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RAS ties up with Singapore Sports Council
 RAS
will be working with the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) to spruce up all the
public toilets in their complexes. This initiative will go towards paving
the way for a successful 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore. The goal of the
collaboration between RAS and SSC is to enhance and sustain the quality
standards of their public toilets.
The first meeting between RAS and SSC on 5
March ended on an optimistic note with both parties agreeing to work
closely together on a scheduled timeline to assess the toilets, revamp the
designs, train the cleaners and educate the public.
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RAS conducts
first Restroom Assessors Workshop
 RAS
conducted its first training workshop for voluntary restroom assessors on
the 29th of March at its office. Apart from an introductory talk about RAS
and its operations, our voluntary assessors were also briefed on our Happy
Toilet Programme and the checklist for assessing the toilet standards. Our
President was also present at the workshop to answer questions on toilet
issues raised by them during the FAQ session.
After the session, our
voluntary assessors embarked on a hands-on
learning experience at the upgraded Whampoa Drive Market & Food Centre,
which was completed last year. They were assigned to assess two toilet
blocks. For some of our female volunteer assessors, assessing urinals in
male toilets up close proved to be an unforgettable experience.
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RAS presents
first Happy Toilet award to a restaurant
 RAS
is happy to present its first Happy Toilet award to Hainan Kor Restaurant
at Blk 95, Toa Payoh Lor 4. It
all started with an email request for posters from the owner, Mr Jerry Lim.
When invited to participate in our Happy Toilet Programme, Jerry responded
positively without any hesitation. When asked the reason for his
participation, he responded that he always takes pride in being an owner of
clean toilets.
RAS
totally agrees with Jerry that one of the proudest achievements for all
toilet owners is having clean toilets for their visitors. With this
encouraging support from Jerry, RAS hopes that more toilet owners will
follow suit in the near future.
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RAS revamps its
website
 The
RAS website has been revamped to better serve and inform the public. The
revamped website adopts a vibrant design with brighter colours and
user-friendly features that will continue to keep all visitors to our
website updated of our events and toilet-related news.
One of the newly added
features to our homepage is direct and hassle-free access to our four
pillars, “Outreach & Education”, “Training &
Standards”, “Research & Development” and
“Community”, whereby visitors can easily check on our projects
and activities such as our “Happy Toilet School Education
Programme” for preschools, primary and secondary schools and our
“Happy Toilet Programme” for toilet owners. The “Online
Donation” and “Toilet Checklist Download” features also
add to the convenience of potential donors and toilet owners visiting our
website. Visitors to our website can also have a glimpse of our latest
events and toilet-related news by clicking the five tabs at the bottom of
our homepage. Access our website now for a brand new
surfing experience!
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RAS selected to be part of “Youth Environment Envoy (YEE)
Programme”
 RAS
is honoured to have three of its staff selected to be trained as Youth Environment
Envoys (YEE) from the “YEE Programme”. The programme was well
received and its organiser, the National Environment Agency (NEA) had to
turn down about 30 applications. The “YEE Programme” is an
initiative launched by the NEA to nurture and groom youths as YEEs, who
will play a forefront role as leaders, encouraging and driving their peers
and the community towards environment ownership and sustainability.
The
“YEE Workshop” was conducted as part of the “YEE
Programme” to improve YEEs’ public speaking, networking,
facilitation, project management and motivational skills so as to enable
them to take on a proactive role as a leader and ‘change agent’
for environmental sustainability. In the workshop, the three YEEs from RAS
came up with the innovative “Green Toilet” concept of creating
and using renewable resources from toilet waste.
Potential applicants
interested in the YEE programme can access NEA’s website at www.nea.gov.sg for more details.
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RAS invited to
be part of “Green Schools @ South West”
 RAS
and the South West CDC jointly launched a “Happy Toilet
Programme” in schools under the programme "My School Shines @
South West" last year. This year, RAS was invited to be part of their enhanced
programme "Green Schools @ South West".
The
launch of “Green Schools @ South West” on 20th February
officiated by Mayor of South West District, Dr Amy Khor, saw some 36
schools taking part in the programme. The programme comprises of five
environmental messages which the schools are encouraged to follow. They are
“A Litter-Free Environment”, “Clean, Dry & Sparkling
Toilets”, “A Community That Does Not Spread Bugs”,
“Energy Efficiency & Climate Change” and “Reduce,
Reuse & Recycle”.
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RAS invited to
be part of “YOUth Got Heart”
 RAS
was invited by the Raffles Junior College Interact Club to participate in
their community service road show and volunteer festival, “YOUth Got
Heart”. The road show was organised to expose students from schools
in the Toa Payoh-Bishan area to various types of community services and
service learning opportunities.
About
20 Voluntary Welfare Organisations including RAS participated in the road
show on 2nd February and RAS was invited to give a talk, "Doing your
part for cleaner toilets" to promote toilet cleanliness and volunteer
opportunities. RAS received very warm responses with more than 25 students
convinced by our talk to join us as volunteers. RAS also gave an
introductory talk about its organisation and flagship programs namely our
“Happy Toilet School Education (HTSE)” and “Happy Toilet
Programme (HTP)”.
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