It is not just Team Singapore athletes getting kudos for their record medal haul at the Singapore SEA Games, but supporters as well, for their civic-minded behaviour of cleaning up after themselves at events.
Nur Afifah Ariffin, Channel NewsAsia 17 Jun 15;
SINGAPORE: Organisers of the 28th SEA Games launched an official video at the start of the Games, with a message to keep sporting venues clean, and it seems most supporters took heed.
Images of Myanmar fans picking up after themselves were widely shared on social media. And Team Singapore fans were armed with special plastic bags that could be used as pom poms during matches.
"Of course it's red and white in colour, so they used it as a good display of support," said ExcluSinga member Norman Abdul Samat. "And after that, they'll just use that (as a container for) rubbish and litter they'll dispose of it after the game."
The ExcluSinga group was just one of many involved in the clean-up initiative. They worked closely with The Singapore Glove Project, which has been reaching out to the public, especially during the SEA Games.
"We tied up with SINGSOC, the SEA Games organising committee, and we brainstormed on various ideas on how we can get Singaporeans and participants to clean up after themselves," said The Singapore Glove Project's Tan Ken Jin.
A little prodding helped. They stationed volunteers at the Games to cheer for Singapore. "And after the match, we basically encourage people to pick up after themselves," he said. The volunteers fanned out at various venues, such as the Jalan Besar Stadium, OCBC Aquatic Centre and National Stadium.
He said the response was "great". "It's not just me, or one or two other people, but you've got ages from the really young to the really old, and across the walks of life."
Indeed, following the exuberance of a massive after-party for the closing ceremony, dozens of volunteers stayed back, making sure every scrap of litter was picked up, and properly disposed of.
- CNA
