To Our Cleaners With Love

Two decades ago, I wrote to the press and some local magazines about our cleaners. I even took some photos to show the state of our rubbish dump. People threw rubbish indiscriminately at the void decks of HDB flats. Sometimes soiled baby diapers and sanitary pads glared at you in the face! Each time the cleaners drove past with the rubbish trucks, I had to hold my breath for a few seconds. Thank God that although I cannot swim, I have become adept at holding my breath discreetly without having to pinch my nose. Yes! Everyone knows the rubbish stinks! But could you and I not help to lessen the odour and make the job a slightly more pleasant one for the poor cleaners?

I am sad to think that decades later, although Singapore has progressed by leaps and bounds in the field of business, science, education, housing, etc. etc. the stench from the rubbish remains the same! Until today, few have bothered to tie their rubbish in plastic bags so that they do not spill out and create more stench.

When I was studying in Canada, I was impressed with the way rubbish was being discarded. There was much recyling, and it was heartening to see how residents bothered to seperate the papers, bottles and plastics. Even though we have such recyling bins in Singapore, how many of us have actually bothered.? As I sleep late and wake up early, I would often hear loud noises of bottles being thrown down from the rubbish chutes on the higher floors.

When I was holidaying in Melbourne, I was surprised to find that residents were only limited to two huge rubbish bags per week. If you had more than two rubbish bags, you had to dispose them yourself, because the cleaners from the trucks would only collect two bags from each household!

My friends from overseas often tease me about "fine" Singapore. I have often pondered why we have so many fines in our country. If only we could be like the Canadian or Australian residents who do not need fines to be imposed for littering, smoking in non-smoking areas, etc. All these years, PAP has to be like the wonderful, caring PAPa, imposing fines, hoping that by doing so, the situation would improve. But have we...really? For the sake of my international readers, PAP refers to People's Action Party, the prevailing Party in Singapore.

Let us all spare a thought for the poor cleaners. Most, if not all of them, come from India and Bangladesh because Singaporeans do not want to clean up their own fellowmen's rubbish. I have seen how some even haughtily pinch their noses in utter disgust at the stench that pervades the air, when they could actually be the culprits who do not tie up their own rubbish bags properly. I shudder to think what if the cleaners ever go on strike one day! Let us not take our cleaners for granted. Let us all play a part to help keep Singapore really, really clean wihout PAPa having to resort to fines again.

Gan Chau