Launch of Keep Singapore Clean 2025 - Ms Grace Fu

Good morning, everyone.

1. It gives me great pleasure to join you today for the launch of Keep Singapore Clean 2025. This annual campaign is an important initiative by the Public Hygiene Council to foster a cleaner and more hygienic Singapore - a vision that we, as a nation, have committed to for the benefit of current and future generations.

2. As we celebrate SG60, it is timely that we reflect on the journey we have taken together, and chart the path that lies ahead. Keeping Singapore clean is not merely about picking up litter or ensuring that our streets are free of rubbish. It is about instilling a sense of personal responsibility and strengthening our pride in our shared spaces. It is about building a clean, safe, healthy and liveable home that all Singapore residents can be proud of.

Singapore’s cleanliness journey

3. Looking around us today at Sentosa's pristine beaches and world-class attractions, it is hard to imagine its previous identity as Pulau Blakang Mati - an island of swamps. But in the 1970s, our leaders envisioned a world-class destination for both locals and tourists alike. They set about cleaning and beautifying Sentosa, believing it to be crucial for attracting international investors and visitors.

4. What we have achieved here on Sentosa exemplifies our larger journey to become the clean and modern city of today. 60 years ago, like many emerging nations, Singapore faced significant public health and sanitation challenges. Many people squeezed in overcrowded living conditions with poor sanitation; our waterways were polluted; and rubbish lined our streets.

5. The Singapore you see today is the result of deliberate, sustained effort. Our major milestone came in 1968 when Founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew launched the first Keep Singapore Clean campaign. His vision laid the foundation for our transformation from a struggling polluted backwater into a clean global powerhouse, known for its cleanliness and liveability. This year, on SG60, we honour this legacy, by ensuring that Singapore remains clean and hygienic through collective responsibility and action in keeping our common spaces clean.

Holistic approach to tackling cleanliness issues

6. Good public hygiene is one cornerstone of Singapore’s success and our reputation as a clean city. Since we designated 2024 as the Year of Public Hygiene, we have made considerable headway in uplifting our public cleanliness and hygiene standards. Building on this success, we will continue to:

   • Evolve our operating models to meet the needs of the changing landscape.

   • Increase the use of technology to improve our surveillance and enhance cleaning operations; and

   • Train public officers to be more effective at resolving public cleanliness and hygiene issues upstream.

7. Earlier this year, we announced that the National Environment Agency will roll out a new Cleaner Neighbourhoods initiative to manage more holistically the many public cleanliness issues that we face. Steps will include enhancing our surveillance at cleanliness hotspots, to better guide our engagement efforts with local stakeholders and focus our necessary enforcement actions against offenders.

8. Related to this will be a Community Action for Cleanliness initiative, which will empower local communities to take ownership of the cleanliness of their neighbourhoods to complement NEA’s operational efforts. NEA will work closely with local community partners to strengthen our communications to stakeholders and residents on public cleanliness and hygiene issues, identify offenders, and engage targeted groups and stakeholders.

9. But the Keep Singapore Clean movement is really about the role of the individual and the wider community, and for that reason, I am excited to learn about CleanHood – the enhanced programme by PHC to empower students and residents, by equipping them with the right resources to actively keep their common spaces clean. For schools, CleanHood will provide wide-ranging resources that educators can tap on to nurture a sense of environmental ownership among students. Students will be encouraged to become environmental advocates through hands-on activities, from designing publicity materials to sharing experiences with their peers during school assemblies. At the community level, CleanHood will focus on developing community champions. Through capacity building workshops, community champions will be equipped with knowledge and skillsets to drive environmental initiatives in the community. I am certain that this new initiative will complement NEA’s efforts to fortify community stewardship in caring for public spaces.

10. 13 partners will be presented with the new CleanHood Award, to honour them for strongly championing the Keep Singapore Clean movement. Recipients include:

    • Bedok Constituency, which introduced its signature “Clean Sweep” initiative, to regularly bring together residents to keep their estates litter-free; and

    • Zhenghua Constituency, which introduced the “Cash for Trash” and “Preloved Market” programmes, to encourage residents to rethink and minimise the disposal of useful items at their estates.

Broadening of PHC’s Work Scope

11. Indeed, I commend PHC for expanding its mandate to cover more public cleanliness issues from this year onwards. As Andrew mentioned earlier, public cleanliness and hygiene is about building a safe, healthier and more liveable environment. Many public cleanliness and hygiene issues, such as pest infestation and high-rise littering, can adversely affect our health and quality of life. It is therefore timely for PHC to broaden its scope to take on public messaging and outreach for a broader range of public cleanliness concerns.

A Whole-of-Nation Effort

12. In short, attaining high standards of public cleanliness is part of keeping Singapore healthy and resilient. It requires collaboration between the Government, businesses, community groups, and individuals. I am happy that PHC has started organising SG Clean Day on a bi-monthly basis. This increased frequency creates more opportunities for partners, stakeholders and individuals to take collective action towards keeping Singapore clean.

13. While the Government will continue to invest in improving our infrastructure and policies alongside enforcement actions, real and lasting change comes from individual ownership. Simple daily actions, when practised consistently by everyone, will make a meaningful difference in contributing to our clean future. This includes returning our trays and ensuring that tables are clean for the next diners; keeping public toilets clean; and disposing our waste properly. If you can, go beyond that. Pick up litter when you see it around you, remind others to keep public spaces clean, contribute to community efforts on cleanliness and hygiene.

Conclusion

14. Let us mark this special SG60 milestone with an affirmation of our collective responsibility to keep Singapore clean with commitment and pride. This is a precious gift to our future generations. Let us be champions of Keep Singapore Clean. Together, we can ensure that Singapore remains not just a clean city, but one supported by civic responsibility and graciousness.

15. Thank you.