Singapore's Worst Litterbugs.

After reading the article, I feel that it is only justifiable and fit that the offenders receive punishments such as Corrective Work Order (CWO) and fines. Even though these punishments would not ultimately be the best solution to counter the litterbug problem, but by allowing these offenders to bear the consequences of their misconduct is definitely necessary to make sure that they are warned and it also minimizes the possibility of them repeating the same offence again.

As a citizen, I would say that Singapore on the whole is a rather clean and green nation. However I feel that the reason why Singapore is always well kept and polished is because of the government’s efforts in letting cleaning contractors, who hires foreign workers or senior citizens to take care of the nation’s cleanliness. Of course, it is also a need to hire these foreign workers to make sure that Singapore’s cleanliness is in tip-top condition, but I personally feel that somehow, it would eventually cause our very own citizens to take these foreign cleaners for granted and become complacent and lazy to take up personal responsibility to keep our homeland clean. In fact, some citizens become so ungrateful and complacent that they daringly threw urine out of windows and thus becoming an offender.

I feel that besides implementing punishments as the only practical way to tackle this litterbug problem, Singapore can also start by educating the young the importance of taking ownership of their own country by keeping the land clean. I am glad to say that Singapore is moving towards this direction when I read about this particular article “SINGAPORE OUTLINES CAMPAIGNS TO TACKLE LITTERING” found in http://www.thegovmonitor.com. The article says, “In NEA’s enhanced outreach strategy, it will work with schools, grassroots organisations and volunteers to roll out various initiatives where litter-free ambassadors will take a leading role to communicate anti-littering messages to all target groups and the wider community. NEA will also engage various environmental groups and community leaders to join in the efforts to promote shared responsibility in keeping Singapore clean.” Also, One of The National Environment Agency's (NEA) three-pronged approach to keeping the environment clean includes Public Education. It states in the website (http://app2.nea.gov.sg/topics_cleanliness.asp), "The NEA works closely with our 3P Partners (the people, public and private sectors) to rally members of the community to take ownership of their litter and keep their surroundings clean. The key message behind our education efforts is that the public should not rely on cleaners to clean up after them. Rather, they should take personal responsibility to hold on to their litter until they find a bin to dispose of it. One of the main programmes is the “Singapore, Litter-Free” campaign." This, i feel is an excellent strategy to counter the root of the problem. As the root of the problem is people's mindset and attitude towards taking ownership.

In conclusion, I would like to say that Singapore is going towards a good plan by educating the younger generation. We should all learn to be responsible to keep Singapore a clean and comfortable place to live in.

Commented by: Rebecca Ho Tsuey Zhen (107063N)

Sources: http://www.thegovmonitor.com/world_news/asia/singapore-outlines-campaign-to-tackle-littering-32952.html
http://app2.nea.gov.sg/topics_cleanliness.aspx