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  Letter to Today, 15 Aug 05
Let's be pro-active in dealing with smog
Letter from Lim Boon Hee

Singapore is a small island and if the smog envelopes us, we will face enormous difficulties. Our economy will ground to a halt as our health, planes, ships and tourism are affected by poor visibility and pollution.

Are we simply going to let ourselves be at the mercy of wind directions, without racking our brains for something effective to fight the smoke from neighbouring Sumatra?

Surely, we have the brains and scientific know-how to alleviate the harmful effects of particulate matter in the air, instead of just issuing Public Service Infrastructure (PSI) reports when the winds decide to blow our way?

I have a few suggestions. What about creating a temporary closed ecosphere to block out the smog? Or an air-curtain or planting tall impermeable trees like in Beijing, where they filter out the sands from Northern Mongolia? Or can we use tonnes of absorbents to neutralise the particulate matters? Or a bio-filter to cover our buildings? What about giant blowers to blow off smog coming our way?

Let's think out-of-the-box and remember that nothing is impossible if we put our minds to it.

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