An interview with CEO & founder of the Waterways Watch Society Singapore, Eugene Heng.
This year’s edition of our Walk the Walks charity event was focused on cleaning up litter whilst walking. As both the Netherlands and Singapore share a special relationship with water – both small, low-lying countries, surrounded by water – the Waterways Watch Society seemed the perfect charity to support this year.
We had the honour to speak to Mr. Eugene Heng, CEO and founder of the Waterways Watch Society (WWS), a non-profit and non-governmental organization committed to foster appreciation and promote conservation of the environment, especially the waterways in Singapore.
When Mr. Heng founded Waterways Watch Society in 2002, he realized that change can happen, but it is a challenge to sustain it. After years of working as a bank executive, he committed himself fully to his environmental cause; focusing on water advocacy and education.
WWS is now grown to be an established charity, with over 500 volunteers, more than a 100 bicycles and 13 boats that regularly patrol the Singapore waterways. As a strong advocate of social responsibility and environmental stewardship, WWS aims to foster appreciation for the waters in Singapore and instill a sense of ownership for the environment by incorporating fun into environmental education.
According to Mr. Heng, a mindset change is necessary, and the key to success is education. “I strongly believe in awareness through action. Whilst doing physical cleanups, we need to understand why we are doing it. It shouldn’t be necessary. We shouldn’t have to depend on cleaners, but instead we should learn where to put our waste. In my opinion, schools can play a big role in this, to ensure that the next generations learn about the importance of litter free waters. I work towards the day that we go on a cleanup and come back without any litter – because that means people have learned.”
To the question of why he specifically focuses on cleaning up waterways, rather than litter on land, he continues: “Water is life. Everyone needs water to survive, but still we take water for granted too much. Here in Singapore, water is available to everyone, so many people don’t realize where it comes from.”
“At the moment, about two thirds of the rain water in Singapore is captured and flows back into a canal or reservoir. Even litter that is on the land might end up in the waterways, therefore it is important to teach people the effects that litter can have on the quality of all our drinking water.”
Water independence was part of the vision of Lee Kuan Yue, and the target for Singapore is to be able to capture and re-use all rainwater by 2060, which is a great and ambitious goal to work towards, and therefore it is all the more important to keep educating people about the value of clean waters.
After many achievements over the past years and winning several awards, we asked Mr. Heng what he is most proud of. “I am most proud that I have passionate people. We have a good team. And we are blessed to have survived almost 20 years without financial government support.”
“We have really grown; we started with 25 members, and now have close to 900 members. But for me it is about the quality of the members, I am not impressed by numbers.”
“We are very happy that several big corporations make donations to WWS because water is a key element in many industries, like the fashion industry and the food & beverage industry. And funding is important to keep doing what we are doing, but it is more important that we offer the opportunity for people to engage and learn. I always say, at WWS it is all about fun, learning and contributing back!”
Read more about the Waterways Watch Society, their programmes and options for membership via this link.
