Anyone who thinks that Singapore was pristine before the foreign invasion is either ignorant or is displaying selective memory.
The problem may be worse today but that's only because the foreigners continued where the sinkies left off.
thanks for those pics! brings back memories.
in fact, hawker centers and eateries are cleaner now in sg than in the 80s and early 90s, thanks to foreign cleaners who constantly have to put up with sinkies' mess. in the 80s and early 90s, hawkers with their local stall assistants had to collect their plates, bowls and utensils and wash them within the tight space of their respective stalls. and they couldn't keep up with the filthiness and mess on the tables. on many occasions, i had to clean up a table with my whole pack of tissues in order to claim one.
today, tables are cleaned by a common cleaning crew, and plates and bowls are stashed away at a common wash area. it's a much better system and a far cry from the chaos and mess in the 80s.