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old thread here Hi mod, can update thread title? May start again this year. Indonesia president warns of forest fires as hot spots detected Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Monday (Feb 22) local authorities should get prepared for potential forest fires later this year as hot spots had been detected on the island of Sumatra. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/indonesia-forest-fires-hot-spots-haze-joko-widodo-14256546

With sub-micron particles continually sucked in through the filter into the engine, would it be advisable to change engine oil and the filter more often?

Notice yesterday & today that my GPS got problem getting signal. Wonder if it has anything to do with the haze or just my device problem. Anybody has the same problem?

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Hope this wont happen in sg When indo haze come http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/east-asia/story/chinese-man-seeks-divorce-saying-smog-has-driven-family-apart-20140501 Chinese man seeks divorce, saying smog has driven family apart Cars drive on the Three Ring Road amid the heavy haze in Beijing February 26, 2014. A Beijing man is seeking to divorce his wife after she took their son to a tropical island province to escape the capital's notorious smog, saying the long-distance relationship had destroyed their marriage, state media said on Thursday. -- FILE PHOTO: REUTERS BEIJING (Reuters) - A Beijing man is seeking to divorce his wife after she took their son to a tropical island province to escape the capital's notorious smog, saying the long-distance relationship had destroyed their marriage, state media said on Thursday. The man, identified only by his family name of Wang, married his wife in 2008 and had a son two years later, the Beijing Times reported, in a story widely picked up by other Chinese media outlets online, including Xinhua news agency. But their son developed serious health problems because of Beijing's air pollution and his wife took the son to the southern resort island of Hainan to escape the haze. However, Mr Wang's wife did not like Hainan and nor did she like living apart from him, and whenever the two of them met they fought, the report said. Fed up with this, Mr Wang has filed for divorce in a Beijing court, the newspaper said. - See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/east-asia/story/chinese-man-seeks-divorce-saying-smog-has-driven-family-apart-20140501#sthash.1bTpl32X.dpuf

Had they started burning forest in Indonesia. Its only begining of February 2014 ..... yahoo news: Return of haze feared as Indonesian forest fires reach ‘alarming conditions’ Hazy days may return to Malaysia after it was reported today that hundreds of hectares of forest in Indonesia's Riau province have been ravaged by fire, reaching "alarming conditions", according to the Jakarta Post. The English-language daily reported that a lack of rainfall made fire-fighting efforts more difficult, and thin haze has already blanketed Dumai and Pekanbaru, Riau's capital. “Firefighters experienced difficulties extinguishing the flames as the area is dried peatland,” Riau's Meranti Islands regency forestry agency head M. Murod was quoted as saying. Fires have been burning since last week in the regency, and have spread to Rangsang Island and Tebingtinggi Island, destroying about 200 hectares of land. Murod hoped Jakarta would help the efforts by arranging for cloud seeding to avoid a repeat of the haze which struck neighbouring countries. In June last year, schools in Singapore and Malaysia were shut and state of emergency declared in several areas in Johor after the Air Pollution Index (API) crossed 700. An API rate between 0 to 50 is considered as good, 51-100 as moderate, 101-200 as unhealthy, 201-300 very unhealthy, and above 300 as hazardous. In the past, the dry season, between May and September, was blamed for the haze, as well as on Indonesian farmers who did land clearing for the planting season. The haze last year had also sparked a war of words between Jakarta and officials from Malaysia and Singapore, after an Indonesian minister said Sinaporean and Malaysian companies were to blame for forest-clearing activities. Murod said he could not identify the plantations involved in the latest fires. “The blaze is getting bigger and bigger inside the plantations. It’s difficult to identify. I have just received a report on losses suffered by residents,” he said, as reported by the Jakarta Post. Bengkalis regency's Disaster and Firefighter Agency head Mohammad Jalal meanwhile did not rule out land clearing activities for the latest fires. “We have often warned about avoiding fire in peatland. In the current hot weather and strong winds, the dried peatland could easily burn and it’s difficult to extinguish,” he told the Jakarta Post. – February 3, 2014. link: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/return-haze-feared-indonesian-forest-fires-reach-alarming-043157236.html We are now enjoying North-East wind condition and should the wind direction changes, we will be affected ... Couple with their volcano still throwing ashes into the air. So last year 'papers' which was send to Indon Minister still in their in-tray ......

The haze is back right now..... Check with NEA and 3 hourly PSI reading now at 73 for North zone. Took a picture of what outside my working area now ...

Haze is invading our country again. Mask and air purifier seems to be a must. For car, anybody tot upgrading the headlight to stronger intensity or adding a fog light for safety purpose? My car kinda old now, the headlight is not clear at all, tot of going to car grooming and get headlight restoration. Any bro here have any counter-haze-car-tips? Lai share arh!

Sian... overlooking from Suntec area, the haze looks bad...NEA site still showing PSI as <40!

Visibility levels in the west coast took a dive over the weekend although the weather remained on the cooler side. The reason for the reduced visibility levels is not conclusive as air quality in the country is recorded at either “good” or “moderate” on the Air Pollutant Index. Some Malaysians speculated it might be haze as they felt ill, listing symptoms such as fever, sore throat and sinus problems. Homemaker Sara Sukor, 33, said she had observed her baby son’s eczema flare up after the “haze” appeared on Friday afternoon. She said she could barely make out the skyline of the Petronas Twin Towers and KL Tower from her 19th floor apartment in Taman Tun Dr Ismail. “Even though there is no smoky smell, I feel the haze is getting worse by the day,” she said. IT support executive, Martin Arulappa, 26, said he had not noticed lower visibility levels in Klang but he and his sister had been suffering from flu and fever since Friday. “It could be the indecisive climate,” he said. The Meteorological Department (MET) said Petaling Jaya and Kuala Pilah in Negri Sembilan had visibility readings of up to 4km as of 5pm yesterday. Visibility was up to 6km in Subang and Ipoh, 7km in Butterworth, 8km in Sepang and Malacca and 9km in Batu Pahat, Johor. Normal visibility levels are from a range of 10km and further. However, air quality remained at good and moderate levels, with Ipoh recording the poorest reading of 82 as of 5pm yesterday. According to the Department of Environment’s Air Pollutant Index (API), unhealthy, very unhealthy and hazardous air quality readings are from 100 to 200, 200 to 300, and more than 300 respectively. The reduced visibility could be due to the 500 hotspots detected by the NOAA-18 Satellite on the Meteorological Service Singapore’s website, for the areas of Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Laos. The hotspot map for that region showed most of the hotspots were concentrated in Cambodia and spread out into Thailand and Laos. Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/se-asia/story/visibility-levels-drop-malaysias-west-coast-residents-suspect-haze-20140

http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/sunday...s-haze-20130630 For Riau's farmers, livelihood trumps haze It will take time to change attitudes on the ground Published on Jun 30, 2013 By Joyce Lim All a poor farmer needs is just a match to start a fire. That fire could spread quickly across forest plantations, especially during the dry season. Once the land has been cleared, the farmer can start planting crops, which he will later sell to feed himself and his family. But try telling the farmer not to light up; or tell him to pay $2,000 for excavators to clear the land instead. Or tell him to find other means to feed his family. He is, in all likelihood, going to ignore you. During a recent assignment to Riau - ground zero of the haze which blanketed much of the region - The Sunday Times team met many such farmers. They are poor, unskilled and rely on farming to feed their families. These farmers have, for generations, been burning land to clear it for the next planting season. They live and breathe the haze, year after year. When I tried to tell them about the hazardous levels of the Pollutant Standards Index, I sounded as alien to them as I looked in my N95 mask. Many do not think they are doing anything wrong, or that their routine acts have contributed regularly to the thick haze enveloping the region. Mr Suryanto, head of the Dumai Forestry Department, told The Sunday Times that it is an almost impossible task to try and stop these farmers from burning to clear the land. As the head of the department, Mr Suryanto acknowledges that he has the authority to issue new regulations or to change existing ones, and empower the forestry police to carry out enforcement. But it takes more than just changing regulations or stepping up enforcement to stop the burning, he explained. Killing off the haze is as good as killing the livelihoods of these farmers. "These poor farmers will do anything it takes to protect their livelihoods," Mr Suryanto said. "When you have nothing, you fight with your life to protect anything and everything that can feed you and your family." Mr Suryanto even foresees blood being shed if the authorities try to take away the land from the farmers, or chase them away. "These villagers will unite and fight the police. Even then, the burning will not stop. They will move to another area and start burning again," he said. The Sunday Times team witnessed such collective kampung attitude when a group of villagers approached our car because the driver refused to pay a jobless villager who helped direct traffic on a road that was partially under construction. The situation was diffused when the driver offered the man a few rupiah. Shuttling between the provincial capital of Pekanbaru and hot spots in Dumai and the regencies of Bengkalis and Rokan Hilir in the last two weeks, the team saw plumes of smoke rising from charred plots of lands, every few kilometres we travelled. Such instances of indiscriminate burning did not happen only in forested areas, but right in the heart of Pekanbaru, and are an indicator of just how commonplace slash-and-burn practices are in Indonesia. Burning is still the cheapest way to clear land here. It takes just 10 litres of diesel - costing 50,000 rupiah (S$6.40) - to clear 1ha of land. It goes some way towards explaining why few would move to spend about 15 million rupiah - or close to $2,000 - to hire workers and rent excavators to flatten and clear a plot of land of similar size. Local farmer Mulia Manurung, 50, said that $2,000 is more than what he earns in a year. Life is simple for the farmers here, who do not watch television or read the newspapers. So attempts to educate and inform them about the ills of slash-and-burn through the media would be largely ineffective. Besides, reaching them also poses some challenges for the authorities as 90 per cent of Dumai is forested, and the vast geography makes it difficult to reach these farmers who live deep in the forest, said Mr Khairul Anwar, the mayor of Dumai. Dumai is a coastal city closest to many of the hot spots in Riau province. But farmers with smallholdings are just one part of the problem behind the annual outbreak of fires and haze in Indonesia. Fingers have continued to be pointed at major pulp and palm oil companies which own plantations in Riau, and at least 14 companies are being investigated by the Indonesian authorities. Most companies refute allegations that they are responsible and claim that they follow strict no-burning policies - and demand that their contractors do the same. But activists say that when contractors further sub-contract the work to others, including some farmers, burning is often used to clear the land as it is the cheapest and fastest way to get the job done. Observers, green activists and analysts also charge that corporations or local farmers with deep pockets take advantage of lax law enforcement and continue with the practice of burning to clear land. The Sunday Times team in Riau spotted at least three such plantations in Dumai - one about 5,000ha in size. This is despite Mayor Khairul saying that "there are no oil palm plantations in Dumai". "If there are any," he added, "they are illegal." Yet the owner of one such illegal plantation disclosed that he has been operating his 5,000ha plantation for the past five years. A state of emergency was declared in Riau recently by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The initial efforts of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) to put out the fires in Riau province appeared lacklustre, with just three helicopters, a Casa aircraft and one Hercules C-130 used for cloud-seeding and water-bombing operations. But the efforts, including increased deployment of personnel on the ground and stronger enforcement, picked up pace following the Indonesian leader's apology for the haze. Given the vastness of the area, and the scale of the problem, it is going to take considerable time and resources before real and effective changes are seen on the ground. Farmers need to be supported with an alternative to burning, perhaps with subsidies for fertilisers or to buy the equipment they need to clear the land. Similarly, the large plantations need to step up checks and enforcement of practices, including and especially by their contractors. In the meantime, Singaporeans, like others in the region, should learn to be better prepared when the haze inevitably returns again. [email protected]

Over the past week, the PSI index has been on steroids, thanks to our Indonesian neighbour. In addition to caring for our respiratory system, drivers should take extra care when cruising on the road. Here are some tips on driving in hazy conditions: Turn on fog lights (if equipped) - Fog lights differ from driving lights in the way they project the light. The beam projected by fog lights is usually wide and flat so that it stays close to the road surface and minimises reflection by the haze. They also better illuminate the sides of the road. Keep a wider distance from the vehicle in front - Increase your count distance by five seconds instead of the normal two seconds behind another vehicle. Do not speed. Use your low beams - The visibility in front of you will decrease sharply in hazy condition. The light from high beam headlights will be reflected by the thick haze. Do not let your car drift - There's a natural tendency to wander into the middle of the road when visibility gets bad. Be sure to keep yourself in your lane. Seek assistance from front passenger - Ask your passengers to help keep an eye out for oncoming cars and obstacles on the road. Use the right edge of the road as a guide - This can help you avoid running into oncoming traffic or being blinded by oncoming headlights. Drive safely and pray that hazy days will go away soon.

Doing a survey on the recent haze, to gather the feelings of Singaporeans. Pls help only if you want to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WBQRS8T

Wow.. Anyone notice.. Now.. the haze.. quite jialat le.. :wacko:

it's driving ppl away.. but will this haze actually drive the aedes mosquitoes away. Mosquites dun like smoke.. so i tot maybe this will "kill" off the mosq

SINGAPORE: The haze has returned to Singapore today, two weeks earlier than forecasted by NEA. Southwest monsoon caused the weather to be drier and various parts of Sumatra is engulfed in forest fire, brought about by the slash and burn method of forest clearing. The latest PSI index that measures air quality surpass the unhealthy mark of 100. The Ministry for Environment and Water Ponding has announced that the situation is expected to deteriorate over the next five days. Donut News understands that many ERP gantry island-wide are unable to capture the readings from In-vehicle Unit (IU).

Any bros out there experiencing haze over at your area? Throat and nose feeling strange as i'm rather sensitive to particles in the air/climate change, but could be the flu. Looked outside my window and saw a thin layer of fog/haze covering the skyline The circled part in the background can always be seen clearly, but not so tonight..

yah i believe they are capable of solving the issue... it's just whether they want to do it anot... so many years liao *whispering* corruption, corruption, corruption

As above.Or my eyes are falling me?

There's this funny smelling haze going on out there right now... Anyone know what happened?

we're under siege! its the worst evarrr! help help!

As per my topic title. Have been smelling the burning smell in the air. So reminiscent of hazy times.

The haze seem to be back again today, looking out from my 14th floor unit toward Paya Lebar airport direction, what I saw is thick haze with strong burning smell.

Can smell it? strong smell of burnt and sky is hazy.