Bugged by littering

This picture was taken by The Ess on Sunday 4.3.2007 The Ess noticed that this pile of rubbish in the bakclane of Serangoon Garden has been there for sometime. Notice the Christmas decorations



This article first appeared in TODAY on 7th March 2007
by SHERALYN TAY sheralyn@mediacorp.com.sg

THE litterbugs are thriving — and they tend to be those who practically grew up with the anti-littering campaigns of the past 40 years

Singaporeans under 30 years of age are the most indifferent to littering, revealed a survey commissioned by the National Environment Agency (NEA).

Males under 30 and smokers were also more likely to litter, Dr Amy Khor, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, told Parliament.

Getting people to stop littering, Dr Khor said, “remains a key challenge today, especially in the heartlands”. In the NEA’s survey of some 3,000 people, done between last September and
this month, 95 per cent viewed littering as socially unacceptable.

Yet, the picture is different when it comes to action, particularly with those aged 30 and younger. This group had the lowest proportion agreeing that litter is harmful to the environment or leads to the spread of disease.

Only 69.9 per cent of those under 20 and 74.4 per cent of those in the 20 to 29 age group said
they took pride in keeping Singapore litter-free.

When the same question was asked of older Singaporeans, the figure was 78.6 per cent for those between 30 and 39; 84.6 per cent for those between 40 and 49; and 82 per cent for those above 50.

Younger people were also the least concerned about littering as a problem — with 50.9 per cent of those in the 20 to 29 age group and 48 per cent of the under-20s,registering concern.

The rest were “not concerned” or “neutral”. Older respondents appeared to care more, with those over 50 recording more concern, awareness and pride over keeping Singapore clean.

Two members of the Government Parliamentary Committee for National Development
and Environment said they were not surprised by the findings. Madam Cynthia
Phua noted that the under-30s grew up at a time when the good times were rolling in Singapore.

Many who were cared for by maids and received lower levels of parental guidance are a “bit more selfish”, she told TODAY. Mdm Ho Geok Choo thought the older generation was “more conscious about setting a good example for their children or grandchildren”.

Singaporeans still have a long way to go in self-discipline when it comes to littering, she added.