Onus on everyone to keep Singapore clean

Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor spoke in Parliament about the problem of high-rise littering and the measures taken by the Government to punish offenders and deter potential culprits (7,700 cases of high-rise littering in past three years, Sept 4).

The Public Hygiene Council agrees with Dr Khor and supports the Government in its public engagement efforts.

Some of our longstanding outreach programmes include daily cleaning and Character and 바카라사이트  Citizenship Education classes in schools, as well as regular beach, park and community clean-up activities.

More recently, we piloted the Sustainable Bright Spot programme in 12 housing estates, where residents conduct regular clean-up of their estates, and we hope this will one day be done in all housing estates.

We are also reaching out to parents through the talks that the Singapore Kindness Movement is conducting in pre-schools, so that they will in turn teach their children good hygiene habits.

Leading by example are our "Litter-Free" ambassadors, who encourage everyone in their communities to keep their shared spaces clean.

However, as I have reiterated many times before, the onus is on every individual - regardless of educational and economic background - to play his or her part in helping to keep Singapore clean. Paid cleaners can only do so much. It will never end if we keep littering every time after they clean up.

Positive social norms cannot be cultivated unless each and every one of us makes it a habit to bin litter properly, return food trays at hawker centres and foodcourts, and simply be courteous, considerate and civic-minded. Only then can Singapore be a liveable city with a First World society.

Gag orders imposed consistently - to protect alleged victims

We refer to the letter by Dr Yik Keng Yeong (Why no gag order on identity of doctors in sex offence cases?, Sept 5), in which he states that there is an apparent bias against doctors in the imposition of gag orders by the courts.

The purpose of a gag order is to protect the identity of the alleged victim so as to avoid or minimise further trauma to him or her. 인터넷카지노

The gag order extends to the protection of the name of the accused only in cases where revealing the name of the accused could lead to identification of the alleged victim, for example, where the alleged victim and accused are related, or are otherwise closely connected.

Our legal system operates on the principle of open justice. This means that accused persons are publicly tried, and their identities are not protected except in narrow exceptions where it could lead to the identification of an alleged victim and cause re-victimisation by unnecessary publicity.

This principle applies whether the accused is a doctor, or any other person. Contrary to what Dr Yik has said, there is no bias against doctors, whether apparent or real.

The authorities can do more to ensure that organisations conduct their business fairly, and inform the public if they do not do so.

Here are some cases in point.

Some telecom operators do not inform a consumer who is on, say, a 2GB monthly data plan when he has reached the limit.

The consumer may not know he has used additional data until he gets his bill at the end of the month.

One telco that makes sure customers are not caught unawares is Circles.Life. It will not proceed further from a subscribed plan unless the consumer says so.

Another example: Some banks offer higher interest rates on "fresh funds" as a marketing promotion. This excludes the money you already have in the bank. It is only when a customer threatens to withdraw all his money that the bank may consider his funds "fresh". 카지노사이트주소

Another unfair banking practice is to revert the interest rate of fixed deposits to board rate, which is usually lower, upon their maturity even though the promotion is ongoing. Unless the customer visits the bank on the deposit's maturity date, he will not continue to enjoy the promotional rate. This is deceitful on the part of the bank.

More proactive steps should be taken to ensure that organisations do not take advantage of consumers.

Initiatives to cut food waste and help the disadvantaged

It is heartening to see that during the parliamentary debate to pass the Resource Sustainability Bill, many MPs highlighted food waste as one of the key contributors to the waste stream (New zero-waste law to compel big firms to take greater action, Sept 5).

Food waste was what stirred the founders of charity Food from the Heart to channel unsold bread from bakeries to those in need.

Sixteen years on, the Bread Run programme still redistributes surplus bread every day, saving 28,000kg of bread monthly, thanks to the collective efforts of business owners and volunteers.

We have since expanded our eco-footprint with more food waste reduction initiatives.

For example, our annual Clean Plate Campaign reaches out to schools to raise awareness of the environmental and societal impact of food waste.

Last year, we counted 41,000 clean plates among the 65 participating schools. This year, 80 schools have signed up to participate in the campaign.

We have also launched a hashtag, #cleanplatechallenge2019, to encourage students to take the message home and share with their families food waste reduction tips.

Our Market Place programme focuses on redistributing "ugly food" from supermarkets and food distributors. It channels near-expiry products and packaging-damaged items that are still good for consumption to those who need them. 인터넷바카라

Beyond food, pre-loved toys that are still in good condition are another resource that we want to save.

From now till the end of October, toy donation drives are being organised, culminating in an annual Toy Buffet on Nov 8, where 3,000 children from disadvantaged families will be invited to attend.

Our only landfill is quickly filling up. Food from the Heart is glad that the Government is taking on climate issues with an Act that will catalyse waste reduction.

As a charity that alleviates hunger among the less fortunate through our food programmes, we are looking forward to the implementation of measures that should act as "carrots" to encourage more business owners to join us in feeding the needy through the efficient redistribution of food.

Food should fill empty stomachs, not the landfill.

Legal tech should benefit both industry and public

Law Minister K. Shanmugam, at the recent TechLaw.Fest conference, showed his audience an example where five contracts were reviewed by artificial intelligence in a mere 26 seconds - versus 20 experienced human lawyers taking 92 minutes - and with greater accuracy.

With local fees for top lawyers among the world's highest (On phone with lawyer? That will go into bill, Sept 8), technology has made it possible for routine legal work to be done in a much quicker and far less costly manner.

The question is: Are such cost savings passed on to the clients?

If access to justice is still possible only via exorbitantly priced litigation, it is no less elusive.

There is a significant segment of the population who can neither afford a good lawyer nor qualify for free legal service, given that the qualifying income ceiling squats at $10,000 a year.

The Community Justice and Tribunals System (CJTS) 안전놀이터 is a great initiative by the State Courts.

It allows parties to, among other things, lodge a claim, file applications and submit support documents online, eliminating the need for court attendance. The CJTS also allows users to view documents submitted by the opposing party and monitor case development online.

To level the playing field for litigants-in-person (LIP), the courts may wish to consider making e-litigation available to LIP, eliminating the need for them to file at third-party agencies and granting them the same ability as law firms to view documents filed by the opposing party.

In situations where parties are to exchange filings simultaneously, it will prevent law firms from taking unfair advantage of LIP by falsely claiming that they (the law firms) have filed - when in fact they have not - only to feast on the LIP's filing while unjustly soliciting more time to tailor theirs accordingly.

The Ministry of Law has done well to motivate Singapore to stay at the forefront of legal technology.

I hope the benefits not only help those in the legal industry, but also improve access to justice by cutting legal costs and offering innovative solutions to the population at large.