Even Stars Bleed

Politics/societal issue:  Neighbours from hell

Article: http://www.todayonline.com/articles/94678print.asp

Brief Summary: The article talks about hellish neighbors and their unimaginable horrible habits.

Reflections: The article talks about hellish neighbors. I am not here to talk about them today, but rather the related problem, which is rather prevalent in our society today – Ungracious living.

       The corner coffeshop is my estate just got a makeover. And it was I emphasize “was” a spanking new coffeshop with halogen lighting and sleek glass-fronted stalls. After months of renovations, the place opened early this month. I was so excited by this infusion of class into our estate that I was there on the very first day.
     It was impressive: the unsteady plastic chairs had been replaced with veneer-covered benches while the sticky mosaic floor had been covered with non-slip white tiles. Most of the stalls were new and run by stallholders who look like they had been imported straight from Orchard Road. Even the two stallholders remaining from the coffeeshop days had cleaned up their act considerably.

   It was really sad though that their clients could not be changed as well. Within minutes of opening, the estate layabouts began to stake out their territory. My loony neighbor now sits for hours on end at the only smoking table. The resident drunk has also set up his home with the beer bottles piling up as the day wears on.
    It would have been fine if it were just them, they cannot help it if they are mentally unsound. But what about the other patrons mainly the residents why do they treat this place like a third-world coffeeshop? Within weeks the smart white tiles are turning gray, the life green chair have scuff marks, thanks to irresponsible parents letting their kids jump from seat to seat.
     I really feel no point of bringing the comforts of modern life to people whom unable to appreciate it as all. Graceful living is totally wasted on them. This can be seen everywhere. Why bother upgrading lifts, giving flats new fresh coats of paint when pen graffiti can be seen within days. Can’t people control their hands in the 30seconds that they wait to get to the fifth floor?
   The problem is that a certain level of ungracious living has pervaded our society. We feel that this is public property and hence we are entitled to treat it as we fancy. Why should the government actually bother trying to make the place look nice if the people them selves do not even bother taking pride in where they live in.
    This is a problem that cannot be solved with an immediate solution but rather we need try to create more social awareness, slowly infuse gracious living into our society. Look at Japan walk on the streets and you can’t find a single piece of litter within 10miles. Why? Because Japanese citizens care and they are proud of their country. Singaporeans need to start being bothered.
    Probably we should start taking hard measures. If littering fines don’t work then we will have to do it the hard way by making inconsiderate residents exchange their flats for non-upgraded ones in the middle of nowhere where the only green will be the mould they see on their walls.

Environmental issue: Promising start to first bring Your Own Bag Day

Article: http://www.straitstimes.com/

Reflections: I read with great interest the articles on bring your own bag day campaign. I am sure that the relevant government agencies and participating stores have good intentions but I have my doubts that it will progress beyond being another lip-service campaign. Wasn’t there another campaign by the largest supermarket chain in Singapore to educate the public to use fewer plastic bags? That campaign came and went without much fanfare.
The problem lies as much with the business as it does with the customers. When I go to junction 8’s NTUC to grab a cold drink, I have cashiers giving me a plastic bad even after I say I do not need one. And is there a need to bag my newspaper separately when there is space in the other bags provided?
Big malls spend thousands of dollars to install water saving devices- such as automated flushing systems and motion-sensitive taps- in their toilets. But where is the recycling bin when you need it most, at the food court or wherever small food kiosks are located? It almost seems to me now that this “environmentally friendly” equipments are installed just to help save on their water and electricity bills with no thought whatsoever for saving other aspects of the environment.

This is especially so after using one of the automated toilet cubicles, I press the manual flush and seconds later the automated flush goes off again. How can this then be saving water?
I feel that the immediate solution lies in a fundamental change to our lifestyle of convenience. It is the root cause of our problem because the production of good adversely affects our climate. So is the subsequent incineration of used and unwanted items. Recycling has become synonymous with our contribution to global warming. But we seem to ignore the fact that recycling also requires energy and, again causes pollution.
Governments’ symbiotic relationship with businesses makes it impossible to tackle the problem from the demand aspect as is required. For establishments that are guaranteed large amounts of trash daily, there does not seem to be effort to recycle. When I was eating at lau pa sat last week, I see cleaners collecting the metal cans but not the plastic cups that came with the drink.
Even a well-educated society like Singapore still does not understand the perils of our inaction. Ask any Singaporean, and the probably answers to the climate change would be “don’t know”, “cant be bothered” or “recycling”.

For recycling efforts to work effectively, there will be costs, which will have to be borne by consumers, retailers and the government. Consumers should pay refundable deposits for bottles and canned drinks. When it comes from our own pockets, we may start appreciating the problem better and start to do more for our planet.
We are a world-class country with a world-class government. Let’s work together to make our environment world-class, too. We can be envied for our Newater – so why stop at just recycling water?