This month, the National Courtesy Campaign will enter its 21st year. The focus of the 1999 National Courtesy Campaign is on promoting and encouraging courteous behaviour, particularly in the transport sector. The courtesy slogan for this year is "Let’s move with courtesy". It is targeted at all road users - commuters, motorists and pedestrians, as well as the transport operators.

A two-part television commercial and a radio jingle specially produced for this year’s campaign will focus on these specific messages : a) encourage passengers not to block the entrances / exits of buses and MRT trains; b) encourage passengers to move to the inside / rear of the buses and MRT trains; and c) encourage motorists to show courtesy on the road.

With the focus of the 1999 campaign being the transport sector, a Steering Committee chaired by Radm Kwek Siew Jin, Managing Director of Singapore MRT Ltd, has been formed to assist the Singapore Courtesy Council to promote the message. Member organisations of the Steering Committee include - Land Transport Authority, Singapore MRT, Singapore Bus Service, Trans-Island Bus Services Ltd, Transit Link Pte Ltd, Comfort Taxi Operators’ Association, Automobile Association of Singapore, Traffic Police, Singapore Lorry Owners Association, and National Transport Workers’ Union.

The launch of the 1999 Courtesy Campaign will be held on 16 July at the TCS TV Theatre. The Guest-of-Honour, Mr Yeo Cheow Tong, Minister for Communications and Information Technology, will inaugurate the ceremony. The launch line-up includes a live-cum-pre-recorded video skit, where TCS artistes Gurmit Singh and Jack Neo take on multiple roles and depict a day in the life of the average Singaporean and their encounters with courteous, as well as discourteous acts. The launch show on courtesy will be broadcast over TCS 5 on 18 Jul at 7.30 pm and TCS 8 on 31 Jul at 8.00 pm respectively.

The various transport service providers of the Steering Committee will organise both in-house staff programmes and activities involving the public to spread the courtesy message. These will be launched separately throughout the campaign year.

To promote the Courtesy messages, the various transport service providers will support the Campaign with wholly painted buses, taxis, MRT trains, bus decals, car decals, calendars, and posters at bus-stop shelter panels. A series of five limited-edition Transit Link farecards featuring Singa, the courtesy mascot in various costumes with the message "Let’s move with courtesy" will be produced. The first of these will go on sale from 16 July 99.

To mark 20 years of the Courtesy Campaign, a special commemorative book, "Courtesy – More Than A Smile" has been produced. The book traces the Campaign’s changing approaches and themes over the past 20 years and will be available for sale from mid-July at all major bookstores.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Ministry of Information and The Arts

on behalf of the Singapore Courtesy Council

For further information, please contact

Singapore Courtesy Council Secretariat

c/o Ministry of Information and The Arts

Ms Angeline Yap Ms Tania Koh

DID : 375-7885 DID : 375-7797