1 - Reflections on Singapore's Environmental Journey

Summary

We have built, we have progressed. But no other hallmark of success will be more distinctive than that of achieving our position as the cleanest and greenest city in South Asia. For, only a people with high social and educational standards can maintain a clean and green city. It requires organisation to keep the community cleaned and trimmed particularly when the population has a density of 8,500 persons per square mile. And it requires a people conscious of their responsibilities, not just to their own families, but also to their neighbours and all others in the community who will be affected by their thoughtless anti-social behavior. Only a people proud of their community performance, feeling for the well-being of their fellow citizens, can keep up high personal and public standards of hygiene.

Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew at the launch of the inaugural Keep Singapore Clean campaign in 1968

Residents in Singapore breathe in clean air, drink clean water direct from the tap, live on clean land, and enjoy good public hygiene. However, Singapore is not a green utopia with zero carbon emissions, large-scale renewable energy sources, or cutting edge zero-energy buildings. What it does have is a practical, cost-effective, and efficient approach towards sustaining its environment, which contributes to the high quality of life in Singapore.

In a world where rapid industrialization and urbanization have led to tremendous pressures on environment and water resources, visitors to Singapore often ask: how is it possible that a small city state sitting on barely 700 sq. kilometre of land, housing close to 5 million people, and bustling with a world class airport, the world's busiest port and many other industries, can remain clean, green, and environmentally sustainable? They want to understand how Singapore has achieved this and hear about Singapore's experience.

CLEAR VISION

The answer is that it starts with a clear vision from the very top that a clean and good quality living environment is important, and a strong commitment to implement that vision.