Case to be made against excessive use of plastic

The main crux of the against excessive use of plastic bag argument is not so much about whether Singapore treats its waste by dumping or incinerating them. Even though Singapore gets rid of majority of its waste by burning them and then followed by burying the ashes, to use plastic bags excessively because we can appears to be a tad unwise.

Humans are by nature habitual creatures. If they can choose to act in a certain way over a period of time, their actions would become naturalise to the point that behaving in a certain way is a given.

The message that Singapore and its inhabitants should be sending is that we are treating the resources of the Earth with value and respect. And without much natural resources of our own to extract, it is fairly obvious that our basic survival is dependent on countries that do the extracting on behalf of us.

That in itself should be a valuable case in point and also a salient lesson to learn.

Consumers to be wary of unethical advertising methods

So there is an advertisement making the rounds and receiving intensive coverage and widespread interest because it featured a purported supernatural "haunting" in a lift. (Not going to state which one in particular, because that would only land it more free publicity.)

The buzz it created is impressive because it is indeed creative. But here is where the advertisement has crossed the line. Although it is a matter of ethics and practice to state clearly when an advertisement is an advertisement, ad creators are finding new and interesting methods to help them bypass the longstanding accepted norms all in the name of being creative.

And there seems to be something wrong about that. Consumers are unwittingly exposed to the advertisements - which they would probably have not bothered to even look at if they knew it were ads - and come away knowing that they have been duped while the ad creators are given accolades for developing something memorable.

The essence of the argument is that ad creators have tried and will continue to try all means to reach their target audience with an array of methods, regardless of whether the audience wants or does not want to be exposed.

Ultimately, the consumers are the sitting ducks.

Solution to causeway problems

With all the talk swirling around the causeway and its attendant problems, here is a little poser: How come no one ever talks about NOT going over to Johor Bahru as a clear cut method to ease the congestions and pollution?

Is the satisfaction gained from shopping, eating and pumping petrol at a discounted rate (in comparison with Singapore prices) that attractive that foregoing any future trips to JB for good is unthinkable?