On 12 October 2026, Singapore, the Garden City, briefly became the world’s most polluted one. Haze has been choking our country for weeks, continuing a yearly cycle that has been tormenting our people for decades.

The good news is that it’s not too late, and that we are in a good position to be a changemaker. Singapore will be ASEAN Chair in 2027, and with it we have greater influence in determining the future of our region. Saving the lungs of Southeast Asia and protecting the health of millions of citizens should be a top priority, and all three can be achieved if we can spur our regional partners to commit to cracking down on large-scale draining and burning.

There are three leverages Singapore has in encouraging the Indonesian administration to wage a greater war against haze. Singapore will take concrete action in tandem with Indonesia to:

1. Coordinate enforcement on companies headquartered in Singapore responsible for/associated with haze-producing activities in Indonesia
2. Monitor and recover overseas Indonesian private wealth stored in Singapore that has been subject to past scrutiny
3. Aid in the stabilisation of the rupiah by supporting their currency in the same way the US Treasury worked with the Japanese Ministry of Finance to curb the yen’s decline

with the guarantee that Indonesia steps up nationwide efforts to limit haze-producing operations and achieve measurable environmental objectives (a start could be the maintenance of PSI levels below 100 consistently for at least a decade).

We are in a strong position to lend a helping hand, in exchange for the basic request of keeping the air clean.

Add your voice. Join me to fight the haze together.