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  Today Online 16 Nov 06
Being 'clean and green' is a matter of continuing education
Letter from Ng Meng Hiong Deputy Director, 3P Partnership Department National Environment Agency

Today Online 8 Nov 06
More than a sum of its parts
It's about caring for the entire ecological system--not just air, water and land
Letter from Maryanne Maes

I REFER to the report, "Climate change, air quality are top green priorities" (Nov 4). Yet another Clean and Green Week has arrived, and as in previous years, we seem to be fixated on the "fashionable" issues that come and go.

This year, it is climate change and air quality.

It is only now that Singapore is paying attention to climate change, even though global warming was a big concern from as far back as 2000. Yet, we have always prided ourselves on keeping abreast of global developments.

Similarly, the threat of rising sea levels has been imminent since 2003. Do we have the high level of expertise to truly understand climate change and to conduct hardcore implementation to reverse the trend?

It is evident that the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) and the National Environment Agency (NEA) have spent a lot of resources organising Clean and Green Week.

Have they been effective so far in spreading the awareness of environmental protection and management? Having high public participation does not mean that the public has been successfully educated.

From what I observe, the emphasis of Clean and Green Week has usually been on air, water and land.

While I applaud MEWR's and the NEA's successful management of our clean air, clean water supply, and the commendable waste disposal system, I'm wondering when Singapore is going to wake up and understand that to care for the environment in a more sustainable manner, we first need to care for the entire ecological system as a whole--not simply focus on sectoral issues.

We need to shift from just teaching our kids about anti-littering practices, to caring for nature. When we inculcate a love for nature, we will take ownership of it.

And we need laws to curb the use of plastic bags, conduct sting operations on vehicles with heavy smoke emissions, including Malaysian vehicles, and ensure that litterbugs will be heavily punished.

Why else was Singapore a cleaner city back in the early days when stronger enforcement was in place?

Today Online 16 Nov 06
Being 'clean and green' is a matter of continuing education
Letter from Ng Meng Hiong Deputy Director, 3P Partnership Department National Environment Agency

We thank Ms Maryanne Maes for sharing her feedback about the Clean & Green Week (CGW) and the need to educate the public to care for the environment in a more sustainable manner ("More than a sum of its parts", Nov 8).

We share Ms Maes' views that high public participation in events such as CGW does not necessarily mean that the public has been successfully educated.

This is why we at the National Environment Agency (NEA) stress continued education as a long-term strategy towards greater co-ownership and responsibility of the environment.

And while Clean & Green Week is a major event on our calendar, and a highly visible one at that, it is by no means intended to be our sole effort at educating the public.

Working in partnership with the community and organisations in both the public and private sectors, the NEA organises a wide variety of programmes aimed at highlighting different environmental issues for different segments of the population.

On the theme for this year's CGW, Ms Maes suggests that we may be losing sight of the bigger picture by focusing on fashionable environmental issues.

We would like to assure Ms Maes and Today's readers that this is not so. We remain focused on our mission to ensure environmental sustainability even though specific campaigns may centre on topical issues such as littering or climate change.

Notwithstanding that, we recognise the importance of getting the public to appreciate that what they do each day may impact on our environment although their actions may appear inconsequential.

We also recognise that given the diversity and long standing nature of the environmental issues we face, neither education nor the use of enforcement alone can tackle the problems.

In fact, a fine balance of both will be needed, and the NEA will strive to achieve that balance.
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