Best Constituency (Commendation) Awards

The Best Constituency (Commendation) Awards are given to the constituencies that have shown commendable efforts in achieving a high level of participation and programme quality at the national level.

The Marymount Grassroots Organisations launched the Marymount Green Plan in 2021 to engender stronger ownership of clean and sustainable living in the community.

Based on the interests of the residents in Marymount, the GROs initiated several projects under the Marymount Green Plan. These included developing community gardens, planting more trees, installing paper and e-waste recycling machines, and conducting workshops on upcycling and waste reduction.

Key initiatives:

• One Earth, Save it! @ Marymount – consists of virtual workshops, virtual educational talks, and physical activities such as Cash for Trash. These activities increased awareness of climate change and encouraged residents to reuse, reduce and recycle.
• Clean Hands Project @ Marymount – to encourage personal hygiene during the COVID-19 pandemic, volunteers topped-up hand sanitiser bottles that were installed in HDB lifts. Residents could easily use these hand sanitisers and keep the community safe.

Launched in 2015, Nee Soon Central’s recycling programme aims to encourage recycling among residents, reduce the contamination of recyclables, and create opportunities for residents to bond at the recycling points.

This programme was created in partnership with North West CDC, Tzu Chi Foundation, National Environment Agency (NEA) and RCs.

Since the programme’s launch, the division has built a community of committed residents. More residents are sorting their recyclables and learning how to prepare recyclable items from volunteers.  The programme also inculcated Environmental Ownership as seen by the volunteers’ commitment. Close Community Partnership and Outreach has also been achieved between NEA, the community and programme partner, Tzu Chi Foundation.

Braddell Heights Division coordinates its green efforts through the Climate Action Taskforce (CAT), which engages residents, partners community networks, and works with private companies to foster community ownership of environmental initiatives.

CAT’s initiatives include organising book and e-waste recycling drives, increasing the use of reusable masks and lunch boxes, improving public health through education on good hygiene, and gardening activities.

The most recent project includes working with Panasonic to develop a hydroponics system powered by AI, which allows residents to grow food at home easily. Produce from this project will be donated to low income residents in the community.

Sembawang West Zone G partnered with Sembcorp, NEA and RCs in the North West District to organise and manage a recycling drive, ‘EziCash For Trash’. This programme was launched in December 2020 and aims to encourage residents in the district to recycle and create opportunities for residents to bond at the various recycling points. The EziCash incentive was successful in increasing the volume of recyclables collected. Sembcorp and the grassroots volunteers regularly engaged volunteers and provided them with training opportunities, therefore promoting strong Environmental Ownership.

Through Education, Campaigning and Enforcement, Nee Soon South seeks to inspire residents, old and young, to take ownership of their neighbourhood’s cleanliness by adopting good habits. The 3 habits include:

1. WALK THE TALK: lead by example by not littering

2. STOP THE BUG: go up to the litterbug and tell him/her to pick up their litter

3. PICK IT UP: pick-up litter when I see it and bin it

Nee Soon South also creates environmental awareness and protects the environment through conscious actions such as reducing wastage, using reusable bags, learning to reduce, and saying ‘No’ to plastic bags. They also aim to change other habits including the use of plastic straws, and other single-used plastic items.

Residents are also encouraged to recycle and bond with other residents at the various recycling points throughout the town. Over time, Nee Soon South hopes to build a community of residents who are committed to sorting their recyclables, recycling regularly, and learning from volunteers.

Key initiatives:

• Woodlands Book Donation Drive – started in 2015, the book donation drive encourages residents to donate their pre-loved books to low income families instead of discarding them. In 2019, more than 10,000 books were donated to 1,500 families. In 2021, more than 5,000 books were collected and redistributed despite the COVID-19 pandemic
• Elimination of plastic water bottles – Woodlands GROs eliminated the use of plastic water bottles at grassroots events, activities, and meetings. Water dispensers were installed, and residents were encouraged to bring reusable water bottles to these events instead. Woodlands GROs also distributed 12,000 reusable water bottles to households located within the 7 Woodlands Residents’ Networks during National Day 2020

Woodlands Book Donation Drive
 

Elimination of plastic water bottles

Toa Payoh East Zone 6 RC committee members and volunteers have organised a monthly recycling programme since 2014. Aside from collecting as many recyclable items as possible, this programme also aims to emphasise the importance of recycling.

Through this programme, residents have learned to identify recyclable items and made an effort to recycle these items. Efforts to sustain the programme are commendable and the RC members aim to reach out to more residents beyond Toa Payoh East.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Singapore also experienced one of the largest dengue outbreaks in history. Understanding the dangers of dengue and importance of dengue prevention, Tampines Changkat grassroots volunteers worked with NEA to promptly disseminate information about the dengue clusters and educate residents about the measures they can take to protect themselves from dengue.

As physical community events were not allowed due to the COVID-19 restrictions, grassroots volunteers used online platforms such as social media and telecommunication channels to communicate with residents. When the restrictions were eased, grassroots volunteers also conducted house visits to distribute dengue prevention flyers and insect repellents.

In November 2020, there were two adjacent red alert dengue clusters in Tampines Changkat. A virtual sharing was conducted to brief volunteers on the dengue situation. Thereafter, house visits were conducted within these clusters to share dengue prevention tips with residents. The fight against dengue is a continuous one. By encouraging the community to do the Mozzie Wipeout together, Tampines Changkat grassroots volunteers hope to keep the dengue clusters and cases under control.