Nee Soon GRC MP Lee Bee Wah is suggesting to the authorities to reward people who catch litterbugs in action. For example, after a resident takes a video of someone littering, he submits the evidence to NEA, and he gets to earn half of the summons.
Monica Kotwani, Channel NewsAsia 11 Oct 15;
SINGAPORE: While the rest of the neighbourhood in Nee Soon South is sleeping, about 120 volunteers were out early on Sunday morning (Oct 11). Armed with litter pickers and gloves, they sorted the garbage into bags for rubbish and recyclables.
Headed by Nee Soon South MP Lee Bee Wah, the ward is the first in Singapore to do this on a monthly basis.
The programme – called HABIT @ Nee Soon South (Hold on And Bin IT, make it a HABIT!) – started about three years ago, and organisers said they have seen a gradual decrease in the amount of litter collected. Meanwhile, the number of residents volunteering has also increased.
National Environment Agency (NEA) said it wants to replicate the monthly scheme in other parts of Singapore. It said representatives from Jurong and Queenstown have expressed an interest, and have attended Nee Soon's monthly litter picking programme to learn more.
However, Ms Lee said picking up litter is not enough. She is encouraging her residents to look out for those who litter habitually.
She also suggested to the authorities to reward people who catch litterbugs in action. For example, after a resident takes a video of someone littering, he submits the evidence to NEA, and he gets to earn half of the summons.
She said: "In Taiwan, every resident is an enforcement officer. They can video, they can take photo of the litterbug and submit to their NEA. And if there is successful prosecution, their NEA will give the resident who reported it half of the summons collected.
“My residents have given this suggestion and I thought it is a good one. So now I'm working with NEA, and we will try to pilot this in Nee Soon South in the near future."
Channel NewsAsia understands there are challenges in its implementation, as the legislation needs to be amended.
Said NEA chairman Liak Teng Lit: "I think the Government needs to think through what are the things we need to do. If you look at the equivalent of what is happening on the road, many people today have their in-vehicle cameras and not many people dare to make funny claims about accidents because there is a risk that whatever you say could be contradicting what's on the camera in someone else's vehicles.
“So certainly having neighbours watching over the environment and watching over each other will be very helpful. For the good citizens, there is nothing to worry about. In fact, people will be filming you doing good things and praising you rather than reprimanding you.”
Ms Lee also launched a second recycling point in her ward, after a successful pilot. The scheme is being supported by the Tzu Chi Foundation.
Residents take their recyclables to the void deck at Block 873, Yishun Street 81. These items will be sorted, and taken to recycling centres.
She said this will educate residents on what can and cannot be recycled. This could prevent uninformed residents from contaminating recycling bins with waste.
- CNA/xk
Get rewarded for catching a litterbug?
Carolyn Khew, Seow Bei Yi, Zhaki Abdullah, The Straits Times AsiaOne 13 Oct 15;
Reward people for catching litterbugs? The bold idea, which Nee Soon GRC MP Lee Bee Wah said she was thinking of trying out, has sparked mixed reactions from experts and members of the public.
During a litter-picking exercise in Nee Soon South on Sunday, Ms Lee said she has suggested to the National Environment Agency (NEA) to implement a reward system like that in Taiwan, where people are given a portion of the summons payment after they submit evidence of litterbugs caught in the act.
Yesterday, she told The Straits Times she suggested this to the NEA a few months ago and hoped to roll out a pilot in Nee Soon South.
When asked, NEA said it is studying the feasibility of the idea, which arose after a study trip to Taiwan by the Public Hygiene Council. The suggestion comes against the backdrop of stepped-up enforcement against litterbugs by NEA.
Responding to ST queries, the agency said for the first half of this year, over 12,000 tickets were issued for littering - a 34 per cent rise from the same period last year. About 70 per cent of the tickets were issued to residents. Over the same period, there were 551 instances of corrective work order (CWO) imposed by the courts, a 72 per cent rise from the same period last year. Less than 6 per cent of those who served the CWOs were caught littering again.
Yesterday, an ST street poll of 50 people saw 34 disagreeing with rewarding people for nabbing litterbugs and 16 for the idea, saying it would have a deterrent effect.
"When people know that they will be photographed for littering, they will be more diligent (in not littering)," said Ms Srilata Krishnan, 39, a regional compliance manager.
Of those against the idea, 10 said education was the long-term solution. Dentist Ahmad Hassan, 36, said of the idea to reward people for catching litterbugs: "People will suspect other people and (this will) create a sense of animosity."
National University of Singapore sociologist Tan Ern Ser was also against the idea. He said: "Civic consciousness should not have a price tag to it. As a parallel, do we want to see a day when accident witnesses need to be paid to come forward to give evidence?"
Public Hygiene Council chairman Edward D'Silva said implementing this approach will come with challenges. "The authorities will have to verify the authenticity of the picture and whether the person who took the picture is bona fide."
Ms Lee told ST yesterday: "The main objective is to have everyone playing his part so the environment will be much cleaner. If you do not litter, you need not worry."
NEA chairman Liak Teng Lit said he is open to the idea. When it comes to recalcitrant litterbugs, neighbours may be more familiar with them than NEA enforcement officers, he noted.
If implemented, the idea will add to measures over the years to encourage people here to keep Singapore clean. They include No Cleaners Day and the Bright Spots challenge, which encourages people to adopt an area and keep it clean.
Asked if these have worked, Mr Liak said: "We may not have made a vast improvement but the decline in cleanliness has slowed down."
Most people do not litter, he said. They just need to continue to do so and to remind those who litter not to do so. Where possible, people should also pick up litter, he said.
"When that happens, Singapore will be truly clean, not cleaned."
Will 'tattletale' solve litter issue?
Foo Jie Ying, New Paper AsiaOne 17 Oct 15;
Why fear if you are not a litterbug?
That is what Ms Lee Bee Wah had to say to criticism of her suggestion to offer monetary rewards to those who catch litterbugs in action.
On the sidelines of a litter-picking event over the weekend, the Nee Soon GRC Member of Parliament talked about hoping to pilot the programme in her constituency.
But some saw Ms Lee's proposal as encouraging people to "bao toh" (Singlish for tattletale) on each other. When approached by The New Paper on Tuesday, Ms Lee stood by the idea. "I don't think it will have a major impact on feelings between neighbours. After all, people who don't litter have nothing to fear," she said.
The idea is based on a Taiwanese legislation: those who submit evidence of litterbugs in action may be rewarded with a portion of the fines imposed.
A resident brought it up to Ms Lee, who found the system to be an effective deterrent for habitual litterbugs.
She then suggested it to the National Environment Agency (NEA), hoping to pilot it in her ward.
"I looked at the system in Taipei. It is certainly effective - their Department of Environmental Protection feels that it is the main factor for improving the cleanliness of their city," she said.
She hopes the system, if piloted here, will give residents a sense of participation.
"Also, if the common areas are clean all the time and not just after cleaners clean up, everyone will feel more comfortable using them," she said.
Even if few people go around catching litterbugs, the mere existence of such a system will deter the litterbugs, she added.
While the general idea is to follow the Taiwanese report-and-reward system, Ms Lee said the exact model should be examined by NEA.
"I think the monetary value should not be large, but just a small sum to incentivise people to report litterbugs," she said.
Will the reward system work?
NEA chairman Liak Teng Lit said: "In my personal opinion, it's not so straightforward. It doesn't mean that if you give money, people will definitely report on litterbugs more."
But Mr Liak thinks this system will serve as a check on recalcitrants.
With social media, people are now worried about being flamed online, he said.
"We are not talking about ordinary people who accidentally drop something. We are talking about recalcitrants - those who throw diaper, food and other horrible things," he said.
Mr Ken Kee, a victim of high-rise littering, agreed.
He had to deal with neighbours who kept throwing porridge and other food out of their window last year.
Frustrated, Mr Kee, 43, resorted to camping opposite the block to film his neighbours in action.
The case remains unresolved as the alleged culprits have moved out, he said.
VOICE OUT
"Littering is a problem that has been going on for some time... If you throw a banana skin on the floor, it's totally unacceptable. These are things we should actually voice out against," he said.
But Singapore Kindness Movement's secretary-general, Dr William Wan, has "mixed feelings" about putting a price tag on actions that should be altruistic.
"By incentivising this act of public service with money, we may solve one problem and create another - which is just as bad, as we might end up becoming a society that acts only when incentivised," he said.
"I do think that we need to step up enforcement and the best people are the authorised enforcement officers, including the trained community volunteers, who are empowered by law to do this."
