Operation WE Clean Up! - Pick up litter, spruce up Singapore

Over 8,000 volunteers expected at event on Sunday, cleaners get Saturday off
By Feng Zengkun, Environment Correspondent, The Straits Times, 29 Apr 2015

THIS Sunday, step outside and join thousands of other people in sprucing up Singapore.

More than 8,000 people are expected to volunteer for the Public Hygiene Council's (PHC) first national litter- picking event, called Operation We Clean Up!

The council organised a similar one-day event last year, but it was confined to the Bedok neighbourhood.

This year, it is setting its sights on rubbish across the island and inviting everyone to show their love for the country by cleaning up schools, parks, offices, void decks and other places.

Many organisations, town councils, schools, firms and individuals have responded to the call and organised cleanup groups at more than 130 locations.

Town councils will cease general area cleaning in nearly 70 precincts on Saturday to give the cleaners a rest and show the volunteers on Sunday how much trash there is in a single day in common areas such as void decks.

The PHC will give the cleanup groups items such as gloves, wet wipes, tongs and trash bags. It is also urging those who cannot join the groups to do their part by picking up at least three pieces of rubbish on Sunday.

PHC chairman Liak Teng Lit said a clean Singapore would improve life in other aspects.

"If you look at what has been happening in Singapore - the rat infestations, reports of choked, smelly drains, cockroaches and mosquito breeding - littering plays a key part in all this," he said.

The country's cleanliness has been on the decline despite an army of cleaners picking up after people.

Earlier this year, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong wrote that Singapore is likely to become a "garbage city" if not for the cleaners, after pictures surfaced online of the mess left behind by people who went to a concert at Gardens by the Bay.

Last year, the National Environment Agency issued about 19,000 tickets for littering, almost double the number in 2013.

There were also 688 instances of Corrective Work Orders being imposed by the courts last year, more than double the 261 cases in 2013.

Mr Liak and leaders of environment groups said they hoped the mass clean up session would stir people to pick up after themselves and others as a matter of course, and also deter them from littering.

Mr Tan Ken Jin, who started the Singapore Glove Project in 2012 where people walk or jog and pick up litter along the path at the same time, said: "You don't have to go way out of your comfort zone to do something. When you're going to work or going home, if you see litter, just pick it up and throw it away."

Mr Eugene Heng, founder and chairman of Waterways Watch Society, which conducts cleanup sessions, said: "Hopefully, down the road, there will be no need for us to go and pick up litter, because there will be no litter to be picked up."

To find out more about the cleanup event this coming Sunday, go to http://www.publichygienecouncil.sg

A big thanks to all our supporters for their efforts in this island-wide 'Operation WE Clean Up!' exercise held today!...
Posted by Public Hygiene Council on Sunday, May 3, 2015

Over 10,000 fan out to pick up litter across Singapore
Volunteers collected some 7,000kg of rubbish in 133 locations yesterday
By Feng Zengkun, Environment Correspondent, The Straits Times, 4 May 2015

MORE than 10,000 volunteers spread out across Singapore yesterday with one mission: to pick up every piece of litter in sight and clean up the country.

Armed with gloves, trash bags and tongs, they got rid of eyesores like cigarette butts, plastic bags, tissue paper and even cardboard packaging from the ground, grass verges and roadside bushes.

Schools and companies led clean-up efforts by students, staff and family members at public spaces such as parks and beaches to support the islandwide housekeeping.

The volunteers - who also included non-government groups, town councils and government agencies - were part of Operation We Clean Up!, a one-day event organised by the Public Hygiene Council, Keep Singapore Beautiful Movement and Singapore Kindness Movement.

The day-long clean-up was the first of its kind and spanned 133 locations. More than 7,000kg of rubbish was collected.

Among the people who braved light rain in Bukit Panjang yesterday morning were father-and- daughter team Kevin and Kezel Ong.

Kezel, seven, had been dismayed by the cigarette butts and other rubbish in the estate, and was singled out by Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan yesterday for speaking up about the issue at a residents' committee meeting she attended with her father last year.

"Our playground and void deck can get quite dirty, and it makes our neighbourhood ugly," she told The Straits Times.

The country's cleanliness has been on the decline despite an army of more than 52,000 cleaners.

Earlier this year, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong wrote that Singapore would likely become a "garbage city" were it not for its cleaners, after pictures surfaced online of the mess left behind by people who went to a concert at Gardens by the Bay.

Last year, the National Environment Agency issued about 19,000 tickets for littering, almost double the number in 2013.

To show people how much litter can be generated in a single day, general area cleaning was stopped in nearly 70 precincts last Saturday and the cleaners given a rest day.

Before the start of the clean-up session in Bukit Panjang yesterday, Dr Balakrishnan said: "By keeping our neighbourhoods clean, we are sending a signal to everyone that we are proud of our home."

Meanwhile, more than 4,000 cleaners across the 15 People's Action Party town councils were treated to an appreciation lunch yesterday and given a $20 NTUC FairPrice voucher each.

Mr Tan Hock Chye, 54, one of the cleaners, said he appreciated the acknowledgement of their work.

He said: "It's good for encouragement and morale, but it would be even better if more people would learn not to litter everywhere and throw their rubbish away properly."