Application Form for NDP 2020 Tickets to Include Questions for Applicants to Indicate Preference for Eco-friendly Items for Funpack

13 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Defence whether the application form used by members of the public to apply for National Day Parade (NDP) 2020 tickets can include a question for the applicant to indicate whether they want (i) a single-use plastic bottle (ii) a reusable bottle (iii) an NDP plastic bag for trash and (iv) an NDP funpack bag.

The Senior Minister of State for Defence (Mr Heng Chee How) (for the Minister for Defence): Mr Speaker, NDP funpacks require a longer period to cater for production, delivery and packing. Therefore, it would not be advisable to tie in the public consultation on funpack items with the ticketing process, that is, application for tickets. Each year, the NDP organising committee strikes a balance in providing for the comfort of NDP spectators, including the young and the elderly and in sourcing for sponsors who can provide environmentally-friendly options for the funpack. NDP spectators who do not want the funpack or some of the items need not have to take them. This can be then handed over to the collection points which will be established and can help the organisers gauge the requirements for planning subsequent years’ NDP shows.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Could I at least ask whether we can do away with the plastic bottle? I mean, that is the first step. Two, we have this Clean and Green message that we issue almost throughout the year that people should bring their own reusable bottles but all of a sudden at the NDP, that message disappears. So, I am just hoping for NDP 2020, we can do away with the plastic bottle. And, two, can we then issue the message out to urge people to bring their reusable bottles to NDP?

Mr Heng Chee How: Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for the supplementary question. First of all, I think it is important for us to establish that we are actually on the same side, namely, that we agree with the Member together with many outside this Chamber who believe that we should all be more active in terms of understanding the importance of saving the environment and also each of us doing our part. And within established events including the NDP, what more can be done. So, on that we are completely together.

With respect to the plastic water bottle, in fact, for this year's NDP, for example, a specific effort was made to reduce that. The fact that the NDP shows do take a number of hours and it is held in the afternoon, so one can expect sunny weather most of the time, we do have to cater water for people to drink. What happened in past years was that there were actually two bottles of water in each funpack. For this year, taking into account, the feedback including the input and advice from the Member previously, what the Organising Committee for the NDP for this year has done is that it has reduced it to one bottle.

That is only one of the measures we have taken. But with respect to generally talking about single-use plastics, I just wanted to also provide a piece of information which is that for NDP 2019 over 1.7 million pieces of single-use plastic were saved. Seven hundred thousand pieces of plastic wrappings were avoided due to deliberate efforts made to ensure that the funpack items, where it was not necessary to individually wrap the items, then they are not. So, it is actually a combination of efforts like that.

The rest of the plastic that we managed to save from being put into the funpacks include, for example, the second water bottle that we did not put in, as well as we changed the plastic clappers and also we took away the plastic flag stands.

So, I think what we will do is for future shows, for example, the NDP that is coming next year and the year after and so on, we will continue these efforts. We will take in seriously the feedback and suggestions from the Member and others in this area to see how we can further reinforce, both in terms of the education message to call on all of us, individually also, and beyond NDP shows in their day-to-day lives to also do the responsible thing and to minimise the use of such plastics.

Mr Yee Chia Hsing (Chua Chu Kang): Besides the plastic bottle, there was also this single-use wrist band which only lights up at the venue but it is useless outside the event venue for NDP. So, perhaps there could be a collection point for everyone to drop it back so that we can recycle it?

Mr Heng Chee How: Mr Speaker, there are indeed collection points. If I get my number right, I think there were at least six big collection points established at strategic locations, outside the parade area. There were also trash bags provided within the funpack. Indeed, we encourage and we would like to remind our spectators, as part of being environmentally conscious and trying to help, that all the items that they really do not need or do not want, to hand those in at these collection points.