Doing the green thing
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$30,000 expected from flea markets
• ABOUT 100,000 used items ranging from books and toys to electric fans, costing between 10 cents and $200, were sold at five flea markets around Singapore yesterday.
About $30,000 is expected from the sale, which aims to encourage recycling and help cut down on wastage.
The money will go to various charities, including the Lee Kuo Chuan Home for the Aged, Lions Home for the Elders and Little Sisters of the Poor.
BP Singapore and the Clementi and Queenstown citizens’ consultative committees, Alexandra Hill Primary and Fairfield Methodist Secondary schools organised the mass market.
The organisers said that about 40,000 people visited the flea markets held at Bishan Park, Clementi Community Centre, Queenstown Community Centre, Alexandra Hill Primary School and Fairfield Methodist Secondary School.
There were also pony rides, magic and puppet shows and art contests.
BG Lee and MPs plant manila palms
• DEPUTY Prime Minister Brigadier-General (NS) Lee Hsien Loong and other MPs of the Ang Mo Kio Yishun Town Council planted manila palms in front of Block 322, as the final touch to a landscaping project costing $60,000.
Brig-Gen Lee was helped by his 11-year-old son Yi-Peng.
He said it was important to cultivate a love for trees.
"We want to make it normal, natural to look after the environment and pay attention to not only what is in your home but also your living environment," he said.
He noted that the importance of the environment had been brought home by the haze of the last few months.
"Can you imagine what Singapore would be like if it were like that all the time? And there are many countries in the world which are like that."
Prof Jayakumar helps in washing
• HE JETTED while they swept. Working in rhythm with his grassroots leaders was Professor S. Jayakumar, MP for Bedok GRC, who showed he was adept with a water-jet gun.
While he shot jets of water to loosen the dirt at the Bedok South Road market yesterday morning, the others swept it away.
Dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, he led the washing of blocks 16-18, which house a market, hawker centre and many grocery shops.
He also stopped at a grocery shop named Poh Leong Heng, owned several years ago by the late chairman of the Bedok South citizens’ consultative committee.
He inquired about the health of Mr Poh’s widow, Madam Tay Siew Eng, 72, and chatted with her with the help of an interpreter.
Earlier in the morning, Prof Jayakumar planted a tree near Block 10E, accompanied by about 100 grassroots leaders and volunteers.
Pasir Ris gets 200 recycling bins
• PASIR RIS residents were so enthusiastic about a pilot recycling project launched in September 1993 that 200 recycling bins are being placed around their blocks.
These one-metre tall bins which come in many colours are for the recycling of drink cans.
The Eunos Town Council also launched yesterday the Estate Cleanliness Competition which will last four months.
Every household in the winning block stands to enjoy a one-time rebate of $20 in service and conservancy charges.
Mr Chew Heng Ching, Mr Sidek Saniff and Mr Charles Chong, MPs for Eunos GRC, also kicked off the planting of 91 trees and 1,516 shrubs at tree-planting ceremonies at various locations in Eunos.
Mr Chew also opened Tampines North Park yesterday.
Kidney patients get Sembawang help
• SEMBAWANG residents raised $112,000 to help kidney patients finance their treatments at the new National Kidney Foundation Dialysis Centre which will be opened in Nee Soon East early next year.
The sum exceeded their target by $12,000.
Dr Tony Tan, MP for Sembawang GRC, announced this yesterday during the ground-breaking ceremony for the Marsiling Pedestrian Mall which stretches from Blocks 18 to 21 at Marsiling Lane.
The money was raised by the "Adopt a Tree, Save a Life" scheme launched in August this year.
Residents would nurture a tree in their estate and individuals would show their support by donating money.
The ground-breaking marked the start of one of Sembawang GRC’s major projects this year: A $600,000 mall upgrade.
In five months, Marsiling residents will enjoy a new landscaped mall with an amphitheatre and pavilion.
The MPs also planted mango trees at Block 20, Marsiling Lane yesterday morning.
Source : The Straits Times, November 7, 1994
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