By Tharuka Prematillake*

 Singapore youth volunteers show their concern for the environment by taking part in the River Monster Educational Programme.

SINGAPORE, Oct 5 (IPS/AMIC) - “It’s exciting and makes Singapore clean,” S Vishna, a primary school student, says of his efforts, along with friends, of cleaning the Singapore river base here one weekend.

Water Wally watches over a reservoir park in Eastern Singapore, popular with joggers in the neighbouring estates.

 

“That thing has a name?” Kamariah, a 22-year-old undergraduate exclaimed incredulously when asked for her opinions about Water Wally.

The mascot of the Public Utilities Board (PUB), a statutory board under Singapore’s Ministry for the Environment and Water Resources, appeared out of the blue at various water installations here last year.

SINGAPORE (IPS) - Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong believes that the island country's water dependency on mainland Malaysia has been a blessing in disguise that has helped turn ''vulnerability into strength''.

   Water, observed Lee recently, ''is for us, not an inexhaustible gift of nature, but a precious fruit of our efforts which we must husband and use wisely''.