Somnolent Singaporeans & High Tech Dogs

The narcissist fantasy that is the 'selfie' took another blow recently; quite literally.  The blow in question followed a fall off a two metre cliff and death by drowning for a non-swimming Singaporean.

According to Channel News Asia the ill-fated Mohamed Aslam tried to take a selfie on a Balinese cliff and lost his footing after being hit by a wave.

Much as I love my photography, the site of groups and individuals forcing their way into the limelight with upraised smartphones leaves me cold.  And I suspect their joy is transitory as there is not real visual dissection of the scene that surrounds them - just group, point, click and move away.

So prevalent have selfies become that the inventor of the 'selfie stick' must have made a fortune. These invasive rods are a danger to objects and people around them; most museums in the world have quickly moved to ban them.

Photo: Straights Times

All this selfie taking and smart phone fiddling is also bad for the health.  A global research company has found that less than 20% of Singaporeans get the required 8 hours of sleep required to stay healthy.

A thousand people between the ages of twenty and fifty nine were surveyed and half of the student cohort slept badly because their brains were still buzzing from using their smartphones or tablets before going to sleep. What ever happened to the glass of warm milk and a good book before bed?

Singapore is described "as the third most sleep-deprived city in the world" with two other Asian cities, Seoul and Tokyo taking the dubious honour of ranking first and second.  The soporific Aussies in Melbourne fared much better, being identified as the best rested.

Not that technology alone makes for snoring MRT passengers.  Work stress, the lack of a good bolster and the oppressive heat of Singapore all contributed to less than happy slumbers.

Not only are we hell-bent on damaging our health through over stimulation of our brains, we are now inflicting pervasive technology on our pets.  But in the case of the Dogtelligent Connected Collar your pooch now can experience the joys of "virtual fence and leash technology that gently tugs, activity trackers, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, ambient temperature sensors, and an ultrasonic micro-speaker to correct barking".

Let's just hope there are no severe electrical storms around when you decide to take your dog 'walkies'.  If there are we are a likely to get a new definition for the term 'hot dog'.

Actually when I think about it, these same collars may have great potential when applied to human commuters on the MRT.  Sleepwalking to work could be achieved with ease.

Google's Singapore Haze Map

This map map from Google shows Singapore and Malaysia air quality in near real-time.  The original site can be found here.

Polar Blasts and Hazy Recollections

Shoppers cover their mouths while out along Orchard Road, in Singapore.
Photo: Mark Cheong / The Straits Times

It's six in the morning and as I write a polar southerly is rattling the windows with hail and rain announcing the dawn.  The only thing in favour of this climatic reality is that the air is fresh; too fresh for the farmers in New Zealand's South island who are waist deep in snow trying to protect their livestock.

What a contrast with the choking stillness of the Indonesian haze that is enveloping Singapore in a caustic blanket.

I remember clearly my first experience of this  haze and wrote about it back in 2007 and in subsequent posts.  The thing that angered me then and angers me still, is the total disregard Indonesia has for its neighbours when it come to air pollution of this sort.

Singapore's NEA Regional Haze Map

Currently the Haze being experienced by my Singaporean friends is at record levels - PSI 250 at 11 pm last night which virtually guarantees respiratory problems for anyone who inhales it. Early in the day, at 1 pm, it had reached a record-high level of 371, beating the previous 1997 record of 226.

Air becomes "hazardous" when the PSI breaches 300 but believe me as one who has experienced it, it is very unpleasant to live and work in at much lower levels.

The Strait's Times reports that a senior Indonesian minister has hit out at Singapore on the haze, saying: "Singapore shouldn't be like children, in such a tizzy."  I note that this same Minister, one Agung Laksono,  is pictured in his air-conditioned office far away from any pollution (if you discount Jakarta's traffic).

Singapore's  Ministry of Health (MOH) having been doing what they can, closing schools and issuing N95 face masks and urging the population not to stockpile so there are enough to go around.

Out of the mouths of babes
A seven year old American child who is visiting her grandparents in Singapore is so upset that she cannot go outside to play that she wrote to the US President Barack Obama, asking him to tell his "good friend the President of Indonesia to stop burning the forest".

Sumatra Hotspots that generate the haze - Meteorological Service Singapore

What is particularly galling about this is that Indonesia does virtually nothing to curb this annual problem, despite taking money from the Singaporean government in the past to alleviate the situation and educate their farmers and those illegally clearing the land for oil palm plantations, using fire.

There is little the Singapore population and its government can do if its larger neighbour continues to behave in such a cavalier fashion. It is a small comfort to know that there is now a special subsidy scheme in place for Singaporeans who are suffering from respiratory problems or conjunctivitis because of the haze.

They can see their GP and only pay $10 with the Ministry of Health picking up the the rest of the bill. Meanwhile flight sin and out of Changi are disrupted, constructions sites and school closed down and even McDonalds has suspended its fast food delivery service.

My suggestion, stop sending money to Indonesia from support schemes that are clearly failing. Instead tally up the total cost of this economic impact due to the Sumatran haze and send the bill to the Indonesia through a world court.  See if that prompts their cooperation.

Stop Press: Haze PSI hits 401 at mnidday today!

Related articles

• Indonesia Says Singapore 'Behaving Like a Child' Over Haze
• Singapore PM Says Haze from Indonesia Fires May Last for Weeks
• Indonesian Minister's Arrogance on Display

Picky Cabbies

Source: Stomp

I am often impressed by the efforts of cabbies to reign in the bad habits of passengers.  There are the usual reminders that if you through up in the vehicle you will be liable for the cleaning of the interior.  In other countries one also find a security grill between you as the passenger, and the driver, especially when travelling in less salubrious districts.

But the home computer-generated sign in a Singapore cab (pictured right) takes restrictions to a whole new level.  As I have never been tempted to clip my toenails or pick my nose in a cab these announcements do not apply to the likes of me.

However it makes one think that maybe other are not so 'picky' or perhaps that should be "more picky"?

More disturbing is the news today that a new SARS-like virus has been discovered in the Middle East.  This will be of particular concern to the Singapore as the SARS epidemic itself had a major impact on both its health and the economy.

With Changi being a major air traffic hub, any one of the thousands of passengers who pass through it daily could be carriers of a virus. And on the subject of viruses, yesterday I got my annual 'flu shot in an effort to ward off any influenza that might come around in the next twelve months.  This has been my custom for the past five years and I got my first inoculation in Singapore when the organisation I worked for provided free doctors visits for this purpose.

This year's jab has left me a tad lethargic and snuffly for twenty four hours but the long term benefits should outweigh the temporary side effects.  Luckily my sniffles will not be attracting the attention of  Singapore cabby and there will be no picking!

Related articles

• High alert over SARS-like virus
• New virus akin to SARS reported; man hospitalized in London

The Inventiveness of Man

I recall making many visits to The Bath-House, Rotorua's Museum of Art and History, which as its title suggests was once a Victorian styled sanatorium and mineral spa. The opening of the Bath House in 1908 coincided with a visit to Rotorua by the American Rear-Admiral Sperry and 200 of his officers.

The Bath-House

Sited on the edge of a volcanic sulphurous vent, The Bath-House allowed local and overseas visitors to 'take the waters' as a cure for their aches and pains.

Unfortunately sulphur and and other minerals associated with volcanic activity are not conducive to the longevity of museum collections and the then directors had a long standing battle with these elements.

This was also the age of even stranger cures and health devices.  Most of the latter used electricity to deliver their curative effects. The fact that they were in most cases pseudo-science bordering on quackery mattered not a jot.

So it was with some delight that I came across online, the "Prostate Gland Warmer' which was manufactured in 1925 and promised 'healing below the belt'.

From the picture above it would appear that this 'warmer' was plugged directly into a normal lighting socket and I leave it to the reader's imagination to decipher where the other end was inserted.

According to the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices this device was originally invented in 1918 and came with the promise that it would "stimulate the abdominal brain".

This should not be confused with the The Recto Rotor, "The Latest and Most Efficient Invention for the Quick Relief of Piles, Constipation, and Prostate Trouble." Ouch!

Not all inventions of the time were for internal use.  Equally important was the promotion of good health through exercise.The Dumb-Bell Cane pictured below gave one 'the physique of an athlete without wasting a moment'.

Quackery still exists and the gullible are still taken in by promises of miracles cures.  I wrote earlier about some of these we came across in Singapore, such as the irradiated ankle socks which promised to improve circulation.

Related articles

• Device Collection Online
• Public Bathing

Systemic Failures

We have been experiencing very strong winds these past few days, or to put it more precisely, equinoxal gales.

As a result of these events our newly installed clothesline has developed the unpleasant habit of lifting like a jet foil, disengaging its support arm and lowering itself against the fence.  Ours is not called the Supafold for nothing!

While this is technically not supposed to be able to happen it has done so nevertheless, the last time coming down on my wife's shoulder and leaving quite a graze.

The Hills clothesline has been the dominant brand in New Zealand for many years but in recent times the solid steel has been replaced by a much lighter weight of metal and there has also been a significant increase in the amount of plastic used.  This means that the frames are no longer rigid and flex alarmingly.

It doesn't help that these lines are no longer manufactured in Australia as, with most products nowadays, they bear a stamp "made in China".

Today the clothesline installer paid us a visit, the obligatory half an hour late as all New Zealand tradesmen seem to be.  

He was clearly skeptical that the wind would actually blow a clothesline down but after we had introduced to our neighbour whose wife had been cracked on the head in a similar rig malfunction, he got the message.

We shall be replacing our retractable support arms with the fixed variety.

During the course of our conversation it transpired that the installer had lived in Bali for several years before returning to New Zealand.  The topic of Indonesia inevitably led to comments on the rife corruption in that country.

I was also reminded how Singapore is experiencing yet another serious cloud of haze pollution from Sumatra, as bad as that which we endured in 2006.

Despite all of the previous promises by the Indonesian government, expensive dinners and friendly ASEAN handshakes the reality is that Indonesia goes its own sweet way, burning off land whenever it feels like it.

Neignbourly considerations do not enter into the Indonesian equation and money given by Singapore in the past to monitor haze and educate farmers has made little or no difference.  I would suggest that the majority of farmers probably never even saw a dollar of the aid money.

Related articles

• Sumatra fires cause Singapore haze (bbc.co.uk)
• Health warning over Sumatra fires (bbc.co.uk)
• Singapore presses Indonesia to act on forest fires (newsinfo.inquirer.net)

Downpours and Dengue

We are experiencing winter rains for the second day running. 

These are not the torrential cloudbursts we got in Singapore.  They were usually preceded by a loud thunderclap or two.

The Auckland version is a cold grey drizzle which comes in  recurring flurries.  By comparison, Singapore has been hit once again by flash floods which has submerged cars much to the chagrin of the condo oweners and insurance companies - see Jeremy Chan's photo in the Straits Times (right).

While I prefer warm rain to cold the latter can be a plus.  The climate in New Zealand is not so conducive to tropical diseases, such as dengue.

The Straits Times reports that there has been a sharp spike in the number of dengue cases over the past few months.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Genes may determine intensity of dengue symptoms (ctv.ca)
• Port of Singapore - The World's Busiest Container Port? (gcaptain.com)
• Jetstar announces Singapore services (news.theage.com.au)
• Singapore growth soars unexpectedly in the second quarter (telegraph.co.uk)

The Bluest Skies You Ever See Are In Toh Payoh

Well hardly....!

Even though this song verse describes Seattle rather than Singapore I had hoped it might apply, but is not to be.

By the time I came to leave work this evening the haze had almost reached the levels we experienced three years ago.

Visibility from our condo window (above) is getting worse by the minute even though the official PSI Index seems to indicate the problem is 'moderate' 53 reading over the 24 hours.

I suspect that the next 24 hours will have a totally different reading and we can taste the smoke in the air. So much for Indonesian cooperation in combating burn-offs!

Send Your Sinuses To Singapore

The Vicks inhaler was rammed up his left nostril. His eyes were closed in a feigned slumber as the rhythm of the MRT lulled the passengers bound for Redhill.

What at first glance seems slightly incongruous becomes less so the longer one lives in Singapore.

Sinusitis is a significant problem in this part of the world. There used to be an advert shown on New Zealand television that extolled the virtues of a preparatory medicine. It guaranteed that by taking the product one would "send your sinuses to Arizona".

This is one reason I have never had an inclination to visit Arizona. I also now believe that the geographic accuracy of the advertisement's claim leaves much to be desired. Most of the sinuses ended up here in Singapore instead.

Much of life takes place in an air-conditioned environment and maintenance of these units should be, but is not always, a priority. The result is nasal congestion.

Similarly, the advent of green awareness in Singapore has seen more people switching off their "aircons" and going back to more energy efficient devices such as electric fans.

Not that this alleviates the allergies. Dust and other pollutants are simply distributed in a different manner and pollution is a problem here, especially so when the Indonesians decide to ignore their neighbours health and fire half the countryside.

With the current focus on heritage matters in this country what an opportune time to revert to that stalwart of colonial times, the 'punkah wallah'. The humble bearer pulled a cord that in turn gently raised and lowered a canvas flap, generated a breeze within the house.

This might be just the thing to re-employ the dozens of foreign workers that will be sent home as a result of the downturn in the Singaporean economy.

There is however one serious flaw in my labour redistribution plan. While the colonial bungalows of old Singapore could easily revert to this system of cooling, most of us now live in high rise condos or on HDB estates.

The small balconies outside where the airconditioning units are perched were never designed for a squatting and loin-clothed figure pulling listessly on a grimy piece of string.

Until they solve this architectural challenge I will snuffle my way to the chemist for another inhaler refill.