When I was residing in Geneva in the 90s, it used to give me great pride to hear comments like: 'Singapore is the cleanest city in the world - even cleaner than Switzerland.' And this coming from the squeaky clean Swiss is something to go by.

However, on my return, I was somewhat disappointed to see that certain areas in Singapore did not match up to this clean image. I had even taken photographs of such eye-sores and sent them to the National Environment Agency to act on.

Recently, on a shopping trip to VivoCity I saw with disbelief a child drop a plastic bag on the floor after he had removed a drink can from it while his father, who was holding his hand, just kicked the bag out of his way.

In such an instance, whom do we educate - the father or the child?

I still ask myself why I did not have the guts to confront the man over this uncivil act. Basically, it was out of fear of being told off.

What then is the cause for this deterioration of our standards of anti-littering? Have the authorities become complacent after their initial success?

From the replies given by some of those recently interviewed, it clearly shows that they have become bolder, assuming that they would not be caught.

On one of my visits to Jordan, I asked a government official how the Jordanian people managed to keep their city so clean without campaigns and fines. The reply: 'It is out of our pride for our country.'

Padmini Kesavapany (Mrs)