Sharon See Channel NewsAsia 18 Jun 13;
SINGAPORE: Most schools and childcare centres suspended outdoor activities on Tuesday when the haze hovered in the unhealthy range. This follows advisories from the authorities to cancel such activities, once the PSI goes above 100.
Outdoor play is a highlight of the holiday programme at EtonHouse -- but not on Tuesday as the haze in Singapore reached unhealthy levels. Thus, teachers were told to redesign lesson plans and have activities indoors.
Mrs Tracey Boyle, pre-school director of EtonHouse Preschool at Newton, said: "The main symptom we're asking our teachers to look for is fatigue, drowsiness, tiredness and even loss of breath. So we're keeping our activities to a minimum, especially any activities that involve a lot of exertion.
"Learning is still happening, but very quiet and subtle within the classroom context."
The school also emailed parents about cancellation of outdoor activities -- a gesture many appreciated.
Tina Ryan, a dentist and mother of three, said: "I'm not going to keep him home though, I think he's fine to be here at school. But I'm really glad they've closed outdoor play -- I just assumed they would, actually, so I'm glad to find today that they have."
Buraya Ng, a mother of two, said: "The teacher has sent us an email to say that they would keep the children indoors, which we were very happy. So that's why we still continue to send them to school. It would probably be better than staying at home and watching TV all day long. At least they can come here, they still have friends, they still do art and craft, so we're quite okay with that."
It was a similar story for schools islandwide. The Ministry of Education requires schools to cancel outdoor activities once the PSI hits an unhealthy level.
Earlier, Channel NewsAsia spoke to a number of schools and many of them have stopped most outdoor activities on Tuesday morning as the PSI hovered above 100. However, being the third week of the June holidays, most schools are already quite quiet on most fronts as they have reduced the frequency of CCAs and remedial classes.
Over at Pulau Ubin, the Outward Bound School also suspended all activities in the afternoon, as some participants felt ill and were sent back home. The 300 participants at the school were later sent back to Singapore.
- CNA/ac
Business at restaurants, sports activities affected by haze
Alice Chia and Patwant Singh Channel NewsAsia 18 Jun 13;
SINGAPORE: Business at some restaurants has been affected due to the haze -- especially for those offering outdoor seating.
Managing director at Suki Group of Restaurants, Kelvin Ong, said: "I think over the years, we have had such experiences, especially for those outlets that have al-fresco dining. Customers actually refuse to sit at the al-fresco areas.
"We are about 20 per cent down, especially when we've got a full-house in the air-con area. So the customers don't want to sit at the al-fresco area. They were telling us that while they were eating, they can smell something burning."
Restaurants are also making preparations for hazy conditions, such as providing information on the haze to their staff and advising them to drink more water.
Some restaurants have also installed air purifying systems in their outlets.
At the Renn Thai restaurant in Clarke Quay, Manager Mary Ann said it is business as usual, although there have been more requests for seats indoors.
She said: "In the past few days, our business this week compared to the other weeks, is the same. Actually, it was more brisk (on Monday)... Most of our customers, 80 to 90 per cent of our customers are tourists. Some people thought it was fog."
Monday's high haze levels also affected Singaporeans taking part in outdoor sports activities.
Among the measures taken -- cutting short training sessions, or staying indoors.
The Balestier Khalsa football team continued training on Monday night, despite the thick haze. However, the normal two-hour session was shortened.
S Thavaneson, chairman of Balestier Khalsa, said: "Like (on Sunday), the smell alone, the haziness was bad, so we cut short training, kept training to about 30 to 40 minutes only. Because we know training under such conditions, 35 to 40 minutes is as good as training an-hour-and-a-half."
When Channel NewsAsia visited Toa Payoh Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, a few brave souls were still in action. But some were cautious, avoiding the outdoors.
Justun Koh, an athlete, said: "We change it more to exercise, biometric and more of mobility instead of running, because we take in less of the dirty (air), the haze."
The gym at the complex also saw heavy use on Monday.
Fitness enthusiast Jacqueline Lee said: "I am very much affected by the haze because the level is more than the usual, it is very unhealthy actually. I am actually an outdoor user, I use to run outdoors but because the haze situation is so bad, I had to do my running indoors."
The Singapore Sports Council has placed notices at its facilities, reminding those with health problems to take extra precautions.
- CNA/ac
Some firms heed calls to protect employees' health & safety amid haze
Alvina Soh Channel NewsAsia 18 Jun 13;
SINGAPORE: Some construction companies are heeding calls from the Manpower Ministry to protect the safety and health of employees at work.
The ministry had advised minimising strenuous outdoor work when the PSI is in the unhealthy range.
Companies like Samsung C&T Corporation have taken that advice.
Besides reducing outdoor activities, it is also advising workers to wear dust muffs and protective masks, and to work under shelter, if possible.
Mohamad Zamri Kamar, the health, safety and environment manager of Samsung C&T Corporation, said: "Those who need to go out, there will be a supervisor around to monitor works. For the workers, we advise them to drink a lot of water to hydrate themselves. When possible, we will also advise them to work indoors. If its outdoors, we advise our workers to carry work out under our temporary shelter."
Sanwah Construction is another company with its own advisory notice.
Supervisors check on workers and advise them to work indoors, if they are not feeling well.
Anthony Ong, managing director at Sanwah Construction, said: "For us, when we do minor hacking works and minor rectification works, my workers they actually wet the surface. They make sure that this very dusty condition does not worsen. If they do not feel well, we have our first-aid room on standby. We also identify our nearest clinics, so we play safe."
- CNA/xq
