Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 25th April 2024 Issue no. 1111
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Restroom Association (Singapore) presents its Loo Awards
Those responsible for Singapore's best washrooms were rewarded for their efforts at the LOO (Let's Observe Ourselves) Carnival & Awards ceremony in Singapore recently, by the Restroom Association (Singapore).
For this latest round of LOO Awards, 57 nominations were received for three categories - and a total of 16 recipients, including the 'Best Happy Toilet' category which is not open for nominations, were selected to receive the awards from Guest-of-Honour Mr Liak Teng Lit, Chairman of the Public Hygiene Council.
The LOO Awards ceremony was held on the first day of the two-day carnival, during which visitors were able to enjoy playing the new LOO Whiz online game (launched to raise awareness of how difficult it is to keep public washrooms clean and well stocked) and participate in other educational games and activities.
They could also chat to and examine the wares of the exhibitors who were showcasing innovative and interesting washroom products and services.
LOO (Let's Observe Ourselves) Awards recipients:
* Private Sector - AsiaMalls Management Pte
* Public Sector - JTC Corporation
* Education Sector - (Established School Category) Northland Primary School, (Promising School Category) St. Anthony's Primary School
* Cleaning Service Provider - ISS Facility Services Pte
* Restroom Cleaning Attendant (In alphabetical order) - Mrs Lim Ai Lee of Horsburgh Integrated Services Pte, Mdm Sapiah Bte Napfil of Ramky Cleantech Services Pte, Mr Tao Yan Bin of ISS Facility Services Pte
* Individual (In alphabetical order) Youth - Ms Chen Mei Xin, a marketing student from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, School of Business & Accountancy; Mr Desmond Pheh, a marketing student from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, School of Business & Accountancy
* Star Volunteer - Mr Henry Zhong of the Restroom Association (Singapore)
* Best Happy Toilet - Coffee Shop, Broadway, 100 Tyrwhitt Road; Food Court, Kopitiam, 5 Lower Kent Ridge Road, National University Hospital; Market & Food Centre, Mayflower Market & Food Centre, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4; Shopping Centre, Anchorpoint Shopping Centre Basement 1
* Happy Toilet of the Year 2012 - Health Promotion Board, Level 2 Centre
Speaking to the assembled audience, Ms Tan Puay Hoon, President of RAS, said:
"I am pleased to see this event gaining momentum each year. Since the launch of the LOO Campaign in 2008, we have worked closely with the stakeholders, that is, the owners, cleaning industry and public users to improve cleanliness and hygiene standards.
"From the owners, I am glad to see more commitment in the adoption of good design and the latest technology in maintenance. At our carnival every year, we invite our sponsors to showcase their innovative products. This year, we are pleased to see both new and existing sponsors, namely Qool Enviro, Tav Shield, ESG Asia Pacific, Inter-Lab Products, RentokilvInitial and Rigel, partnering with us to provide a good learning journey for owners to stay ahead with the latest technologies.
"From the cleaning industry, I am glad to see more commitment in the training of cleaning attendants and the recent government's initiative to increase their wages. For our LOO Awards this year, there is a substantial increase in the number of nominations from thecleaning Industry from 15 to 37, which is more than double the number of nominations received last year.
"In the cleaning industry, restroom cleaning remains the toughest job. There is a need to better recognise the restroom attendants and our LOO Awards is one of the initiatives.
"For the public users, we have been promoting our preschool and school programmes to educate the young since 2005. For the past two years, we have also reached out to the public at coffee shop areas. We believe considerate user behaviour is the key to sustaining the cleanliness of public toilets. This is similar to the recent launch of the Keep Singapore Clean Movement to change people's attitudes and behaviour on littering.
"We are appreciative of the opportunity to be involved in this movement led by our Guest of Honour Mr Liak.
"There are many means of changing user behaviour and educational games can be one of them. At this point, I would like to offer my heartiest gratitude to Nanyang Polytechnic's School of Interactive & Digital Media, for developing an online educational game for us. The game, called the LOO (Let's Observe Ourselves) Whiz, was developed to educate the public to better appreciate the restroom cleaning attendants' efforts. I am urging everyone to try out the game, so as to experience the demanding work of a restroom attendant, especially due to poor user behaviour.
"Though the restroom attendants are the unsung heroes, other award recipients, both organisations and individuals, are also the heroes today. Without you, access to clean, functional and user-friendly restrooms will be a challenge for us. I wish to extend my heartiest congratulations to all of you for a job well done! I am certain all of you will remain as exemplary role model for everyone.
"For the past three years, our event has garnered supporters from both government and non-government organisations. We are honoured to receive continued support from the National Environment Agency, Public Hygiene Council and World Toilet Organization.
"We must not forget that 2.5 billion people still lack improved sanitation facilities, and over 780 million people still use unsafe drinking water sources."
The vision of RAS - the Restroom Association (Singapore) - is:
'A Gracious Society Embracing Excellence in Restroom Culture'. Started in 1998 as a non-profit organisation, RAS is dedicated to building an excellent washroom culture by actively engaging owners, the cleaning industry and users to play their part. Its programmes or activities - supported by the National Environment Agency, include the Happy Toilet Programme, Happy Toilet School Education programme for Preschools, STAR (Sustaining Toilets As Restrooms) Awards Programme, Eco-Assessor Programme and LOO (Let's Observe Ourselves) Carnival & Awards.
RAS is a strategic partner in national community events like Clean & Green Singapore and is also a founding member of the World Toilet Organization and the Keep Singapore Beautiful Movement.
T: +65 6297 9824
E: [email protected]
W: www.toilet.org.sg
14th February 2013