Liyana Othman Channel NewsAsia 5 Nov 16;
SINGAPORE: A walk around the Eco Fair at this year’s Clean and Green Singapore Carnival will take visitors through a day in their lives, and how they can incorporate green habits into each aspect.
Set up as an “Eco-Town”, visitors can learn tips like how to cycle safely in a car-lite Singapore, sort recyclable items in the right bins when they are outside, and how to save electricity and water when they are at home.
The three-day carnival, which takes place opposite Khatib MRT Station, was launched by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Saturday (Nov 5).
It marks the start of a month-long series of community activities to celebrate the annual Clean and Green Singapore.
For the first time, more partners are coming on board, like the Land Transport Authority and the Economic Development Board, as well as NGOs and community groups.
This is in line with this year’s theme, “Caring for Our Environment Together”, which hopes to enable these stakeholders to engage the community to contribute towards a sustainable and clean future.
This is especially important for Singapore, a small city-state that is constrained by limited land and natural resources.
Speaking at the launch of the carnival, Prime Minister Lee highlighted that with climate change, Singapore's environmental challenges will continue to grow.
"The next stage in our clean and green journey is sustainability. And with climate change, our environmental challenges are growing. Temperatures are rising. Droughts and water shortages are becoming more common. Linggiu Reservoir in Johor which supplies water to Singapore is very dry. Right now, less than one quarter full, only 22 per cent. And that's slightly improved because it rained last week," said Mr Lee.
That is why everyone has to play their part, with the Government leading the way through efforts like the Climate Action Plan and building more NEWater and desalination plants to increase water supply, Mr Lee added.
"We have done much over the past 50 years to create a clean and livable environment. But we need to further our mission to build a collective culture that is attentive to environmental issues, and where every individual takes active steps to show care for our environment”, said Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli. “Sustainable living needs to be part of the Singapore DNA”, he added.
There are exhibitions at the Eco Fair that showcase eco-products and sustainability-related programmes from green players like Repair Kopitiam. The NGO will demonstrate how to repair or reuse spoiled or old products instead of throwing them away.
Carnival-goers can also sign up to volunteer for upcoming activities organised by these 12 partners.
Mr Lee also did his part – by planting the Keruing Belimbing tree, a native but vulnerable species in Singapore. This is in keeping with the long tradition of planting trees to fulfil Singapore’s City in a Garden vision, which was started by the late Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
The carnival this year is hosted by the North West District – a champion for green living. It launched a 10-year Eco Plan in 2009, which has reached out to more than 745,000 residents through some 80 programmes.
These include organising eco-trails, and getting residents to recycle while getting to know each other at recycling points. Since 2012, 108,000kg of recyclables have been collected.
Throughout the month, the public can also sign up for NParks guided tours to green spaces like community gardens in Bukit Panjang, where they can learn how to grow their own edibles. They can also go on a tour of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, which recently reopened after a two year restoration.
- CNA/mn
