Growing up in Singapore, I soon grasped the concept that there was a version of Singapore that existed on gleaming holographic postcards and tourism board collaterals and a real, real Singapore where things aren’t so shiny and perfect, and where it rains all the time.
The two versions would occasionally come together, where the postcard Singapore would embrace how things just are.
For me, it has always been about its people. Maybe it is the nature of the job, but what makes Singapore are the stories, the communities – and the neighborhoods.
It was raining all the times I met or talked to the people behind the initiatives that got their neighborhoods honored for Singapore’s Friendly Neighborhood Award (SFNA) – but that did not dampen their enthusiasm for sharing and showing what they do.
Launched in Oct 2022, the SNFA recognizes and celebrates the collective strength, kinship and resilience within neighbourhoods. From outdoor walking clubs to movie nights to sharing fruit and community gardening, you don’t have to dig deep to see how a community comes together.
Home on the Grange
“Fruit is neutral, fruit is not tied to any religious or political belief – anyone can enjoy fruit,” lawyer Ranbir Singh said about Fruit Basket Day in his estate in Regency Park.
The project started as an idea five years ago after a family holiday.
“We were coming back from a holiday back to this condominium, and holidays are fun. But they can also be tiring. The moment we entered the condominium, we felt a sense of warmth and security,” he explained.
He then engaged his kids and asked them why they felt that way. “We started analyzing and we eventually recognized that it was the effort of our security guards, cleaners and gardeners that made the place look beautiful, safe and welcoming,” he said.
The family then went on to discuss how they could express their gratitude – and that was where Fruit Basket Day came about.
A fruit basket – that is decorated by his kids – is placed at the reception counter of every block in the estate and filled with fruits weekly. The fruits are for distribution among the maintenance staff at the condominium estate. “It’s such a simple idea and concept and has made the community kinder and closer to each other,” Ranbir explained.
His children also became “ambassadors” of the project and began to spread the word about it to the community – and even their schools. Ranbir also said that when it first launched, it was mainly him and the family running the logistic side of the project but over the years it pretty much started to run by itself – other neighbours would also contribute to the fruit loot without fail every week.
“These people are contributing to our lives in a good way on a daily basis, whereas we are only expressing our gratitude on a yearly basis. That has to change,” he said.
Somewhere in Admiralty, a garden is blooming
Despite the rainy morning, Doris Yuen the Chairlady of the Woodlands Senior Citizen’s Executive Committee (SCEC) is proud to show off the community rooftop garden at Kampung Admiralty. Yuen described how almost everything in the garden is made by her and the community, including the shelter where creeper plants make up most of the roof, and the plots where plants are separated according to flowers, fruits and vegetables and also herbs.
There are also unique and colorful sculptures in-between the plots that are made at other workshops organized by Yuen and the community too.
Bringing people together has always come naturally to Yuen. When Yuen and her husband first moved to Kampung Admiralty, they joined the Woodlands grassroots committee and found herself interacting with people and communities.
She explains that getting people together are just like piecing a puzzle – she’ll meet a new neighbor living alone who is into sewing for example and then meet another resident looking to do a workshop or course in sewing, and then it all works out.
Today, she organizes walks, gardening sessions, excursions and more with the Kampung Admiralty community. Though retired, Yuen is busy everyday keeping up with the roster of events and activities at the estate and also thinking of new ideas and creative ways to get together.
“Getting people together makes me happy and it also makes them feel happy. Especially at this age, why should we stop doing things we love?” Yuen says.
Market in Macpherson
James Seet, resident and the chief coordinator of Macpherson Estate’s kindness initiatives said that the neighbors in the residential estate mostly kept to themselves – but when the pandemic hit, something changed.
“Everybody was in a mind-your-own-backyard mindset pre-Covid but when people could see how it affected their own community directly, everyone responded with kindness – and this brought the community closer together,” he said.
The Pasar (‘market’ in Malay) started in early 2021 where neighbors and friends wanted to share and help others who have less and were going through difficult times. When the pandemic happened, many lost their jobs, and other issues like hoarding and mental health became more salient.
Every month, neighbors come together at the void deck to share vegetables, groceries, necessities and more. They also focus on supporting local businesses and most of the goods found are sourced from the estate itself.
On top of the Pasar, he also said that the community looks after each other through meal distributions – and some of the meals are even cooked by the residents themselves.
As a social worker himself, Seet said it was heartwarming to see the changes. Even his wife who is a nurse would occasionally help out whenever she can.
“These days, the programmes almost run on their own through leaders, volunteers and residents,” Seet says.
“The most rewarding part of this whole initiative is to see how a neighborhood transformed, and to see empathy in action – I see people from all walks of life, cultures and ages putting aside all their differences to help out.”
From kindness, comes empathy
A common thread from these stories is how their acts of kindness start gentle and elusive. “I think being kind makes people stronger, makes communities stronger. Kindness is not a weakness,” Yuen believes.
Ranbir says that from kindness, comes empathy. “For me, it starts with being thoughtful first. It’s the spirit of living together and existing in a positive way which paves the way for empathy.
“By taking action, you create greater positivity in your environment and with time, one starts recognizing empathy as being a very core part of kindness.”
It’s easy to get consumed by the postcard-perfect Singapore and the continuous pursuit of excellence but if you peel back the layers, you’ll find that it is the people that make the place – and these are only some of the heartwarming stories you can find in Singapore. If anything, these people and communities are a testament that doing good has a much larger impact than people realize.
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