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Tui
Roger Smith - August 2012 |
In recent days the Tui (a native New Zealand song bird) have been flying around the gum trees as they enjoy the first signs of Spring. I see them as I walk the nearby tracks around Botany where I live. The air is clean, plums are blossoming and there are signs of renewal everywhere.
By comparison, the air in Singapore is once again predicted polluted by the seasonal haze; a recurring problem created by the thoughtless actions of Singapore's neighbours as they burn off large areas of jungle for
oil palm plantations and farming.
The
likelihood of a
El Nino weather pattern isn't helping matters either. The last significant one to hit Singapore, the first year of our arrival, and I remember looking up Oxley Road and not being bale to see the Gurkha soldiers standing guard outside Lee Kuan Yew's residence. No doubt they could see me as I made my journey from Oxley Mansions to Lloyd Road but the air was so thick with pollutants that I felt sorry for them having to stand in the smog.
So while Singapore may have been named "healthiest country"
by Bloomberg, I wonder if any of their media people ever visited country during the 'hazy days'? They might have formed a slightly different opinion or at the very least, broadened their criteria.