Singapore’s Worst Litterbugs

After reading the article, I feel ashamed for relying on the government to reinforce the cleanliness of our environment, when it is supposedly every citizen’s responsibility. This situation has even escalated to one where offenders continue littering even after being slapped with fines and Corrective Work Orders (CWOs). Having taken such measures, the National Environmental Agency (NEA) still faces repeat offenders. Hence, this questions the effectiveness of launching campaigns to raise people’s awareness – will it help keep Singapore a clean and green city in the long run?

The NEA had recently launched a new anti-littering campaign with the tagline “Do The Right Thing. Let’s Bin It!”. The purpose of this campaign is to instill a sense of responsibility in individuals to keep Singapore clean and beautiful, and to encourage them to take action to bin their litter. The government has been launching campaigns after campaigns, trying their best to get citizens to play their part but it is sad to say that the outcome remains pessimistic. In addition, the situation has worsened as seen from the increasing number of offenders.



As the saying goes, “Good habits have to start from young.” Besides launching campaigns which target the general public, NEA have attempt to improve the situation by staging collaboration with schools.

“Over 150 youths from Woodgrove Secondary, Institute of Technical Education (ITE), Ngee Ann Secondary, Nan Hua High School, and Ci Yuan Youth Executive Committee comprising Northlight and Anderson Secondary School students, were trained by NEA as the first batch of Litter-Free Ambassadors to spearhead litter-free initiatives in their community and communicate to the public on the importance of keeping the environment clean and binning their waste properly. The youth Ambassadors spent the Sunday engaging the public in the Plaza Singapura vicinity to sign pledge cards and make a personal commitment to keep Singapore clean and litter-free. They will continue to engage the community in subsequent follow-up activities.” -- NEA

Involving the students personally in campaigns is a fresh approach to inculcate good values to the young as they get to practice what they preach. I believe that this approach will be more effective than merely educating them through campaigns.

Having that said, old habits are hard to die. Hence, it is better not to pick up a bad habit than having to correct it later. Despite 50 years of state-sponsored campaigns and public education, the lesson has essentially gone unlearnt where it matters most - within the family. NEA surveyed and found that a person was 2.4 times more likely to follow the bad example of family members. This shows that the family plays an important role in cultivating good habits to the younger generation. Hence, parents should be a good role model to their child.

In conclusion, I believe that keeping Singapore clean and green is the responsibility of every citizen. Our government may have taken the initiative to raise awareness of the littering issue through public campaigns but we as Singaporeans should also play our part and not be oblivious to the situation. Our attitude towards this issue is a reflection of our self discipline and family upbringing, not guided by the penalties or enforcement officers. Should everyone play their part and be litter-free, Singapore would definitely be a much better place.


Done By: Kwek Wan Ling
Admin Number: 103503L

Credits:
http://app2.nea.gov.sg/campaigns_anti_Littering.aspx
http://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com/2010/06/singapores-worst-litterbugs.html