What is the use of building more playgrounds and parks if littering prevents them from being used fully? (Unsightly waste all over playground, Nov 14). This translates into a high opportunity cost in land-scarce Singapore.

Littering has been seen more as a hygiene issue, which was particularly important during the Covid-19 pandemic. We should also be mindful that littering can attract and change the normal behaviour of wildlife, such as birds which feed on leftover food in hawker centres and from overflowing dustbins.

Many people deem littering as a problem of low priority or are used to having others clean up after them. It is time to see littering as a wider societal problem and take firmer action. We need a top-down approach, with new campaigns and stricter enforcement. The first Keep Singapore Clean campaign launched in 1968 by founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew was highly effective. We can and should do better. 

Tan Li Fong