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RAS gears up for its first LOO – Let’s
Observe Ourselves – Carnival 2010
Following
its success in 2009, RAS is pleased to announce the return of the LOO
– Let’s Observe Ourselves – Awards this year.
Nominations for LOO Awards 2010 are open from 1st June and close on 31st
October. RAS is introducing a new “Star Restroom (Happy
Toilet)” category which will be awarded by RAS in the following
categories:
·
Market and Food Centre (1 Award)
·
Coffeeshop
(1 Award)
·
Shopping Centre (1 Award)
·
Foodcourt
(1 Award)
·
Best Restroom of the Year (1 Award)
 This
year, the award ceremony will be held in conjunction with RAS’s first LOO – Let’s Observe
Ourselves – Carnival. The 3-day carnival will take place at the
ground floor plaza – sponsored by the National Library Board
– of the National Library Building from 3 to 5 December, Friday to
Sunday. The carnival will feature exhibitions with restroom-related
themes namely the “Owners & Operators”, “Cleaning
Industry” and “Users”. RAS will also be showcasing its
Learning Pavilion. Visitors to the carnival can attend talks and
participate in educational games and activities such as the LOO Quest, a
restroom-etiquette version of snakes and ladders.
[More
Details]
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RAS achieves another
milestone in its Happy Toilet Programme (HTP)
RAS’s
constant effort and perseverance in promoting its Happy Toilet Programme
(HTP) have paid off with the first showroom coming onboard the HTP. RAS
has assessed the restrooms of the Borneo Motors Showroom at Leng Kee Road and Borneo Motors is committed to
undergoing renovations to  its
restrooms to meet our five-star rating after the assessment. In April,
RAS also broke new ground in its HTP with the maiden participation of the
Health Promotion Board (HPB) and four SingHealth
Polyclinics. HPB is the first government office building with all of its
63 toilets rated as Happy Toilets. It is also the first time that
polyclinics are coming on board.
The
Hawkers Department of the National Environment Agency (NEA) has also
displayed its commitment to the provision of quality restrooms by
participating in our HTP for three years. 68 restrooms of the 25 Market
and Food Centres is either renewing its HTP certification or
participating in the HTP for the first time. The assessment has commenced
and patrons to the 25 Market and Food Centres will not only get to savour
delicacies but also soon enjoy a pleasant restroom experience. Apart from
the 25 Market and Food Centres managed by the NEA, 20 others managed by the
Town Councils have also participated in our HTP. So far, a total of 106
restrooms have been rated as Happy Toilets.
[More
HTP Details]
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RAS conducts
training session for officers from National Environment Agency North West
Regional Office (NEA NWRO)
Following
the launch of “CLEAN
Toilets @ North West” programme in June last year, NWRO
officers have been actively on the ground, promoting our Happy Toilet
Programme (HTP) to F&B owners and operators. Their hard work has been
rewarded with the most number of coffeeshops,
restaurants and foodcourts certified as Happy
Toilets in the North West region of Singapore. As an act of appreciation
for their strong support, RAS conducted a complimentary training session
for the officers on 11th June at the NWRO office. The officers were
provided handy information on the different judging  criteria
of the HTP 3, 4 and 5-star standards followed by a practical session to
reinforce their understanding of the different standards so as to better
promote the HTP.
The NWRO session was similar
to the training of our Volunteer Eco-Assessors (VEAs)
whereby VEAs are trained to conduct mystery HTP
audits, promote the HTP and educate their peers about clean restrooms.
From April 2010 to March 2011, RAS is targeting to train 500 VEAs which will include HTP owners, operators,
cleaning contractors, school operation managers, teachers and students.
Our long-term plan is to train a group of VEAs
not only to assess HTP restrooms but also any restrooms so as to better
collaborate with the NEA in its restroom inspections. Since 2008, RAS has
trained a total of about 30 CEAs and 90 VEAs.
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RAS showcases
its Learning Pavilion at libraries
After
making its debut at the World Toilet Summit & Expo in December last
year, the RAS Learning Pavilion – a roving exhibition on
Singapore’s sanitation - reached out to the first library at the Pasir Ris Public Library
from 5th to 30th April. RAS also partnered with the NEA North East
Regional Office  (NERO)
to showcase exhibits on recycling, anti-smoking and littering at the
library. RAS also engaged the help of the National Volunteer and
Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) to recruit student volunteers to man the
exhibition and share good restroom etiquette tips such as proper
hand-washing procedures to library patrons. Patrons were also asked to
take our restroom surveys.
The
pavilion reached out to the Sengkang Public
Library in May, Jurong Regional Library in June
and the last stop is the Bukit Merah Public
Library in July. The pavilion is positioned as a platform to showcase the
different facets of sanitation development in Singapore since the 1960s.
It presents an enriching and educational journey for the visitors to
understand the significance of sanitation and its social, cultural and
environmental impact on the city of Singapore. It also traces
Singapore’s economic development from Third World to First World.
[View
Photos]
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RAS goes on a restroom
tour with Lianhe Zaobao (LHZB) journalist
RAS was
approached by a LHZB journalist who would like to write on a cover story about
the restrooms in the new shopping malls along Orchard Road. On 19th
March, our President, Ms Tan, went on a restroom tour with the journalist
and a photographer at three new shopping malls namely ION
Orchard, Orchard Central and 313@Somerset. The group set off from the
Orchard MRT station to their first stop at the ION Orchard before moving
out to the Orchard Central and final stop at the 313@Somerset. During the
tour, an evaulation was done on the various restroom facilities in each mall.
The story
was published in the front page of ZB NOW on 7th April with Ms Tan
commenting that the marked improvement in shopping mall toilets is a
one-stop concept of hand-washing and drying i.e. users can wash their
hands with hand soap and dry their hands without moving around. She also
added that restroom signages should be prominent and this would also
include signages  leading to
the restrooms. Of the three shopping malls, ION Orchard is rated best for
its overall design and concept such as a dressing table for the ladies
and well-groomed restroom cleaners who are service-orientated. Orchard
Central is rated best for providing restroom facilities for the
physically disabled while 313@somerset is rated best for baby-nursing
facilities.
[Read Article]
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RAS participates in the
filming of Channel U’s “On the Beat”
After
reading the LHZB’s special feature on the
restroom tour along Orchard Road, a research writer from MediaCorp approached RAS to request for its
appearance on the 5th series of “On The Beat”, a Channel U's
most popular magazine-style infotainment programme hosted by Vivian Lai,
Apple Hong, Lee Teng and Jeremy Chan. A segment of this programme
features different restrooms in Singapore and our President’s
comments on her observation of the local restroom culture. RAS was
requested to help identify restrooms worth featuring, in terms of
cleanliness, design and unique features. Restrooms identified included a
5-star restroom at a Market and Food Centre in Ang Mo Kio and two
creatively-decorated restrooms at the Temasek Secondary School (TSS) that
has participated in our school education programme.
The
filming on 4th June commenced in the morning from the public and handicap
restrooms of the Orchard Central shopping mall to the public and  VIP
restrooms at ION Orchard shopping mall. The interview session with our President
was conducted in the restroom of the TSS in the afternoon before wrapping
up the one-day filming at a coffeeshop in Tampines in the evening. “On the Beat 5”
is slated to be featured every Tuesdays at 8pm from 29th June.
[More Details]
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