SINGAPORE - Yishun residents Lui Hon Meng and his wife used to avoid the stairs at the overhead bridge that links their home to the market across the road, because she is wheelchair-bound.

Things improved when lifts were installed at the Khatib MRT bridge, but on weekday mornings there would be a crush of people vying to use them.

"When it's early, there is sometimes a big crowd there,' said the 90-year-old retiree. "We'd let them go ahead, there's no point rushing in."

Painted murals unveiled on Saturday morning at the lift landings hope to make a difference, by encouraging residents to give way to older folks like Mr Lui and his wife.

Miss Namjot Kaur, a Secondary 2 student from Orchid Park Secondary, completed the artwork together with four team mates from the school's Art club over three weeks.

"Many students take the lift, and when they see the posters, we hope they will give way to the elderly," she said.

The idea to use murals came to MP for Nee Soon GRC Lee Bee Wah last year after she shared the issue of crowding at the lifts on her Facebook page and solicited residents' feedback.

"Someone took a picture of the Taiwanese using art to urge residents to be gracious...I thought this was a subtle, softer way to communicate the message that would work better than just using words," she said.

Paintbrushes in hand, more than 50 residents also joined in expressing their artistic side by painting 30 dustbins as part of the community programme. The project, in its second year, will see the adorned bins distributed around Yishun to encourage residents to keep the town litter-free.