http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/pub/naturewatch/text/a052a.htm
http://ecologyasia.com/news-archives/2001/jan-01/straitstimes.asia1.com.sg_singapore_story_0,1870,20114-980805540,00.html
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If you are in Singapore now, look out the window.
If you say that all you can see is the wall of the next building, then find another window. But the vast majority of people will see something which has characterized Singapore as a unique city in the sense that we have something which most other countries would only have in the countryside, or a few scattered in the nearby city square, or in a bonsai pot at home. It’s called trees.
Trees, or the general greenery. Singapore has long been labeled the “garden city”, in the sense that we are pretty much what a tree-hugger’s dream city could be. There’s not one road which is not paved with greenery, not one building without a skirt of trees. There’s not much doubt that Singapore is green. However, not many can say the same about Singaporeans.
The article from Habitat News tells us about the installation of “green corridors” between residential hubs in certain districts; most regular joggers will know them as park connectors. However, it also says that there are many Singaporeans who have taken a decidedly weird attitude about these paths. Lily Kong, social and cultural geographer from the National University of Singapore, observes that many Singaporeans who do not use these paths, take comfort in the fact that they exist.
Isn’t it just the slightest bit disturbing that a person can take comfort in an achievement which he had absolutely no part to play in, didn’t know about until he read the newspaper, and wouldn’t care about if he hadn’t? Maybe. Maybe not.
Protecting the title of “garden city” isn’t easy at all. In the 2001 World Economic Forum, Singapore was ranked as one of the tenth worst environmental countries. This was mainly due to Singapore’s inherent lack of natural resources, coupled with the level of industrial pollution per unit of land area. But nobody can say that the government hasn’t tried. Singapore has tried to implement more eco-friendly machines and techniques in her developmental process. I’ve also seen newspaper articles displaying pictures of one minister or another leaning against a shovel, planting a tree at an environmental protection event.
Okay, fine. The government has tried, full stop. What about us as individuals? We can take all the comfort in the world that this agency or that company has started a recycling programme, but besides that, there’s not much we can say for ourselves. Singapore may be green, but many Singaporeans don’t give a hoot. Everywhere – anywhere – you go, you can see litter decorating the drains and walkways. Cigarette butts, drink cans, tissue paper, cardboard boxes, you name it, they have it. Town councils have to install more and more rubbish bins (which are, ironically, GREEN, probably in some faint hope that the visitors will look at the bins and not the trash) which we don’t use anyway. Many places have to employ cleaners just to remove our trash, and frankly, it’s disgusting.
So, when will we do something about it? When will we come out from under the mask of green which the government has so carefully hidden us under? If everyone could just decide that their cigarette butts would look nicer in a bin, it would make a world of difference.
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