Bring Your Own Bag, Or Buy Your Own Bag.

Bring Your Own Bag, Or Buy Your Own Bag.

100,000 plastic bags saved on Bring Your Own Bag Day
By Julia Ng, Channel NewsAsia Posted: 19 April 2007 2028 hrs

SINGAPORE: Singapore's first Bring Your Own Bag Day on Wednesday managed to save an estimated 100,000 plastic bags.

According to leading supermarket chains NTUC Fairprice and Cold Storage, they cut the number of plastic bags by up to 60 per cent.

They also sold about 20,000 reusable bags.

At one Cold Storage outlet, most shoppers say they do not mind if they have to donate 10 cents to environmental projects for every plastic bag they take.

"If they donate it, it's up to them, right? But I think I'll bring my own bag. It makes more sense," said one lady shopper.

"I have no objection because it's contributing to the eco friendly system. I think it's good! For us businessman, for shopping we don't carry a bag! But for housewives, yes, if they have time to bring their own bag then it would be a good idea," said another shopper.

But not everyone agrees.

"In the first place it's an inconvenience to me. On an everyday basis, some of us [are] in a rush, then it'll add up to a big amount. But I guess as a habit it's always good to recycle," says one customer.

Some viewers told Channel NewsAsia that paying "10 cents per bag is way too expensive".

One viewer said she saw "two women who went shopping at a mart without shopping bags and brought the (NTUC) baskets home".

Others argued that for families who shop in bulk, it is "not feasible to bring over 20 reusable bags just for that one outing."

There were also suggestions for supermarkets to waive the charges for plastic bags if you spend $50 or more.

So it looks like the habit of bringing your own shopping bag to cut down on the use of plastic bags will take some time to cultivate.

But with so many reusable bags available in all shapes and sizes, sometimes all it takes is a little planning in your shopping schedule and you too can do your bit for the environment.

One shopper says she has some 10 reusable bags, and keeps one in her car at all times.

"You know you're going shopping. You know you're going to need bags, so why don't you just use [or] bring them!"


Some retailers, like furniture store IKEA, plan to charge shoppers five to 10 cents for its plastic bags from this Sunday.

Therefore paying for the convenience may just be the start of a new trend in Singapore.

The initiation by the National Environment Agency (NEA) is a motivating and inspirational tactic to rouse the community’s innate conservationism, rather than the customary placid imploration.

We have all been annoyed by pesky environmentalists who embark on a futile attempt to convince us that plastics bags are harmful to our world and literally killing Mother Nature. Yet, the blinding advantages of plastic bags are so tempting we keep going back to them, addicted to annihilating our only planet. Do we listen? No. We think it can’t be that bad. Besides, it is so convenient, so light, so waterproof and elastic, and so abundant such that its storage ability is complementary to what we can afford.

Bring Your Own Bag Day is definitely one of the idealistic and forceful solutions to counter the popular demand head on, justifying the hoo-hah generated from the public and media. On this day, people use reusable bags, or pay for every plastic bag utilized.

Fines do make Singapore a fine city. Money-minded and obdurate Singaporeans prefer the wicker to the inducement; they refuse to display any consideration unless forced to.

I cannot deny that this is an efficient way of setting the ball rolling. However, I feel the compelling pressure by NEA is detrimental as it restricts our freedom and thus might induce negative feelings about concerns of the environment. I am worried it might generate an impression that Singaporeans are simply going-with-the-flow and financially-driven. On the other hand, it is important that we acclimatize to this healthy cultivation. Inconveniences are inevitable, but it is ultimately for a good cause.

Yet, I think the effort remains insufficient. Ambitious as I may be, I feel that the campaign should last for at least a month instead of a measly twenty-four hours, but failure looms for we can already perceive the intolerance for just a Wednesday. Moreover, this campaign can reach out to other organizations other than supermarkets.

There was a great commotion due to ignorance of the issue as customers are welcomed by shock when they have to pay for their consumption of plastic carriers. Thus, more publicity is required in this aspect.

Nevertheless, we must still put ourselves into the patrons’ shoes. It is demanding to expect them to cope with the hassle of lugging reusable bags for their shopping, or suffer the consequence of an abyss in one’s purse. There is definitely much more to do to placate the disgruntled.

A suggestion, given the multitudinous advantageous properties of plastics, is to utilize used plastic bags instead of buying new reusable carriers so as to reduce the consumers’ burden and demolish the reputation that retailers are doing it for a profit, although given thought, they actually suffer a loss of patrons during BYOBD.

Judging from the response, it would still take some time for response to get from lukewarm to searing. Till then, maybe we would be able to waive the charges for plastic bags.

The step is small but it's in the correct direction.

(500 words)

The National Service Tragedy – National Service, the Tragedy

The National Service Tragedy – National Service, the Tragedy

Soldier's parents' plea: No more overseas duties
Request is for Fan's NS-bound younger brother
Monday • May 14, 2007
Lee U-Wen
u-wen@mediacorp.com.sg

Before 21-year-old polytechnic student Fan Yao Ren enlists for National Service (NS) next year, his family plans to make a special request to the Ministry of Defence. Their plea: Don't send him on any overseas missions.

The Fan family does not want to risk losing another son. His older brother, Private Fan Yao Jin, 24, was one of two Singaporean soldiers killed when a fighter jet crashed into a Taiwan military base on Friday.

At the wake at Toa Payoh East Road yesterday, the private's eldest brother Yao Zhong, a 25-year-old regular with the Singapore Navy, said: "My parents and I would prefer (Yao Ren) to remain in Singapore and not fly during NS. We've mentioned it in passing, and Mindef has said they will look into it closer to the date."

Asked how his parents were coping, he replied: "I think we can only use one word: Devastated."

About 80 people paid their respects to Private Fan, whose body arrived home yesterday at 8.30pm. Former classmate Daphne Seah told Today she was still in "a state of shock". Recalling their last conversation on his birthday last Wednesday, she said: "I told him, 'I haven't seen you in over a year', and we made plans to go out when he came back. Now, we'll never get the chance to meet up."

Meanwhile, the two badly-burnt Singaporean soldiers — Lance-Corporal Calvin Chow and 3rd-Sergeant Ramakrishnan Karthigayan — have undergone several operations at Singapore General Hospital's Burns Unit.

Lance-Corporal Chow remains in critical condition with 50-per-cent burns and respiratory burns, while 3rd-Sergeant Karthigayan's condition is serious but stable.

Blamed on ageing jets, the accident injured seven other Singaporean soldiers and killed the two Taiwanese pilots.

According to Taiwanese newspaper United Daily News, aircraft pilot Wei Tze-yuan was last heard shouting "Up!" before the accident occurred.

As the aircraft lacked a black box, investigators looked for clues in accident debris, evidence and conversation with the control tower. However, from the pilot's single word to the ground, nothing more could not be deduced. A military source told the Taiwanese newspaper that, due to security reasons, the use of wireless communications is minimised in such air force activities.

Like 3rd-Sergeant Isz Sazli Sapari, the other SAF serviceman killed in the accident and buried on Saturday, Private Fan will be accorded a full military funeral. He will be buried at Bright Hill Crematorium tomorrow.

“No amount of compensation will ever be enough to alleviate the suffering of servicemen who are injured, or the loss their families feel for their loved ones”, said Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean.

On that basis, a simple request for exclusion from highly-treacherous operations should most certainly be readily accepted. Yet, this issue has triggered many comments, infuriated and compassionate, from fellow Singaporeans.

The cruel fact is: if you happen to be a Singaporean, a perfectly healthy male, and you’re eighteen, National Service (NS) is a statutory requirement. Every boy, including myself, must grow to be a man and be prepared, physically and mentally, to lay down their lives for the country. This is a common response from advocates of equality of treatment.

Nobody is disputing that.

Private Fan’s family did not appeal for NS exemption for their other son who is due to be enlisted next year. They solely appealed for him to be given a less dangerous vocation, a reasonable cause given that few die in-training in NS.

The reality is that with the rapid advance of technology, crude manpower will not be required in the near future should any war break out. Instead, high-technology nuclear weapons that are capable of annihilating the entire human race would be utilized in place of fragile organisms who attempt a futile rage on opponents with their expertise on jungle warfare.

National Service’s existence serves only as a pledge of vigilance. Let us question: Is it worth it to sacrifice lives for a circumstance that is doubtful to realize? Moreover, we have the assistance of powerful allies in times of peril.

The unfortunate demise of Private Fan in the line of duty and service to nation definitely deserves our empathy.

On compassionate grounds, I feel that rules are synthetic, and if necessary, exceptions should be made. The exception serves also as reasonable compensation, one that is not monetary but as assurance on the psychological level, so as to mitigate their distress and loss after the trauma.

He would still serve a useful role but only exposed to less jeopardy of injury and bereavement.
The impracticality of purposeless sacrificing of soldiers for unwaged wars only reduces the chance of us wining a combat with another country, given our minute capacity.

However, if everyone advocates such an attitude our education for national defense fails. Moreover, the tragic death of Fan is merely an accident, which could not have been prevented, similar to fateful victims struck by falling trees.

The only consideration is the emotional factor of the family, to risk their sons again after a painful loss. Thus, as mentioned earlier on, exceptions should only be made in special circumstances.

Yet, I do have my reservations for ultimately, I will have to face the challenge of NS.

Not to say that I am unwilling to, but the concept of sacrifice is outdated, and I am perturbed by the hazards in NS.

It is a fear that every boy has to face in their lives.

(500 words)