The world that we live in today is no longer like what it used to be. Technology has improved, medical sciences have advanced, and economic world has become globalised. Life seems to have become very comfortable, or so we thought. Alongside with the comfort of life due to modernization, comes the problem of environmental degradation and pollution. Effects of environmental degradation are very serious and eventually lead to problems such as global warming, acid rain and depletion of the ozone layer. All these would result in serious problems for the existence of mankind. Many countries hence have put in place green plans in order to do their bit to delay the harmful effects of environmental degradation.

            Singapore has also been actively trying to do its bit to save the earth. This can be seen from the various activities the government and non governmental organizations, such as the national environment agency spearhead. From small scale activities such as recycling bins in housing estates and Wednesdays declared as no plastic bag day to large scale activities such as saving gaia, Singapore has been trying to cut down on the amount of pollution it produces. One way which Singapore tries to reduce pollution on roads, is the encouraging of usage of CNG cars.

            CNG cars refer to cars that are running on natural gas. These cars produce only water vapor, carbon dioxide and small amounts of carbon monoxide, all of which are not harmful to the earth. As such, CNG cars are very environmental friendly. However, in Singapore the usage of CNG cars are not very common.

            Initially, I was pretty puzzled at the low figures as well. CNG cars would actually cost lesser in maintenance fees even though the initial cost of purchasing a CNG car may be high. Cost savings are largely due to the rebates that Singapore government provides for using green cars. On top of that, fuel prices for green cars are also very much lower as compared to a normal car running on petrol. If green cars are advantageous, how come there are only about 700 green cars on Singapore’s roads?

            One of the reasons I can think of is the lack of awareness in Singapore. After reading through how some people felt about CNG cars, I feel that these people are actually more interested in finding a cheaper alternative from the normal petrol run car, rather than wanting to do their bit for the world’s environment. The seriousness of the environmental degradation has not yet hit Singaporeans. Doing our bit for the environment should involve sacrifice rather than trying to advantage ourselves at the very end. This thinking of cost savings most likely has something to do with the way these green cars were packaged. From the very beginning, the cost savings characteristics of the green cars were always used as the selling point. Perhaps, that is why consumers think of green cars as a cost saving measure. When they realize that government rebates are so low and that the costs of the CNG cars are so high, they no longer feel that is a cost saving measure. This is most probably why there are few green cars on Singapore roads.

            I believe that CNG cars can help reduce the pollution on the roads. However a lot has to be done before we can see Singaporean streets filled with these CNG cars. The government first has to remove the association of green cars with cost savings, and then promote environmental awareness in Singapore. On top of that, the government themselves have to be aware that their promotion of green cars are not supposed to benefit them, but to benefit the earth. Hence the government should not use green cars as a market to make profits, but instead encourage the use of green cars only because they care about the earth.

I think this essay is badly written. Had to rush this out.