Friday 21 June 2013

Political Battle

Current PSI: 137 (Singapore Time: 6:30)

Even as the haze abates today, the question on everyone's mind is when it will blow over.

Political tensions are building up as both governments are trying to deal with the situation.

Will the haze saga destroy Singapore-Indonesia relations?



Great Singapore Clean Up!

Current PSI: 173 (Singapore Time: 4:10pm)

The great Singapore clean up!!! All can help!

Let us do our part and aid our government with the haze situation!

Here are some ideas that we have brainstormed. Feel free to add any suggestions in the comments for this posts.

1) Rally the vacuum cleaners.
















United we stand. If everyone rolls out their vacuum cleaners and leave them on for 24/7, the many individual units will filter the unbreathable air. Please follow our table to ensure your vacuum cleaner is performing at maximum efficiency.










2) The Great Singapore Flyer Spin

While many people have suggested using the Flyer as a huge fan, none have said how. We suggest fitness companies like California Fitness and Planet Fitness should rally their bufflords to help spin the Singapore Flyer. This will help these companies which are severely lacking in CSR initiatives to be better accepted as socially responsible organizations.
















We can learn from India on how to spin in this video.


















3) Fort MBS Defence Plan

Using our pee canons, we should be able to damper the haze clouds moving towards us.

Cloud seeding won't work as there are no clouds. Hence we have to create artificial rain somehow. Until the government can pull out some effective measures, this is the best method forward. MBS is the idea location as it is south, near Indonesia and probably the 1st point of contact for the haze to reach us.

I am sure many Singaporeans who havent had the chance to visit the sky park would cherish this opportunity to go up, for free of course since its a national crisis.


The restaurants can be turned into a command center for the defence taskforce to steer the operation from a good vantage point. As the area is air-conditioned, they can plan and strategise without hindrance from reduced air quality.

The pools can be filled with fresh water for our fighting force to replenish their water levels to ensure optimal urge to pee.

The observation deck can hold up to 900 people and would be the ideal place to fire from.

While gardens by the bay might deteriorate from excessive urea content, This will save the greater Singapore from the dreadful haze. A small price to pay imho.

Please help to brainstorm for more ways to solve the haze problem!


#2 Haze Pollutants

Current PSI: 246 (Singapore Time: 3:00pm)

Looks like our previous post was right, the wind has done more than our government and reduced the PSI back to the 200 levels.

In part two of Indonesia's gift package, we look into the next 2 pollutants that the bastards in the south have so generously conferred on to us.

3) Nitrogen dioxide

This compound is one badass motherfucker. Short term exposure can result in adverse respiratory effects  like airway inflammation in healthy people and increased respiratory symptoms in people with asthma.

Nitrogen dioxide inflames the lining of the lungs, and it can reduce immunity to lung infections. This can cause problems such as wheezing, coughing, colds, flu and bronchitis. Freaking bronchitis! You literally cough until your lungs burst and in Singapore, you get quarantined if you are suffering from it! Check out this link the learn more: http://www.webmd.com/lung/understanding-bronchitis-basics

Oh ya, it also contributes to the formation of photochemical smog. Remember smog attack from pokemon? Doesn't do much shit then but this real life smog can do some serious damage.

Here is what photochemical smog does to you:
Inflame breathing passages, decrease the lungs' working capacity, cause shortness of breath, pain when inhaling deeply, wheezing, and coughing. It can cause eye and nose irritation and it dries out the protective membranes of the nose and throat and interferes with the body's ability to fight infection, increasing susceptibility to illness.

So that means it opens the door to many illnesses by compromising your immune system.












4) Ozone

Ozone is made out of 3 oxygen atoms while normal oxygen is made out of 2. If you think that is good, you are in for a bad surprise. Ozone is only good if it is high up in the stratosphere where it protects us from UV radiation.

It is absolutely nasty and toxic for breathing and even low concentration is bad for you. Breathing ozone can trigger a variety of health problems including chest pain, coughing, throat irritation, and congestion. It can worsen bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma. Ground level ozone also can reduce lung function and inflame the linings of the lungs. Repeated exposure may permanently scar lung tissue. Can you imagine a rupture in your lungs? Well that is what Ozone can do.


Stay tuned for the final post on the last 2 pollutants.


In the meantime, check out this girl without a mask..

















Let us help her wear an N95.

















Looks 10 times better and she is protected now ^^.

Welfare over Economy please

Current PSI: 241 (Singapore Time 4:00pm)

We are working at least twice as hard to post but getting paid nothing.

If you pay someone a million bucks, you would expect results.

But for Singapore, the only results point towards GDP and economic growth.

We all know the story of how our ministerial salaries are determined by economic growth, and its this times of crisis that we see how flawed it is.

Even projects like Gardens by the Bay or the Singapore Flyer were created with tourism in mind. Everything is tied and linked to $$.




Singapore's Environment Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said that "for too long, commercial interests in Indonesia have been allowed to override environmental concerns". - Time to proof your worth your salt.

“The burning is taking place in Indonesia. What do you think Singapore can do about that?” Dr Vivian Balakrishnan wrote. - Such a defensive statement. 

Southeast Asia's haze problem hit its worst level in 1997-1998, causing widespread health problems and costing the regional economy billions of dollars as a result of business and air transport disruptions. -Rappler.com - If anything, they better act on this statement.


Ultimately,will the wind do more for us than the government and eventually blow away the haze?






#3 Haze Pollutants

Current PSI: 187 (Singapore Time: 3:40pm)

This will be last post for our pollutants series as we cover the last 2 pollutants.

5) Carbon monoxide

Many of you would have heard of this famously fatal gas. Largely related to car exhaust, there have been isolated deaths from carbon monoxide due to dumb cases of people sleeping in their cars. Here is an example: http://www.autoworld.com.my/v2/news/nb_details.asp?keyword=&MainCat=&CarMake=&hidAction=Search&awMID=12

What carbon monoxide does is it screws up your oxygen intake by latching on to the oxygen carrier-  hemoglobin, present in your blood. Get enough carbon monoxide and eventually you die. Symptoms of mild acute poisoning include lightheadedness, confusion, headaches, vertigo, and flu-like effects; larger exposures can lead to significant toxicity of the central nervous system and heart.

Kids studying chemistry can do a practical now by experimenting on how many breaths of hazy air they can draw and record how they are feeling. No, seriously don't do that, just stay indoors.

6) Water Vapour

Normally not harmful, ever present water vapour in the air starts to become acidic. The neutral compound is actually the most harmful of all the pollutants floating around and there is no way to avoid it. Even the N95 masks cannot stop them from entering into your lungs.

Just kidding. We have actually covered 6 pollutants excluding water vapour which is not harmful. PM 10 and 2.5 were placed into one category but are really 2 different pollutants.

Stay safe Singapore. Consider refusing to go to work and the economy will slow. This might be the only way to pressure the government to move faster.

Too many girls wearing surgical masks..when will they learn. Share this page to preserve the chio bus in SG. Not many to begin with and we are losing them in this national crisis.

Malaysia shuts down schools

Current PSI: 428 (Singapore Time: 2:40pm)

Unclear if NEA PSI index is truly lagging as it is a 3 hour average.

PSI conditions have passed the 400 mark which is deemed hazardous and yet, as of 2pm we can see that it is only 355.

We have always pride ourselves in economic efficiency but when it comes to such crisis, even Malaysia is faster than us in reacting.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/singapore-haze-worst-malaysia-schools-shut-19443222


Zhun bo, visibilty less than 1km yet PSI still not above 400

Thursday 20 June 2013

#1 Haze Pollutants

Current PSI: 378 (Singapore Time: 2:00pm)

Hi all, apologise for the absence. Since the government hasn't issued a stop-work order we decided to enforce one for ourselves yesterday to take a break.

In this post, we bring you some knowledge about the fucking particles that are lingering in our air.

There are 6 main pollutants that are hovering in our airspace. In this post we will cover the first 2.

1) Sulphur dioxide

A toxic gas with a pungent, irritating smell that is released due to the combustion (burning) that is happening down south in Sumatra's forests. It is a colourless gas and is responsible for the burning smell in the air.

Health effects caused by exposure to high levels of sulphur dioxide include breathing problems, respiratory illness, changes in the lung's defences, and worsening respiratory and cardiovascular disease. This pollutant is particularly dangerous for asthmatics and people with bronchitis.

2) PM10 & PM 2.5

PM stands for particulate matter and are essentially tiny pieces of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. Increased levels of such fine particles in the air is consistently and independently related to the most serious effects, including lung cancer and other cardiopulmonary (lung-related) mortality.

The numbers 10 and 2.5 refers to the size of the particles and the unit of measurement is in micrometers. 1 micrometer is one-millionth of a metre and a PM 10 particle would be 10 micrometers large.


When you inhale, you breathe in air along with any particles that are in the air. The air and the particles travel into your respiratory system (your lungs and airway). Along the way the particles can stick to the sides of the airway or travel deeper into the lungs.

The farther particles go, the worse the effect.

Smaller particles can pass through the smaller airways. Bigger particles are more likely to stick to the sides or get wedged into one of the narrow passages deep in the lung. Hence, PM 2.5 is more harmful than PM 10.

Health effects include the following:

a) Coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath 
b) Aggravated asthma
c) Lung damage (including decreased lung function and lifelong respiratory disease) 
d) Premature death in individuals with existing heart or lung diseases



Stay tuned for the next update as we elaborate on 2 more pollutants.

In the meantime, don't scrimp on cab and wear your masks!

Negative illustration below on the wrong type of masks to use. Only use N95 please.