Asia-Pacific, Development & Aid, Environment, Headlines

DEVELOPMENT-SINGAPORE: Who’s Water Wally?

Stanislaus Jude Chan

SINGAPORE, Aug 9 2006 (IPS) - Even as Water Wally celebrates his first birthday Wednesday – on Singapore’s National Day, no less – some Singaporeans are still clueless about what he represents. In fact, many have not even heard of Water Wally.

”That thing has a name?” Kamariah, a 22-year-old undergraduate exclaimed incredulously when asked for her opinions about Water Wally.

The mascot of the Public Utilities Board (PUB), a statutory board under Singapore’s ministry for environment and water resources, appeared out of the blue at various water installations here last year.

During a two-week campaign, more than 30 Water Wally inflatables, each 3 m tall, were suspended above reservoirs and canals around Singapore. A contest to spot the mascots received 2,000 entries.

Yap Kheng Guan, a PUB director, insists that the campaign has been a success. “Not only has Water Wally been very popular everywhere he goes, he has spread the water messages in our tagline, ‘Water For All: Conserve, Value, Enjoy’,” he told local media last week.

At one level, Water Wally is indeed a success. PUB’s campaign recently bagged the top prize in the International Water Association (IWA) Marketing and Communications Award 2006 under the best-promoted water protection activity or programme category.

“Having a respected international water organisation like IWA recognise Water Wally as a successful communication tool is an honour,” said Yap. “This will be a very happy birthday for Water Wally.”

But just beneath the surface, critics are wondering out loud if the Water Wally campaign is as successful as it is claimed.

The campaign to invite the public to spot Water Wally at various locations is an idea borrowed from British illustrator Martin Handford, who created a series of children’s books entitled ‘Where’s Wally?’, in which readers try to find the character, Wally – dressed in a red and white striped shirt and bobble hat – in a busy picture full of people and activity. But, Water Wally pales in comparison.

For starters, a nation-wide contest garnering just 2,000 entries is unheard of in tech-savvy Singapore. The inaugural Singapore Idol series in 2004 drew close to three million SMS votes, including 1.1 million during the final – despite a charge of 30 US cents levied on each vote.

A campaign, critics argue, can only achieve its goals and be termed successful if it is able to reach its target audience. And to that end, Water Wally seems to fall short.

”It’s a waste of time,” says Ryan, 24, an electronic business consultant who declined to give his full name, says of the Water Wally Campaign. “The inflatable looked ridiculous hanging over the canal next to my office building.”

”I had no idea what it was for in the first place, so how could it be deemed successful in a campaign to promote proper use of water? At first I even thought it was an advertisement for an air-conditioner brand!” he adds.

But the organisers and local media reports tell a different story.

“The mascot proved so likeable that five of the inflatables went missing during the campaign,” ‘The New Paper’ in Singapore reported. In 2005, one of the giant inflatables was found abandoned outside a lecture theatre at a tertiary institution in western Singapore.

PUB’s Yap takes it as an indication of Water Wally’s popularity. ”Even during the teaser campaign, Water Wally was already a hit with Singaporeans. How can anyone resist that lovable grin?” he said.

Others, though, do not share his optimism.

“I’ve seen students who stole ‘Smoking Not Allowed’ and ‘Fine For Littering’ signs off the streets and use them to decorate their laptops or other belongings,” said Ryan. “Please don’t tell me it’s because Singaporeans love all the bans and fines in Singapore – because we do not.”

Critics say, more needs to be done by the PUB and Water Wally to get the message across. After all, without any natural resources of its own, conservation of water is imperative in Singapore.

PUB has so far planned for a diversified and, hopefully, sustainable supply of water with the ‘Four National Taps’ of local catchment water, imported water, NEWater (treated used water developed by Singapore), and desalinated water.

But with population growth demanding increased water supplies, and unresolved water importation issues with neighbouring Malaysia still choked in the pipelines, conservation is needed to ensure the water never runs dry.

“We take water for granted,” says Tan Yun, a 22-year-old undergraduate. “Because there’s clean, potable water every time we turn on the tap, we tend to forget where it all comes from and how lucky we are.”

(*The Asia Water Wire is a series of features on water and development in the region, coordinated by IPS Asia-Pacific.)