As someone who has been having his meals at hawker centres daily for 10 years, I agree with Mr Ang Tun Loon that it is time to take firm and positive action to enforce a tray return rule at hawker centres (Time to penalise those not returning trays at food centres, Sept 22).

It has been several years since the tray return initiative started, but there has been no marked improvement in the matter, despite campaigns and incentives.

This is because customers are not compelled to return their trays, or at least to not leave cutlery or leftover food and bones on the table.

It is common to see birds swooping on tables to grab leftover food.

I do support a campaign to inculcate good social behaviour using the ABC approach: attitude, behaviour and consequence.

This approach places importance on changing social attitude as a means to shaping and driving good social behaviour, and thereby deriving good consequences.

But after years of the tray return initiative and now amid the Covid-19 pandemic, it may be time to do things differently - use enforcement as the first step to change social behaviour, which would hopefully lead to the desired consequences.

When that happens, social attitude begins to change and it gradually becomes second nature for people to return their trays.

The coronavirus pandemic presents a good opportunity to bring about such a change.

If the vast majority of Singaporeans will put on a mask when they go out so as to avoid a $300 fine, I do not see why they cannot return their trays to tray stations to avoid a similar fine.

Seng Joo How