‘Hazy’ & ‘Burning’ Air Yesterday is Due to Johor Hotspot & May Persist, But PSI Healthy

We’ve a rather loud and forever-angry female colleague called Betty, which we’ve nicknamed LoudGirl95. She’s so loud, even our boss is afraid of her. Rumours have it that she’s the real boss but nobody cares.

So yesterday, when she went out of the office for her hundredth toilet break that day, she immediately closed the door and yelled loudly to the office: “WHO THE F*** SMOKE JUST OUTSIDE THE OFFICE?”

The smokers all trembled, and I could hear the sound of a chair toppling over and a soft “ouch” from the boss’ office.

“WHO?!”

“Erm…maybe it’s…our…nei—” someone said and I pitied him, for LoudGirl95 cut him off with a scream that’ll make even a commando cry.

“THEY DON’T SMOKE! YOU COME OUT AND SMELL!”

So, that someone, who turned out to be BuffLord95, walked out and immediately covered his mouth. “It smells familiar.”

“Yeah, like your fart?” LoudGirl95 snored. “Is it you?”

“I don’t smoke—”

“Wait.”

I walked out, took a deep breath and my deepest fear was confirmed.

“It’s back.”

“What?”

I stared intently at LoudGirl95 and BuffLord95. “Hungry Ghost Festival.”

They both looked at each other, took a deep breath each and nodded.

“We’ve time travelled.”

Well, that was what we thought until NEA updated Singaporeans with a Facebook post.

Burning Smoke Yesterday

The above scenario might not have happened, but the smell was real, and over in Bukit Batok, we really thought that it was due to someone burning joss paper.

We did, like many of you, think that it was the haze but the PSI indicated in NEA seems healthy.

Soon, at 7:55 p.m., the mystery is solved with an NEA update.

If you can’t read:

We received feedback from members of the public of a burning smell in the eastern part of Singapore between 9pm last night and 11am this morning. During this time, the PSI in the East ranged from 52 to 55, in the Moderate range, while the 1-hr PM2.5 readings ranged from 7µg/m3 to 30µg/m3, in Band I (Normal).

A hotspot has been detected in southern Johor about 30km to the east of Singapore. Prevailing winds over Singapore have been blowing from the northeast, but a change in the wind direction could bring slightly hazy conditions to Singapore.

Members of the public, including the elderly, children and those with lung/heart diseases, can continue with normal activities. We are closely monitoring the air quality, and will provide updates on the air quality situation if necessary.

Now, here’s the interesting part: it seems that the burning smell isn’t just in the eastern part of Singapore, for we in Bukit Batok smelled it, too.

And a check on the Internet would reveal that the smell seemed to be everywhere.

As of this morning (26 February 2019), the smell is gone—at least from what we understood.

In other words, here’s what you need to know: yes, there’s a burning smell yesterday and it’s a “haze”, but there’s nothing to be concerned about.

Yet.