Corporate Cleanup Week

The Public Hygiene Council held the Corporate Cleanup Week from Nov 7 to 11, 2016 as part of the “Keep Singapore Clean” campaign — an initiative to promote awareness of anti-littering. The objective of the Corporate Cleanup Week is to instill a sense of ownership through beach clean-up activities carried out by organisations, schools and communities.

In collaboration with the Public Hygiene Council, a subsidiary of the National Environment Agency, 33 volunteers from the World Mission Society Church of God Singapore (SGWMSCOG) embarked on a mission to guide more than 700 participants from over 20 corporate organisations to clean up 4 beaches — Changi, East Coast, Pasir Ris and Sembawang Beach.Many of the student volunteers volunteered with a mind to spend their vacation meaningfully, whilst the youth members opted to utilise their paid time-off accumulated over the year to give back to the society.

“We wish to let Singaporeans know that, though we may be a ‘Clean City’ in the eyes of the foreigners, but in actual fact, we are a “Cleaned City’, one that is cleaned up by cleaners,” commented Jonathan Lim, 35, a member of the SGWMSCOG and organiser of the voluntary event.

One of the purpose of the event is also to advocate the importance of maintaining the nation’s marine ecosystem. Annually, there are approximately 5,000 tonnes of trash from 8,000 km of drains in Singapore. In order to clean up the marina catchment area, 56,000 cleaners and $4.5 million are needed on a yearly basis. Marine litter can travel up to 10 km back into our reservoirs, jetties and beaches.

The occasional showers over the week did not dampen the spirits of volunteers.”We are actually paying the price for our actions. Through this event, I was able to experience what the cleaners are going through on a daily basis, albeit insignificantly. I truly appreciate their efforts and will be more conscious about protecting the environment from now on,” resolved Felicia Thong, 26, a volunteer from SGWMSCOG.

Over the week, the volunteers and participants collected more than 800kg of waste and contributed over 1,000 man-hours.*** The church members have a good news to share: PHC has awarded the the World Mission Society Church of God with a Certificate of Appreciation for their voluntary efforts during this event. Their joy is infectious and they would also like to express heartfelt thanks to PHC and each and every participant for the united efforts. To read more about the award received, please click here.