Melissa Chan

August 26, 2016

I actually thought that there was someone crazy enough to have a barbeque at such an ungodly hour when I opened by window this morning.

As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one, and Channel NewsAsia has reported that a “burning smell” was detected by people in certain parts of the island.

NEA has so far not issued any statements regarding this, in fact, readings on its website (screenshot as of 9:30am, 26 August) states that the levels are in a good to moderate range, though our noses are saying something else.

PSI levels have been seen to be on an increasing trend since 1am, but there doesn’t seem to be any spike, or indication that there’s something wrong with our air this morning:

CNA has reached out to NEA for comment, but at time of writing, there’s no news on that.

The Straits Times has also reported that “the haze appears to be back in Singapore”, which doesn’t really shed light on the mysterious smog.

Good Morning, Singapore

Regardless, Singaporeans have taken to social media to rant about the smell:

Indonesia BBQ never jio us? #haze #isback

— Mr. SGAG (@SGAG_SG) August 26, 2016

Ahhh Singapore. Where you can wake up and smell the fresh haze pic.twitter.com/UHHntGAM5j

— Dee Kosh (@TheDeeKosh) August 26, 2016

#sghaze you know the haze is back when you wake up and a burnt smell hits your nose..

— Amita Natverlal (@amitanatverlal) August 26, 2016

The haze is back. Thank you Indonesia for the clean air for the past 11 months. #sghaze

— Xavier Lur (@xavierlur) August 26, 2016

the smell of haze is pretty bad even tho all the windows in my house are closed?

— shazana (@Shazanaaaa) August 26, 2016

The view outside my office has also been increasingly blurry:

For the record, our windows are clean.

Is It The Haze?

The most baffling part of all this is that while everyone on the ground’s saying that it’s our yearly present (thank you!), there have been no official statements that have come out to state that it’s actually the haze.

PSI readings are also in the good to moderate range, which dictate that we can go about our daily lives as per normal.