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The Cleanest Estate Competition and the Cleanest Block Competition

The Cleanest Estate Competition and the Cleanest Block Competition were launched by the government in order to increase the level of cleanliness in HDB heartlands.

Background
Fifteen years after the launch of the Keep Singapore Clean campaign in 1968, there was a drop in the level of cleanliness in Singapore. Dr. Wan Soon Bee, Minister of State and Member of Parliament for West Coast, noted this in September 1983 when he officiated at the close of a campaign to find the cleanest block of flats in West Coast. From 1995 to 2003, the government ran island-wide Cleanest Block Competition and Cleanest Estate Competition in order to reduce the rampant littering in housing estates. These initiatives through their anti-littering message aimed to make HDB estates a clean and safe place to live.

Description
Cleanest Estate Competition
This competition pitted HDB estates against one another to clinch the title of the cleanest estate. Besides the physical appearance of the estate, in 2000, organisers of the competition added weightage to the social manners of residents of housing estates. This included deducting points for irresponsible acts such as throwing killer litter and the presence of bulky refuse and other obstruction in common areas. In 2002, the competition also included toilets at food centres as part of their assessment. Toilets were ranked according to their cleanliness and facilities, with separate categories for toilets in hotels, industrial buildings, coffeeshops and shopping centres. Five winners of places with the cleanest toilets were selected and given a cash prize of S$1000 and a plaque. However in 2003, the Cleanest Estate Competition was scrapped as it was increasingly seen as a battle between town councils and their cleaners than residents. The competition was replaced by a civic awareness campaign that aims to rely more on everyone's sense of responsibility to keep their estate pristine. In June 2003, this translates into the Singapore's OK - Our Town Sparkles programme, launched on 29 June. The aim of the campaign is to create awareness and a sense of ownership among residents, and that a community effort is needed to keep the blocks clean. Under this campaign, blocks that pass the cleanliness test for public areas commonly plagued by litter are awarded the "sparkle" sticker that the residents can proudly stick at their lift lobbies. To qualify, residents can nominate their block for if they think it is clean and tidy and only blocks that garner five nominations are eligible.

Cleanest Block Competition
The search for cleanest HDB block began as early as 1968 as part of the Keep Singapore Clean campaign but it only took an island-wide scale for the first time in 1995. Called the "Cleanest Block Competition", it was spearheaded by the co-ordinating committee for the People's Action Party town councils whose members felt that the spreading of the award island-wide would made an impact. The offerings of conservancy rebates spurred residents to bag the award, an incentive that was already introduced in some HDB estates to motivate residents to keep their precinct clean. By the time the island-wide hunt for the cleanest block was introduced in 1995, 16 town councils already held the event annually and the awards ranged from souvenirs, rebates, parties, plaques and cash to the cleaners.

Judging was done on two levels; one, within the block including the void deck, bin chute, staircase and the letterbox area, and two, in the public area, including the carparks, markets, shops and open spaces. Vandalism to common property was also taken into account as a part of the social behaviour of the residents of various housing estates.

Author
Naidu Ratnala Thulaja



References 
Chang, A. (2003, December 16). 1,149 HDB blocks 'sparkle'; They win award for cleanliness after their public areas pass test. The Straits Times, Singapore.

Cleanest block: Gifts for the cleaners. (1993, August 2). The Straits Times, p. 25.

Cleanest precinct: Social manners count too. (2000, May 24). The Straits Times, p. 47.

Cleanliness standard dropped - Dr Wan . (1983, September 26). The Straits Times. 

Drive to take keep clean message to HDB estates. (1995, October 28). The Straits Times. 

Kaur, S. (2002, September 10). Wanted: Cleaner, better loos at food centres. The Straits Times. 

Lee, Y. L. (1995, August 8). Islandwide hunt for cleanest HDB blocks. The Straits Times, p. 2.

Lim, S. (1991, July 15). 17 cleanest blocks to get rebate on conservany fees. The Straits Times, p. 19.

Tan, H. Y. (1996, September 12). Cleanliness competition extended to precincts. The Straits Times, p. 25. 

Wong, K. (2003, June 30). Cleanest HDB estate contest to be scrapped. The Straits Times.


Further Readings
Anti-litter efforts. (1995, November 5). The Straits Times, p. 3.

Launch of Clean and Green Week. (1994, November 7). The Straits Times, p. 22.

Lim, S. (1991, July 16). Spick and span, thanks to family of cleaners. The Straits Times, p. 25.

Night brigade goes in search of cleanest block. (1989, March 7). The Straits Times, p. 19. 

They help by not littering public areas. (1995, July 27). The Straits Times, p. 24.

Which is the cleanest block of them all? (2000, September 17). The Straits Times, p. 44.

The information in this article is valid as at 2004 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history on the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Events>>National Campaigns
Environmental policy--Singapore
Environmental health--Planning--Singapore
Law and government>>Environmental protection
Health and medicine>>Healthy living>>Environmental health



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