Haze Chokes Singapore as Indonesian Fires Rage On

Singapore has recorded thirteen straight days of unhealthy air, its longest unbroken stretch since the 2015 haze crisis. Fires in Indonesia are sending smoke across Southeast Asia, and officials warn that the worst may not be over.

Ben Churchill, director of the World Meteorological Organization's regional office for Asia and the Pacific, told The Straits Times that the region is enduring one of its worst transboundary haze episodes on record. Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines are all affected. The crisis, he said, could last for weeks or months, until winds shift and rain finally drenches the fires.

A Warning From Government

Singapore's Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu didn't sugarcoat things at a press conference on Oct. 16. The country should prepare for prolonged haze, she said, and air quality could breach hazardous levels. A day counts as unhealthy when the Pollutant Standards Index exceeds 100 at any point in any part of Singapore. The island has now logged 13 such days in a row.

Relief won't come quickly. Fu said conditions might improve only when winds turn lighter and more variable, which she expects in three to four weeks. A fuller reprieve could arrive closer to year's end, when winds swing from their current southerly direction and blow from the north, pushing the haze away.

Where the Smoke Comes From

The source isn't in dispute. Churchill cited data from the European Union's Copernicus programme showing that about half of the world's smoke haze originated in Indonesia during the seven days from Oct. 8. Fires break out, he said, when people clear land through traditional slash-and-burn practices.

A strengthening El Niño has made matters worse. Churchill said it's on track to be the strongest ever observed, bringing drier, hotter weather to the equatorial ASEAN region just as the dry season sets in. He called the combination "the perfect storm" for fires to persist and spread. "We're seeing more and more unhealthy days and hours creeping in," he said. "My expectation is that this will continue."

Pooling Resources, Pointing to Practices

Churchill's proposed remedy rests on practical cooperation. He suggested ASEAN members pool firefighting resources by buying shared equipment, swapping technical expertise and ensuring crews from neighbouring countries can deploy quickly. He pointed to Australia's reciprocal disaster-management arrangements with New Zealand, the United States and Canada as a working model.

Fu has already acted on the diplomatic front. She contacted her Indonesian counterpart, Environment Minister Jumhur Hidayat, to offer civilian assistance for firefighting and cloud seeding.

Churchill spoke candidly about the limits of any response. "Ideally, we continue to expect that Indonesia and, with the help of other international support, that they continue to do their very best," he said. "But the very best is not always enough." He noted that monsoon rains, which bring higher rainfall to Southeast Asia around December, offer the only relief beyond active firefighting.

Timing remains uncertain. Strong El Niño conditions usually disrupt seasonal transitions, Churchill said. The Straits Times reported on Oct. 2 that the El Niño would likely delay the dry season's retreat, and Singapore's weatherman said the shift could come in late October or November. "It might be a little bit variable, but it will come," Churchill said. An updated forecast is due at the ASEAN Climate Outlook Forum in late October.

Land Practices Under Scrutiny

Churchill said the WMO warned in June that a strong El Niño would develop in 2026, and that early notice needs to reach everyone, from policymakers planning infrastructure to farmers on the ground. He argued that human-driven climate change is making El Niño events and severe haze more frequent and intense.

His closing prescription put land management front and center. Changing land practices, tightening regulations and educating the farmers and companies responsible for the fires could go a long way, he said, toward "safeguarding safety, security, and prosperity for the ASEAN community." He also noted that similar agricultural practices exist in other Southeast Asian countries, so Indonesia may not be the only place this could happen.

Why This Matters:

Haze doesn't respect borders. Neither do its costs. Prolonged unhealthy air strains public health, disrupts daily commerce and tests the patience of neighbours who didn't light the fires. The episode exposes a hard truth about regional governance: voluntary cooperation among sovereign states works only when each government enforces its own rules at home. Churchill himself conceded that Indonesia's best effort may not be enough, and that tighter regulation of land-clearing is the lasting fix. For Singapore, the immediate task is preparing for a hazardous stretch while offering practical help without overstepping. For ASEAN, the question is whether shared equipment and faster deployment can deliver results where earlier episodes, including 2015, didn't produce lasting prevention. Accountability for those who set the fires will matter as much as any new pooled fund.