Fire fighters have fought 388 bush fires since Jan. 1. That compares with 355 for all of 2003 and 500 last year, Singapore's Civil Defence Force said. The biggest engulfed vacant land the size of about 15 soccer fields on Feb. 17.

The National Environment Agency said temperatures have reached a high of 34 degrees Celsius (93.2 degrees Fahrenheit) almost daily since Jan. 20., with Feb 9 -- the first day of the Lunar New Year -- hitting 35.5 degrees Celsius (95.9 degrees Fahrenheit), the hottest day in 15 years.

Most of Singapore received less than 1 mm (0.04 inch) of rainfall in the first two weeks of February.

The weather has forced many residents to seek the cool of air conditioners in a country once dubbed "The air conditioned nation" by academic Cherian George, while inflicting a blow to wildlife in the tropical city-state of 4.2 million people.

"About five percent of our plants have died because of the heat," said Lilian Koh, executive director of Hawaii Landscape, a nursery spread over about six acres (two hectares).

"Our water and utility bills have gone up significantly because we now have to use tap water to water the plants instead of drawing water from the drain," she said.