As of today, Singapore has experienced almost 7 consecutive weeks of haze in 2026, carried by southeasterly winds blowing through the burning forest plantations and peatland in Sumatra and Kalimantan, in Indonesia.
Once more, the quality of life in Singapore and Malaysia are threatened by this "transboundary haze". And once more, certain voices have been urging Singapore to take certain punitive action against plantation owners in Indonesia. This time, these voices say, Singapore can easily solve the haze problem with this one easy solution. Some of them might even say it's Singapore's moral duty.
But is it really that simple? Haven't we all been here before in 2015 and 1997? What happened to that other one really simple trick that everyone (us at Illusio included) recommended in 2015?
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| Getty Images, 2026 |
