Forum: Someone will clean up after me, so why bother?

I refer to Mr Daniel Teo’s letter “

Singapore, we can do better

” (Jan 1). The country is in quite a sad state, with civic responsibility diminishing fast, and a clean Singapore may become a thing of the past.

Neighbouring Malaysia is now getting stricter on litterers (

Don’t embarrass Malaysia: Minister slams public littering in city centre

, Dec 26). In Singapore, the burden is often passed on to cleaners and town councils.

I have a few things to add to the woes listed by Mr Teo.

I see people smoking on the benches in play areas within HDB estates, and pushing the butts into the crevices in the benches and tables. A smoking zone is just a few metres away, but why bother?

Rented bicycles are still being parked haphazardly near bus stops and in the middle of pedestrian paths, a few metres away from the designated parking place.

People buy drinks from vending machines and then toss the empty cans in fields, basketball courts or exercise corners. Cans are even inserted into the fence around community gardens. A dustbin is just a few metres away, but why bother?

I have seen plastic bags half-filled with coffee and bubble tea cups abandoned inside lifts, with liquid spilt on the floor. No worries – someone will take care of it.

I see non-recyclable rubbish thrown into blue bins meant for recycling. Someone else will segregate the rubbish – so why bother? 

I may be a naturalised citizen, but I have seen the city’s civic sense deteriorating over the last two decades. Citizens like Mr Teo would have observed this state of affairs for even longer.

The Government can do only so much, and the rest lies in the hands of people with the right attitude. That is the only thing that will help.

Ramamurthy Mahesh Kumar