Clear Skies!

Yeah, the weather has been clearing up over the weekend!

Finally can 'air' the unit, breathe in some fresh air, hear the birds chirping...

Hope this good weather continues... Have a good day ahead => 

Review of water air purifier purchase from Pure Essentials/Wil Essentials (Wan Shon Trading P/L)

With the Sumatra haze, I placed an order from water air purifier with ioniser from Pure Essentials/Wil Essentials (Wan Shon Trading P/L) via Qoo10 on 19 June 2012.

Source: qoo10.sg

The status of the item remained as 'Shipping Estimated 20 June 2013' from 20 June 2013 to 22 June 2013 and I decided to email them twice on 21 June 2013 with no response. Found their office number after going through pages of user reviews and decided to give them a call on 22 June 2013. Called so many times before someone finally answered and I was informed that I can do a self collection instead. His explanation of the delay is due to their deliverymen falling sick due to the haze (understandable). I was also assured that it will not be a wasted trip (note that my item was not even packed then despite my order was placed on 19 June 2013).

Made a trip down on the same day and finally collected my water air purifier with ioniser with 2 free 30 ml essences. I also received a refund of S$3 for the delivery fees.

After this experience, I guess I will not be making any more purchases from them. No doubt there are many glowing reviews from many customers but there are also numerous customers like me who did not really have a pleasant shopping experience. I noticed from "User Reviews" of other products (that they are also selling) that there are buyers who placed orders on 19 June 2013 and yet received their items on 21 June 2013. Why is there this disparity in service level?

Somehow I get this feeling that I was being 'smoked'...

On a separate note, the water air purifier seems to be working condition. However, I forgot to ask about the warranty =< 

The Haze! Part III

After reading the interesting posts on Hardwarezone, Yahoo News, etc, I can only say heng (means lucky in dialect) it is only the haze and not SARS.

You may wonder why I say so:

1. Despite assurance by the government that there is ample N95 masks for everyone, the fact is that there is no stock anywhere unless you intend to pay through the nose for them ($3/pc vs $6/pc or even higher). There could have been better crisis management by the government. Where exactly are the 9 million masks? Perhaps the masks should be distributed via the RCs with proper registration in place (1 per pax) to prevent abuse whereby people resell the masks at high profits.   

2. During recent press briefing by the authorities, it was stated that healthy people only needed to wear N95 masks for outdoor work if the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) went above 300, which has not happened yet. I am not too sure about the last part... I am kind of skeptical about the PSI data. It is so hazy outside! My skin itches... My eyes itches... 

I think I should get my N95 mask soon and maybe start wearing eye goggles!

Source: http://www.3m.com

So Hazy! Part II

The hazy situation is getting worse and PSI is only 131 as of 9 am. 

Is there something wrong with NEA's measurement equipment?

No doubt this figure is an average figure taken over 3 hours but the difference should not be so big...

The haze looks even worse than when the all time high PSI reading was taken yesterday night at 10 pm which was a shocking 321.

 

Hazy 'city' view taken from Park Central

I have found the following excerpts from Yahoo News very 'interesting' with my personal thoughts in blue:

 

1. Indonesian senior official Sony Partono told Reuters, "Foreign parties should not be interfering with our domestic affairs." He added, "The most important thing is that we have attempted to control the damage resulting from the forest fires," and said fire trucks had been dispatched to affected areas (source). (Are you sure this situation can be resolved by just fire trucks? No casualties? How about your fellow Indonesians who are suffering the same fate as us?)

2. Corruption and Indonesia's decentralised political system have hindered efforts to stem the haze problem, said Jackson Ewing, a researcher at the Centre for Non-Traditional Security at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University. "Burning is quick, efficient and requires very little labour to clear land," he said. "Government actors at the local level are colluding with private interests and central government authorities have difficulty influencing what is happening on the ground." (source) (This is nothing new to us...)

3. Environment and National Resources Minister, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan urged Indonesians "to enforce their own laws" in a Facebook post on Monday night. "We are deeply concerned that the 113 hotspots in Sumatra have caused our 3 hour PSI to rise to 152. NEA has been in touch with the Indonesian authorities to register our concern, and renew our offer of assistance," he wrote. "For too long, commercial interests in Indonesia have been allowed to over ride environmental concerns," he added, saying he would personally speak to his counterpart in Indonesia to "personally to convey the seriousness of the situation."  (source) (Cloud seeding cannot be used in Singapore? I am sure even if the rain falls outside the boundaries of Singapore but in the correct wind direction, it will still provide a brief respite...)

4. PM Lee also said Minister for Foreign Affairs K Shanmugam and Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Dr Vivian Balakrishnan have both called their Indonesian counterparts to register Singapore’s “serious concerns and offer our help to fight the fires.” 

A joint statement released by both ministries on Tuesday highlighted to Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Marty Natalegawa and Indonesian Environment Minister Dr Balthasar Kambuaya that Singapore’s PSI (Pollutant Standards Index) reading “had breached 150” on Monday, and “had entered into the unhealthy zone.” They also “emphasized the urgency of the situation while also reaffirming Singapore’s commitment to help Indonesia fight the fires in Sumatra.” According to the statement, Dr Balakrishnan also “requested that Indonesia share relevant information to improve monitoring of hotspots and land clearing activities.” 

On a claim made by an Indonesian Forestry Ministry official on Monday that Malaysian and Singapore palm oil companies that had invested in Indonesia may be responsible for starting the fires in Riau, both ministers “asked Indonesia to share the names of errant companies involved in illegal burning”.  In an interview with The Straits Times on Tuesday, Dr Marty said he had had a good talk with Shanmugam and he hoped experts from both countries’ environment and forestry ministries could meet soon to “compare notes on what's happening and where, and what's being done." (source) (What notes do you want to compare? Just put out the fires first la... Compare all you want after the haze is gone... I wonder if the Indonesia authorities will really reveal the companies responsible for the illegal burning...)

So Hazy!

Even the indoor environment is kind of hazy. 

Current PSI as of 10 pm which is 1 hour ago is at 321.

I think Singapore need to declare state of emergency...

Can you imagine travelling in the peak hour trains while breathing in such polluted air in the train cabins...

More often than not, there is no proper ventilation in the train cabins...

I hope there will be a big thunderstorm soon and clear some of these junk away!

Anyone familiar with the rain dance?

Hope I will receive my water air purifier soon.

*Going to continue stalking the NEA website