Singapore shuts schools, distributes free anti-pollution masks to combat smoke haze

Singapore shut schools Friday and began distributing free anti-pollution masks to the elderly and other vulnerable people as a thick smoky haze cast covered the island-nation with pollution reaching its worst level this year. The haze — a pall of grayness that resembles wintry fog and virtually obliterates the skyline while even seeping inside homes — is an annual problem for the region, resulting from forests being burned in neighboring Indonesia to clear the land for farming and plantations.

The haze is very bad, there are less people in the mosque this year. Coming to the mosque to pray used to be very nice because we would mingle around after.

Mustafa Muhamad, 61, who had come to the Hajjah Fatimah mosque to pray.

Repeated efforts to bring the offending companies to book have not helped. Meanwhile, people in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia suffer from the smoke, a serious health hazard, especially for the elderly, children and those with breathing problems. The three-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI), which measures air pollution in the country, hit 341 on Friday morning, the highest level this year, before dipping below 300, the hazardous mark.

Asia-Pacific SIngapore smog