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By Melissa Heng
THE recently-released statistics on litter louts in Singapore appalled me for many reasons.
According to the National Environment Agency, the number of Corrective Work Orders handed out this year has seen a quantum leap.
However, what's especially distressing is the fact that the majority of our litterbugs are teens and young adults.
Are we seeing a generation of apathetic youths?
With a society as highly educated and globalised as ours, how can it be that we are still lacking in social graces after decades of civic campaigns?
Let me give you a clue.
About two months ago, I was on the MRT downtown when a mother unabashedly told her young son to throw a toy wrapper into the platform gap when the train doors opened.
They then waltzed out of the cabin before I could gather my wits about me and give them a good telling-off.
And, just last week - again on the MRT - I spotted a mother happily distributing strawberry- flavoured biscuit sticks to her brood of five while waiting for the train to leave the station.
I pointed her towards the sign located above her that said "no eating" and was promptly rewarded with a stiff glare and a rebuke of "kaypoh".
So, where does the problem lie?
With the parent or the child? I'm inclined to say the parent.
Education of any kind must begin at home.
Civic-minded behaviour and social graces are best taught and learnt through example.
Parental example, to be specific. A parent who turns a blind eye to his child's littering or who encourages the child to litter is equally guilty of the act - if not more so.
Since gentle reminders and exhortations to be civic-minded seem to be falling on deaf ears, perhaps it is time we tried tougher and more novel measures. Why shouldn't we make litterbugs pay more taxes, for example?
After all, littering costs the country thousands of dollars each year in public money to clean up the mess.
Here's another suggestion: Hit them where it hurts, and let them pay the cleaners' wages for a change.
And what of parents who set bad examples?
Well, remember all those boring assembly sessions at school?
I'll bet assembly time would be a whole lot more interesting if parents of young litterbugs were brought on stage for their 20 seconds of fame - or shame!
The writer is a veteran journalist and book editor
For more my paper stories click here.
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