More than 260 caring individuals from the Lions Club of Singapore (LCS) Mandarin, the National Environment Agency (NEA) and its community volunteers welcome 2017 with a kindness act! They gathered around Marina Bay area to raise awareness and remind members of the public to keep the New Year’s Eve Countdown celebration clean by properly bagging and binning their trash. 

As the crowd dispersed after the firework displays, the volunteers moved in to initiate a clean-up exercise. This was a ground-up initiative as part of the Keep Singapore Clean Movement (KSCM), which is led by the Public Hygiene Council (PHC) and supported by its partners such as NEA, The Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM) and others.

“While some people responsibly binned their litter, the overall cleanliness at the Marina Bay area was less than satisfying. There is definitely room for improvement as there were still many pockets of litter left by inconsiderate individuals,” said Mr Edward D’Silva, the Chairman of PHC.

Though PHC had initiated similar public engagement exercises during other mass public events such as the National Day Parade and Chingay, this was the first time its volunteers engaged members of the public to keep the New Year’s Eve Countdown clean and litter-free. Moving forward, PHC will engage more partners on the KSC Movement and work together towards a cleaner Singapore.