Singaporeans' reactions to the hot weather

Keeping your cool
The sizzling weather has sent people running for cover indoors, and sales of air-conditioners soaring
Tan Yi Hui, Straits Times 14 Jun 09;

It is hot, hot, hot in the city and Singaporeans are diving for cover. Some are taking the plunge into public pools. Others are staying inside, in offices and bars.

No wonder. It is the hottest time of the year - the south-west monsoon season between April and September - when temperatures can go as high as 35 deg C.

And not to rain on your parade, but when LifeStyle checked out how people are coping, most reckoned that it has been even hotter than usual recently.

However, data released by the National Environment Agency (NEA), which provides regular weather forecasts, do not show any drastic increase in average temperatures for April and May compared to last year.

But this will be cold comfort - or not - to those who say it is a belter of a swelter.

For example, on weekends, Ms Tan Mei Hui, a lawyer, now tries not to go out before the sun sets, or if she has to, she heads straight for air-conditioned places.

Says the 26-year-old: 'It seems to be getting worse every year. I can't walk to the bus stop or the MRT station without perspiring.'

Technical executive Jimmy Tan runs a fan off his computer to stay cool - even in his air-conditioned office. The 35-year-old blames the sizzling heat on global-warming.

Enthusiasm for exercising outdoors has dried up too.

Student Junko Tan, 17, who is a competitive runner, says: 'I get very reluctant to run after 10am because the heat makes you feel like you have no energy.'

Even the eating habits of this food- loving nation are being stir-fried.

Audit associate Li Kai Yuen, 24, says: 'During lunch hour, I ask my friends to bring food back so that I don't have to squeeze among people and sweat it out at food courts and hawker centres that are not air-conditioned.

'The heat is crazy and the humidity makes it worse. If I go out for lunch, the back of my shirt will be stained with patches of perspiration within 10 minutes.'

Hawkers at the popular Maxwell Food Centre say lunchtime customer numbers have dropped by as much as 40 per cent.

Carrot cake and char kway teow seller Ling Chong Seng, 68, says: 'This year seems to be worse. And when the weather gets this hot, people will eat less fried stuff.'

Those with outdoor businesses are sweating as well.

Over at Rent-A-Bike Kiosk at Pasir Ris Park, co-owner Lilian Neo says business has dropped by 30 per cent, especially on weekdays over the past month.

But it is sunny side up for air-conditioner retailers.

Electronics chain Best Denki, which sells fans, air-conditioners and air-coolers, says sales of these products so far for the last week of May and early June this year compared with the same period last year have jumped by 33 per cent.

Another electronics chain, Harvey Norman, says sales of air-conditioners, fans and coolers typically increase by 30 per cent in this period every year.

A spokesman for air-conditioner retail and servicing company AireControl says it has seen an increase of 5 per cent in business compared to the same period last year, 'due to the weather getting hotter every year'.

Do not expect operators of malls, cinemas, buses and trains to cool things down, though.

Transport operator SMRT says its temperatures in trains, stations and buses are kept at an 'optimal balance'.

CapitaLand Retail, the group behind malls such as Bugis Junction and Plaza Singapura, has no plans for colder air-conditioning as this would 'consume greater energy'.

However, cold is gold for some businesses. Eski Bar, which has a sub-zero theme, with temperatures as low as minus 16 deg C, has seen business soar by 30 per cent.

Its marketing manager Prue Chin says that office workers nearby have been coming in as early as 4pm to beat the heat.

She adds: 'We don't usually have an early crowd but for the past month, it has been good, and these are not even our regulars.'

Here, and on the facing page, LifeStyle tells you how to chill despite the heat.

Additional reporting by Cheryl Tan and Frankie Chee

Company invents "Walking Air Con" vest to battle heat wave
Hoe Yeen Nie, Channel NewsAsia 13 Jun 09;

SINGAPORE: It has been unusually warm the whole of May and according to the weatherman, no respite from the heat is expected in the next two months.

But instead of getting hot and bothered about it, one Singapore company, FTG Marketing (S.E.A), has a pretty cool idea on how to tackle the heat wave.

It has developed a vest that promises to keep you nice and cool for up to three hours. All you have to do is to pop cooler packs into the freezer, then stick them into the inner pockets of the vest.

FTG, which makes cooler bags, adapted the technology for the vest which they have named "The Walking Air Con".

At 2 kilogrammes, the vest is not physically heavy, but it will come at a hefty price tag of about S$250. The company intends to patent this product.- CNA/so