The Singapore Haze

In the summer months, typically between June and August,  Singapore is affected by instances of haze.  Haze that's produced by the burning of old crop fields in Indonesia.  It is a known occurrence, there's not much that can be done about it and life goes on.

Except that this year the haze came on real hard. Beginning mid June and for about 10 days, there were reportedly 200 hot spots burning across Indonesia.  Palm oil and other crop farms were set ablaze to clear the land for the next season by reckless farmers.  Much easier to set the expansive farms on fire than cut, uproot and dispose.  The extensive burning, combined with winds blowing into the area, made the haze in Singapore reach an all time high of 400+ PSI (Pollution Standards Index).

 Source: globalvoicesonline.org

People at higher risk were asked to stay indoors in the air-conditioning if possible.  Public and outdoor workers were asked to use a face mask, as needed.  The smell of wood burning hung in the air.  Eyes itched.  People sneezed.  Children were luckily on summer holidays and so schools were out.  But the majority of people continued on as usual.  Public transport, malls, restaurants remained open.  Attendance at work was unchanged.  The government officials said they were taking steps to take action working with the governing bodies in Indonesia.  Singapore offered its assistance to fight the fires and to seed clouds to induce rain fall.  But to its residents, the key message was "look out for each other".  StarHub, a major cable TV and broadband provider provide all cable channels free over the weekend to keep people entertained as they stayed home.  I am sure there are many other instance of people, companies, organizations - just helping out.

As a city-state-country, Singapore is very vulnerable to events in neighboring countries which it has little control over.  But the spirit with which the people came together, and the actions the government took to manage the situation was incredible.

So, it was just a haze.  Not a major flood or other significant catastrophe.  I agree.  But how you react to smaller situations is a fairly good indicator of how you would react to a major one.

-Venkat

How Singapore controls automobile traffic

Singapore is a small island city-state-country.  With an area of 700 square km (275 square miles) of which roads make up nearly 10%, coupled with a high population density, it is very easy for Singapore to have become clogged with traffic jams on roads like many other metropolitan cities.  The government on one had developed one of the best in the world mass transit systems with buses and light rail, and on the other hand has done very interesting things to limit private car ownership.  The latter is what I discuss here.

Owning a cars is expensive: To buy a car in Singapore you pay significant duties on the price of the car (~150%) and also need to buy a Certificate of Entitlement (COE) that entitles you to own your car for a period of 10 years.  At last bidding, the COE was priced at around S$70,000 (having hit S$95,000 earlier in the year). This makes the price of a small car in the range of S$125,000, which puts it out of reach for many.

Smart congestion pricing: Additionally, Singapore has an elaborate traffic congestion pricing scheme called Electronic Road Pricing (ERP).  ERP is collected at peak times and at key locations entering and exiting congested areas and is automatically charged to your card/account as you enter and exit these areas.  The ERP system also extends to paying for parking so there are no toll booth personnel and hunting for cash / change, making throughput much faster.  Some people refer to ERP as 'Everyday Rob People' since it is expensive, but the proof that the system works is that you rarely hit major traffic jams in the city.

Taxis: With nearly 30,000 taxis, taxis form a reliable source of transport.  Not very expensive, and comparable to, or cheaper than, owning a car, taxis are clean, drivers are generally very courteous, and the system for hailing them or booking them in advance is very well laid out.  Of course, in peak hours getting a taxi can be very difficult and you do frequently run into taxi drivers who 'select' their fares (generally people going where they are headed towards!).  You also encounter taxi drivers changing shifts at peak hours, which can be frustrating since you need the driver to be living near where you wish to go to be able to hail a ride