BEING GREEN PAYS
There's
money in recycling, these student entrepreneurs and others tell Tan
Hock Lee.
It's 5.30pm - Leticia Peh, 16, and her friends from Hai Sing Catholic
School's Entrepreneurship Club (EC) are gathered at the void deck of
a block of flats along Pasir Ris Drive 6. Their chatter is punctuated
with shrill cries of glee as they inspect the fruits of their labour
- old newspapers, books, bags, shoes, photo frames, toys, vases, which
they had managed to collect from residents in the area. They have been
working since noon but for club vice-president Leticia and her friends,
the sense of satisfaction is well worth the sweat and toil.
Mind you, Hai Sing's EC is no "karung guni" club. Launched
in July 2002, the club aims to promote entrepreneurship and character
development among students. And as part of the work towards that vision,
members collect unwanted stuff, recycle and then sell them.
The school's Pastoral Care and Career Guidance Room is their store
room and items are put up for sale in school and once, even at Bugis
Junction. Proceeds from the sales go to needy students in the school.
The club teems with ideas on recycling and fund-raising. Kenneth Lim,
15, treasurer of the club, especially likes the idea of making wind
chimes using leftover pieces of plastic and wood from the school's technical
workshop: "I think it's a very creative idea. Normally we would
just collect unwanted stuff and recondition them. It's very satisfying
when you know that just a while ago the beautiful wind chimes were discarded
pieces of plastic and wood."
The club members are no stranger to hard work. Other than keeping a
look out for things to recycle and sell, a lot of time is spent on planning
and coordinating an upcoming sale. "I'm touched when I witness
all my friends' enthusiasm and commitment. When we have a sale in mind,
we would hold daily meetings to ensure proper planning," says Leticia.
So, what keeps them going? Teacher-incharge Alwin Njoo reveals: "It's
true that sometimes my students get a bit sad when sales are bad or
when a difficult customer comes along. But I would encourage them by
telling them to bear our cause in mind. And the students are inspired
to go the extra mile because they know the money collected would go
to needy students in the school. When we made $1,200 from the sale at
Bugis Junction in November 2002, we knew all the effort was well worth
it!"
