The recent smokey air has brought back memories for some Singaporeans of the 2015 transboundary haze episode.

That was one of the worst haze episodes that Southeast Asia experienced.

Acrid smoke originated from the persistent forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan that blanketed Singapore and Malaysia.

The Pollutant Standard Index (PSI) even hit the hazardous 471 level on one of the days in Singapore.

Website to thank Indonesia for fresh air was created

Back then, the vice president of Indonesia, Jusuf Kalla, said on Sept. 25, 2015 that Indonesia need not apologise to neighbouring countries over the haze and that it needed only to ensure that the forest fires do not recur.

His comments followed the same theme throughout the years, which are targeted at countries complaining about the haze:

“For 11 months, they (our neighbours) enjoyed nice air from Indonesia and they never thanked us. They have suffered because of the haze for one month and they get upset.”

In response to this attitude, a website with a thank you button was set up to thank Indonesia for the 11 months of clean air.

One press = One thank you.

It looked like this:

There's no limit to how many times each person can press.

Website no longer up and running

The website was still running till 2016 for those overwhelmed with gratitude to send their appreciation.

If you were reminded about thanking Indonesia by the returning haze recently, you have missed your chance to do so, unfortunately.

A quick search shows that the website is no longer available.

Sad.

You can see the past thank you messages here: