{"id":94276,"date":"2026-10-19T18:21:59","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T10:21:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=94276"},"modified":"2026-10-19T18:21:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T10:21:59","slug":"singapore-appreciates-efforts-by-prabowo-and-his-administration-to-solve-haze-issue-shanmugam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=94276","title":{"rendered":"Singapore appreciates efforts by Prabowo and his administration to solve haze issue: Shanmugam"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"text-primary article-summary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">SINGAPORE \u2013 <!-- -->Efforts by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and his administration to solve the haze problem, including approval of foreign assistance to combat the fires, have been welcomed by Singapore.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Speaking to reporters on Oct 19, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/spore-to-use-every-legal-and-regulatory-lever-against-companies-linked-to-haze-shanmugam?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><span class=\"inline font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"typography-test-id\">Senior Minister K. Shanmugam said Prabowo has personally expressed commitment to tackling the haze,<\/span><\/a> including putting in place directives to prohibit slash-and-burn practices on peat land.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">He added that the Indonesian President also wants to prioritise fire prevention as a long-term solution.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Shanmugam, who is Coordinating Minister for National Security, noted that Prabowo had also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/asia\/se-asia\/indonesias-disaster-chiefs-brother-among-five-arrested-over-alleged-graft-amid-haze-crisis?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><span class=\"inline font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"typography-test-id\">removed Suharyanto as head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency in Indonesia<\/span><\/a><u>,<\/u> which oversees firefighting and disaster relief, replacing him with Kristomei Sianturi, a lieutenant-general in the Indonesian army.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Suharyanto was removed on Oct 15, a day after his younger brother was arrested over alleged corruption involving emergency relief funds.<\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"responsive-iframe-base st_visuals st_visuals-embed\" title=\"st_visuals embed\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/multimedia\/graphics\/2026\/08\/singapore-haze-widget\/index.html\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"accelerometer;falseclipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share;\" loading=\"eager\" data-testid=\"responsiveIframe\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Shanmugam said: \u201cSome of these steps are quite unprecedented. They show what Prabowo and his administration\u2019s approach and thinking are. We also welcome Prabowo\u2019s approval of foreign assistance to combat the fires.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cWe, Singapore, have offered our assistance, and we will do our part to support.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Both Malaysia and Singapore have offered assistance to Indonesia in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/asia\/se-asia\/indonesia-ready-to-accept-foreign-firefighting-assistance-on-haze-says-foreign-minister?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><span class=\"inline font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"typography-test-id\">fighting the fires responsible for the haze blanketing both countries<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Malaysia\u2019s Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said on Oct 7 that Prabowo had accepted Malaysia\u2019s offer of firefighting assistance.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">On Oct 10, Singapore\u2019s Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said that she had been in touch with her Indonesian counterpart, Environment Minister Jumhur Hidayat, to offer support.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Shanmugam said Singaporeans are understandably frustrated by the worsening haze situation, adding that it has affected the health of the people in the Republic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cIn this context, it was disappointing that an Indonesian official had recently said that Singapore\u2019s oxygen comes from (their) forests.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cFrankly, it is not right to say this when this entire region is suffering as a result of the bad behaviour of companies breaching regulations in Indonesia, and the people suffering the most are Indonesians themselves,\u201d said Shanmugam.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Indonesian official\u2019s oxygen comment \u2018disappointing\u2019: Shanmugam\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pI36y0VXHhc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The official \u2013 Syahganda Nainggolan, who heads Indonesia\u2019s Government Communications Agency \u2013 said on Oct 10, while defending his country against criticism over the transboundary haze: \u201cWe\u2019re not just sending over the haze. When there\u2019s no haze, we send oxygen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cThe oxygen in Singapore and Malaysia comes from our forests, right?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">His statement echoed similar comments made by former Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla, who in 2015 said Singapore and Malaysia complained about one month of haze but did not thank Indonesia for 11 months of clean air throughout the year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Syahganda\u2019s comments were criticised online.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Shanmugam said he does not think the view of the Indonesian official is held by many others in the Indonesian government or the broader public, as the reactions to his statement show.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">He added: \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t have to put up with this \u2013 the smog as a result of the burning. It is entirely preventable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"[FULL] Senior Minister K. Shanmugam on taking action against companies causing haze\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BOnUR9rG-6M?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/singapore-appreciates-efforts-by-prabowo-and-administration-to-solve-haze-issue-shanmugam\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SINGAPORE \u2013 Efforts by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and his administration to solve the haze problem, including approval of foreign assistance to combat the fires,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":94279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/94279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}