Straits Times 19 Oct 09;
DEPUTY Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean hardly broke into a sweat as he paddled upstream on the Sungei Api Api river in Pasir Ris yesterday morning.
He was leading a group of 100 students from Nanyang Polytechnic on a kayaking expedition to clean up the river.
Named after the species of mangrove tree lining the river, Sungei Api Api is known for good fishing and its wildlife.
Yesterday's expedition was the third such clean-up exercise.
DPM Teo has led it ever since he came up with the idea five years ago. The clean-up is not a yearly affair.
Yesterday, he joined the volunteers in clearing plastic bags and bottles caught on the mangrove roots along the river banks.
Mr Teo netted himself a big catch.
'Wah, jin tua,' he said as he dragged a supermarket trolley out of the mud. Jin tua means 'so big' in Hokkien.
As a volunteer pulled the trolley onto a boat, Mr Teo referred to the $1 deposit usually inserted into such trolleys and said:
'Anyone want to get a dollar for that?'
The trolley was in addition to 60 bags of garbage - including parts of a park bench and another trolley - that the volunteers collected.
Student Luqman Rahmad, 19, said he found the event 'fun and educational'.
'I don't think I was very environmentally-conscious until this event. When I saw the kinds of things people throw into our rivers, I was very surprised,' he said.
Mr Teo said he had found the river to be cleaner than it had been three years ago, the last time the clean-up was held - a sign that Singaporeans are becoming more conscientious in keeping their environment clean.
But there is still some way to go.
'There are still some very irresponsible people.
'I hope that people who make use of the river will keep it clean as well.
Let's make our waterways something we are proud of,' he said.
Youths kayak down Sungei Api Api to clean up mangrove area
Hoe Yeen Nie, Channel NewsAsia 18 Oct 09;
SINGAPORE : Over 100 students and grassroots volunteers rowed down Sungei Api Api at Pasir Ris on Sunday morning, with the aim of cleaning up the mangrove.
Led by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is also MP for the area, the volunteers formed an impressive army of eco-warriors.
Plastic bags account for nearly half of all rubbish found in the river.
Organisers of the kayak clean-up hope to spread the green message and get eco-conscious youths to walk the talk. - CNA/ms
