Some 500 residents spent part of their public holiday combing 164 blocks of flats for litter in Nee Soon South.

They were taking part in the area's annual No Cleaners' Day, meant to raise awareness about the work cleaners do on labour day.

In total, 500kg of rubbish was handpicked by the participants, which also included students and representatives from the area's merchants' associations.

Nee Soon GRC MP Lee Bee Wah later distributed $30 supermarket vouchers to the estate's 80 cleaners.

Said Dr Lee: "Our cleaners usually begin their day at 6am but they get a day off today. It is a small way of us saying thank you. It has barely been 24 hours without them and we can see their workload just from the amount of trash we have collected today.

"Individuals assume that our cleaners only sweep the floor, when in fact there are many other aspects including the packing and removal of tonnes of waste, which is equally back-breaking."