SINGAPORE: One initiative in the recent debate on government spending estimates that created a bit of an online storm was that the National Environment Agency (NEA) may publicise the images of litterbugs so that members of the public can help identify then.
The stated objective of the proposed measure is to “invoke collective community ownership to keep the common spaces clean, and also deter potential litterbugs”, according to the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE). One concern is whether this could have the opposite effect – one that erodes social trust instead.
To reinforce the government’s commitment to a higher level of cleanliness, 2024 has been designated the year of public hygiene.
There is nothing new about the government’s obsession with keeping Singapore clean and green. Then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew launched the Keep Singapore Clean campaign in 1968, one of the first national campaigns to make Singapore the cleanest and greenest city in the region by addressing littering.
