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RAS welcomes Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC) into our
Happy Toilet Programme (HTP) family
SPC has participated in our HTP and is committed to sprucing up the toilets at their service
stations to meet our HTP star ratings. SPC’s
retail network of 38 island-wide service stations has been getting its
toilets audited by our Certified Eco-Assessors (CEAs)
from 16 March. Their service stations have been providing a total service
package comprising of the Choices convenience  store, Speedy Care automotive service centre and Manual Car Wash.
With their toilets certified as Happy Toilets, their quality services will now
encompass the provision of quality toilets. Patrons can expect a
pleasurable toilet experience at their service stations after 10th
April, upon completion of their toilet audits. So, do not miss the
opportunity to visit their service stations and see how many stars are
awarded by RAS!
On 26th
February before commencing with their toilet audits, SPC went the extra
mile to show their commitment by inviting RAS to their main office at Harbourfront for a Corporate Talk on toilet
cleanliness. The talk also involved a session whereby their service station
managers were invited to share their views and challenges in keeping the
toilets clean. With SPC onboard, RAS hopes to see more service providers
coming forth to participate in our HTP to become quality service providers
offering quality toilets!
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RAS holds second
Inter Agencies Working Committee (IAWC) meeting
 The introduction of the three new
sub-committees (Owners and Operators, Cleaners and Contractors, and Users) was
successfully initiated at the second IAWC meeting on 11th February. Held
at the JTC Summit Building
with the kind support of our venue partners, South West CDC, our member
representatives were introduced to their committees and offered the
necessary guidelines to work together with their fellow industry
professionals. The sub-committees have pledged their commitment to answer
the challenge of helping to raise cleanliness of public toilets to a
healthy standard of 70% by 2010.
At present, the
Owners and Operators, Contractors and Cleaners and Users sub-committees
chaired by RAS, Environmental Management Association of Singapore (EMAS)
and Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM) respectively have privately met to
discuss possible terms of reference and the challenges ahead along with
introducing initiatives that tackle the problem of dirty toilets from the
three main fronts. RAS thanks each member representative for their time and
enthusiasm for the cause and look forward to a job well done when the main
committee convenes at the end of the year.
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RAS introduces
its Happy Toilet Programme (HTP) to grassroots leaders
The National
Environment Agency's North East Regional Office (NEA NERO) and the North
East Community Development Council held its 5th Environmental Health
Regional Workshop for Grassroots Leaders and Dengue Prevention Volunteer
Groups at the Tampines Central Community Complex on 28th March. The 3-hour
workshop included presentations from Mr Howard Shaw, Executive Director of
the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) who shared with the audience on the
Singapore Green 2050 initiative. Ms Ann Phua, Director of the Hemispheres
Foundation also provided examples on how we can reduce our carbon
footprint. Ms Susan Pereira from RAS was also invited to share tips on how
to keep our public toilets clean and about our HTP.
 The
workshop was followed by a panel discussion with Mr Sin Boon Ann, MP for
Tampines GRC and Advisor to Tampines Central GROs, Mr Martin Nathan, Head of
NEA NERO, Ms Phua and Ms Pereira. Panel discussions included topics about
the reasons and justifications of charging 10 cents for tissue paper at coffeeshops, what makes a 3-star Happy Toilet, efforts
in educating foreigners about the Singapore toilet culture and
others. Mr Sin concluded that it is important for all participants to adopt
ways of keeping the Earth clean and healthy.
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RAS conducts
first educational talk to stallholders
RAS was invited by the NEA Hawkers
Department to conduct an educational talk to stallholders on the dos and
don’ts of using toilets on 5th March at Macpherson Community Club. The
stallholders are expected to operate their businesses at the newly-upgraded
Circuit Road Market and Food Centre in  May. The briefings to the stallholders are
generally held about two months prior to the commencement of the Tendency
Agreement of the hawker centre upgraded under the Hawker Centres Upgrading Programme
(HUP). RAS was invited for the first time to be involved in these briefings
to share with the stallholders on the importance of exercising good toilet
hygiene practices.
Apart from engaging us in their briefings to
stall holders, the NEA Hawkers Department has also strongly supported our
Happy Toilet Programme (HTP) by re-certifying all
the toilets at the 24 hawker centres owned by the
Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR). RAS conducted
toilet audits at 23 hawker centres in February
and all of them have attained at least 3 stars – the minimum HTP
standard – with one even achieving our 4-star standard! RAS will
conduct the toilet audit at the remaining hawker centre after completion of
its upgrading works. With MEWR hawker centres
successfully becoming part of our HTP family, RAS anticipates the reunion
of the remaining hawker centres – owned by
the Housing Development Board and managed by the Town Councils – to
be part of our HTP family in the near future.
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RAS shares views
on local toilet etiquette with producer from Omy website
 After Shin Min Daily News featured an article
on an interview with Ms Nancy Sit, a Hong Kong star who commented that the
dirtiest toilet she had seen was in Singapore, Ms Ng Yimin, a
Content Producer from SPH’s Omy website,
requested for an interview with our President on 25th March. Our
President shared her views on the local standard of toilet cleanliness, the
three key factors – toilet owners, cleaners and users – to the
standard of toilet hygiene and some of our school and public education programmes to inculcate positive toilet etiquette.
Visitors to Omy
website who wish to know more about our President’s views and
comments, have the option to read the article,
listen to the podcast
or view the vodcast. A forum has been set up
on the website for visitors to voice their views and comments on the local
standard of toilet cleanliness and hygiene. Ms Ng also penned down her
thoughts in her blog
and graciously accepted our request to include a link to our restroom
survey in her blog.
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RAS trains new
pool of Eco-Assessors
To cater for the growing demand for our HTP,
RAS trained a new pool of Certified Eco-Assessors (CEAs)
and Volunteer Eco-Assessors (VEAs) on 4th March and 11th March
respectively. Two of our RAS staff members involved in the training
sessions really enjoyed the entire experience. With the generosity of the
North West Community Development Council (NWCDC), we were provided with a
venue to train our new pool of CEAs on 4-5 March.
In total, seven people were trained. They comprised of four females
recruited with the kind assistance from NWCDC, two females from North East
CDC and a male volunteer from RAS. Our staff witnessed the passion and a
fantastic level of commitment and participation in them. The two-day
training session consisting of both theoretical and practical lessons,
ended well with some of the CEAs already starting
their toilet audits. So far, we have trained a total of 28 CEAs.
 Following the successful run of VEA
training sessions for officers
from the National Parks Board (NParks) in October
last year, NParks were back in action by sending
a new batch of 12 officers to attend a two-hour training session held at the
East Coast Park Visitors' Centre on 11 March. The two-hour training session consisting of both
theoretical and practical lessons, also included a sharing session on some
challenges faced in maintaining toilets located in parks. We hope that the
commitment and participation of NParks will drive
more organisations to emulate their initiative. So far, we have trained a
total of 64 VEAs.
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RAS supports “Toilet Cleanliness Week” campaign
 With the help and support from the National
Environment Agency (NEA), PUB and RAS, a team of seven first-year
undergraduates from Singapore Management University (SMU) brainstormed and
initiated the “Toilet Cleanliness Week” to promote awareness on
good toilet etiquette. RAS was first approached by the SMU team with
regards to what kind of project they could embark on that contributed to
the society. After intensive discussions and meet ups, RAS and the SMU team
decided to come up with the “Toilet Cleanliness Week” campaign
to recruit and train volunteers to clean the toilets so as to better
appreciate the toilet cleaners.
The campaign
won massive support and some 60 SMU undergraduates rolled up their sleeves
to clean the toilets on 19th March. Media representatives were also
invited to witness the hard work of these volunteers who are mostly
first-timers in toilet cleaning. After this campaign, RAS intends to
explore the possibility of venturing into other schools and tertiary
institutions with the hope of extending this annual campaign for another
five to ten years.
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