Standard of Cleanliness in Singapore

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That Parliament do now adjourn."

Question proposed.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I urge this House, being aware that with the population growth, indiscriminate littering has made the upkeep and cleanliness of housing estates increasingly difficult, and mindful that there is a limit to the deployment of more manpower for cleaning work, pledge that Singapore is committed to preserve its reputation as a clean and beautiful garden city.

Growing up in a clean and beautiful garden city is something older Singaporeans are accustomed to. They have lived through the worst years of the pre-1960s and help our country to achieve its reputation as a litter-free garden city. The first national Keep Singapore Clean campaign was launched by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on 1st October 1968.

The month-long campaign was aimed at making Singapore the cleanest and greenest city in the region by focusing on the problem of inconsiderate littering. The campaign sought to instil in Singaporeans of all ages the importance of keeping public places clean. More than just a campaign, there were also changes in public health laws, hawkers were re-housed at hawker centres, proper sewage systems were developed, and disease control was vigorously pursued. The belief was that improved environmental conditions will not only enhance the quality of life for Singaporeans and cultivate national pride but also attract foreign investors and tourists to our shores.

Indeed, years ago, I would take delight in hearing tourists and foreign friends express surprise and admiration over our sparkling pavements and the roadsides lined with lush, fresh greenery and floral. These days, the picture is fading, especially at certain busy thoroughfares, walkways, bus stops, and so forth.

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Let me share with Members my experience in Nee Soon South. In Khatib Central, we have cleaners cleaning at 9.00 am as well as 5.00 pm. So, last Friday, I told Town Council cleaners not to do any cleaning from 5.00 pm onwards. And on Saturday, I went with about 100 grassroots leaders and community leaders to Khatib Central. We picked up bags and bags of rubbish. A lot of cigarettes butts, Toto/4D tickets and a lot of rubbish that was cleared out from the cars onto the carpark lots, and a lot of rubbish left behind at the loading and unloading bays at the back of the shops. And I am sure this is not uniquely Nee Soon South. It happens in a lot of places in Singapore.

Perhaps we have indeed become complacent. Perhaps a new generation has not learnt the lesson that filth and grime can impact environmental health. We have become dependent on an army of 70,000 cleaners, who do two to three rounds of cleaning each day in the public areas. While the various Government agencies have organised awareness campaigns year after year, and enforced penalties on the offenders who were booked, many get away. They know that the enforcement officers cannot be everywhere, every time and any time.

People are disposing litter where they should not. This is despite the fact that we almost "litter" our surroundings with bins to make it easier for them to throw their unwanted cups, papers, cigarette butts, etc. To many, they feel: why make the effort to throw the rubbish in the right place when someone will clean up after me? Somebody told me recently that in the radio Programme Capital 958 radio station, there was a caller who called in and said, "I heard MP Lee Bee Wah say that she wants to implement ‘no cleaner days'. But we all have already paid Town Council fees, why should we be deprived of cleaners?" This attitude is deplorable, indeed, and need to be changed! Those of us who dine at the hawker centres must have been plagued by the wince-worthy sight of messy tables covered with dirty utensils, food particles and gravy. Never mind that many large hawker centres these days have return points for patrons to deposit their dirty trays and utensils. It is very disheartening indeed! They can return the trays in schools and during their reservist training, why can it not be done when they are out into the working world?

Hiring more cleaners is not a long-lasting solution. Eventually, the wages of these cleaners will weigh down heavily upon the shoulders of the tax payers, while promoting further dependence on foreign workers. Neither is increasing the severity of penalties, if we cannot spare the resources to police offenders all over Singapore. The only solution is to change the mindset and habit of all residents of Singapore. There needs to be a commitment from us as individuals to uphold our Clean and Beautiful City image.

It is crucial to understand why people litter in Singapore. I have arrived at a few main conclusions, based on personal observation and research shared by other countries as part of their anti-litter campaigns. Litterbugs have no sense of ownership; they litter at public places, thinking that it does not make a difference to their lives. They litter where litter has accumulated; this is evident in the case of stacks of rubbish found at lift landings or outside rubbish chutes in HDB estates. They litter where they know others will pick up after them; our cleaners are so efficient that litterbugs are under the impression that their offence is of no consequence. There is no reinforcement of anti-littering mentality from a young age. With the prevalence of maid employment, such mentality is probably deemed unnecessary by some parents as the maids would clean up after the children. Some adults, sadly, do not set a good example to their children. According to a survey this year by NEA about littering, about six in 10 respondents say they "never litter". This shows that about 60% of our population are considerate people with morals, but may lack the courage to tell off the 40% who litter, and would rather develop tolerance for the offence.

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It takes a concerted effort from all parties to make social responsibility obligatory. Government agencies may explore more effective enforcement methods to nab the litterbugs. While the state of cleanliness is deteriorating, I understand that the number of litterbugs nabbed is decreasing instead of increasing. I just wonder, why? Is it because the enforcement officers are not in plain clothes, but in uniforms where people can then recognise them? Or is there a lack of usage of technology?

Take South Korea − one of the countries praised for high public cleanliness standards – has likewise had its fair share of littering problems in the past. The Seoul authorities came up with a unique solution – reward citizens for producing evidence of lawbreakers, litterbugs included, caught red-handed in the act. This initiative was so popular and lucrative that courses were created to teach citizens how to take good photos and videos of offenders which could serve as evidence for the police. There is even a term "ssu-parazzi" which is used to refer to regular citizens who specialise in catching litterbugs on film.

If the Singapore public is not willing to testify in Court, then encourage them to put the litterbugs on YouTube and let it go viral for everyone to see. Or send it to a Government agency for upload onto a web or Facebook to shame the litterbugs so that their friends, colleagues, relatives, family may spot them. Perhaps we should start another campaign: shame on you, litterbugs!

Looking at the quality of photos and videos posted on STOMP of citizens committing anti-social acts in public, I believe our citizens do not require professional training. On a serious note, they have proven their keen instincts for bizarre acts around them, as well as a sense of moral responsibility. Otherwise, they would not have taken the trouble and risk to capture those scenes and posting them online to shame the offenders. Let us make the most out of their interest and skills. Encourage them to turn over the evidence to the authorities. These would facilitate easier location and arrest of offenders.

In the long run, litterbugs will be conditioned to bin their litter right on the understanding that someone out there is always ready to catch their anti-social antics on camera. This initiative would incur a cost for rewarding citizens' whose work has led to successful arrests. However, the costs can be derived from the fines paid by litterbugs.

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Considering that the majority of people in Singapore do not litter, it is essential to grow this population by establishing a social norm where these morally-upright people are not afraid to reprimand litterbugs, where they are keen to spread good practices within their social sphere of influence. This is very commonly practised in Japan. I have a resident who just recently visited Japan with his daughter, and he told me that his daughter saw a Pepsi can left on the floor. With good intention, she picked up the can and she was walking to look for a bin. And she walked and walked and walked but could not find a bin. Then she quietly put it down on the floor again. And at this moment, she was surrounded by a group of Japanese and pointing to her to ask her to pick up the can. I think this is the behaviour that we would like to see in Singapore.

At the beginning of this year, the Public Hygiene Council had announced that this is what it hopes to do in outreach efforts to inculcate good hygiene practices. I commend such effort. I also propose teaching citizens how they can approach litterbugs in a safe and inoffensive manner to assert their stand, as one of the greatest concerns about calling out illegal acts is being treated with aggression. Perhaps if there is such a scheme, I would volunteer my grassroots leaders and residents who are keen to be trained by NEA. Let us showcase our role models. Let us recognise businesses that make the effort to encourage their employees to support the clean and beautiful philosophy.

Social and moral responsibilities are values that are more effectively inculcated from a young age. It is time to instil these values via our education system by imparting knowledge and introducing hands-on projects. Education on social responsibility and public hygiene should be widely encouraged in school activities. My friends in Japan told me that Japanese children are encouraged and taught from a very young age to clean up after themselves. School children are tasked to work in teams to clean their classrooms and corridors after class on a rotational basis. Some schools even assign toilet cleaning duties to the students, although hired cleaners are still responsible for aspects that demand greater skill and difficulty. In local schools, toilet and cleaning duties tend to be delegated to errant students as a form of punishment. This should not be the case. Cleaning up after oneself is a social obligation that everyone should be proud of doing, not punished into doing. At home, parents should be good role models to their children.

With the hike in foreign worker levies, this is the best opportunity to work with businesses to help them lower their dependence on foreign cleaners. All Town Councils too will support this, I believe. Assist them to design and implement technology and methodologies that will help them to keep their establishments clean. Encourage them to provide proper facilities for convenient disposal of rubbish, and insist on proper behaviour and responsibility. Let us begin with the meeting rooms. After a meeting, participants should be encouraged to clear the room of any cups and papers and not let the cleaner do the work.

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In conclusion, maintaining public cleanliness is not only the duty of the authorities and cleaning staff. Littering is a problem that plagues many countries. While there has been some of the most creative campaigns and advertisements around, there is a limitation to what awareness programmes can do to sway the deeply-rooted mindsets of those who have no sense of social responsibility. It has to be a coordinated, concerted effort by all socially responsible people in Singapore, alongside the authorities.

A litter-free environment, clean public toilets and hawker centres are not elusive if all of us play our part. We are a civilised city with good infrastructure, educated people and a history of being one of the cleanest countries in the world. There is no excuse for us not to be on par with Japan, South Korea and the Scandinavian nations. Let us not let 44 years of hard work cleaning up our country go to waste. Together, we can make Singapore clean and beautiful!