Yuhua volunteers pick up litter after No Cleaner Day

LIYANA OTHMAN Today Online 30 May 16;

SINGAPORE — Nearly 480kg of rubbish were collected as part of a major clean-up exercise at Yuhua yesterday morning. This was part of a nationwide movement aimed at getting residents to take greater ownership of keeping the country litter-free.

And there was plenty to do, as several blocks in the area were not cleaned on Saturday. These blocks were designated “No Cleaner Day” by Jurong-Clementi Town Council, to discourage littering and get residents to feel responsible for their estate’s cleanliness.

But Yuhua Member of Parliament Grace Fu said the results were “less than satisfactory”.

“We have found a significant amount of litter on the ground, and we’d like to keep up with this initiative to encourage residents to be socially gracious, and to be publicly-spirited,” she said.

“So it’s about wanting to keep our environment clean (and) the public area clean — that will really make us a gracious society — (and) not just rely on cleaners.”

So what were some of the most common types of trash?

“Cigarette butts all over — especially in the flower beds — toilet paper, cotton buds, toilet roll coils thrown from toilets, I think,” said Ms Fu, who is also the Minister for Community, Culture and Youth.

“These are very common litter, which are very unhygienic, but sometimes I think an act that an individual feels is inconsequential actually adds up to a whole lot of rubbish in the morning.”

Residents, grassroots leaders as well as students and teachers from two primary schools in the area got their hands dirty as they picked up the litter.

“A lot of rubbish today because yesterday there was no cleaning, so we had to pick up a lot of rubbish today,” said Ramachandran, a 69-year-old resident. “Awareness should be brought to them to clean up because this is their own place, Singapore is their own place.”

Mr Johan Lim, a Primary 4 student at Yuhua Primary School, said: “This activity is quite hard, so I think I gained a lot of experience from doing this and at the same time it’s also quite fun. It’s fun because I made a lot of new friends and I get to put myself in the cleaners’ shoes, so that I can help to clean up the environment and help to clean up the community.”

Some of the estate’s cleaners were also at the event to receive recognition for their service and dedication.