The air quality deteriorated this week as the winds brought in the haze from Indonesia created by forest fires and agricultural practices that include the use of fire to clear land.

Before haze,


After haze, as you can see buildings in the distance are obscured.

Before haze even with the rain, one can see the shadowed hills lying behind the buildings in the distance.


After haze, that rolling relief is obscured.

It’s still not too bad near home although the smoky, burnt smell in the air is palpable. In the city to the south of the island where Mr P works, the visibility was even worse he said. Still a health advisory was issued, and we are to keep indoors. This comes on top of our dengue threat. We are just at the starting of the dengue season.

And since we are a kiasu nation, face-masks and mosquito-repelling plants are apparently snatched up as soon as they hit the shelves.

And all this means, outdoor walks for Donna may have to be shortened depending on the PSI index. Donna’s bored, but at least she gets to enjoy the super rare treat that is air-conditioning.

The neighbourhood street cat? Not so lucky.


Ah this stupid haze, retreat! Retreat!


Actually, he/she was more retreating from a trigger-happy human and her dog. Hah!! I’m sorry for harassing the neighbourhood cat. It was not harmed in anyway, and Donna was walking and stopping with me the whole way and not a threat to the cat either. ;)

You know the Adopt, Don’t Buy slogan? It makes sense if one wants a pet and is not picky about the breed. Save a life from a shelter and they can get more injured/unwanted strays off the street.

Note: The newspaper has copyright over the newspaper. So I’ll be obliged to take it down if requested to.