We've all been feeling rather helpless about the haze, which we collectively can't stand, but at least one man is trying to do something about it.

Singaporean PhD student Benjamin Tay is organising, for the first time, a public forum about the haze that will bring together academics, members of civil society and advocacy groups here, in the hopes of throwing up ideas that we can take up and carry out to deal with it.

Who is Tay?

He's a 33-year-old father of one, a stock broker and investment banking consultant-turned-Masters and now PhD student, focusing on the study of history in Indonesia and Taiwan. And why do this? He says his personal and life experiences, which include a teaching stint at the School of the Arts, taught him different perspectives of what life is all about.

"Aside from my research work, I am also passionate about thinking of ways to make Singaporean society a more liveable one," he told Mothership.sg in an email interview.

So why hold a forum, and why about the haze?

Tay said he observed that the haze is a problem Singaporeans have collectively felt unable to act decisively upon to deal with — this some 17 years on from when it first started affecting us.

"Conversations with my peers about the haze seem to distill into one of an environmental one and that we are generally helpless about it. My refusal to believe that nothing can be done led me to contact various civil society groups in Singapore that I believe would have an interest in the issue."

He added that in his view, a public forum is the best way to raise awareness about the multiple issues surrounding the haze, as well as being a good way for diverse groups to sit together and innovate strategies to deal with it.

"I hope that through open discussion, we can come up with ways to deal with the haze so that more people, whether in Singapore or in the countries around us, can look forward to a clean and healthy environment to spend time with their loved ones."

And yes, this comes more than a decade after the haze became an annual event for us, but he believes it isn't too late to make a difference.

With this idea, Tay set to work — only trouble was he had no idea where to begin or who to approach.

"To be frank, when I first came up with the idea, I was more or less groping in the dark. I have had little to zero experience in dealing with advocacy groups, let alone organising a civil society event. Google played a big part for me to source for advocacy groups in Singapore that would be interested in coming together."

Thankfully, he came across Tan Yi Han, president of the People's Movement to Stop Haze (PM.Haze for short), who was enthusiastic to work with him to make the forum happen. With his help, Tay linked up with other groups like the WWF, veteran civil society activist Braema Mathi from Maruah and younger groups like Stand Up for SG and Relief.sg. The forum, slated to be held this Saturday, now boasts a robust line-up of speakers.

He said it could have been the transboundary nature of the haze that got so many varied groups raising their hands to join the discussion — even AWARE research and advocacy director Vivienne Wee has thrown her hat into the ring.

"In terms of challenges, I think that the haze that we experience already speaks volumes about the necessity of a solution-driven event to combat this annual event. Therefore, many of the people we contacted, readily and enthusiastically agreed to take part in it."

So will this forum be all talk, no action?

No, Tay says, who stresses the forum is but an initial means to an end, which is to "constructively engage with government agencies that have been dealing with the haze".

"We will translate the proceedings of the forum to a report that we will eventually submit to various government agencies to initiate dialogue on solving the problem at hand. We want to let the government know that civil society can share the burden of duties and responsibilities alongside them [the government] to come up with good solutions to tackle the haze issue."

What's next, after that? Tay says he aims to bring together other civil society groups from around the region, in particular countries affected by the haze for a trans-national haze forum that can put additional pressure on organisations or groups that are directly causing the Indonesian forest fires.

"I am not sure if I can pinpoint the final objective of these forum, as there are many intersecting objectives. I would like to perhaps focus on the means to the end, to look at the forum as not the endpoint, but a start to meaningful and constructive conversations on how we can come up with solutions to fight the many issues on and around the haze."

If you'd like to attend or find out more information about the People's Forum on the Haze, you can click here to visit their event page on Facebook and here to register for free on Eventbrite.

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