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Important to do more to bring back kampung spirit, says Heng

SINGAPORE — The lack of common spaces in new Housing and Development Board (HDB) blocks, such as common corridors and lift landings, has led to a lower level of kampung spirit among neighbours, even as the digital age has enabled connectedness, observed Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, during a dialogue with residents in the Moulmein-Cairnhill constituency ward on Sunday (29 October).

Minister for Finance Mr Heng Swee Keat is seen during the Ministerial Community Visit which feature how Moulmein-Cairnhill connects with residents to build a more caring community on Sunday (Oct 29). Photo: Koh Mui Fong/TODAY

Minister for Finance Mr Heng Swee Keat is seen during the Ministerial Community Visit which feature how Moulmein-Cairnhill connects with residents to build a more caring community on Sunday (Oct 29). Photo: Koh Mui Fong/TODAY

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SINGAPORE — The lack of common spaces in new Housing and Development Board (HDB) blocks, such as common corridors and lift landings, has led to a lower level of kampung spirit among neighbours, even as the digital age has enabled connectedness, observed Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, during a dialogue with residents in the Moulmein-Cairnhill constituency ward on Sunday (29 October).

The strong sense of community he saw as he visited residents in the Goldhill area, who built and maintained an award-winning community garden together, had sparked a lament from him that a kampung spirit was lacking in newer residential developments.

“I must say that some of the ways in which some of our residential buildings are designed do make it harder to build that sense of community, in particular buildings in which there’s not much of a common corridor,” said Mr Heng, who is Member of Parliament for Tampines GRC.

Compared with HDB blocks of yore, which have only one or two lifts serving selected floors, things have changed, he noted.

“So when I was living in one of these HDB blocks, years ago, you get to meet practically everyone who takes the lift, probably from the third floor all the way to the top floor, whether you are staying to the left of the building, or the centre of the building. Everyone takes those lifts, and you get to meet people, and you get to know them well,” he said.

Today, newer HDB blocks have many lifts, on every floor and in every wing, he noted, and some people have told him that they do not know their neighbours in the same block, because there is no common meeting point.

“The Chinese have a saying, ‘A distant relative isn’t as good as your immediate neighbour’. (The) sense of how we take care of one another, it’s a very powerful idea, and we would not be able to do that if people don’t even interact. This idea of, ‘Let’s bring back the kampung spirit’, we’ve got to think about how we can do this even better,” he said.

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