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Friendships flourish at Tampines community garden, cafe

SINGAPORE — Part-time taxi driver Chew Wei’s application for a community garden was rejected and put on hold countless times, but he would not give up.

Part-time taxi driver Chew Wei’s application for a community garden was rejected and put on hold countless times, but he would not give up. Photo: Nuria Ling/TODAY

Part-time taxi driver Chew Wei’s application for a community garden was rejected and put on hold countless times, but he would not give up. Photo: Nuria Ling/TODAY

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SINGAPORE — Part-time taxi driver Chew Wei’s application for a community garden was rejected and put on hold countless times, but he would not give up.

“What I wanted was something that would get residents to do things together,” the 64-year-old said in Mandarin. “That’s my main intention.”

Affectionately known as “Wei Ge”, or Brother Wei, by residents living around Tampines Street 83, Mr Chew first proposed to build a community garden under Block 839 to then Education Minister Heng Swee Keat, during a visit to the blocks in the area in September 2015. Mr Heng is the Member of Parliament for Tampines GRC.

Mr Chew’s suggestion was heeded, but his plans hit several roadblocks. “(The authorities) wanted the garden design to be pleasant and consistent,” he said. For instance, they wanted the garden to grow predominantly pandan leaves. “But that’s not what I wanted because there will be little interaction (for the residents). I wanted people to plant their own seeds and grow whatever they want,” he explained.

Mr Chew, who has earned the reputation of being the garden’s guardian, also made clear his wish for it to resemble a park, that is, it had to be unfenced. “I wanted it to be such that any time you want to go in, you can do so,” he said. “So I often tell the residents here that the garden is not mine; it’s ours.”

It took about a year of liaison with the Housing and Development Board, the National Parks Board, and the town council before the community garden was given the green light last October.

Today, the garden — about half the size of a badminton court — has become a breeding ground not just for plants, but for friendships.

On a typical day, residents can be seen huddled together by the garden, chatting while pulverising egg shells and coffee beans donated by residents who work at the nearby coffee shop and market. The ingredients are to be used as fertiliser.

Passers-by sometimes stop in their tracks and look on curiously at the garden. That was how Mr Chew befriended one of them, a resident called Johnny who is in his 50s, he said. Recently, they both went on a day trip to Johor Baru, Malaysia together.

“We saw a plant there and I really liked it because it’s so round and nice,” Mr Chew said. He took a photograph of it and showed his neighbours when he returned home.

To his surprise, his Malay neighbours instantly recognised the plant as “pegaga”. “They told me there was pegaga growing near the coffee shop at Block 820, and they immediately went to take some for me,” he said.

The plant is typically light green and tastes slightly bitter when eaten raw, which is the common way of consuming it.

Mr Chew now grows pegaga in the garden, which is populated with up to 100 types of plants. “I grow chilli, pandan leaves, lemongrass, curry leaves because these are spices that can be used by Malays, Indians, and Chinese,” he said.

The residents are free to reap what they sow, but if they want something planted by someone else, they will usually ask the person for permission first, though Mr Chew said that he does not mind if people take what he plants “because it’s for them anyway”.

Another place where residents in the area foster neighbourliness is at a cafe situated at the void deck of Block 839 in front of the garden. The special feature here is that food is served free and nothing is sold. Two residents man the cafe from 7.30am to 11.30am, Mondays to Saturdays. Sometimes, the food and drinks may be made from ingredients grown in the garden.

The cafe also evolved to become a venue for some 50 to 60 older residents to have potluck.

“Sometimes they cook for us, sometimes we buy food to share,” Madam Chen Ah Khiun said. The 74-year-old retiree added that she would be buying 30 strips of chee cheong fun (steamed rice rolls) to share with others the next day. “You treat me, I treat you, that’s how it should be,” she said. “When you come here, you’re happy, because… you make friends and chat about happy things.”

Even though she has been living in Block 875 for 10 years, Madam Chen got to know most of her neighbours only after the cafe was set up in 2015.

It was retiree Tan Yam Chye, 76, a resident at Block 836 who started the ball rolling to share food there. He frequently buys food for everyone.

“Sometimes when the residents want to cook something, I will give them some money to buy the ingredients,” he said. “What’s most important is for old people to get together and chat, (because) if you stay at home for too long, you get depressed.”

He added: “As long as (the cafe) is open and I am still able, I will help to the best of my abilities.”

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