Ways to be Good Neighbours

SINGAPORE - This year's HDB Community Week, held at HDB Hub Mall in Toa Payoh, showcases 35 Good Neighbours Projects by students and residents. Here's a look at some of the ideas to promote neighbourliness.

Cooking for closer ties

What better way for Singaporeans to bond than over food? Last year, a team of pupils from Huamin Primary School saw this in action when they helped to hold a block party with food from coffeeshop stalls in Yishun.

This year, the pupils - now in Primary 6 - came up with a sequel. They held a competition for residents to share their home-cooked meals at another block party.

The chefs and their neighbours got to know one another better, and so did the girls. Said Wyna Ooi, 11: "When they cook, we try their food - and also interact with them."

Old games and new perspectives

Old-school games such as capteh are not just for the old, as Secondary 2 students from Siglap Secondary School found out.

"We wanted to help residents to bond by using their traditional games," said Nurmira Zanitra, 14. "We thought it can help to bring back old memories."

But when they held a games session at the West Plaza mall, senior citizens were not the only ones joining in. Recalled Nurmira: "They were of all ages, it was surprising."

Another team of schoolmates organised photography walks around Pasir Ris to meet residents, but ended up learning a lot themselves.

"We got to see more of the neighbourhood than we usually do on our own," said 14-year-old Julian Wong, who grew up in the area.

Sharing the fruits

Since it was started four years ago, the Wu Wo Yuan community garden in Hougang has become a gathering place for older residents.

"When they come to the garden, they connect," said Mrs Iris Chua, 61, a retiree. "We even hold potluck meals in the garden."

This year, her team's Good Neighbours Project brought old and young together.

In March and April, pupils from Xinmin Primary School harvested the crop alongside the elderly gardeners. The fruits of their labour, such as bittergourd and lady's fingers, then became breakfast for the community.

This article was first published on May 25, 2014.
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