Great Donation Drive for Shoes

Thank everybody who made this possible.

My friends and family are very supportive.

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This is my first time (hopefully not the last time) doing a donation drive for a holiday trip. All the suitable shoes collected would be given to Porters Clothing Bank in Nepal. All the unsuitable shoes are donated to Salvation Army. We also had shoes & clothings to be given to Orphanage/School for Deaf (undecided yet).

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The idea did not come from me, I got it from another group of Singaporeans who are going to Nepal also. I was excited because it was for a good cause and it is a green initiative. Kill 2 birds in one stone. And the shoes get to see the nice view of the Himalayas.

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In summary, My friends and I (3 of us) would bring an estimated 55kg of donated items to Kathmandu. We have excess baggage Thanks to SilkAir, a friend's PPS Status & a friend working in SilkAir.

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Good to know that my trip has started before the actual departure. =)

There are some lessons learnt:

- Do Good with Wisdom

- Tiring yet Fulfilling

- The Importance of Partnership & Collaboration

200+ Shoes

Collection by the other group of Singaporeans.

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My friends and my contribution ~ 30+ pairs

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My little niece was very excited to see so many shoes.

She took out her shoes too!

=)

Green Initiative in Singapore???

My recyclable papers were taken by the cleaners and threw into their garbage trolley.

They looked away as I wanted to take photos as evidence.

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I sent an email to Capitaland Retail and Forums.

Not sure if I would get any replies, I won't know as I am going Nepal for 3 weeks.

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Below is part of the email sent to Capitaland Retail::

Dear Management of Capitaland Retail Limited,

I would like to highlight an upsetting encounter within the Choa Chu Kang Lot 1 Mall, and hope the company could give an explanation to me and the general public.

Date & Time of Incident: 16th October 2009 (Friday), 6.30pm

Location: Choa Chu Kang Lot 1 Shoppers Mall (‘Lot1’)

Summary of the Incident:

I went to Lot1 to recycle a bag of used-papers that I collected from my office. While i was putting the used-papers into the paper recycle bin, a cleaner was taking it out from the paper recycle bin and threw it into his garbage trolley, and then, he even told me to throw my used-papers into his garbage trolley. I was puzzled, and was assuming that he was collecting the papers for recycling.

Then, he took the unwanted plastic from the plastic recycle bin and threw it into the same garbage trolley. I was very surprised and ask him what he was doing and where all these items were going to. He told me that everything would go to the big garbage bin. Instantly, I was very upset by his remarks, asked him who had given such instruction.

Then, a lot1 security guard approached us and I asked him the exact same questions. The security guard told me that the cleaner will put everything into the garbage trolley and SEPARATE them for recycling later. Fortunately, I am not that naive to believe him.

I requested to meet the clean supervisor who came later. After a brief introduction, I asked him a brief question: ‘What are these 3 recycle bins used for?’. Unfortunately, he faked ignorance and told me that he came to work 2 days ago and DID NOT know the uses of these recycle bins.

I wanted to meet the lot1 executive to discuss about this matter, unfortunately, the office was already closed at 7pm.

I had a very good image of Capitaland and its green initiative. I had taken the effort to collect the used papers in my office and brought it to be recycled in Capitaland’s recycle bin, unfortunately & sadly, all the papers ended up in the garbage bin.

I hope this is an isolated incident, however, I do not think so as the supervisor and the guard was not interested and fake ignorance. Clearly, the cleaner, the supervisor and the guard were helping each other to avoid any trouble.

I am not even an environmentalist, and I just an average individual who wanted to contribute abit to the green effort, but the incident with lot1 was upsetting. I am quite sure that my previous recyclable items are ended up in the garbage chute as well. It has wasted alot of my effort and time.

I am not only representing myself, but also the general public who has taken the initiative, time & effort to drop-off recyclable items into the recycle bins of Capitaland Malls.

If Capitaland is not serious about its green initiative, PLEASE REMOVE those recycle bins. Please do not do it for the sake of good corporate image. http://www.capitaland.com/csr/environment.php

"Exploring efficient use of resources to reduce wastage; identifying creative and practical ways to re-use our resources; and promoting opportunities to recycle waste"

Otherwise, please give a good explanation.

Time to reduce my egg intake...

http://mercyforanimals.org/

"For the nearly 150,000 male chicks who hatch every 24 hours at this Hy-Line facility, their lives begin and end the same day. Grabbed by their fragile wings by workers known as "sexers," who separate males from females, these young animals are callously thrown into chutes and hauled away to their deaths. They are destined to die on day one because they cannot produce eggs and do not grow large or fast enough to be raised profitably for meat. Their lives are cut short when they are dropped into a grinding machine – tossed around by a spinning auger before being torn to pieces by a high-pressure macerator."

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Most people do not have the courage to finish viewing the video clip, yet, they continue to savour the chicken without second thought. They chose to be ignorant and pretend as if the cruelty is not happening.

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Time for me to reduce egg intake also.

I am guilty as well.

Travel: Family Trip to Perth & South-Western Australia 2009

http://boon-perth09.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html