2014 FIFA World Cup has imprinted many memories in the lives of many. Honestly speaking, I am not a huge fan of soccer. Nonetheless, I followed the news of this recent world cup as most of the people around me tend to talk about it. Usually people would talk about the teams that they support, the teams that they bet on, and especially those entertaining news like “The Biting Suarez”. However, the deepest impression that I had of this world cup did not come from the games, but the actions of the Japanese after the game.
After the game between Japanese and Greece, the Japanese fans stayed to clean up the rubbish they left in the stadium. This simple act touched my heart, and also left me to reflect about the culture in Singapore. Once in a while, litterbugs in Singapore are being punished by serving corrective work order. It struck me that in order to improve the social behaviour in the society, the government enforces the law to the extent of embarrassing them.
Singapore is known to be a clean and green city, with little or no rubbish to be seen along the road. I hope that this reputation would stays true in the future, and as a Singaporean myself, I will certainly do my part in keeping this country clean and litter-free.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting post, Loo Yong, thanks to your keen observation about the Japanese soccer fans and their willingness to clean the stadium after the soccer match. I'm happy that you could use that as a springboard for discussing, albeit briefly, the situation in Singapore.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I don't find Singapore as "litter-free" as some might attest, or expect. Often I see rubbish bins overflowing, cans tossed into bushes, or cigarette butts at bus stops.
How can Singaporeans more readily do their part in making this city truly litter free?
Haha its true that Singapore is not as "little-free" as some might expect. Singapore managed to gain her "clean and green" reputation thanks to the government playing an active role in keeping the public area(roads etc.) clean by hiring cleaning companies and also coming out with organized rubbish removal system. However, when it comes to individual level, the people here are not doing their parts.
DeleteTheir actions may be rectify through law enforcement, but that is not enough in the long term period. The social behaviour here needs to be changed, and the government has also been organizing public campaigns to promote litter-free habit. Despite so, as the saying goes "the leopard doesn't change his spot", it is difficult to change the habit and mindset of the older generations.
As such, the younger generations play a very crucial role in educating the future generations of Singapore to practise good social norms.
Yes, indeed, Loo Yong, the responsibility falls on your generation to make a difference as Singapore moves forward. Do you think you all are up to the challenge?
DeleteI don't know for others, but I would definitely play my part in doing so~~
DeleteHi Looyong,
ReplyDeleteyour post was interesting. I agree with you that our government has enforced strict laws to deter the public from littering public areas. I have seen tv programmes that showed how Japanese and Koreans play their part in keeping their country clean. I think that we should learn from them and adopt their practices.
Cheers,
kai teng