http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/298766/1/.html reported that PM Lee HL came back from the APEC summit in Australia with these wise words: “(I hope that) there will be another clear statement on environmental concerns at the upcoming ASEAN and East Asia Summits in Singapore.
Well, I'm taking a raincheck on this. PM Lee is probably not the bleeding heart environmentalist he wants to be, judging by SingaporeÂ’s track record on such issues.
1) We have more and more cars on our already crowded Singapore roads, now that cars are getting cheaper by the year (see
http://blueheeler.wordpress.com/2007/08/24/i-talk-therefore-i-am/).
2. There are already ‘green’ hybrid cars for sale in Singapore that’ll reduce CO2 emissions, but these cars in Singapore cost about 35% more than a normal car of the same capacity (see
http://www.mr-endoh.com/?p=151). This shouldnÂ’t be the case (as green cars in overseas countries are only slightly more expensive than normal ones), unless itÂ’s because Singapore govt doesnÂ’t subdise green cars enough to encourage its use.
3. European countries encourage the sale of diesel cars for private use as such cars are deemed greener than petrol-cars (see
http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Petrol_Vs._Diesel_car-18000-1.html), but in sunny Singapore, thereÂ’s still a whoppingly high diesel-car tax that encourages private drivers to use pertrol instead. Is it because govt makes more $$$ on petrol taxes, or is it protecting some form of petrol-industry that itÂ’s involved with?
4. Taxis chalk up thousands of km every month, so they should be targetted for green-measures. In Australia, most cabs use LNG, which is a gas that burns cleaner than petrol and diesel. But in Singapore, cabs still use diesel, because LNG gas is not conveniently available for cabbies to fill up with (see
http://www.mr-endoh.com/?p=151). Another example of lack-of-govt support for LNG gas for heavy-use vehicles?
5. When I lived in Austrlia, my own housing complex of 6 apartments had itÂ’s own recyclling bin. Not 1 but 2: 1 for paper, the other for plasctics/glass/cans. But where I live in Singapore now, in a cluster of blocks with about 600 families, there are a grand total of TWO recycling bins. WhatÂ’s more, these bins are located in the open, and not conveniently by the lifts or major pathways. I religiously try to recycle, but these isolated bins sometimes test my patience to the limit.
I know it is sometimes fashionable to be ‘green’, but surely PM Lee must work harder to ensure that a 1st-world Singapore also practices 1st-world standards when it comes to environment-protection. Yes, Singapore is definitely ‘greener’ than 10 years ago, but you will agree that 2 recycle-bins per 600 families is a bit of a superficial gesture, isn’t it?