Pollution in Singapore

Dwhits125 · Post by **Dwhits125** » Wed, 28 Sep 2011 7:21 pm

Hi,
My wife and I currently live and work in Beijing China. We have been offered positions in singapore but we are a little weary of the pollution levels. The only reason we are leaving Beijing is because of the really poor air quality - just this week our kids have not been able to play outside at school for the entire week and visability is down to about 200 metres.
How bad does the air get in Singapore? The scale used by Beijing and Singapore are different so it's a little hard to get a good idea. Are there days when students are not allowed to play outside? If so how often does this happens? Are people able to exercise outside or just be outside without the air hurting your eyes etc? There are days in Beijing when the air is good but unfortunately these are becoming the exception rather than the norm.

Any information on this would be really appreciated

Thanks!

BillyB · Post by **BillyB** » Wed, 28 Sep 2011 9:12 pm

SG has the obvious problem of overcrowding and full of vehicles but it's nowhere near the levels in China, HK, Japan and I'd go as far as to add London and Paris.

As far as I know its one of the cleaner cities in Asia.

Asian_Geekette · Post by **Asian_Geekette** » Wed, 28 Sep 2011 9:30 pm

Generally, the pollution level in Singapore is not that bad*. There's lot of greenery to process the carbon dioxide. Heavy industries are located in the western part of the island-state, away from most of the residential areas. It only becomes bad when there's the annual haze from the forest fires in Indonesia because the haze can be blown all the way up north to Malaysia. But it clears up in a couple of days or more (depending on whether there's rain).

*Of course, this depends on whether you live near any construction site where there will be lots of particulates in the air. However, as soon as it rains, then the air feels "cleaner."

If it helps to know, I have allergic rhinitis and I seldom have any issues whenever I'm in Singapore.

ScoobyDoes · Post by **ScoobyDoes** » Thu, 29 Sep 2011 9:37 am

Compared to Beijing, and even Hong Kong to some extent, Singapore is a walk in the park.

There are days of haze when the fields get burned in Indonesia and Malaysia but generally after a couple of weeks all is good again but you do have to be careful at the time.

carteki · Post by **carteki** » Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:25 am

Read thisfrom yesterday's paper.

carteki · Post by **carteki** » Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:37 am

Asian_Geekette wrote:*Of course, this depends on whether you live near any construction site where there will be lots of particulates in the air. However, as soon as it rains, then the air feels "cleaner."

If it helps to know, I have allergic rhinitis and I seldom have any issues whenever I'm in Singapore.

You're extremely lucky - I eventually went to see a specialist about trying to manage my allergies - apparently the cement dust is particularly bad - but then again its taken 4 years of living here for my body to start reacting like this.

beppi · Post by **beppi** » Fri, 30 Sep 2011 10:55 pm

The only times when you cannot see the nearest Indonesian islands (20km away) it's due to high humidity, and once or twice a year because of forest fires in Indonesia.

Post by **x9200** » Sat, 01 Oct 2011 12:42 pm

Unfortunately this once or twice a year can last for a few good weeks like what we have around right now.

zzm9980 · Post by **zzm9980** » Sun, 02 Oct 2011 4:50 pm

beppi wrote:The only times when you cannot see the nearest Indonesian islands (20km away) it's due to high humidity, and once or twice a year because of forest fires in Indonesia.

Most days I cannot see Indonesia, but it is true it isn't due to pollution. Usually just fog/cloud cover. In the two months I've been here, there have probably been five or six days I could clearly see the islands. (Make out power line towers and such). My cell phone roams to Indonesian carriers more often

fxman · Post by **fxman** » Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:28 pm

Pollution here is definitely much better than in Beijing!
Take a short trip here and you can experience it immediately.
But of course lately we have some haze problems, but that is not due to pollution here. It is air transferred from forest fire nearby in Indonesia. So that is from external factors. Other than that, air here is perfectly ok. And also if you are moving here, try not to stay near industrial estates, occasionally they will have industrial emissions which you may be allergic to.

Dwhits125 · Post by **Dwhits125** » Mon, 03 Oct 2011 10:13 pm

thanks for the info!

ksl · Post by **ksl** » Tue, 04 Oct 2011 2:19 am

Dwhits125 wrote:thanks for the info!

Still spitting coal dust in Beijing I'll bet, back in 92 I only lasted 6 months before coughing up lumps of coal dust every 10 minutes, now it's the cars too

Singapore is paradise in comparison!

spcustcare · Post by **spcustcare** » Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:09 am

Air quality here is definitely better than in Beijing. Recently however, we are experiencing some haze problem due to forest fire in Indonesia.

beppi · Post by **beppi** » Wed, 05 Oct 2011 12:29 pm

Recently?
How long (short) have you been in Singapore?
The strongest and longest forest fire haze I encountered was in 1997 (it lasted weeks with visibility down to 100m on some days) and it wasn't the first!

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Wed, 05 Oct 2011 12:40 pm

'84 was particularly bad as well if I remember correctly.

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