SINGAPORE - Residents of Mountbatten have been encouraged to perform 50 good deeds towards fellow Singaporeans, to mark the nation's 50th birthday next year.

Around 200 people have already signed up to the 'My 50 Good Deeds - a Gift to our Nation' project. Such actions can be as simple as giving up a seat on the bus to putting together charity events.

Accounts supervisor Mr Wallace Ang, 34, has already made his pledge. "It's a meaningful project and I want to do my part for the nation's big birthday," he said.

Organisers Mountbatten Citizens' Consultative Committee and Katong Community Centre's management committee, launched the project at Jalan Batu Civic Plaza on Sunday.

They said the project is intended to remind Singaporeans that kindness, mutual understanding and concessions among Singaporeans are among the factors behind the country's success and inter-racial harmony.

Mountbatten MP Lim Biow Chuan said: "We hope to remind every one of us to be kind, gracious and compassionate as we mark 50 years of nation building.

"These are the values that have made Singapore special and will hold us in good stead during both good and difficult times."