A bevy of people filled the Woodlands Community Centre on 16 December 2007 to attend the Education and Welfare Fund Bursary Presentation 2007 organised by Woodlands CCC.

The event was graced by Woodlands MP, Ms Ellen Lee, who presented the bursaries to the recipients. The Education and Welfare Fund Bursary is meant to provide financial assistance to needy and meritorious students residing in Woodlands.

In a bid to spread the joy of Christmas and in view that old toys can still be recycled when children outgrow them, Republic Polytechnic (RP) set up a Toy Library. The RP’s Toy Library is an initiative of the conservation movement at RP. It aims to provide children from less affluent families in the neighborhood with toys that they would otherwise not be able to afford. Hence, used toys can be conserved and “recycled” for a good cause. Spearheading this project, RP’s Conservation Interest Group (IG) collected old toys through donations. Out of the hundreds of toys generously donated by RP staff and members of the public in the past 5 months, about a hundred toys were handpicked and cleaned by the students and staff from the Conservation IG before being wrapped as presents for the children from lower income families, and given to them after the Bursary presentation.

The IG hopes that this effort will reduce the quantity of recyclable toys being sent to incineration plants, and aims to build an environmentally-conscious mindset in our students who were involved in cleaning the toys.

This project was jointly organized by Woodlands CCC and Republic Polytechnic, and made possible by the following Conservation IG students and staff advisors from the School of Applied Science:

Students: WONG JUN MING; EISHA BTE DADLANI; UTBA BIN MAHMOOD; TAN TING TING /DBMS; WOO CHIN CHENG; NURUL NURASHIKIN BTE JA'AFAR; TEO JIN YE; CHOO ZINING; MUHAMMAD FAREEZAL B MOHAMED I; SOH ZHI HAO; SABRINA CHOO; Ariffin; NUR AZIEANI; ARIFIN; LIONG ZHI WEI MARK; SUM YUHENG; Tan Han Keat; SHAZRINA BTE DAUD

Staff: Amy Choong; Chua Hwee Chuan; Dawn Ong; Grace Tan; Serena Seah; Tan Lay Pheng; Wong Luh Cherng

On 6 June 07, some 280 Republic Polytechnic (RP) students promoted the monthly Bring Your Own Bag Day (BYOBD) by giving away 4,500 free reusable bags to heartlanders at three supermarkets in Woodlands vicinity.

These students, enthusiastic in their effort to contribute towards the conservation of the environment, were ready and confident to face any members of the public not keen to embrace the idea of using reusable bags and that plastic bags are now gaining notoriety as environmental-pests.

To students' surprise, they gathered positive affirmations from the public - made up of heartlanders from different backgrounds and age groups. The frequent requests for a pledge on reducing the use of plastic bags and filling up a survey were greeted with friendly nods and approachable gestures.

The students managed to educate the public on the hazards of having an over-accumulation of disposed plastic bags. However, some students still encountered those who insisted on using plastic bags and indicated the inconvenience of using a reusable bag. With much persuasion, their objections turned to concurrence when they were given the attractive yellow RP reusable bag; they pledged to reduce their use of plastic bags.

The pledge - Project Minus3Million Plastic Bags - was undeniably a success as it showed how mindsets can be changed when presented with hopes of an environmentally positive future; it also highlighted that efforts of a few who cared about the environment can propagate a community to do their bid for a greener environment for our future generations.

Imagine this, if you use 6 plastic bags less every week, as reiterated in the RP pledge cards, Singapore may collectively have reduced 3 million plastic bags a day. The mere thought of how one person’s endeavour (or not) may account for something significant stand testimony to the fact that all of us can make a difference.

When this event was over, there were many people beaming with pride with RP's yellow reusable bags slinging on their arms.

This event was supported by Conservation Interest Group (IG), Chiron Club, School of Applied Science (SAS) students and staff. SAS staff who has contributed significantly to this event are Grace Tan, Dr Tan Lay Pheng, Lisa Kavita Rajah, Serena Seah, Dawn Ong, Michelle Tan, Rina Loh, and Foo Yong Zhi.

Words by Michelle Tan (SAS) and Emma Sue. (BC)