SINGAPORE — While the Government has not yet “sat down” to discuss it, the haze “hasn’t had a great (economic) impact” as Singapore carried on with their lives, said Dr Ng Eng Hen, Chairman of the Haze Inter-ministerial task force, during an interview with the media on Friday.

In response to a question on whether the haze had significantly impacted Singapore’s economy, Dr Ng said that it has not been the Government’s priority to discover the economic impact of the haze as it was a “short” episode which occurred over two days and a weekend.

“I would say that the impact hasn’t been as large as compared to Sars, for example. Singaporeans basically got on with their lives, and I think we need to do that, not only for the economic impact, but because it shows our resilience,” he said.

The possibility that the haze might last for several weeks or more had led some economists to reportedly total up the possible damage to the Republic’s economy, as some suggested that any estimate of the haze’s cost should start at S$300 million a month.

Dr Ng reiterated on Friday the importance of going on normally — albeit with a slower pace — with daily lives to minimise impact on all levels, and not just on the economy.

He said: “If we continue as we are, I think we can minimise it and when I say economic impact, I don’t mean just dollars and cents. We talk about how our daily lives are affected — garbage collection, cleaning, our festivities that we like to attend, the social impact is actually very great as well.”

When asked if the Government will introduce new rulings for childcare centres or voluntary-welfare organisations to be fully air-conditioned, Dr Ng said that “it may not be sensible” to be “a completely air-conditioned nation”.

While he acknowledged that the haze has shaped Singapore’s behaviour, using an example of how the Ministry of Social and Family Development had rolled out a S$2.5 million fund to help childcare centres and kindergartens purchase air-conditioners or retrofit their centres, Dr Ng said that “major responses” should not be made.

Pointing out that the gap between this year’s major haze situation and the one which occurred in 1997, Dr Ng said: “(We are) dependent on wind and rain, we’ll just have to examine it ... We shouldn’t make major responses. Let’s study it.” WOO SIAN BOON