I was at the Singapore Zoo last Friday with my young son and came upon a girl, perhaps no more than 10 years old, feeding twigs to the goats at Children's World, the children's section of the zoo.

Next to her was her mother and a prominent sign that reads 'No feeding'.

I gently reminded the woman of the notice board. Her retort? 'Everybody feeds the animals'.

Her child continued to feed the goat, which was lapping up whatever she was picking up from the ground. This clueless child will unfortunately grow up thinking her behaviour is perfectly acceptable.

The innocent child was not at fault. The parent, an educated adult, should have known better.

What more can be done when harsh penalties have been meted out on obstinate offenders?

More aggressive education is key, perhaps to both school-going children and misguided, uninformed adults.

Koh Wee Hoon (Ms)