see where they run within 100m visibility leh!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. With the face masks, cannot easily see who committed what.

      Delete
  18. Yup! 371 at 1pm, and counting, no more F15 jets creating nuisance but V Bala still thinks work stoppage is not needed while his precious F15 pilots and civil servants take a break. I wonder if the F15 is really all-weather? Or maybe that's why they are buying the F35?

    During lunch I witnessed several pinoy maids demanding to buy face masks at giant supermarket. "All sold out!", shouted back the indonesian cashier!

    Stuck in trains for the nth time, mosquitoes feeding and spreading deaths, haze that even the usually hardy pinoy maids refuse to accept, and what have they been doing since 2002 to the haze treaty? Suddenly I understood why! Enforcing haze treaties don't generate GDP growth! My boss and lunch kaki concluded "So... the ministers and civil servants' incentive must be changed right?" I agreed (not that I dare object). Yet somehow, the ministers and civil servants don't think so. Its really amazing how such a gifted group of scholarly types can suffer cognitive dissonance when confronted with stark reality: in the real private sector, if you repeatedly prove that you are incompetent, you are either sacked or demoted. In the garmen of red dot, you are promoted to the next level of incompetence and you might even be given a national day medal!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As usual, our PAP Ministers tried to act tough with them. So is this the result we get year after year ?

      Delete
  19. Just wait till our Newater plant break down like our trains, then we will be drinking e. coli shit soup.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Looks like we have to cancel the NDP.....

    ReplyDelete
  21. The Indons do not have to spend billions on their defense budget if they want to threaten us. They only need to smoke us out for 2 weeks and I think the elite will bolt out of this island. Hope Dr Hen will keep this mind.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yeah... malaysia turns the tap off
      indons starts the fires...

      lets see who runs first... the cabinet
      followed by the civil service, then police, CD and SAF

      Leaves you & me bro.. what will you have?
      Champagne? or caviar?

      Delete
    2. The indons can consider starting the fire with ganja or marijuana, make sure it is during the SW monsoon period, then sit and wait .
      One octogenarian might just issue a decree that all his stooges perform bungee jump from the top of MBS with the bungee attached to the neck.

      Delete
  22. You clowns still trust the gov to provide true psi index?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What' the point of looking at 100 or 300 PSI number?
      Is like someone telling you SG has 4.4.8m, 5.3m or 6.9m people.
      Is that figure alone helpful?! Yes, but only to certain extent.

      What you want to know is what is the breakdown of that 5.3m right?
      what is the breakdown of SGreans, PRs, FT or tourists!!
      Doesn't that make more sense, people?!!

      Breathe, like it matters to live!

      Delete
  23. Will people see how competent our gov is? only competent in screwing own people. Big fat pay checks still get monkeys.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Spread n Share6/20/2013 6:56 PM

    Get the Realtime AQI /PSI index from here, with clear breakdown of pm2.5 & other particulate which your NEA site will not provide. Read the right thing.

    http://aqicn.org/?map&loc=singapore
    http://aqicn.org/city/singapore/central/

    SE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Almost all countries around the world are using the latest AQI index.

      What are the main important reasons why Singapore wants to be the "only jurisdiction" to use the old PSI format? They don't want to be compared with other countries benchmark, just like their world class salaries?

      Is this question asked at the press conference by the reporters, and what is NEA answers?

      Delete
  25. Someone commented we spend billions for our defence budget and yet we are helpless when our airspace has been invaded year after year just like that.

    WTF did we spend those money for ?


    ReplyDelete
  26. Spend and Pray Again6/20/2013 9:43 PM

    I appreciate the gestures of $10 clinic fee for children and elderlies during this difficult time, but this are only just small consolation if you consider those extra costs incurred for masks, vitamins, aircon or air purifier expenses, not to mention the physical and mental discomfort. Short term effects no doubt, but as one caller on the Talking Point has said, there are cases where it has triggered cardiac/asthma attacks for some vulnerable groups.

    It appears once again, that Minister Vivian like his previous decades of "aid" offered to Indonesian counterpart , we like to know of all the past 20 years during the haze, how many times have Indonesian counterparts taken up his offer of "planes/cloudseeding/firefighting" services? 3/20? 10/20 times? or 20/20 times? Why would he think this time will be any different?

    Admittedly, they said NGOs on the grounds have done some good effective works, why not channel those million dollars into few NGOs and get them to do the monitoring and enforcement for us instead? Then use the information and evidence to get any SG-based plantation companies who commit such acts. In fact, MTI or IRS should just enforce a blanket x% of extra tax on palm oil companies with operations in indonesia (regardless if they commit such acts) for "performance bond license". If they are found to be guilt-free every year, they get their money back or pay up more penalty.
    It's now a question of our political will, not more inter-ministerial useless committees.

    ReplyDelete
  27. The visbility at 7am is less than 100m on the CTE the AQI says 250 or more but NEA website says PSI 111. Enough said!

    So the NEA and bala hope to solve the haze problem by meeting up with the Indon bureacrats in Jakarta? Naivity has never been better defines. Just like Suzhou is not Beijing, Riau Dumai or Palembang is not Jakarta. Why don't the PM ask Temasek to squander a few billion less on bankrupt Chinese banks (buying shares from Goldman is like asking for a sotongmee every day, and that';s what madam likes so much when TH bot ICBC shares lately - watch out for ICBS shares and headlines this coming weeks), Spend the money with NGLs and local Indon banks to co-fund land clearing using mechanical means like bulldozers instead of fire. As for the sinarmas, RGM, wilmars etc, why don't the scholars get real - clearing old plantations with fire saves the tycoons $2k per hectare, these folks replant over half a billion every year of old trees - its primary 6 maths. They will pay the pro fire starters every time, like that they can claim "100% fire free policy". If you want their money laundered here, don;t complain about haze. if you are serious about haze, the solution vis-a-vis the tycoons' assets in red dot are actually very simple. Unfortunately for us, our scholars are usually not very good practical thinkers.

    ReplyDelete
  28. /// The visbility at 7am is less than 100m on the CTE the AQI says 250 or more but NEA website says PSI 111. Enough said! ///

    Due entirely to the fact that NEA is using the 3-hour average - it is a lagging indicator. It is now 367.

    ReplyDelete
  29. And we have entered uncharted territory - it is now 400, which means the spot figure would be way above 400 to have an average of 400.

    By the power and authority in me vested, I declare this a public holiday for all Singaporeans. Go home and stay indoor. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  30. All workers should be paid hazard allowance during the Haze Period. Those working at open areas must be entitle more.
    The accumulation of particle in the lungs is likely to cause complication later if not immediate.

    ReplyDelete