One of the biggest priorities the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) has now is to "get Singapore cleaner", Environment Minister Grace Fu revealed in a session with the media on Aug. 21.

"Proper hygiene, control over vector, clean sanitation, quality water, safer food, these are all important basic necessities in life that we shouldn't take for granted," Fu said.

New legislation to be introduced

The ongoing pandemic, Fu said, has highlighted the importance of public hygiene.

As such, in the next three to six months, some new legislation would be introduced to improve the standards of hygiene and sanitation in Singapore.

MSE might be looking at making amendments to the Environmental Public Health Act, to enable hygiene standards to be raised in areas with more vulnerable users.

These include locations such as childcare centres and eldercare facilities.

The legislation could potentially target hygiene standards of food preparation in such areas, as well as ensuring "persons with professional knowledge to be responsible at their own premises".

While Fu did not spare any more details, she assured that "something [will be] done quite soon".

"The next three months or six months, it's really about getting Singapore cleaner, but not forgetting the longer term goal, about sustainability, about environmental protection forward."

Raising these standards would help to ensure that Singapore remains sustainable — that hawker centres can remain open and customers are kept safe.

Relying less on cleaners

She also highlighted the issue of cleaners being one of the professions most at risk of contracting Covid-19.

Noting that the general mentality among those in Singapore was that cleaners at hawker centres are still expected to clear people's leftovers, cleaners are thus most in need of protection.

"But actually Covid-19 has taught us also that in order to protect our frontline workers, the cleaners that are really keeping the frontline of the Covid-19 transmission, we should look after their interest and their health. Because for them to come across soiled tissue and used mask at the hawker centre, it's really not fair to them.

That's not a job hazard that they have bargained for."

Fu said she hoped that people can be kinder and more considerate, and exercise individual responsibility to keep their surroundings clean.

To further encourage people to keep their environment clean, plans are in the works to hire more SG Clean ambassadors to "remind people, cajole people, and to nudge behaviour".

Although some might believe that advocating for people to clean up themselves might put these elderly out of their jobs, Fu said that this was not the case.

In fact, finding enough people willing to work as cleaners is a problem, and there are plenty of cleaning jobs in other industries.

"So how do we do more, raise the standard of hygiene and level of cleanliness, with lesser pairs of boots on the ground so to speak. That's really the challenge for the ministry and for NEA. So something that will keep us occupied for some time."

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Top photo from MSE and Zero Waste Singapore