Samantha Eng, Straits Times 23 Mar 08;
IT STARTED with an MMS to The New Paper from a member of the public showing the waters of Sungei Api Api being polluted by a milky-white liquid.
That got reporter Teh Jen Lee rushing down to the site last April to investigate, an act which clinched her a Friend of Water accolade at yesterday's World Water Day celebrations at Upper Peirce Reservoir.
When she reached the spot that day last year, milky-white water was still running into the river from a small open drain.
Said the 28-year-old: 'The first thing I did was to look around and try to find the source of the pollution.
'When I saw paint splotches on a drain and a truck nearby with its back full of paint cans, I put two and two together and reported the name of the contractor to the PUB.'
PUB, the national water agency, cleaned up the river on the same day it received the tip-off, in an operation which took about two hours.
Others named a Friend of Water yesterday were Stompers Tan Keng Seng, Jeremy Chin and Yu Hin Meng, as well as Xin.sg contributor Tay Bee Hui. Stomp and Xin.sg are popular online forums.
All of them had contributed to raising water awareness by alerting the media when they spotted some form of water pollution.
Friends of Water is an initiative to recognise individuals and organisations which have played a part in raising water awareness. Since last year, the number of Friends has doubled to more than 1,200.
Yesterday's celebrations included a workout where Dr Amy Khor, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment and Water Resources, joined more than 200 yoga lovers.
She said: 'Yoga by the water shows us the wonderful possibilities that could happen at our reservoirs. They are no longer just places of water storage.'
