For the last few weeks, everyone has been talking about the haze. It all got to a head on Saturday with the PSI reaching 140 - unhealthy levels. That announcement by the weatherman got the asthmatics scrambling for their ventolin inhalers and the paranoid sprinting for the nearest pharmacist to get face masks.
Only this time it wasn't as bad as previous years. I remember back in school, circa 1996-1997, where the haze was kind of a welcome reprive for those who loathe PE lessons back then. For me though, the only thing I remember was the dread I felt whenever a PE lesson had to be cancelled as that would have meant that a football game would not be played. There went the kickabout.
The haze, did, however cause a lot of plans for outdoor activities to be cancelled, owing to the overly-cautious nature of Singaporeans, excarbated by the weak immune systems of some. As most putdoor activities were shunned, thousands flocked to the shopping malls to escape the haze. A sizeable portion made a trip to VivoCity, the latest kid on the block. It's quite often the case, we all flock to see the latest attractions, not wanting to miss out on the action. Oh, back to the haze, one thing I do not understand, this is not a recent problem, in fact, it has been around for the last decade.
However, despite several ministerial summits and meetings, the problem keeps coming back. the reasons the Indonesians are giving is that the area affected is so big that they do not have enough resources to cope. I say it's all about good neighbourly practice. Keeping your house in order is basically a prerequisite of being a good neighbour, so is maintaining respect, which is what Singapore and Malaysia are doing by not interfering and extending a helping hand when needed.
That brings me to another thing on my mind. My MIL had a new neighbor move in fairly recently, less than 5 months back. As it so happens, the neighbor is quite a prominent arts and musical performer in the local Malay scene. My MIL had been living in the same flat for the last 20 odd years, and had always had excellent relationships with her immediate neighbours. I mean living on the ground floor and sharing the same walkway and "lawn" in front of their flats, they had to. For the longest time, my MIL being an kampung lady through and through had been cultivating a small garden on that "lawn".
Everyone else along that stretch has been doing likewise and without issue too. In fact, being law-abiding citizens, they had asked the town council if it was OK to do so, and the answer was OK as long as other residents did not complain. For 20 years, it was peaceful as fruits such as papaya trees were planted and cultivated, so to were the chilli plants, pandan plants and lime plants. Then it had to happen. A complaint came and the plants were all brutally chopped down without warning to the residents. Normally, the residents would be informed to chop down the plants themselves, there was no such leeway this time, indicating the severity and ferocity of the complaint.
My MIL and the other neighbours knew who lodged the complaint but chose to keep quiet and not have any repercussions dished out. Even my wife knew, that it was the wife of the new neighbour as having shared a train ride to work with her, it was fairly established that she was the ever-complaining type of person. What I will say is that having moved in only recently, the new neighbour should have excercised a bit more restraint and shown respect to her elderly neighbours. Being a good neighbour is not just about saying the occasional hello. It goes beyond that. Showing respect is a basic human tenet that we all should have. Sadly not all of us excercise it.
One thing's for sure, had it been my neighbour who did that, they's have gotten an earful from me and a shunned existence in my eyes.
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