An umbrella sharing service in Joo Chiat, where residents can simply pick up an umbrella from a kiosk for free should they need it, and return it to any of the other kiosks, will be discontinued in February.

The service was started in November 2023.

The initiative, called Joo Chiat Sharella, was started by the People's Association and the Siglap South Youth Network.

Speaking to Mothership, the Joo Chiat Constituency Office shared that the project had the aim of "bringing convenience to our Joo Chiat residents".

This is especially so in light of the rainy weather at the end of the year.

There are currently a total of 16 umbrella kiosks located in Joo Chiat, and residents can take and return the umbrellas at any of the kiosks.

Umbrellas intended for "pay-it-forward" use

Unfortunately, it seems that the return rates of umbrellas leave much to be desired.

Images shared on Reddit by u/xhjdhd72772 showed a notice on one of the kiosks, stating that the service will be discontinued by the end of February.

According to the notice, "these kindness umbrellas are intended for pay-it-forward use and should be returned to the kiosks after use".

It added that return rates "have been lower than expected".

With low return rates, this meant that volunteers had to keep adding more umbrellas to the service, Joo Chiat Constituency Office shared.

More than 1,000 umbrellas were restocked across the 18 kiosks (now 16, as two have been terminated due to "space constraints") in Joo Chiat. These umbrellas were from previous events or projects, or were donated.

However, it is "not sustainable to do so on an ongoing basis".

As such, the programme will be terminated.

The Joo Chiat Constituency Office added:

"Despite the challenges encountered, Joo Chiat youth volunteers remain undeterred in our commitment to exploring more initiatives that will foster community bonds and meet the needs of our residents.

We firmly believe in the importance of engaging the community and are actively seeking suggestions and partnerships to further enhance our efforts."

Previous umbrella sharing project

The Reddit user shared that he is a Joo Chiat resident, and claimed to have seen elderly people bringing the umbrellas home.

A previous umbrella sharing project also called Sharella — not to be confused with the one in Joo Chiat, which is supported by ShareLah SG — saw equally dismal results.

Lianhe Zaobao observed in 2019 that of the eight umbrella racks, two had no umbrellas.

The other six had only one to two umbrellas and was littered with empty bottles and cardboard. One rack had a broken umbrella.

One woman told Zaobao that every time a new umbrella was added, it would be gone the next day.

The initiative was a final-year graduation project by four Republic Polytechnic students, and conducted in collaboration with the Land Transport Authority's Community Partnership Division.

In fact, when the team conducted a 10-day trial in January 2017, they reported that 100 per cent of umbrellas were returned; none were stolen, reported Vulcan Post.

It was also reported that the umbrellas that are shared come with stickers to make them easily identifiable so that people will know if they are stolen property.

However, on the day of its official launch, all 20 of the umbrellas went missing.

Grassroots leaders had to spend a few hundred dollar to replace the umbrellas.

As of 2022, Sharella umbrella racks could still be found in some areas such as Brickland, though it is uncertain if the project is still ongoing today.

Locations of kiosks

Should you wish to donate your umbrellas, you can leave them at any of the kiosks in Joo Chiat.

These are the exact locations of the kiosks.

Do note that kiosks 6 and 10 have already been terminated.

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Top photo from Eastsiders- Siglap South YN / FB and u/xhjdhd72772 / Reddit