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18-07-2015, 10:50 PM
An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
Why this obsession with kampung spirit? Will more people vote for the ruling party if they perceive that the kampung spirits have returned? Are sinkies really upset that there is no more kampung spirit around us?
Its a farking long article:
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore...inglepage=true (http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/keeping-kampung-spirit-alive-modern-singapore?singlepage=true)
SINGAPORE — Every day at 7.30pm, cabby Kelvin Lim hits the basketball court on Woodlands Street 51. For three hours, he shoots hoops with about 40 other residents in the neighbourhood, many of whom are in their early 20s.
Players come by right after they knock off from work, and the game goes on until after 10pm, when the lights around the court are switched off.
“Many of these boys have been playing with us for more than a decade. Sometimes they bring their friends,” said Mr Lim, 54, who has helmed these nightly games for the past 12 years. “We have up to 60 people on our peak days, and we even see foreign workers from Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia — it’s almost like the United Nations.”
Basketball games aside, the group gathers for barbecues during festive holidays. The young ones also go to the older players for advice on day-to-day issues.
Said Mr Sky Ang, 29: “We look up to the ‘uncles’. We tell them what’s going on in our families, work — everything. Their guidance means a lot.”
The interior designer, who was 16 when he started playing in the nightly games, recalled their experiences together over the years:
“There used to be a lot of drama here, fights when we were young and hot-tempered,” he said.
Mr Lim said many of the younger basketballers were at-risk youth when he first met them. “It’s better for (the boys) to be here than elsewhere. You never know what basketball can do to bond people.”
While much has been said about the demise of the community spirit with the gradual disappearance of Singapore’s kampungs, Mr Lim’s group of basketball enthusiasts is testament to the “kampung spirit” that is still kept alive in pockets of this vertical city.
Mr Lim has become quite a household name to residents in the estate, including even those who do not join in the games. The night TODAY visited, one resident of the estate dropped by with boxes of home-cooked pasta, because she knew the basketballers “would be exercising till late”.
The vibrant village vibe can still develop naturally and organically, said former NTUC deputy secretary-general Ong Ye Kung, who was also there to sweat it out on the evening of TODAY’s visit.
The former People’s Action Party candidate in Aljunied GRC at the 2011 polls, who has since been active in Sembawang GRC’s grassroots, added: “We cannot over-organise or regulate too much. As long as the people are there, the space is there and you have someone to start the ball rolling, there you have it — a community.”
At the other end of the island, about 50 residents, mostly retirees, gather at Potong Pasir Community Centre with their ukuleles on Wednesdays and Sundays to practise for monthly gigs.
The group’s leader Joseph Yip said he first started playing informally with a friend in December 2011 at a coffee shop in the neighbourhood. The group soon grew and, every Sunday, one would see spectators humming and clapping as the ensemble belts out classic Hokkien, English and Malay numbers at the coffee shop. “Sometimes, the passers-by make song requests, and we oblige,” quipped Mr Yip, 57.
At Jalan Bintang Tiga in Siglap, more than 100 residents congregate on National Day every year for a party along the street. Mr James Suresh, who planned the first bash with his wife 13 years ago, said he now ropes in other neighbours to help organise it.
“At the end of the gathering, we also get the children to help clean up the street, so that they learn to take ownership of it,” said the 59-year-old training consultant.
“Singaporeans are not proud; they are just shy. One has to be proactive and thick-skinned enough to break the ice ... In recent years, we’ve started inviting neighbours from other streets, as well as the businesses and postmen who serve the community.”
DESIGNING SPACES TO FOSTER COMMUNITY
As Singapore continues to build upwards and families move into vertical silos, recent national efforts to revive the kampung spirit have centred on infrastructural design. For instance, new public housing development SkyVille@Dawson, which is slated to be completed in the coming months, houses 12 sky villages, each to be shared by a cluster of homes. The aim is to allow neighbours to interact freely, so as to build a cohesive and vibrant community.
In April, Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan announced that “smart screens” would be installed at the lift landings of all public housing blocks. These screens will project information on community events as well as bus timings and weather conditions, and are meant to foster greater cohesion among residents.
More spaces have also been carved out for community gardens. As of November last year, there were more than 700 community gardens islandwide, which are tended to by more than 20,000 community gardeners, who include pre-schoolers as well as seniors.
But although design can facilitate interaction, residents must be active in using these spaces, said Dr Steven Choo, an adjunct associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s School of Design and Environment.
“With increasing affluence, busy schedules and denser living environments, people today tend to want to withdraw into their private spaces. The young people, especially, like to spend time online. It’s not like in the old days, when everyone knows one another’s kids,” he said.
Virtual spaces may be a good starting point for forging community, Dr Choo added.
Social networking site BlockPooling.sg is one example of a virtual community that allows residents to share items, such as household appliances, sporting equipment and DVDs. The website, which currently has nearly 7,000 members, also allows neighbours to initiate physical meet-ups.
Neighbourhood Facebook groups are another recent trend. It is on this social networking site that prospective residents of new residential projects can be found to keep one another up to date with the pace of construction, as well as subsequently band together to address other common teething issues.
‘COMMUNITY SPIRIT’ HAS EVOLVED
Just as the ways of forging community ties have transformed, the notion of community spirit has also evolved, said Members of Parliament (MPs) and grassroots veterans.
Today, like-minded residents often come together based on common interests, said Mr Zaqy Mohamad, MP for Chua Chu Kang GRC. “People come together to pursue their passions. It is different from in the past, where they just want company,” he said.
With greater mobility as a result of advancements in technology, present-day relationships are less restricted by distance, said Dr William Wan, general secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement.
“If we fixate on the conventional idea of the kampung spirit, then we are not going to find much of it in the modern environment. So while we may not associate the same acts of neighbourliness with the traditional kampung spirit, it is not to say that we have completely forgotten how to be neighbourly,” he added.
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?210743-Kampung-spirit-summoned-to-win-votes-for-pap&goto=newpost).
Why this obsession with kampung spirit? Will more people vote for the ruling party if they perceive that the kampung spirits have returned? Are sinkies really upset that there is no more kampung spirit around us?
Its a farking long article:
http://www.todayonline.com/singapore...inglepage=true (http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/keeping-kampung-spirit-alive-modern-singapore?singlepage=true)
SINGAPORE — Every day at 7.30pm, cabby Kelvin Lim hits the basketball court on Woodlands Street 51. For three hours, he shoots hoops with about 40 other residents in the neighbourhood, many of whom are in their early 20s.
Players come by right after they knock off from work, and the game goes on until after 10pm, when the lights around the court are switched off.
“Many of these boys have been playing with us for more than a decade. Sometimes they bring their friends,” said Mr Lim, 54, who has helmed these nightly games for the past 12 years. “We have up to 60 people on our peak days, and we even see foreign workers from Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia — it’s almost like the United Nations.”
Basketball games aside, the group gathers for barbecues during festive holidays. The young ones also go to the older players for advice on day-to-day issues.
Said Mr Sky Ang, 29: “We look up to the ‘uncles’. We tell them what’s going on in our families, work — everything. Their guidance means a lot.”
The interior designer, who was 16 when he started playing in the nightly games, recalled their experiences together over the years:
“There used to be a lot of drama here, fights when we were young and hot-tempered,” he said.
Mr Lim said many of the younger basketballers were at-risk youth when he first met them. “It’s better for (the boys) to be here than elsewhere. You never know what basketball can do to bond people.”
While much has been said about the demise of the community spirit with the gradual disappearance of Singapore’s kampungs, Mr Lim’s group of basketball enthusiasts is testament to the “kampung spirit” that is still kept alive in pockets of this vertical city.
Mr Lim has become quite a household name to residents in the estate, including even those who do not join in the games. The night TODAY visited, one resident of the estate dropped by with boxes of home-cooked pasta, because she knew the basketballers “would be exercising till late”.
The vibrant village vibe can still develop naturally and organically, said former NTUC deputy secretary-general Ong Ye Kung, who was also there to sweat it out on the evening of TODAY’s visit.
The former People’s Action Party candidate in Aljunied GRC at the 2011 polls, who has since been active in Sembawang GRC’s grassroots, added: “We cannot over-organise or regulate too much. As long as the people are there, the space is there and you have someone to start the ball rolling, there you have it — a community.”
At the other end of the island, about 50 residents, mostly retirees, gather at Potong Pasir Community Centre with their ukuleles on Wednesdays and Sundays to practise for monthly gigs.
The group’s leader Joseph Yip said he first started playing informally with a friend in December 2011 at a coffee shop in the neighbourhood. The group soon grew and, every Sunday, one would see spectators humming and clapping as the ensemble belts out classic Hokkien, English and Malay numbers at the coffee shop. “Sometimes, the passers-by make song requests, and we oblige,” quipped Mr Yip, 57.
At Jalan Bintang Tiga in Siglap, more than 100 residents congregate on National Day every year for a party along the street. Mr James Suresh, who planned the first bash with his wife 13 years ago, said he now ropes in other neighbours to help organise it.
“At the end of the gathering, we also get the children to help clean up the street, so that they learn to take ownership of it,” said the 59-year-old training consultant.
“Singaporeans are not proud; they are just shy. One has to be proactive and thick-skinned enough to break the ice ... In recent years, we’ve started inviting neighbours from other streets, as well as the businesses and postmen who serve the community.”
DESIGNING SPACES TO FOSTER COMMUNITY
As Singapore continues to build upwards and families move into vertical silos, recent national efforts to revive the kampung spirit have centred on infrastructural design. For instance, new public housing development SkyVille@Dawson, which is slated to be completed in the coming months, houses 12 sky villages, each to be shared by a cluster of homes. The aim is to allow neighbours to interact freely, so as to build a cohesive and vibrant community.
In April, Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan announced that “smart screens” would be installed at the lift landings of all public housing blocks. These screens will project information on community events as well as bus timings and weather conditions, and are meant to foster greater cohesion among residents.
More spaces have also been carved out for community gardens. As of November last year, there were more than 700 community gardens islandwide, which are tended to by more than 20,000 community gardeners, who include pre-schoolers as well as seniors.
But although design can facilitate interaction, residents must be active in using these spaces, said Dr Steven Choo, an adjunct associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s School of Design and Environment.
“With increasing affluence, busy schedules and denser living environments, people today tend to want to withdraw into their private spaces. The young people, especially, like to spend time online. It’s not like in the old days, when everyone knows one another’s kids,” he said.
Virtual spaces may be a good starting point for forging community, Dr Choo added.
Social networking site BlockPooling.sg is one example of a virtual community that allows residents to share items, such as household appliances, sporting equipment and DVDs. The website, which currently has nearly 7,000 members, also allows neighbours to initiate physical meet-ups.
Neighbourhood Facebook groups are another recent trend. It is on this social networking site that prospective residents of new residential projects can be found to keep one another up to date with the pace of construction, as well as subsequently band together to address other common teething issues.
‘COMMUNITY SPIRIT’ HAS EVOLVED
Just as the ways of forging community ties have transformed, the notion of community spirit has also evolved, said Members of Parliament (MPs) and grassroots veterans.
Today, like-minded residents often come together based on common interests, said Mr Zaqy Mohamad, MP for Chua Chu Kang GRC. “People come together to pursue their passions. It is different from in the past, where they just want company,” he said.
With greater mobility as a result of advancements in technology, present-day relationships are less restricted by distance, said Dr William Wan, general secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement.
“If we fixate on the conventional idea of the kampung spirit, then we are not going to find much of it in the modern environment. So while we may not associate the same acts of neighbourliness with the traditional kampung spirit, it is not to say that we have completely forgotten how to be neighbourly,” he added.
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?210743-Kampung-spirit-summoned-to-win-votes-for-pap&goto=newpost).