When 1st the flimsy plastic shopping bags were introduced into the market, there were such applauded hurrays to praise that as a state of the art invention to replace the bulky paper bags, rattan weaved baskets etc., other form of hand carry materials in lieu of the clumsy and heavy items!
Now it says the government is going to ban the use of plastic shopping bags in most of the supermarkets which slowly will extend to the mini markets and other retail outlets. Amidst the many ignorant customers they have enjoyed long time convenience by this once an 'innovative' product which has multiple usage as the shopping bag cum trash bin lining skin, for sure they will be greatly inconvenienced and hence the complaints are eruptive!
The argument is - if plastic bag is the foe to environment friendly, what about the paper cartons which use natural paper pulp or recycled papers which aren't not the killers of the planetary environment when all in the world stop using plastic bags and fall back to the olden days of using paper materials?! They have to cut down more trees to cater for the production line of paper bags or paper packing materials! Somehow or rather, there must be a replacement for the easing of the established habit of the consuming public until and unless there comes another state of the art innovation just to serve the convenience of the housekeepers!
In Singapore, they are still using these types of plastic bags for carrying handy items, food staff etc., and as the most convenient packaging materials. Those provided by the shopping outlets to their customers are believed to be all made of degradable plastic materials and are supplied with FOC at the costs of the shop operators. Over here, the customers are going to be charged 20Cts. each bag! Grumbles are on the street and the kopitiams......
Perhaps we must also look into the fact that HOW Singapore is allowing all these 'trash' to be livened together with Her peoples and yet they are one of the acclaimed clean and orderly garden city in this region of the pacific area! On their streets or tourist spots, we can hardly see any plastic bags, cans or even waste tissues or newspapers simply throwing here and there like in Templer Park or the Botanical Garden! Those are the 'by-products' of the family days after the lacked civic conscious public members had had their hype of whoopee in picnics at the particular spot of interests!
So education is important! So presumably if education still cannot work, the Government should be able to think of how to inculcate them with more informative dialogues, publicity or even by strict enforcement of by-laws if the ever been pampered jokers are too obstinate to be obedient! In Singapore again, a small round sticker of about 150mm diameter with imprints of - No Smoking, By law - these few words would have sufficient to scare all the 'smoke worms' to swallow the cigarette butts into their stomach after 'smoking'!
So look South to Singapore- is suggested as a prototype for study - and, wasn't this a very much touted for slogan before 308 by the then oppositional Party DAP?!
Cheers!
