Vote for Orchard Road's best dustbin design

Electric New Paper 4 Dec 07;

CHANGING the image of a 'fine city' while passing on the message of saving the environment.

And what better way to do it than to have 'happy, attractive dustbins' that will encourage people to use them.

That is the aim of a group of youths who spent yesterday painting the dustbins.

A total of 88 cheery dustbins would be placed along Orchard Road for the public to vote for the best design.

The dustbins, provided by the National Environment Agency, will be placed from the Orchard/Scotts Road junction to Le Meridien Orchard for three months.

Supported by the Singapore Press Holdings and Paragon Shopping Centre, the event is organised by an informal group of youth leaders comprising polytechnic, university as well as national servicemen.

Called Creative Home, the project is led by Temasek Polytechnic's hospitality and tourism student, Faris Abdulkadir Basharahil.

Referring to the image of Singapore as a country known for its fines for littering, the 19-year-old said: 'We hope to soften the image of a 'fine city' by encouraging the happy use of dustbins when they see attractive artwork on them.

'We believe that a soft and cheerful approach in encouraging people to keep Singapore clean, and to cultivate a sense of ownership and care towards the city, would go down better with the public.

'It may be easy to paint a dustbin, but to turn it into a work of art and a vehicle to promote social change would be something challenging and refreshing.'

And using art as a tool for a social message was what Raffles Junior College student Ng Jia Hui did best.

Calling her piece 'embrace the new, remember the old', the 18-year-old said her aim was 'to create an awareness of the importance of the environment'.

Mr Poh Sze Ying, 20, and a maths undergraduate at NTU, was keen on using traffic lights as his symbols.

Called 'Daisy Traffic Light', the idea of the green lights signalling the go-ahead was his way of 'sending the go green' message.

To vote for your favourite dustbin, you can go to SPH social networking portals www.stomp.com.sg or www.omy.sg from 15 Dec to 15 Feb.