"..a fine of at least $100 on those who discard these stickers improperly."

--The Straits Times, 4/7/03

This was a letter from a caring citizen of the Republic; it's letters like these that make me all the more certain that to Singaporeans, the solution to all our problems is a fine.

Eating while on public transport gets you a fine, littering gets you a fine, smoking in no-smoking areas gets you a fine....and the list goes on.

Yes, fines are a fantastic way of keeping people in check, but do they really work? I doubt it. Singapore has such an effecient cleaning-crew that the streets look clean all the time whether the citizens are truly following the laws or not. And the same goes for MRT stations. Walk in at any time of the day you like, and who do you see walking around with a mop or broom? The cleaning ladies of course!

Now, back to the letter above. As I mentioned earlier, it was from a caring citizen of the Republic. This man had wanted the Government to impose a fine on people who did not discard their stickers properly. To me, this is just completely absurd; at the rate that Singapore is going, in a few years time, there will be fines for not sweeping your own front porch!

Yes, fines are great, fines are fabulous, fines are wonderful for nabbing people who toe the line. However, it's rather like being in school when one forgets to bring something. Imagine if your teacher had asked you to pay a fine of $10 everytime you didn't bring your notebook, and you were rather prone to forgetting your notebook. Then, in the long run, yes, you wouldn't forget to bring your notebook again, but would the fine have served you any purpose apart from frightening you into bringing your notebook? Of course, fear does play a part in this process, but if your teacher had told you why you had to bring that book, wouldn't it be easier for you to remember to bring it?

What I'm trying to say is that too much fear is a bad thing, because then the citizens of Singapore won't actually know why they can't litter and so on; they'll just see the extremely heavy fines and think,"Oh, look! If I litter, I'll be fined $500! I'd better not." Would you rather your citizens knew why there was a law against something, or would you have your citizens obey the law blindly? Think about it. Do you follow the law because you know it's been placed there for a good reason, or do you follow it because you have to? I think that for most Singaporeans, the answer would be the latter.

This can be proven by the fact that many Singaporeans go to Malaysia to litter and do whatever they can't do in Singapore. This is a great pity as it shows that a majority of Singapore only follow the laws so that they are able to keep their records clean, not because they realise that it will do their country good.

If the Government continues imposing such heavy fines on the people, the citizens will only be following the laws blindly, and won't ever learn why they must follow these laws.

Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the constitution if the Government turns its entire country into one where its citizens follow blindly without questioning?

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