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RAS achieves milestone in its Happy Toilet Programme
(HTP)
 RAS
has broken new ground in its efforts towards HTP acquiring two new partners,
the first being a government office building, the Health Promotion Board
(HPB) and four SingHealth Polyclinics. They now
bear the certification and status of being Happy Toilets. RAS assessed
those toilets in March and visitors to the HPB building and SingHealth Polyclinics will soon be comforted knowing
that the HTP plaques displayed at the various toilet entrances – by
the end of April – signifies that their restrooms are safe and of a
high standard. This also means the HTP has successfully extended its
reach to the healthcare sector i.e. hospitals and polyclinics where high
level of hygiene and sanitation standards have always been emphasised.
Two hospitals namely the Institute of Mental Health and the Alexandra
Hospital also joined our HTP in July and October respectively last year.
Besides
the healthcare sector, HTP participation for other sectors has also risen
owing to the support rendered by the National Environment Agency (NEA).
NEA’s North West Regional Office organised a HTP introductory talk
for toilet owners and operators of coffeeshops,
immigration checkpoints, MRT stations, parks, restaurants and shopping
centres in the North West district  on
28th January. The owners and operators were provided handy information on
the difference in standards of the 3, 4 and 5-star ratings within HTP
followed by a toilet tour to reinforce their understanding of HTP. It is
indeed encouraging that some 100 new Happy Toilets – including HPB
Building and SingHealth Polyclinics –
will surface in April.
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RAS trains
more Eco-Assessors
With
more owners and operators participating in our Happy Toilet Programme
(HTP), RAS trained a new pool of Certified Eco-Assessors (CEAs) and Volunteer Eco-Assessors (VEAs) on 5th March and 13th March respectively. CEAs play a vital role in the sustainability of clean
public toilets given that they work closely with us to certify public
toilets under the HTP. In addition, CEAs advise
the owners and operators on how to improve the standard of restrooms
under their purview. RAS has recently revised its selection criteria for
its CEA to first join as VEAs and conduct at
least 10 mystery audits for restrooms under the HTP before progressing to
become CEAs.
Apart
from conducting mystery audits, VEAs also
educate their peers about clean restrooms. Employees of our HTP clients
are also invited by RAS to be trained as VEAs
so as to take greater ownership of their Happy Toilets. VEAs will play a vital role in our school and public
education programme this year by  assessing
school toilets and educating toilet users at F&B establishments. The
first CEA training session was conducted in November 2008 while the first
VEA training session was conducted in August 2008. Since 2008, RAS has
trained a total of about 30 CEAs and 90 VEAs. RAS aims to train another 10 CEAs and 60 VEAs this year.
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RAS unveils
innovative toilet-feedback system at the NEA Community Day
On
9th January, RAS invited international consultancy and township
development group, SURBANA, to showcase their unique toilet-feedback
system that offers users the opportunity to ‘grade’ the
quality of the restrooms. Visitors to our booth including Guest-of-Honour Dr
Yaacob Ibrahim were impressed with the
touch-screen interface that provides user-friendly options for users to
offer feedback on matters such as the cleanliness of the restroom, the
air quality and the provision of hand soap and toilet paper. Once the
feedback is captured, it will notify the cleaning supervisor via SMS and
he or she will then assign a cleaner to take remedial action. The system
will also track the exact time when remedial action was taken by the
cleaner with a simple scan of a card.
 After
the launch, RAS was involved in one of the stage activities. Our key
person for Outreach and Education, Mr Sanjay Balan,
shared good toilet etiquette tips such as proper hand-washing steps with
the attendees before inviting our President to take the centre stage in a
light-hearted discussion of restroom issues with the attendees. Some of
the topics discussed were the common places with dirtiest toilets and
suggestions to tackle the problem. The NEA Community Day was held from
9th to 10th January at the NEA North East Regional Office for the
grassroots organisations and residents of the North East district. This
new initiative aims to reach out to the community by getting them to gain
a better understanding of NEA’s operations.
[View Photos]
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RAS promotes
good toilet etiquette via Chinese variety show
A
research writer from MediaCorp approached RAS
in January to request for its appearance on “U're
The Man”, a Chinese variety show that features 10 hunky contestants
pitting themselves against each other in challenges based on various
masculine themes. In one of the challenges, contestants were tested on
their knowledge and one interesting question was, ‘why do toilet  bowls
have covers?’ RAS was invited to assist in the filming as the
writer felt the association would be in the best position to provide the
answer to this question. They felt our involvement would also help to
promote good toilet habits to the viewers.
The
answer to the above-mentioned question was aired on 9th March, Tuesday,
on Channel U. The need to close the toilet cover before flushing is to
eliminate the sneezing effect which is similar to covering the mouth when
sneezing to prevent the spread of bacteria. Without closing the toilet
cover, micro-droplets of bacteria can be dispersed up to two metres and
remained airborne for more than an hour. The bacteria would also land and
cling on the walls and objects such as toothbrushes and towels.
Therefore, everyone should practise the good habit of closing the toilet
cover before flushing.
[View
Video] [More Details]
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RAS voices its
opinions on the toilet-tourism link to postgraduates from Netherlands
A
Chinese postgraduate from the NHTV Breda University of
Applied Sciences,
who is working on her group project on the tourism development of Singapore, requested
for an interview with RAS on 17th March. Two
postgraduates, Ms Nienke
van Gemert and Ms Carla Flores
from the Netherlands
and Honduras
respectively paid a visit to RAS and our President shared with them the
impact of toilets on the tourism development of Singapore.
They are among the seven postgraduates from the Dutch university who are
in Singapore
for a month to undertake field research. This  is
the second phase of the Masters
in Tourism Destination Management programme and the
students have to carry out practical assignments at three different
locations in the Asia-Pacific: a beach, a city and a rural (developing)
destination. They have chosen Singapore as one of the locations.
During
the interview session, our President elaborated on the close partnerships
between RAS and the various government and private organisations with
special mention of the NEA in creating public awareness and launching
educational programmes on good toilet etiquette. She also added that
tourist attractions like the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and the Jurong Bird Park are committed to achieving the
5-star rating for its toilets to live up to its name as world-class
tourist attractions. RAS is pleased to share its key programmes and
initiatives with the postgraduates from NHTV. For more than 40 years,
NHTV has been operating as an institute offering management programmes in
tourism and leisure. It is also the leading education institute in the
world with more than 7,000 students from over 50 countries, the largest
of its kind.
[More
Details]
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RAS shares its key
programmes and initiatives with SPRING readers
RAS
was approached by the Contributing Editor of SPRING to share with the
readers some of its key programmes and initiatives. Our Manager, Susan
Pereira gave a brief account of her work in RAS and our various
programmes and initiatives such as the Happy Toilet Programme (HTP), LOO
Campaign, LOO Map and outreach & education
programmes. The article was published in the North East Star section of
the March/April issue of SPRING, a bi-monthly  publication
by the North East Community Development Council.
In the article,
she also mentioned some of the projects done in the North East district
including sharing the importance of clean public restrooms during the 5th
North East Environmental Health Regional Workshop co-organised by the
National Environment Agency North East Regional Office and working with
student volunteers to get residents to pen down their ‘2010 Toilet
Wish’ at the North East Challenge Walk in 2009. She concluded that
she always takes pride in her work and finds it fulfilling because she is
able to pick up the concerns of cleaners, parents and students.
[Read
Article]
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RAS showcases its
projects at the Environmental Education Advisor (EEA) Networking Session
On
6th February at the Nanyang Girls' High School,
five volunteers joined RAS in its crusade to achieve its vision of
providing clean public toilets for everyone. Four of them were recruited
with the help from the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre
(NVPC). The volunteers helped to man our booth and share the importance
of restroom hygiene education with primary and secondary school teachers
during the Environmental Education Advisor (EEA) Networking Session. The
EEA Networking Session was co-organised by the National Environment
Agency (NEA) and Nanyang Girls' High School in
line with NEA’s strategy of empowering more partners to take the
lead in organising environmental programmes and activities.
One volunteer,
Belinda, shared with the attendees that the event  was an excellent
platform for EEAs to network, share best
practices on environment education and find out new and exciting
environment initiatives that NEA and its partners would be rolling out
for the year ahead. Fellow volunteer Daryl also added, “I am also
overwhelmed that many teachers came to our booth to leave their contact
details for the RAS staff to conduct talks and workshops at their
schools!” EEAs play the role of a contact
point between NEA and their schools in environmental education.
[More Details] [View Photos]
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