3 - Cleaning the Land and Rivers

Summary

We can make Singapore cleaner by placing community before self. Showing concern for the well-being and cleanliness of the environment is the mark of a mature, refined society. In short, the environment is everybody's responsibility. Everyone has a stake in it. In a society like Switzerland, those who litter are deeply frowned upon. There is great social pressure to conform to good environmental habits. I think there should be more such peer pressure in Singapore. Many litterbugs still do not feel the shame for what they do.

Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, at the Model Environmental Workers Award Ceremony, 9 November 1997

The warm and humid equatorial climate in Singapore is highly conducive to the rapid decomposition of refuse and the breeding of vectors or disease-bearing insects such as mosquitoes and flies. In the 1960s, against the backdrop of a high population density of more than 3,000 persons per sq. kilometre (rising to about 15,000 per sq. kilometre in the urban areas), improper disposal of refuse and indiscriminate littering would inevitably create health hazards to the population, and could result in rapid infectious disease transmission.

Keeping Singapore clean was thus one of the foremost challenges that the government had to tackle after the island state gained independence in 1965. It was a challenge born out of necessity.1 Moreover, during the early days of nationhood, a clean living environment was seen as a boost to the national morale and civic pride of a nascent state, helping to motivate the people to strive for higher standards of performance.

Removing litter is expensive as it involves the labour-intensive task of sweeping roads and drains, as well as subsequently collecting and disposing the litter. With the cost of litter removal many times that of domestic refuse removal, cost considerations alone would underscore the need to stop or minimize littering.

The government also recognized that improving public cleanliness was a crucial step towards achieving a good standard of public health, which in turn would contribute to a higher quality of life for Singaporeans. In addition to providing a more comfortable living environment for residents, a clean and litter-free Singapore also presents a significant competitive advantage in terms of attracting tourists to visit, foreign talents to work, and businessmen and industrialists to invest in Singapore.