Keeping S'pore clean and green

Jasmine Yin Straits Times 20 Nov 06

Young guardians groomed to lead green driveDPM Wong: They can educate peers with creative ideas By Khushwant Singh IT WILL take the young to connect with the young - about the environment.

And young people are being groomed to develop and lead initiatives towards a cleaner and more hygienic Singapore as they are in the best position to educate their peers and the community.

Young Environment Guardians (YEG) programme is the brainchild of the Central Singapore Community Development Council (CDC) and the National Environment Agency to follow up on the setting up of a similar initiative among older residents last year. The YEG programme has already recruited 20 students from three secondary schools in the Central Singapore District, and it hopes to bring in 150 more from schools and tertiary institutions in the district.

Said Mayflower Secondary School student and YEG pioneer Nithia Veeramani, 15: 'I hope to organise small exhibitions at litter-prone areas in my neighbourhood.' Schoolmate Crystal Goh Chiat Yi, also 15, added: 'We intend to start blogs to spread the clean and green message.'

Launching the YEG programme at a public health carnival yesterday at Bishan Park II, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng said: 'Young people are very concerned about the environment and they can develop very creative ideas to change the mindsets of their peers and the community.'

Mr Wong, who is also Home Affairs Minister, said the Government will not micro-manage because young volunteers might feel that since the authorities know so much, their role was limited. Mr Zainudin Nordin, Mayor of the Central Singapore District, said that activities in the YEG pipeline include adopting common community areas.

Mayflower Secondary has adopted Bishan Park since 2004, holding regular clean-ups, but the scheme hopes to extend this to hawker centres, playgrounds and void decks, he added. He said residents stood to benefit from cost savings as fewer cleaners would be needed if all did their part to keep neighbourhoods litter-free. The carnival attracted about 4,000 visitors, who cheered loudly when Queenstown clinched the Singapore's OK Most Active Constituency award for the most number of activities last year.