‘Cough, my photos are grey’: Not-so-perfect views and air for tourists here for F1 race

SINGAPORE — Ms Jeeshan Rahman, an Australian who flew in just for the annual Formula One (F1) night race, has one niggling problem: She is not getting good snapshots of her visit here.

“You know the colourful pictures of the (Marina Bay) skyline they have on the Internet? Yeah, mine was the opposite. Everything was just grey and cloudy,” the 38-year-old payroll manager said on Thursday (Sept 19).

Mr Ton That Trinh from Vietnam said that the hazy condition is similar to that at home, but the 24-year-old student was also a little disappointed that he was not enjoying the best views of Singapore’s cityscape.

This is not the first time that the F1 race in Singapore is taking place in hazy conditions.

In 2014, the three-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) reading — which has been replaced by the 1-hour PM2.5 concentration reading — hit a high of 129 at 9pm on race day.

The following year, the haze situation abated a day before the race, and it took place with the air quality at the higher end of the “moderate” range.

This year, the three-day race will start on Friday. In its advisory on Thursday, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said that the air quality has “improved gradually” for the day due to stronger winds blowing from the south-east that helped to disperse the haze away from Singapore.

As of 10pm on Thursday, the 24-hour PSI reading was in the “moderate” range of 92 in the southern region, 87 in the east, 89 in the west, 83 in the central region and 84 in the north.

On Friday, the PSI is forecast to be between the high end of the “moderate” range and low end of the “unhealthy” range.

News agency Reuters reported that the F1 race has collected more than S$1 billion in tourism receipts over its history, and as tourists stream in this week, those approached by TODAY on Thursday said that things could certainly be better — at least for their respiratory tracts and the memories they take home.

Mr Francisco Contreras, 34, and Mr Tomas Juanz, 39, said that when their flight landed here early this week, they thought at first that it was smoke or fog from a fire nearby. Both Mexicans did not want to say what they do for a living.

“It's our first time here and we didn’t know that the haze was this bad. We kept coughing,” Mr Juanz said.

Mr Contreras said: “Hopefully, the skies will clear up just in time for the race. We really want to take good pictures of the circuit.”

The pair plan to combat the haze by stocking up on face masks, and they are not the only ones.

Filipino Michelle Ann, 27, a homemaker who was on vacation with seven of her family members, said that they packed the masks in their luggage after reading news about the haze in Singapore.

They did not want to cancel their trip and pay penalties for travel expenses, so they made sure that they had masks and medications at hand.

Even seasoned tourists such as Australian Mark Saunders, 45, and Japanese Hinako Mori, 39, who have both been to Singapore more than five times, said that this is the worst haze they have seen here by far.

Mr Saunders, who did not want to disclose his profession, said: “I’ve been coughing since I landed two days ago. It’s very bad, I can feel it in my throat.”

Ms Mori, an administrative assistant who was at the F1 race in 2016, said that having experienced the haze before, she had equipped herself with a face mask, a hat and even a skin moisturiser this time round.  

Hotels contacted by TODAY said that they have not seen any cancellations due to the haze.

Both Marina Mandarin Singapore and Royal Plaza on Scotts said that they expect full occupancy over the F1 weekend.

They are also taking measures to ensure that guests are comfortable.

A spokesperson for Marina Mandarin Singapore said that it is distributing bottled water to guests upon check-in so that they may stay hydrated. N95 masks are also given to guests upon request.

Royal Plaza on Scotts said that it is setting up a drinks station at the hotel’s reception area over the weekend from 2pm to 6pm.

Mr Patrick Fiat, the hotel’s general manager, said that this extra service is timed for those four hours when guests are checking in and heading out to the race circuit.

The hotel will also be distributing chilled chrysanthemum goji berries tea to help ease respiratory functions. Its employees working outdoors are given face masks as well.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said that the Government has a national stockpile of 16 million N95 masks that can be released to the market when required.

As the worst air pollution in three years threatens to taint the sports event, Singapore Grand Prix organisers are stocking up on disposable face masks to sell to spectators.

They will also be keeping close tabs on air pollution readings as the S$150 million street race kicks off on Friday.

On Thursday at 10pm, the one-hour PM2.5 concentration readings — of particulate matter that is less than or equal to 2.5 micrometres in diameter — ranged from 16 to 23 µg/m3, in Band I (Normal). 

NEA said that the readings are expected to remain in Band I (Normal), and may enter Band II (Elevated) if smoke haze from the surrounding region is blown in. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY NAVENE ELANGOVAN