There's not much they can do about air pollution if the pollutants come from our neighbours' backyards. As residents here well know, when forests are set alight in Indonesia, we stifle and choke in Singapore. And there's not much anyone here can do.
And when it comes to noise pollution they have to work within the laws of Singapore which seem much more tolerant about construction noise than anywhere else we have lived, including Hong Kong.
The way the sound limits are expressed in Leq (for laymen like me, it equates to an average sound level in decibels over a specified period) effectively means that construction activity can take place in loud bursts interspersed with relative silence.
For 24 hours in the day, 365 days of the year. No days off for Sundays and Public Holidays!
Therefore I was suitably impressed some Sunday's ago when, on my way to the NTUC Fairprice supermarket on Killiney Road, I noticed that piling machinery was silent and still on a worksite slap-bang next to the supermarket which shares the premises with an hotel.
I only wish this gem of a considerate developer and construction company were re-building portions of the Thai Embassy (across the road from us) or renovating 8 Claymore Hill (to the side of us).
As our bedrooms are on the other side of CLaymore Hill, I suppose I should not complain too much about the firecracker-like bursts of noise (that's what it sounds like when metal and other debris is chucked down a chute from tens of storeys)
And thus far, noise conditions are better than when they were building the Tate next door, since sold and occupied.
At that time, we had to put up with the vibration and loud banging of piling works; later replaced by a constant metallic whine as the foundations were being poured. Trying sleeping the night through with non-stop sound and the sensation of a low pitch dental drill coming through the walls of your home.
Anyone who lives in high rise Singapore has at one time or another been affected by noise pollution because of our haste to build. The fortunate who have escaped this torture may yet face it some day.
We have a good friend whose home faces the construction site of a development which describes itself as the Urban Suites, on Cairnhill Road.
One day we were invited to lunch there. An incessant din made conversation impossible. And at times we felt the house shake. But they had no respite because all this activity and noise fell within the acceptable limits for 12- and 24-hours!
NEA officers have been cooperative.
A sound measuring and recording device has been set up on their home, facing the construction, to track sound levels over a period of time. They have also extended (upwards) a panel which is meant to help deflect some noise.
But even they can only do so much because of the generous allowances for acceptable noise limits for 12- and 24-hours. Sporadic bursts of much louder noise are permitted as long as they do not exceed a certain level for five minutes !
Site supervisors probably orchestrate construction at sites surrounded by irate residents, synchronising machines so that they squeeze the most noise-making activity into short periods. Then they fill in the time with less ear-busting work.
How loud is too loud?
The noise chart below lists average decibel levels for everyday sounds around you.
Painful
150 dB = fireworks at 3 feet
140 dB = firearms, jet engine
130 dB = jackhammer
120 dB = jet plane takeoff, siren
Extremely Loud
110 dB = maximum output of some MP3 players, model airplane, chain saw
106 dB = gas lawn mower, snowblower
100 dB = hand drill, pneumatic drill
90 dB = subway, passing motorcycle
Very Loud
80–90 dB = blow-dryer, kitchen blender, food processor
70 dB = busy traffic, vacuum cleaner, alarm clock
Moderate
60 dB = typical conversation, dishwasher, clothes dryer
50 dB = moderate rainfall
40 dB = quiet room
Faint
30 dB = whisper, quiet library
(Retrieved from www.noisyplanet.nidcd.nih.gov/parents/athome.htm and www.lhh.org/noise/facts/environment.html on September 24, 2009)
But it isn't only construction noise we have to put up with; since the powers-that-be realised their teenage fantasies and enabled Formula One night racing, it has inspired want-to-be F1 drivers to take to the streets late at night.
Most nights my quality of my sleep is shattered by the sounds of screaming engines and exhausts.
The sounds made by some exhausts is like music. But there is a time and a place for everything, no matter how much one appreciates and likes them.
Hopefully, when we get a motor sports complex, it might reduce the incidence of such noise in residential areas between 11:30pm and 6:30am.
But right now, these 'throat clearing' sessions are about as welcome to us poor folk, who are trying to get a good night's rest, as a pork chop in a synagogue.
For a few nights this week I mistakenly thought that the school holidays were providing relief from these drive-bys (families tend to take their holidays when school is out).
To show that it was just too good to be true, I was woken up at about 6:30am this morning by the sound of a loud car exhaust.
But, since we are a stone's throw from the infamous Orchard Towers and the exhaust sounded like that of a "mouse that roared" type of four door compact car, it could have been a bar, massage parlour or karaoke worker leaving for home.
To rub salt into the wound, our proximity to Orchard Towers also means that we sometimes hear screams and yells (sometimes blood curdling) on Friday and Saturday nights, as well as the occasional car alarm shrieking to be turned off.
However, yes, it is probably quite safe to walk around this area at night.
Security is a point stressed by the American author who puts Singapore tops in his league of happy paces to live.
To identify the happy spots, Mr Buettner relied on data from Gallup, the World Values Survey and the World Database on Happiness which have done comprehensive polls and studies over the past seven decades examining factors that directly impact happiness.
While there are many happiness indices out there, the data from the three organisations are 'by far the most authoritative and authentic', he told The Sunday Times.
To give him credit, he also spent a little time here, conducting interviews with selected Singaporeans.
Straits Times, Sunday, Dec 5:
He made two trips to Singapore, about a year apart, staying four weeks in all.
I too enjoy my home country when I don't have to live here day in and day out and put up with the mindset and service quality (or rather, lack thereof).
A friend once remarked that a successful marriage is based on many short absences; it's also true of countries.
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