MANILA, Philippines - Smothered Singaporeans took to Twitter as the hazardous haze from burning forests in Indonesia brought the country's pollutant standards index (PSI) to 401 on Friday noon, Singapore's Straits Times reported.
A PSI higher than 300 is considered hazardous by Singapore's National Environment Agency.
As of 1:30 p.m., trending topics #ReplaceMovieNamesWithHaze, #sghaze and #mustbethehaze dominated the Singapore Twitter space. Tweets varied from annoyed to angry while some even managed to make fun of the situation.
Meanwhile, other tweets represented the seven stages of grief.
I cannot breathe OMG #mustbethehaze... but i think its because everybody say that then I think I also cannot breathe #actuallyshouldbecanla
— JianHao F² Tan (@thejianhaotan) June 20, 2013
@NrlIzt Ooh, #mustbethehaze .. Nahh, nothing will happen to you la, chill :)
— Ejad Lachowski (@_izzxd) June 21, 2013
Dear Indonesia: we hate your open burning, otherwise, do not make us hate your country. for the #haze. Best Regards: Malaysia and Singapore.
— I love ▲ (@AbdurrMan) June 20, 2013
If any of my international followers here would love to trade places with me to experience this f*cked up haze in Singapore, I'm up for it.
— Shafique Mazlan. (@shfq_mzln) June 21, 2013
The haze at Singapore is so bad I feel twice guilty ;_______;
— celery ninja*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ (@kiikoxxx) June 19, 2013
Its really sad for foreigners to come to Singapore this june, they may expect the best of Singapore but its all haze.
— GΙSΞΓΞ (@giszxc) June 21, 2013
Good thing about haze : you dont need to apply any makeup on the face except for the eyes when youre wearing a mask. #sghaze
— Lorene Theodora To (@LoreneXtheodora) June 21, 2013
The report quoted the island city-state's Health Ministry as saying that it has a sufficient stock of N95 masks, as residents trooped to pharmacies across the country to protect themselves from the noxious fumes.
This is Singapore's worst haze in 16 years, when the PSI hit 226 in 1997.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong earlier advised citizens to stay indoors while the government formulates a solution to the issue.