The latest news is that Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has apologised for the latest fire-ignited smog and for intemperate remarks some of his officials made in recent days:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/6/24/nation/20130624230053&sec=nation
I think many ordinary Singaporeans and Malaysians appreciate his candour, and a few of us will even recall Suharto in the 1990s having done likewise and even angrily telling his officials he would personally "tumbok" (punch) those responsible for starting the fires in that earlier period.
Importantly, I think Singapore's PM set the tone for leadership behaviour when he refused to be baited into a war of words in the opening phase of the current smog season:
But did he mean "dry season"?
TODAY's story (June 24) headlined "Be prepared for haze to return" carried remarks by PM Lee which quoted him as saying "rainy season" when "dry season" would have made sense instead:
"If the winds aim at us, we get hit, if the winds miss us, we are lucky... we must be psychologically prepared that... it could last a few weeks, maybe for a couple of months until the end of the rainy season."
ST (June 24) on its front page had a different version of the quote: "This is a problem that will last at least a few weeks, maybe a couple of months until September or October, so I think we will have to be psychologically prepared..."
Hmmm. Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan Jin did get his facts right (ST, June 24, page A8) when he noted that Indonesia was only at the start of its dry season. "The season extends all the way to September, and that's a few more months," he was quoted as saying.
On that note, Sunday Times (June 23) had a very informative interview with a weather expert. Here's the pertinent excerpt:
----------------------------------------------------
Wrapping up on something not smog-related, I found this "explosive" label on these mandarin oranges:
No comments:
Post a Comment