The Public Hygiene Council (PHC) has partnered National Parks Board (NParks) and 17 Town Councils islandwide to kick off its quarterly SG Clean Day initiative. This follows an earlier announcement to expand and step-up efforts for SG Clean Day and extend it beyond an annual affair.
Sweeping at all public parks, gardens, park connectors, open areas and ground levels of housing estates will cease from 6am to midnight today.
Quarterly SG Clean Day is also a kick-off to the month-long litter picking activities in November, which coincides with Clean & Green Singapore (CGS) campaign. The initiative encourages public to play their part to keep our public spaces clean and recognise the work of our cleaners.
(from left) Bukit Batok resident Mr Ng Chin Kion, 48, with Guest-of-Honour, Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, participating in a litter picking activity at Bukit Batok’s Fuji Hill Park, as part of SG Clean Day. | Image source: Public Hygiene Council
“Since the pandemic, more people have been visiting our green spaces for exercise and leisure. Through the SG Clean Day initiative, we would like to encourage everyone to play a part in keeping our parks, gardens and public spaces clean. This way, our green spaces can continue to offer respite and enhance the mental and physical well-being of visitors for years to come. Let us work together to foster community stewardship in our City in Nature,” said Mr Tang Tuck Weng, Assistant Chief Executive Officer of NParks.
Following the success of PHC’s CleanPods set up at beaches and public parks around Singapore, PHC is now extending its usage to residential estates with the launch of the Estate CleanPod initiative.
Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, officially opened the new CleanPod at Bukit Batok’s Fuji Hill Park, which aims to further encourage participation and ownership from residents to keep their estates clean.
Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment painting the word “Bukit Batok” on the Public Hygiene Council’s Estate CleanPod at Bukit Batok’s Fuji Hill Park. | Image source: Public Hygiene Council
The community storage CleanPods were set up to promote the sharing of litter picking tools where everyone can organise their own litter picking at public spaces at their convenience.
This shared resource will reduce wastage. Since the beginning of the year, about 20,000 users have registered or indicated interest for clean-up activities while 280 organisations and groups have maximised the use of CleanPods as of end September 2021– a testament to the growing interest amongst the public to take responsibility and ownership to keep our shared spaces clean.
Currently, all 12 CleanPods are only located at public parks (please see Annex A for a full list of existing CleanPod locations).
Mr Edward D’Silva, Chairman of Public Hygiene Council said, “Cleanliness begins with us’ – this long-time saying still holds true. And now, we can start in our own backyards, even when the litter itself isn’t ours. While it is good practice to bin our own litter, let’s elevate the cleanliness of our neighbourhoods by picking up the trash you can visibly see that’s strewn around. We can be proud to take ownership of our public parks, gardens and estate’s cleanliness. Residents can now do so by utilising the shared tools in our CleanPods to organise their own litter-picking activities. Let’s not wait for cleaners to sweep our void decks, public parks and gardens when we can obtain tongs from the CleanPods to pick up the litter.”
(on the right in black T-shirt) Mr Edward D’Silva, Chairman, Public Hygiene Council picking up litter with a Bukit Batok resident as part of SG Clean Day | Image source: Public Hygiene Council
Mr Lim Biow Chuan, PAP Town Council Coordinating Chairman said, “The pandemic has heightened the need to maintain higher standards of public hygiene and cleanliness. We are pleased to continue supporting PHC’s SG Clean Day and reinforce the value of community ownership in Singaporeans because everyone needs to play a part to ensure a clean city.”
There are many litter picking activities lined up on SG Clean Day and in the month of November to encourage Singapore residents that they are better without litter (please see Annex B for some cleanup activities on 31 October 2021).
For more information on CleanPods and how to access them, visit PHC’s official website at https://www.publichygienecouncil.sg/cleanpod. Those keen to help out at a beach cleanup, do register at https://www.publichygienecouncil.sg/beachcleanup. Public can write in to https://www.nparks.gov.sg/feedback/ for parks cleanup that are not listed in PHC website above.