Littering

Some time back, a visitor to Singapore commented, "I thought Singapore is supposed to be clean and green? How come so much litter everywhere?" She went on to point out horrendous litter around us. I didn't know where to hide my face. I said, ehm.....because most of these people who litter are foreign workers.

Truly in Singapore, you clean till you turn green.

Our apartment's void deck and the surround grass patches see 'new art installations' every day! Crushed beer cans and styrofoam boxes are strewn all over the grass. Chicken rice wrappers fly here and there. Pieces of clothing rain down into the 'longkang' and loading / unloading bay everyday. Don't people even know when their laundry go amiss? Then there's the group of residents who actually bag up their litter but leave it at the void deck, probably thinking they are already doing the cleaners a favour.

What motivates a resident to litter just outside his home? Recently, I asked my friends that question and they, being a group of ex and current 'educators' blame this on the increase of foreign worker population (ahem, as usual) and also our schools and parents' failure to educate our kids in civic consciousness. Oh and also because this generation of people are being brought up by foreign domestic help.

I don't rule out foreign workers. I've seen with my own eyes how they dump their rubbish at the void deck. But nor do I rule out silly local kids playing parachute with their keropok and chocolate wrappers or the obviously local well-dressed executive who's mistaken the void deck pillar for the urinal. I digress but I have to mention this; just last night, I saw a whole family, maid, grandma and all, laughing at their kid who was peeing at the traffic light. What's so funny about that? We pick up after dogs you know?

I've been thinking and thinking..... what can be done? What can I do?
When you see soiled sanitary napkins lying all lonely on the public domain, obviously flung out from one of the windows, it gets depressing and you can understand why I even want to waste my brain cells thinking WHAT CAN I DO TO STOP THIS!!!!

A new neighbour told Mike she went door-to-door once to plead with the residents to not throw fecal matter and Milo out the windows! What????!!! Faeces and Milo? She advised us not to hang our laundry outdoors. I'm not sure where else flat dwellers are supposed to hang our laundry and hey, government subsidised apartments or not, we're paying for these apartments and we do pay conservancy. I expect to be able to hang my laundry out whenever I like and I'd also like to hang the guilty ones out to dry as well!

So, I've started to compile a photo diary of the litter. Not sure where that's headed. Maybe I should start some 'neighbourhood litter watch'? Maybe I should join the (ahem) grassroots thingy? Or maybe I just write in and 'comprain lor'!

First things first, I've not even finished moving into the new place and I'm getting ready for battle. But what the heck! This is my country, this is my home? (cliched but is it not true?) If we don't do something? Who will? By the time litter becomes killer litter, it might be too late.
Me thinks I've been living too long in a nice estate where 'community-in-bloom' is on every other person's regal tongue. Well, it's time I brought 'community-in-broom' to the heartlands!