Keeping our coastlines and waterways clean | Ordinary People - video Dailymotion

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What is the true value of our waterways? Adam, a lead volunteer at Waterways Watch Society, recounts the various types of litter he's encountered while striving to keep our waterways clean. He appeals to Singaporeans to avoid releasing non-native aquatic species.  #WaterwaysWatch #environment #Singapore  Watch more: https://www.asiaone.com/video

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00:00They say around here they found a part of an engine.

00:02Not a full engine, like half of an engine.

00:04I don't know where that came from.

00:05So, the stuff you find over here.

00:13Hi, I'm Adam Isaac.

00:14I'm a lead volunteer here at Waterway Watch Society.

00:17Here at Waterway Watch Society,

00:19we aim to keep our coastlines as well as waterways clean.

00:24We try to preserve aquatic life

00:25as well as to educate members of public about water sustainability

00:29as well as their impacts on the environment

00:31by organising activities such as bicycle, boat, kayak, pedal boat patrols

00:36as well as working together with companies for their corporate social responsibility.

00:43We focus on education,

00:45which is the topmost part of the hierarchy of controls, which is illumination.

00:48By educating the members of the public not to litter

00:51as well as to be more aware of their actions,

00:52for example, wastage of water,

00:54excessive use of single-use plastic and stuff like that,

00:57we can prevent this trash from entering our waterways

01:00and just to keep our waters clean in general.

01:05As mentioned earlier,

01:06we do organise events such as corporate social responsibilities.

01:09The employees of the company will come down here to Kallang HQ

01:13to participate in waterway cleanup,

01:15whether it be via cycling or via kayaking or even pedal boat as well.

01:21They'll have a briefing.

01:23Basically, one of our more senior volunteers will be there

01:26explaining to them about the brief history about the Kallang Basin in general

01:30as well as about what we have observed here in the past, I don't know, 10, 20 years.

01:35The society has been around longer than that.

01:38So they have some pictures to show about how the wildlife over here

01:43is impacted by the amount of human waste,

01:46including plastic bags, some fishing lines as well.

01:49I think if I'm not wrong, there's a picture of a fish stuck inside

01:53one of the plastic bags that you use to tapau your kopi.

01:55Your kopi in the morning.

01:57So that's quite impactful.

01:58Then after they have this briefing,

02:00they will actually go out to the water or they will cycle.

02:04At the end of the day, the participants feel, how to say, rewarded

02:08because they had a direct impact on the environment by picking up the litter,

02:12intercepting it before it goes into the waterway.

02:14Some of them also do sign up to volunteer regularly here at the Waterway Watch Society.

02:18WWF has three areas that we operate in.

02:21Number one being here.

02:22This is the HQ, Kallang.

02:25Typically, when my schedule permits, I'll come here every Saturday.

02:29Our patrol starts at 10pm and we aim to finish latest by 12.30pm.

02:33I'll have lunch with the members where we do some networking,

02:35share some jokes and some observations.

02:37What we've seen today on patrol and then after that, we'll leave at about 1.30pm.

02:45So I mostly do boat patrols and we'll patrol all along the Geylang River

02:49to Kallang River and all the way up Singapore River.

02:52What we do is, we pick up litter as we see it because it's already in our waterways.

03:12The last time I did boat patrol, I went with a few members

03:17and there was actually, around this side over here, there was a long piece of fishing line.

03:23At the end of it, there was a water bottle that was cut and attached to it.

03:27So what it is, is basically bait for fish.

03:30Leaving the bait over there can cause wildlife to be entangled in the fishing line

03:35and the bottle and stuff like that.

03:37Then, in the long run, it's not good.

03:39Although, something else that's not good is,

03:42for most of the reservoirs in Singapore, there are actually a lot of introduced fish.

03:47So meaning, species like koi, carp, etc.

03:51So a lot of people do mercy releases.

03:55And let's say, for example, your theropines and stuff,

03:57once they grow too big or you are no longer interested in it,

04:00a common practice, which is wrong, is to release it into rivers, waterways and stuff like that.

04:06It's an invasive species and it can actually cause disruption to the native biodiversity

04:11because...

04:12Oh, wait!

04:13Fisherman!

04:14I'm going to take a picture for the reporting.

04:17We also engage errant fishermen.

04:20Basically, there are only two areas in the entirety of the Kallang Basin that you're allowed to fish.

04:24Sometimes, they like to fish elsewhere because that's where all the fish are.

04:27But of course, when they fish outside, it's impacting the environment.

04:31So we do give them a reminder.

04:33They say, excuse me, sir or ma'am, the fishing area is just right over there.

04:37Just look for the blue railing or that area demarcated by the yellow buoys.

04:40I think the most common fish they catch is snakehead, which is introduced also, I think.

04:45So, as I was mentioning, one of the most common plastic pieces,

04:49the single-use ones that we pick up, is the chopstick packet cover.

04:53Yes, a lot of them.

04:55Oh, we get a lot of tennis balls.

04:57I still don't know why.

05:02We are not here just to pick up litter.

05:04Our job is to educate.

05:07And when we educate people, in the end of the day,

05:10when we pick up less litter, it means we know that we are doing our job.

05:17If you can see over there, there's actually some pieces of litter trapped.

05:20And these are the ones that, when our members do the bicycle patrol,

05:24they will try and intercept before it enters the water.

05:27Because when these items enter the water, sometimes they sink all the way to the bottom

05:31and only years later, it resurfaces.

05:33There's a plastic bottle.

05:35So you see, the colour of the plastic bottle means it's been in the water for quite some time.

05:40So, throw it away.

05:44The reservoir, it's like a completely different experience.

05:47For normal park users, they will just use the park connectors on the side.

05:51Then they don't get to experience the serenity that is on the water.

05:58So at the end of the day, looking at all the litter that I've picked up,

06:01whether it be cans or plastic bottles,

06:03I feel satisfied, I feel happy,

06:06knowing that these items will not impact the environment at large.

06:09From the tiny little fish that we have here, or to even the birds and the otters.

06:14So our beneficiaries are park users, waterway users like us, like myself,

06:20all the way up to the nation.

06:21Because the Kallang Basin is part of the national taps.

06:25So if our waterways are polluted,

06:27so polluted to the point where this source cannot be used for our drinking water,

06:31it will be detrimental to it.

06:32So by helping keep our waterways clean,

06:34by doing the education and stuff, by picking up litter during our patrols,

06:38we help the nation as a whole.

Keeping our coastlines and waterways clean | Ordinary People

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