[NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH: Some of the 16 residents who look out for residents in the area.]
BY KOH HUI THENG
WHEN they learnt that there was a stalker harassing a woman in their neighbourhood, a group of men took it upon themselves to try and bring him to justice.
While the culprit has yet to be caught, their efforts have brought them closer.
The 16 Sengkang residents - mostly in their 50s and 60s and living in Block 122 - sprang into action after the man tailed the young woman from the bus stop one night.
Each night for a week, several of them gathered at the void deck after work to patrol the estate.
Some kept a lookout when they returned home from their late shifts. Others scanned the surroundings as they walked their dogs.
All kept their eyes and ears peeled for suspicious characters, particularly strangers loitering at the multi-storey carpark or bus stop nearby.
That was two years ago and, today, they still keep watch over their neighbourhood every time they hang out at the void deck of their block.
Escalator operator Lim Kee, 60, told my paper: "As neighbours, we have to watch out for one another."
And help they did - moving house for some residents and organising steamboat dinners during festive seasons like the Chinese New Year to rally the residents.
Mr Lim said the group started off as an informal gathering: "At first, we met downstairs and chatted. Then, we began to collect money to buy coffee and more people joined in."
Last November, a woman in her 70s dropped her handbag into a drain as she alighted from the bus.
She approached the group, who spent two hours trying to pry open the drain cover with crowbars before the Singapore Civil Defence Force was called in to help.
They also helped find a missing boy the same year.
The Primary 3 pupil wandered off while his parents visited their relatives. Eight of the men cycled and walked around the estate before finding him at a park an hour later.
Mr Lim said: "Many residents have told me they feel more assured of safety with the uncles looking out for them."
Thanks to the group's public spiritedness, Sengkang East has become a safer place for all.
