Found out that Novena Square has installed water refill stations which is great. I hate paying for single-use plastics.

But also, can we take good care of public property? I once saw an uncle rinse and spit into the water cooler station at the bus interchange and decided never to refill my water bottle there again.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will make his first trip to the Middle East as head of government this week, with stops in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

He will be in Doha from Oct 18 to 20, and visit Abu Dhabi and Dubai from Oct 20 to 22.

With the haze getting worse, many people in Singapore are rushing to buy N95 masks. It is good that shops are setting purchase limits and promising not to raise prices. However, long queues at free mask vending machines and empty shelves show that finding masks is still a challenge.

​Are purchase limits enough to stop hoarding? How are you dealing with the bad air and mask shortages?

I’ve always wondered how effective air conditioning is vs air purifier. So I did a simple experiment at home, see below for the results!

I’m not revealing the purifier brand to avoid discussions on brands.

EDITED: Added a test where I off both aircon and purifier after opening windows (and closing them). It went from 86 to 72 in 23 minutes. Then stagnated 69-72 for the next ten minutes.

<below results part summarized and graph made by AI>

Setup
- Master bedroom in Jurong West, near Jurong Point
- Room empty throughout
- Ceiling fan on max throughout
- Indoor PM2.5 read from the purifier's sensor

Outdoor (data.gov.sg, West)
- 5:59pm: 1-hr PM2.5 at 147, 24-hr PSI at 205
- 6:30pm: 1-hr PM2.5 at 134

Log (indoor PM2.5, µg/m³)
- 5:45 to 6:00pm, ventilator on, outside air coming in: 99 at 5:59
- 6:00 to 6:20pm, aircon on full blast: 73 at 6:12, 69 at 6:16, 66 at 6:19, 66 at 6:20
- Switched to the purifier because readings stayed at about 66 to 69 for about 5 minutes
- 6:20pm onwards, aircon off and purifier on at speed 10 with 25° oscillation: 46 at 6:23, 37 at 6:25, 31 at 6:26, 20 at 6:32, 17 at 6:38, 16 at 6:41

Summary
- Aircon phase: 99 down to 66 in 20 minutes, then it stayed at around 66 for the last 5 minutes.
- Purifier phase: 66 down to 16 in 21 minutes.

Quoted from article:

"SINGAPORE: Singapore will send preventive measure notices to seven companies in Indonesia responsible for fires causing the current haze, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said on Friday (Oct 16).

The notices, which stem from Singapore’s investigations, will be issued by the National Environment Agency (NEA) under the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act, Ms Fu told a press conference.

The seven companies are: - PT Bumi Andalas Permai; - PT Bumi Mekar Hijau; - PT Paramitra Mulia Langgeng; - PT Sumatera Alam Anugerah; - PT SBA Wood Industries; - PT Hutan Lestari Raya; - PT Bangkanesia.

The notices will require each company to: deploy firefighting personnel to extinguish or prevent the spread of any fire on land it owns or occupies; stop or not start any burning activities on such land; and to submit to NEA their action plans to extinguish any fires on its land and prevent their recurrence."