Foreign workers help in cleaning Singapore beach

More than 300 foreign construction workers, including Indian nationals, today came forward to clean one of Singapore's popular beach parks.
Workers from a construction firm, who came from India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar and the Philippines; volunteered to clean the 7 kilometre stretch of East Coast Park this morning, as part of its CSR initiative, the firm said.
"A lot of them are veterans in terms of their work in Singapore, some have been here as long as 12 to 14 years. So, these guys have a little bit of sense of belonging to Singapore and this is one of the ways they can display that," Sivanessan Kitnasamy, director of GATES PCM construction said.

The firm had brought some of its workers to help out at an old age home last year. For the beach initiative, it got every foreign worker on its payroll involved this time.
"Last year's effort, when we involved a fraction of our foreign employees, was warmly welcomed. Therefore, I felt this year, I should give all my foreign employees an opportunity to give back to the country that has given them a better life," M Krishna, GATES chief executive officer said.
"I don't mind taking half a day of my rest day to help clean East Coast Park, because I like Singapore, and I want to help clean the park. I like to do social service," Kaleeswaran Vdaiyar, an employee with the firm told Channel News Asia.

The initiative was welcomed by park users.
"I feel thankful, very thankful. Since I know that they are doing it on a volunteer basis, I think if I jog past them, I will appreciate their efforts and say thank you," Katherine, a regular at the park said.
The 185 hectare East Coast Park is the largest park in Singapore, and is built entirely on reclaimed land with a man-made beach, where swimming is possible.