Few would disagree with Mr L. R. Erickson, a visitor from California who was shocked by the rubbish he saw on our beaches ("What happened to clean Singapore?"; Feb 15).

We have rubbish bins everywhere but there is also litter everywhere.

I have just came back from Taipei, Taiwan, and was impressed by what I saw there.

There are no rubbish bins, and yet the city is extremely clean. This included the roadsides, eateries, train stations and even the night markets, side roads and back lanes. They were also no flies anywhere.

I wonder who it was that was cleaning up the place, because I did not met a single cleaner there.

This shows the effort put in by the people.

Clearly, Taiwan should be saluted and we, Singaporeans, need to wake up.

Nellikala Chellappan Sathian