I WAS surfing Facebook the other day and saw on the list of updates that a colleague had joined a Facebook group "Goodness Gracious Me!".
Intrigued that someone had decided to take The Straits Times cause online, I sent the group's creator, Ms Jo-Anne Lee an email, asking her what had prompted her to do so.
It seemed that "Goodness Gracious Me!" had struck a chord with members of the public, with the movement spawning a life of its own.
Mr Leonard Sim is a canteen operator, overseeing three primary school canteens. While he felt the project was a step in the right direction, he believed that cultivating the good habit of tray-clearing in children would go a long way in influencing the parents of these children.
Which is why he wanted to bring "Goodness Gracious Me!" into a CHIJ primary school - one of the canteens he oversees.
He hopes that the posters will encourage the children to direct questions to their teachers on why it is important for them to clear their trays. In doing so, he also hopes that they will take the message home to their parents. "Parents are more likely to listen to what their kids have to say", he quipped.
Teckwah Industries, a printing firm, were also geared up to jump on the bandwagon, I was impressed to hear that graciousness formed a big part of their company culture - they are expected to treat their colleagues as they would a family member, and that includes clearing up after themselves to ensure that the next person has a clean space to have their meal. Mr Thomas Chua, the group's CEO and Managing director, said that his father, who started the company, had always led by example, and never failed to clear his own tray after eating.
This was the type of culture Teckwah wanted to promote in the staff canteen - which also serves employees of other firms in the building as well as members of the public, and the "Goodness Gracious Me" initiative seemed the perfect time to reinforce it.
Self-proclaimed Facebook addict Jo-Anne Lee set up the Facebook group as she felt it's important to spread the message that a little kindness goes a long way. To encourage membership, she has pledged to bake 1,000 cookies to a charity once the number of members hits 100. Since the launch of "Goodness Gracious Me!" at the beginning of the month, membership has steadily climbed to more than 50 members.
It's encouraging to know that people are being pro-active and taking matters into their own hands.
I'm proud to say that I'm now a member of the "Goodness Gracious Me!" facebook group and have indirectly contributed 10 cookies to a charitable organisation.
We'll be keeping tabs on this mushrooming movement, so check back for updates at the end of this week!