White Walls of Singapore

Due to weather, all pictures courtesy of Channel NewsAsia.

Today's weather is a high of 90*F, rain showers in the evening... and a smoke haze all day. That's right, no matter where you are outside, a thin white fog seems to cover everything and the taste of burned ash stings your throat.

The reason for this smoky air is caused by forest fires in Indonesia and according to the weather channels, it is just one of several months to come where the smoke haze is expected to hang over the whole island.

Yep, we are getting hit by smoke from a fire that is 156-mile away (Fine, 251-kilometres!)

It all started Friday evening, I left work happy to sign the lease to our new HDB apartment when I stepped outside. At first I didn't notice it, I was in a rush to grab a nice cold lime juice (a local equivalent to lemonade) and then make the 10-minute walk to the boyfriend's office, then to walk south to our new apartment in the old but surprisingly modern neighbourhood of Tanjong Pagar. It was probably the cold beverage that buffered me a bit but half way into the first half of my excursion and I was noticing a burning smell in the air, a dry and raw feeling in my throat and a small sting in my eyes.

At first I thought it was a fire somewhere nearby, but when I craned an ear to listen, I didn't hear any emergency sirens. In the heart of Singapore known by the impressive and towering title of the Downtown Core (Walk through it once and you'll know the name is deserved), I can usually hear the sounds reverberating off the skyscrapers, the steel, concrete and glass walls like a sound chamber and sometimes when I walk the smaller roads meant for delivery and service vehicles that bisect between the behemoths I swear I can hear voices echoing in the distance.

But it was as I looked up at those glass spires above me, I noticed they seemed a little harder to see. You know when your at the beach and you look at a ship on the very edge of the horizon, it looks a little whited out, details are harder to make out. The intricate and varied towers of the Downtown Core and around Raffles were now harder to make out, like someone had dropped white mosquito netting in my way to blot them out.

I met my boyfriend and was going to voice my confusion that everything seemed 'off' this evening, but we were late and in a rush, he had more work to do and we still had to pack for our move (Hey, its was two suitcases each but in two-months, we've spread out!) so I kept my tongue to myself, instead asked about his day, as we speed walked to our destination.

We arrived on the middle floors of our 24-story HDB and made a beeline to our destination, our new apartment. But here the 'white wall' was all the more evident.

Most if not all HDB's have open air walkways that line the interior walls of their courtyards, causing a spiral maze to grow over your head that seems full of life. Along these walks people hang their laundry to dry in the air, grow plants of staggering exotic variety, line their shoes along the walls, the occasional child's toy or scooter are neatly against the concrete railing and with some homes, a tiny yet lovingly maintained Buddhist or Hindu idol with offerings of oranges or burning incense occupy the corners. But along this almost 200-foot walk (Fine, 50-meters!), I could see the white wall hanging at around the halfway point down the walk, the door of the last apartment on the walk at the far end was almost gone in the mist.

But beyond the white wall was one startling fact of the walkway that I found instantly concerning.

It was empty of all souls... anyone who has been in an HBD in the evening knows its common for windows and doors to be opened, for the sounds of people talking, televisions playing and even children racing up and down the halls while squealing in glee fill the air. It almost always sounds like a cul-de-sac back in the States on a hot summer evening after school's let out, children running free, neighbours chatting from across their porches, the occasional splash of an outdoor pool. You didn't have to see people, you could hear them clear as if they were all right in front of you... ah now I'm nostalgic.

Tonight however the doors were shut, the windows were shuddered, the sounds of those televisions muffled and not a body was outside.

One glance to my left as we walked through this haze, out towards the Port of Singapore, second busiest harbour in the world, I could barely make out the towering cargo cranes that could match our HDB in height. Out on the water, it was like the ocean and the hundreds of ships that floated atop it disappeared into white, not a detail beyond their shadows or silhouettes could be made out.

We signed out apartment lease, hashed out a few details with our landlord, shook hands with a very amicable deal and by the time we departed it was dark outside and though the lights of the harbour and surrounding buildings seemed... off... brighter then they should be... the white wall had vanished and we were heading back up to the Singapore parent's home for the last time.

Fast forward to the next morning and we were rushing about, trying to cram what we could into our four suit cases, two small roller bangs and two backpacks (All we had brought with us from America plus a few purchases), while trying to organize what appliances and extra goodies the Singaporean parent's had graciously gifted to us for our new apartment (Heads up, loving the espresso machine the Singaporean mother added to our pile... my caffeine addiction has been thoroughly quelled this morning!). Again I stepped outside, juggle a plastic hanging rack, an overburdened suitcase and three cooking pans under my arm... and instantly noticed the basketball court that lay atop the parking garage below us was lost in a haze.

The white wall was back, the burning smell of wood hung in the air and I instantly had to stifle a sneeze building in my chest.

Everything packed into the car, we headed out, absently turning on the radio to listen to some music as we made the 20-minute ride down to Tanjong Pagar from Tampines. The music is generally identical to home, Singapore's tastes in music tend to be very American (Western) with a greater preference towards Pop, Rock and Hip Hop... Country thankfully hasn't made a real dent here. But just as we were starting to pull onto the highway, the music ended as the broadcast switched to the local weather.

"All Singaporeans are reminded that due to forest fires in nearby Indonesia, smoke haze is expected for most of the next week. Please remain attentive to the Singaporean Air Quality Service and be appraised of government bulletins. Thank you."

Today's rating is 74, moderate. Anything over 100 is unhealthy to be outside without a face mask, over 200 dangerously unhealthy and over 300... well unless the fire is burning right next to Singapore I think we are safe for the time being.

For someone who has never been near a forest fire in his life, such a 'weather phenomenon' is weird to say the least. I lived in California for too short a time and at too young an age to register the yearly forest fires that plague the dry western states of America, the closest fire I've been to outside our home fireplace or an outdoor wood bonfire was a controlled burn of an abandoned house when I was 14. It was started, supervised and then doused by the local fire department who kept the crowd of curious onlookers upwind for the entire thing. We never were hit with the smoke head-on, we could feel the heat and smell the burning, but never we're we in the smoke path.

Singapore is in the smoke path from an entire forest, not just one house. I wonder if I should invest in one of those sterile surgical masks I see some people walking around with.

Until next time, the AngMoh will be hiding inside from the smoke.