Singapore Economy
Littering pose as a problem for the government especially in Singapore as we hold the reputation of a clean city. Hence, the government is obligated to deal with the littering problem by implementing fines and employing cleaners to clean up the areas. Such measures require the government to set aside resources which could have been used for other national development and more pressing issues.
Therefore, a small behaviour perceived by us can result in a national economic problem which slows down the process of national development.
☛ DID YOU KNOW? ☚
- Minister of the Environment and Water Resource mentioned that $120 million are being used annually to clean public areas.
- Liak Teng Lit, head of the Public Hygiene Council and Keep Singapore Clean movement mentioned that there are about 70,000 cleaners in Singapore to ensure the cleanliness of the city.
Tourism
Tourism is one major contributor to Singapore’s economy and the attractiveness of the country will affect this particular sector.
According to the World Economic Forum in 2015, Singapore was ranked 11th out of 141 countries under the travel and tourism competitiveness index (Figure 1). This shows the importance of the tourism sector in Singapore as we continually maintain our competitiveness over the years.
However, littering can threaten this sector as it creates an unattractive environment for the tourists and it affects the score of health and hygiene of the nation which the World Economic Forum look into as part of the assessment for the competitiveness index. From the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index 2015, Singapore scored lower for health and hygiene relative to the other scores (Figure 2) and was ranked 61st out of 141 countries. (Figure 3)
This implies that more can be done to improve the hygienic factor in Singapore and it could potentially improve the tourism sector when littering problem is reduced.
