Singapore appreciates efforts by Prabowo and administration to solve haze issue: Shanmugam

A police officer, along with firefighters, sprays water in an attempt to extinguish a wildfire at a a palm oil plantation area in South Arut on Oct 18.

Published Oct 19, 2026, 05:00 PM

Updated Oct 19, 2026, 05:00 PM

Singapore says it appreciates President Prabowo Subianto’s efforts to tackle Indonesia’s haze, including stricter peat-land burning bans, longer-term fire prevention and new disaster agency leadership.

Shanmugam welcomed Indonesia’s acceptance of foreign help for fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan, after Malaysia and Singapore both offered support to fight the haze.

He criticised an Indonesian official’s claim that Singapore gets “oxygen” from Indonesian forests, saying the region is suffering from illegal corporate burning and Indonesians are hit hardest.

SINGAPORE – 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.

Speaking to reporters on Oct 19, Senior Minister K Shanmugam said Prabowo has personally expressed commitment to tackling the haze, including putting in place directives to prohibit slash-and-burn practices on peat land.

He added that the Indonesian president also wants to prioritise fire prevention as a long-term solution.

Shanmugam, who is Coordinating Minister for National Security, noted that Prabowo had also removed Suharyanto as head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency in Indonesia , which oversees firefighting and disaster relief, replacing him with Kristomei Sianturi, a lieutenant-general in the Indonesian army.

Suharyanto was removed on Oct 15, a day after his younger brother was arrested over alleged corruption involving emergency relief funds.

Shanmugam said: “Some of these steps are quite unprecedented. They show what Prabowo and his administration’s approach and thinking are. We also welcome Prabowo’s approval of foreign assistance to combat the fires.

“We, Singapore, have offered our assistance, and we will do our part to support.”

Both Malaysia and Singapore have offered assistance to Indonesia in fighting the fires responsible for the haze blanketing both countries .

Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said on Oct 7 that Prabowo had accepted Malaysia’s offer of firefighting assistance.

On Oct 10, Singapore’s 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.

Shanmugam said Singaporeans are understandably frustrated by the worsening haze situation, adding that it has affected health of the people in the Republic.

“In this context, it was disappointing that an Indonesian official had recently said that Singapore’s oxygen comes from (their) forests.

“Frankly, 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,” said Shanmugam.

The official - Syahganda Nainggolan, who heads Indonesia’s Government Communications Agency - said on Oct 10, while defending his country against criticism over the transboundary haze: “We’re not just sending over the haze. When there’s no haze, we send oxygen.

“The oxygen in Singapore and Malaysia comes from our forests, right?”

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.

Syahganda’s comments were criticised online.

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 shows.

He added: “We shouldn’t have to put up with this – the smog as a result of the burning. It is entirely preventable.”

Zhaki Abdullah is a correspondent at The Straits Times. He is on the health beat, in addition to occasionally covering science, environmental, tech and Muslim affairs issues.

Environmental issues

10 月 18 日，一名警察与消防员一起在​​南阿鲁特的一个棕榈油种植园地区喷水，试图扑灭野火。

发布于2026年10月19日下午5:00

更新于2026年10月19日下午5:00

新加坡表示赞赏普拉博沃·苏比安托总统为解决印尼雾霾问题所做的努力，包括更严格的泥炭地焚烧禁令、更长期的防火措施以及新的灾害机构领导层。

在马来西亚和新加坡都表示愿意提供援助以应对苏门答腊和加里曼丹的烟霾之后，尚穆根对印尼接受外国援助以扑灭这两地火灾表示欢迎。

他批评了一位印尼官员关于新加坡从印尼森林获取“氧气”的说法，称该地区正遭受非法企业焚烧森林的困扰，而印尼人受到的打击最大。

新加坡——新加坡对印尼总统普拉博沃·苏比安托及其政府为解决烟霾问题所做的努力表示欢迎，包括批准外国援助以扑灭火灾。

10月19日，高级部长尚穆根在接受记者采访时表示，普拉博沃已亲自表达了解决雾霾问题的决心，包括下令禁止在泥炭地上进行刀耕火种的做法。

他还补充说，印尼总统也希望将防火作为一项长期解决方案优先考虑。

担任国家安全统筹部长的尚穆根指出，普拉博沃还解除了苏哈里扬托担任印尼国家减灾署署长的职务，该署负责监督消防和灾害救援工作，取而代之的是印尼陆军中将克里斯托梅·西安图里。

10 月 15 日，苏哈里扬托被免职，此前一天，他的弟弟因涉嫌挪用紧急救济资金而被捕。

尚穆根表示：“其中一些举措是史无前例的，展现了普拉博沃及其政府的方针和思路。我们也欢迎普拉博沃批准外国援助用于灭火。”

“新加坡已表示愿意提供援助，我们将尽己所能提供支持。”

马来西亚和新加坡都已向印度尼西亚提供援助，帮助其扑灭造成两国笼罩在烟雾中的山火。

马来西亚外交部长穆罕默德·哈桑10月7日表示，普拉博沃已接受马来西亚提出的消防援助提议。

10月10日，新加坡永续发展及环境部长傅海燕表示，她已与印尼环境部长朱姆胡尔·希达亚特取得联系，表示愿意提供支持。

尚穆根表示，新加坡人对日益恶化的雾霾情况感到沮丧是可以理解的，并补充说，雾霾已经影响到新加坡人民的健康。

“在这种背景下，一位印尼官员最近表示新加坡的氧气来自（他们的）森林，这令人失望。”

“坦白说，当整个地区都因为印尼公司违反法规的不良行为而遭受损失，而受害最深的正是印尼人民时，这样说是不合适的，”尚穆根说道。

印尼政府通信局局长沙赫甘达·奈因戈兰 (Syahganda Nainggolan) 于 10 月 10 日在为印尼辩护，反驳外界对跨境雾霾的批评时表示：“我们不只是输送雾霾。没有雾霾的时候，我们输送氧气。”

“新加坡和马来西亚的氧气都来自我们的森林，对吧？”

他的声明与印尼前副总统优素福·卡拉的类似言论遥相呼应。卡拉在 2015 年表示，新加坡和马来西亚抱怨印尼一个月有雾霾，却没有感谢印尼一年中有 11 个月空气清新。

Syahganda的言论在网上遭到批评。

尚穆根表示，他认为印尼政府或广大公众中很少有人持有这位印尼官员的观点，从人们对他声明的反应来看就是如此。

他补充道：“我们不应该忍受这种焚烧造成的烟雾。这完全是可以避免的。”

扎基·阿卜杜拉是《海峡时报》的记者。他主要负责健康新闻报道，偶尔也报道科学、环境、科技和穆斯林事务等议题。

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