Social pressure can help deal with littering habits: PM Lee

Saifulbahri Ismail Channel NewsAsia 11 Nov 12;

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said putting social pressure on litterbugs is one way to deal with the problem.

Mr Lee though did not rule out the possibility of adjusting the penalties for littering.

He was speaking to reporters at the launch of the Clean and Green campaign at Ang Mo Kio constituency on Sunday morning.

Statistics from the National Environment Agency (NEA) showed there are about 3,500 complaints about littering in public places every year.

Since August, surveillance cameras have been installed to catch high-rise litterbugs.

PM Lee said it's not easy to nab people who litter. And, he hopes the public can pitch in, to promote good social habits.

He said: "Members of the public will look at you and you will know that you have done something which is no good and that's how I think the Japanese do it, the Koreans do it.

"It's most impressive when you go and see their cities how they have kept it clean. They don't have as many cleaners or foreign workers as we have.

"So, really it's something which we have got to get into our kids and into ourselves, whether you are at home whether you are overseas. This is the correct behaviour not to be anti social."

And while penalties for littering may be adjusted, Mr Lee made clear that they have to be proportionate, to the offence committed.

He said Singapore's anti-littering campaign has existed for a long time.

Yet, he's noticed the standard of cleanliness going down.

Mr Lee said: "Maybe the city is more crowded now that there are more people but it's also because I think over the years a bit blase about it.

"So if you look at the pictures before and after which we showed how our own precincts before the cleaners have cleaned it and after the cleaners have cleaned it, a lot of stuff and a lot of it have been thrown from higher storeys. People, instead of just using the dustbin, they use the window as dustbin and I think that's no good."

As part of the Clean and Green campaign, the Ang Mo Kio Town Council will focus on tackling issues relating to cleanliness at common areas, high rise littering, and responsible pet ownership.

In addition, the Ang Mo Kio-Hougang constituency will form a Clean and Green Taskforce.

It's a volunteer group made up of representatives from different grassroots organisations. The aim is to raise environmental awareness and promote social responsibility in keeping the estates clean.

The Town Council is also providing more convenience to residents and encouraging good binning habits. It's adding 35 more of colourful painted bins at bus stops along Ang Mo Kio-Hougang area. The Town Council hopes that with these bins, more people will use it and litter will be reduced.

There are also plans for more energy savings initiatives. The Ang Mo Kio Town Council will replace 50,000 lamps at 193 blocks with energy saving LED ones from June 2013.

When fully implemented, a net savings of S$1 million on electrical tariffs every year, may be achieved.

More solar panels will also be installed next year to reduce energy consumption in common areas.

- CNA/xq/ck

PM: Pitch in to keep up cleanliness levels in Singapore
Standards slipping; penalties may be raised; social pressure is best answer
Janice Heng Straits Times 12 Nov 12;

PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong has thrown his support behind the move to raise standards of cleanliness in the country, urging Singaporeans to play their part in keeping it tidy.

He noted yesterday that standards of cleanliness had slipped as people were getting blase about littering.

But PM Lee stopped short of backing some of the tough proposals that have been put forward, saying he thought the best approach was one of social pressure.

The penalties for littering may have to be adjusted, he said. "But I don't think it's the correct solution that if we catch you once in a while, then we send you to jail. It has to be proportionate to the offence."

The problem is best addressed by Singaporeans themselves frowning on those who litter, and doing their part to keep the city clean, green and special, he said.

Mr Lee's hope is that, when someone litters, it will not be left to the authorities to go after the person "but everybody else who is there, members of the public, will look at you and you will know that you have done something which is no good".

Such social pressure is felt in Japan and South Korea, where cities are clean despite fewer cleaners, he said.

Mr Lee was speaking to reporters at the launch of Ang Mo Kio GRC and Sengkang West's two-year Our Clean And Green Home campaign.

Keep Singapore Clean Movement head Liak Teng Lit said he "fully agreed" with Mr Lee.

"Unless there is social disapproval, no amount of enforcement, no amount of nagging will work," he told The Straits Times yesterday.

Mr Liak has also called for tough new measures on litterbugs who are impervious to social pressure, including giving thousands of citizens the power to issue summonses to offenders.

Enforcement is still important for the small minority who disregard social norms, he added. He thinks falling cleanliness standards are due in part to a lack of enforcement, observing that "no one fears being caught now".

Another factor is the frequency of cleaning. Some estates are now cleaned two or three times a day, so residents do not feel that littering is a problem, he said.

The campaign by Ang Mo Kio Town Council and the community centres' youth executive committees, addresses issues such as cleanliness at common areas, high-rise littering, responsible pet ownership, the feeding of strays, and saving energy.

Yesterday's launch included an exhibition of photographs showing the contrast before and after cleaners had made their rounds of the precincts.

Three town council cleaners received $200 NTUC FairPrice vouchers and plaques from Mr Lee for winning the National Environment Agency's Best Cleaner awards. One of them, Ms Sharifah Nooraidah, 41, took the job five years ago to support her wheelchair-bound parents and younger brother.

Mr Lee's remarks on keeping Singapore clean came on a day when Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong pitched in with others to pick up litter.

At the MacPherson constituency yesterday, 30 cleaners were given the day off as a reward for their efforts at keeping the estate clean. In their place, doing the usual job of picking up litter and sweeping void decks were PCF kindergarten pupils, grassroots volunteers and Marine Parade GRC MPs.

The other MPs there besides Mr Goh were Mr Seah Kian Peng and Ms Tin Pei Ling, and Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten).

Holding a black trash bag and metal tongs, ESM Goh walked around the common areas picking up litter with kindergarten pupils at the Balam Road estate. Ms Tin said the event aims to promote the idea that keeping the estate clean is a shared responsibility.

Yesterday was also the day that new tray return points were introduced at West Coast Hawker Centre. The popular eatery is the first to be outfitted with the new racks, which allow for trays containing larger crockery items.

Such tray return points will be rolled out in all 107 hawker centres under the National Environment Agency, which is leading the campaign to get consumers to return their plates and utensils.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY THAM YUEN-C AND JESSICA LIM