As a charity, Institute of Public Character (IPC) and an associate member of the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) helping the low income and disadvantaged, the Restroom Association (Singapore) or RAS also seeks to improve the quality of life of the people by continuously generating a high level of public awareness for the importance of a good restroom environment. Started in 1998 as a non-profit organisation actively engaging owners, the cleaning industry and users to play their part, RAS is also a founding member of the World Toilet Organization and the Keep Singapore Beautiful Movement. The vision of the RAS is A Gracious Society Embracing Excellence in Restroom Culture. Some of its programmes or activities – supported by the National Environment Agency (NEA) – initiated and conducted include the Happy Toilet Programme, Happy Toilets @ Preschools Programme, STAR (Sustaining Toilets As Restrooms) Awards Programme, Eco-Assessor Programme and LOO (Let’s Observe Ourselves) Carnival & Awards. As a strategic partner in national community events like Clean & Green Singapore, RAS also participates actively in other community events to raise public awareness.