A little ingenuity goes a long way

A better bicycle rack

Most bicycle bays in HDB void decks make it hard to lock up anything more than one wheel - so you could come back to find the rest of the bicycle gone.

Five young grassroots volunteers came up with a solution: a rack with metal bars that can be locked around the bicycle frame.

The front wheel can also be secured separately.

"This makes it much harder for theft cases to happen," said Or Jia Yun, 19. She and the rest of the team, all students aged 19 to 20, are members of Woodlands Community Centre's Youth Executive Committee.

Her team-mate Anas Rahamat, a keen cyclist, hopes the HDB will put their design into use.

"I've been thinking about (bicycle safety) even before the competition," he said. His brother's bicycle was once stolen from a rack outside a shopping mall.

The HDB, for its part, has called it a "simple yet clever design that is easy to use".

Keep junk mail away from real mail

Picking up the post can be a bit of a chore, as Republic Polytechnic lecturer Quek Yang Thee, 37, and his 36-year-old wife Tay Mei Lan know.

"Every time we want to get our mail, fliers are just flying out and dropping everywhere," said Ms Tay, who lectures part-time at the same polytechnic.

The couple, who have three children, came up with a plastic prototype for a tray that can be put into letterboxes, forming two separate compartments for fliers and delivered mail.

Last March, it won first prize in the Facebook Call for Ideas on Unsolicited Fliers.

The HDB found the concept simple, effective - and feasible. A few months later, it got in touch with the couple to turn their idea into reality.

And in November, the letterbox trays were piloted at two HDB blocks in Bedok and one in Punggol. The results of the trial are likely to be available in the second quarter of this year.

Said Ms Tay: "We were very happy that they're trying to put it into use."

Safety timer to prevent stove fires

Anglo-Chinese Junior College student Vince Siow, 19, was worried when he read newspaper reports last year about a series of fires caused by the elderly who left their stoves unattended.

He rallied three friends from ACJC's science and mathematics council to brainstorm for ideas to prevent such accidents.

After a few weeks, they came up with the answer: a safety timer system which would ring and automatically switch off the stove when the time is up.

The easy-to-use design won praise from the HDB, which said that it could effectively prevent such kitchen fires "if further developed".

Said Vince: "We think the safety timer will be useful. The number of elderly in Singapore is increasing. Some live alone and do not have anyone to remind them to turn the stove off."

Sustainable plant box

Dental clinic staff Mary Quah, 58, decided to try growing organic vegetables and herbs in the corridor of her HDB flat three years ago.

But the process was tricky because of the limited space. She was also worried about mosquito breeding in the plant pots.

After a year of trial and error, Madam Quah designed a plastic box with an airtight tray to collect excess water.

She also discovered that ingredients which made a good compost include banana peels and dragon fruit skins.

Madam Quah, who now grows vegetables and herbs such as spinach, turmeric and ginger in her container garden, said she wants to share her secrets by organising classes.

"It doesn't mean that you won't have the space to grow vegetables if you live in a HDB flat. I want to share with others how they can do so," she said.

Preventing water wastage

Institute of Technical Education College East student Rajkumar Ilango, 20, was irked when he saw his schoolmates using too much water when washing their hands in the toilets.

"The water would gush from the tap. Sometimes, they would not turn off the tap, and let the water flow as they chatted with one another," he said.

He and three classmates from the mechanical technology course - Noor Azlin Junaidi, 19, Muhammad Nor Hisyam Salimnor, 19, and Mr Lai Zhi Heng, 24 - came up with a solution.

The team spent about six months designing a mechanical device that restricts the flow of water when it is fastened to taps.

An HDB spokesman praised the concept, saying: "With the assembly of a few inexpensive parts, this is an innovative proposal to conserve water."

Said Rajkumar: "We hope to develop and sell our product eventually. That way, more homes and offices can use it and we can help Singapore to save water."

This article was published on April 2 in The Straits Times.

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