Singapore: Throw-Away Nation

SINCE domestic helper Cherryann-Lynn Santos, 36, started working for a family in Singapore nine years ago, she has been "shopping" at the dumpster at her condominium in the east for gifts to send home for Christmas. "We find clothes and shoes that are still brand-new because they still have price tags. Even the toys are in the boxes and untouched," the Filipino maid says.

Ms Santos, a mother of a four-year-old girl, says that she and her friends, mostly domestic helpers, would help themselves to the "treasure" and send them home.

"Singaporeans and ang-mos (Hokkien for Caucasians) throw out t…