Tourist wins praise for picking up trash in S’pore beach almost daily while on holiday: ‘Not just a guest, you’ve become family’
A tourist was recently spotted doing something a little different on her beach holiday in Singapore — picking up trash, instead of simply soaking up the sun.
In a series of Instagram reels posted on @jennifer_lee_travel_with_me, the tourist, Jennifer Lee, can be seen visiting East Coast Park and cleaning up its beaches alone almost daily over several weeks.
She documents her mornings at the park surveying the amount of trash washed ashore, before committing to picking up as much rubbish as she can for the day.
Armed with a hat, gloves and a litter picker, she would spend 30 minutes filling about one to two trash bags before disposing them in a nearby bin.
While plastic bottles, plastic bags and styrofoam pieces make up the most of the litter she picks, Lee also shows some of the more interesting finds she has come across: 23 shoes, several toothbrushes, and even an old refrigerator.
“I have seen all sorts of things washed up on the beach over the years, but it was the first time that I have ever seen an entire fridge,” she said.
From an ocean dream to a clean-up habit
Speaking to Stomp, the 44-year-old American traveler said East Coast Park is only about a 10-minute walk from her accommodation, and trash-picking at the beach has become a morning ritual during her extended stay in Singapore.
Growing up in landlocked Indiana, Lee said she once dreamed of living near the ocean. She finally did so when she moved to Costa Rica, where she spent 18 months.
But the reality came with a shock: plastic and other rubbish had washed up on some of the beaches.
“Seeing so much plastic and trash wash up on the shore was overwhelming,” she said.
Feeling grateful to be living the life she had always dreamed of, Lee saw picking up rubbish from the place she temporarily called home as her way of giving back.
She then brought that habit to Singapore.
While traveling around Southeast Asia the past year — visiting Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia — Lee said she has used Singapore as her “home base”.
Despite the Republic’s reputation for cleanliness, she was surprised by how much plastic and other waste could still wash up on its beaches.
“That’s when I decided to continue the mission I had started in Costa Rica,” she said.
“Wherever I travel, if I’m near a beach, I want to give back to the community by helping keep it clean.”
Lee said she worries that small pieces of plastic left on the sand may eventually reach the sea and be eaten by marine animals.
Through this initiative, she has also learned to be careful about accidentally throwing away marine wildlife that could at first look like trash. Thanks to useful signboards along East Coast Park’s beaches, what she thought were deodorant caps were actually cuttlefish bones, which can be food for birds and reptiles.
To Lee, removing even one piece of trash matters. She hopes other beach goers will try it too, even if they cannot commit to a full clean-up.
“It doesn’t have to be an organised event or a huge commitment,” she said. “Even if you only fill one small bag, or even if it’s only one piece! It all adds up.”
It may not be the usual holiday souvenir, but Lee said she would rather leave East Coast Park with a little less rubbish than she found.
Netizens applaud her efforts
Lee’s beach clean-up videos have gained traction on both Instagram and TikTok, with her most popular Instagram reel of litter-picking in East Coast Park racking up over 36,000 views, 1,243 likes and 131 comments.
Netizens have reacted positively, with many commenting their appreciation for her efforts.
“Deserves another follow!! Thank you ang mo for doing what you do!” said one Instagram user.
“This is so awesome! When do you usually do this? Would love to join you!” said another.
Another comment read, “You’re not just a guest to our country. I think you’ve now become family.”
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