courtesy meant to them through a combination of innovative cheers, elaborate routines and choreography". The Friend of Singa Award was the brain child of Vincent Lam, a member of the Singapore Courtesy Council in 1991 as a means to recognise courteous conduct by students, and to function symbiotically with the school's efforts to teach courteous behaviour within students as well. It was established with the hope that other students would see winners of the Friend of Singa Award as role models, and follow the example set by them as well. The award, opened to any school in Singapore, involved the nomination of a student from each school by recounting the respective student's act of kindness and courtesy. Among all the nominations, a student would then be chosen for the Most Courteous Student Award and 10 other students for Merit Awards. Vincent Lam has also organised a Courtesy Photo Competition where students were challenged to "capture acts of courtesy being performed in public... to [demonstrate] one important thing: that our behavior and our actions are visible and are always observed by people around us". A courtesy camp was also initiated by Vincent Lam and it required participants to be involved in various "camp projects, community service and daily chores" in an environment where people of the same age group are all together since "young people are usually more effectively influenced by their peers". 1989 also marked the year Lam organised a Courtesy Meet, which aimed to get students to "exchange ideas on how to promote courtesy" . Activities aimed at adults Activities aimed at improving workspace courtesy and etiquette were mostly a result of the Ministry of Council (and subsequently the Singapore Courtesy Council) working with organisations such as hotels and transport companies to encourage a courteous disposition and attitude amongst the workers. Examples of such activities include the education of taxi drivers and civil servants through the use of training films, the Retail Merchants Association (RMA) organising role-playing dramatisation of courteous and discourteous scenarios by sales staff and poster-design, jingle and song-writing competitions. Just like students, awards and recognition were also given to adults. Known as the Service Gold – The National Courtesy Award, it serves as a platform to recognise the efforts put in by various hotel staff "who have gone out of the way to help others, be it colleague or guest", and it opened to all members