Short-sleeves and shorts: A woman trying to stay cool under an umbrella amid people visiting the Merlion Statue at Marina Bay. The temperature in Singapore reached 37°C on May 13, matching the city-state’s 1983 record. — AFP
On Saturday, we equalled the national record. Not at the SEA Games, but right here at home.
For the second time in Singapore’s history, the temperature peaked at 37°C in the central region of Ang Mo Kio and breached the 36°C mark in other parts of the country.
What was I thinking, spending that day outdoors?
I felt it ... the sweltering heat that triggers a prickling sensation – and makes you feel like you are being cooked while soaked in endless perspiration.
Thankfully, rainy days are here again. But the hotter months of the calendar could get worse in the coming years, as Singapore is heating up at a rate of 0.25°C per decade, which is twice as fast as the rest of the world.
As global warming forces up the mercury, heatwaves have become more common and extend for longer periods across the globe.
It does not help that urban spaces experience higher temperatures, as infrastructure such as buildings absorb the heat and release it back into the environment. Just feel the walls in your homes.
As warnings and advice on dealing with the heat are disseminated, one that particularly stands out is to drink more water. Thankfully, potable water is easily accessible at home and in most buildings in Singapore.
But when your water bottle is empty and you are out and about on the streets, waiting for a bus or even cycling around town, your options are often limited to that ubiquitous bottle of mineral water or that hidden public toilet.
So it’s a wonder – for a thirsty or dehydrated commuter – that we don’t have more water coolers around town.
At the right place at the right time
The water cooler conversations have been ongoing and there have been concrete efforts to address those demands too.
In a recent reply to a parliamentary question by Workers’ Party MP Leon Perera about installing more water coolers across the country, the Ministry of Health said they have been made available at all hawker centres and also in places such as parks and bus interchanges. It added that the owners of other venues are also encouraged to make water dispensers and water coolers available to the public.
I appeal to the “owners of the other venues” to proactively cater to this demand for easily accessible drinking water in the public space. But let’s not stop there.
I’m thinking bus stops, along streets with high traffic such as Orchard Road and even at recreational areas in Housing Board estates.
The coolers or dispensers need to be where the heat is felt.
Feeling the heat: A migrant worker shielding his head from the sun with a towel in Singapore. — Reuters
The environmental benefits of having more water coolers in public spaces have also been highlighted. Providing access to water can help reduce the demand for bottled water, which in turn can help reduce plastic waste.
In Singapore, ranked the world’s top bottled-water consumer in 2021 according to a UN think-tank report, that could make a significant difference.
The report adds that each person here spent US$1,348 (S$1,800) on bottled water and consumed 1,129 litres of it during the year, compared with second-placed Australians, who spent US$386 and consumed 504 litres a person.
It’s confounding that we’re ahead by some measure despite assurances by the authorities that tap water here is “perfectly safe to drink and entirely wholesome straight from the tap”.
So why not battle the plastic bottle with more water-dispensing options across the island? It bodes well for our push towards the greater use of public transport too as another convenient feature to meet commuters’ needs.
Clean water, clean water coolers
One has to acknowledge that having more water coolers is useless if people are averse to the idea of drinking from them.
One of the main challenges with water coolers has been hygiene. People have expressed reservations when it comes to using public water coolers after having witnessed some unsavoury patterns of behaviour.
So maybe it’s time to protect our water coolers and raise the hygiene standard, the way we did with our public toilets.
It could be an awareness campaign that educates on the use of the device or, as one writer to The Straits Times Forum suggested, it could be a matter of changing the purpose or design so that they’re meant to dispense water strictly for bottles, not our muzzles.
Touchless would be preferable too ... just saying.
Beyond offering drinking water, there’s an urgent need for cooling down during the hotter months.
Singapore has come up with innovative ideas to this end, whether it’s in the design and construction of buildings or how vegetation is integrated into the urban setting.
The research has intensified too.
Cooling Singapore is a multidisciplinary research project where the goal is to develop solutions to address urban heat.
Singapore is developing what is known as an islandwide Digital Urban Climate Twin (Duct), which is an interface meant to simulate the impact of scenarios on the temperature to help policymakers in their decisions.
There are also heavy investments to tackle the threats of climate change.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced a commitment of “$100 billion over 100 years” to protect against rising sea levels and for coastal protection at the 2019 National Day Rally, and there could be more.
But climate change must be addressed at both the macro and micro levels, since it is a long and winding road.
Urgent needs
Rising sea levels may pose an existential threat to future generations, but for the man in the street, the bigger concern is to quench thirst and cool down on a hot summer day.
Scaling back on outdoor activities during hot months is easy if it is just about leisure.
But what about our delivery riders, cyclists and walkers and those in other sectors where livelihoods depend on being out and about as long as they can?
What about the construction workers, whose only shade comes from their safety helmets as they perform roadworks or build our Build-To-Order flats in the blazing heat?
It’s heartening to know that solutions are being explored to address exertional heat strain felt by construction workers – ice slurries among them.
And while we’re tackling dehydration, why not consider other cooling methods?
I’ve always been a fan of the misting device. These typically cool the users with tiny water droplets sprayed using high-pressure jets. There are such devices in Singapore but we could do with more in areas with high footfall.
As we execute the bigger, long-term plans and search for solutions to mitigate the impact of climate change and address urban heat, it makes sense to continue investing in practical solutions that provide instant relief.
I wouldn’t mind a short queue to fill up my bottle while waiting for the bus.
It could be an opportunity for an interesting water cooler chat after all. — The Straits Times/ANN
> The writer is the Deputy Opinion Editor at The Straits Times.
