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RAS clinches Silent Heroes Awards 2016
 Two
weeks prior to the awards ceremony, the RAS was notified by the
organiser, Hillview Civilians Club, about its nomination for the
Exponents of Environment Category under the Silent Heroes Awards and was
invited to the awards ceremony at Shangri-la
Hotel on 27th August. RAS was conferred the award for its contributions
and was proud to become the first environmental organisation to clinch
the Silent Heroes Awards. The winners / nominees of the Environment category award have
actively been involved in environmental efforts and have positively made a
significant impact on Singapore’s society but have largely remained invisible or unrecognised for
their efforts.
According
to the judging criteria, RAS was selected for its consistent work and
success in environment-driven initiatives and its multi-faceted
involvement including awareness, fund-raising and education. RAS was also
selected for its active role in working with government bodies and
institutions to improve policies. RAS has not gained any significant
prior recognition or awards for such efforts since it was founded in
1998. Going into its third year, the Silent Heroes Awards was launched by Guest-of-Honour
Ms Low Yen Ling, Parliamentary Secretary for the Education and Trade and
Industry and Mayor of South West CDC, on 23rd May which was also the day
when the nomination process commenced.
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RAS certifies another major
tourist attraction under the Happy Toilet Programme (HTP)
Three years after major
tourist attractions The
Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands and Sentosa were certified, the Merlion Park became the latest
major tourist attraction to come on board the Happy Toilet Programme
(HTP). Its service provider Anchor Cleaning Agency went the extra mile of
fully paying the fees for the HTP accreditation which are
usually either paid for by
owners or shared among owners and service providers. Apart from Anchor
Cleaning Agency, Transquest Supplies, the  service
provider of SMRT train stations, and both IGM Services and LS2 Services,
the service providers of Jalan Besar Town Council hawker centres, also
initiated HTP payments. HTP is positively viewed as an effective
public toilet-rating programme which serves as a third-party independent
assessment on the performance of service providers.
Over
the years, there are even owners who have incorporated HTP accreditation
in their tender documents as performance indicators for service
providers. With service providers accredited under the National
Environment Agency Clean Mark Accreditation Scheme, HTP accreditation
has become one of the factors that can effectively position a service
provider above the rest of its competitors when tendering for contracts. In
2012, in their bid to offer value-added services and to commit on service
excellence, two service providers namely IS
Cleaning Services and Integrated Property Management, applied
for the HTP accreditation of 6 shopping malls
managed
by AsiaMalls.
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RAS engages
the help of Nan Chiau High students to raise
funds through Citi-YMCA Youth For Causes (YFC)
2016
After their successful selection for the Citi-YMCA
YFC since May, a team called Operation Umbaka consisting of four passionate Nan Chiau High students demonstrated their utmost
determination not only in raising over $6,000 for cleaning attendants but
also rolling up their sleeves to clean public toilets at hawker centres
so as to genuinely experience the physically demanding work of cleaning
attendants. From 20th and 21st June, the students successfully mobilised
their peers to jointly clean toilets at Serangoon Garden Market and Chomp
Chomp Hawker Centre.
In
July, the students actively raised funds through street sales of
self-made scented candles and other events such as its school cross
country race. This was followed by a final carnival at the Rivervale Plaza shopping mall on 14th August. Apart
from organising games and activities to raise funds, the students also
showcased their creativity with a display board for shoppers to pen down
their appreciation towards cleaning attendants. The board was then
presented together with lucky draw prizes and grocery vouchers to the attendants. The
public can continue to support for this noble cause by making a minimum
donation of $10 online at Giving.sg,
a secured charity donation portal and tax deduction is available for all
donations.
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RAS shares
its Happy Toilets @ Preschools Programme (HTPP) with principals and
teachers
For the sixth time since 2010, RAS was
invited by the National Environment Agency (NEA) to set
up a booth at the
Pre-school Environmental Education Advisor Networking Session on 26th
July to promote its newly launched Happy Toilets @ Preschools
Programme (HTPP). Prior to the start
of the networking session, enthusiastic principals and teachers were
already congregating at our booth to learn more about the complimentary
HTPP accreditation which was applicable to only new preschools signing up
at the event.
Queues formed at our booth with close to 30 preschools signing up for the
HTPP. While joining the queue, principals and teachers were kept busy
with information about the  Japanese
ozone air and water solutions provided to them by our partner Adsec Singapore. Upon signing up for the HTPP,
principals and teachers were given samples of PurSoft
tissue products by our partner Universal Sovereign Trading. Besides RAS, NEA also invited the Singapore
Environment Council and a few preschools to showcase their exhibits at
the event.
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