Clean Singapore?

Why no recycling? Let's save the earth!

Stray cats feeding on food remnants thrown around carelessly.

Singapore is well known to be a clean and green city. Yet, I am often saddened by the careless and thoughtless way of disposing rubbish as evidenced by the photos above.

My heart goes out to the cleaners who have to sweep and withstand the terrible odour of stale food, used pampers, etc. Ironically most of them are paid a meagre salary. In sharp contrast, the cleaners in Australia, Canada and America are highly paid for they are doing a job that is shunned by the population.

I remember the time I was in Melbourne. My second sister, Ean Ean, was only able to bundle her rubbish into one huge plastic bag. The cleaners would only collect one bag once a week! My sister would have to dispose any other extra bag or bulky items herself! Yet, in Singapore, everyday, the cleaners are at work! Although we have recycling bins, some people are just too lazy to dispose their cans, newspapers, etc. into these bins.

Perhaps we should emulate the style of the Taiwanese. A recycling truck would follow behind a garbage truck. Every resident would happily bring out recylced items and throw them into the recycling truck and their garbage into the garbage truck. Interestingly loud piano pieces such as Fur Elise, The Maiden's Prayer and Blue Danube could be played on the cd by the recycling truck. It added to the happy atmosphere!

Would the authorities do something to impove the condition and the lot of our cleaners? Must people in this little dot be fined before they do what any civic-minded person would do? Why must people anyhow throw rubbish along the streets, yet would take the trouble to keep their own homes clean? Ever so often, we could find unwanted bulky furniture and mattresses along the corridor of HDB flats when these should have been properly disposed. They are fire hazards! Someone could just carelessly throw a lighted cigarette butt onto the matress and a fire could take place!

Let us all do a part to help keep Singapore clean, really clean! Let us help to make life a little better for our poor cleaners.

Gan Chau