Last year, MP for Choa Chu Kang GRC, Mr Alex Yam, was nearly hit by a blender that had been thrown down from a housing block in his Yew Tee ward.

"If I had walked a bit slower I would have been 'blended'," said Mr Yam. He decided at the time that more had to be done to stop high-rise littering in Yew Tee, which has been seeing more of such cases.

On Sunday morning, Mr Yam and 200 grassroots volunteers and residents, fanned out across nine zones in the estate to pick up litter and identify areas prone to high rise littering. Some 64 contract cleaners of the estate were also each presented with $10 FairPrice vouchers at the community event held at Yew Tee Close.

The 'Yew Tee Big Spring Clean', as the event was called, was also meant to help residents appreciate the work cleaners do. The clean-up was held after the estate had not been cleaned for two days because the cleaners were on a break during the Good Friday weekend.

Bangladeshi worker Muhd Jewel, who has been cleaning the estate for four years, said he was very happy to receive the vouchers. The 25-year-old sends $650 of his $700 monthly salary to his parents back home.

Madam Christine Tan, a 51-year-old resident who took part in the event, said she did not know her neighbourhood could be so dirty. "I picked up tissues, drink cans, food wrappers and a lot of cigarette butts," said the senior clerk. "With this experience I realised that the cleaners' jobs can be so tough."

The event, in its second year, was part of the Keep Singapore Clean campaign led by the Public Hygiene Council, Singapore Kindness Movement, Keep Singapore Beautiful Movement and supported by the National Environment Agency.