Neighbourly spirit being restored

Garbage scattered in the corridors, loud music, and dripping laundry are only a few of the complaints of the 34,000 residents, which the Housing Board and town councils have to deal with every year.

MP Liang Eng Hwa of Holland-Bukit Timah GRC raised the issues a year ago in February. A workgroup was consequently formed to handle poor social habits as well as un-neighbourly behaviour. According to the workgroup, there was an increased in friction among neighbours.

Workgroup member and MP Halimah Yacob of Jurong GRC stated that “People have become quite faceless; they don't know each other, so they don't feel comfortable talking to each other and addressing some of their concerns”.

Having lower patience towards disturbances and higher expectations of the environment they live in are other reasons being monitored by the workgroup.

New initiatives for the betterment of the relations between the neighbours were launched the previous day at the HDB Hub in Toa Payoh. To back this up, the workgroup is set to provide a guidebook that will teach the residents on how to be a perfect neighbour. This will be disseminated to over 800,000 HDB families throughout the island.

There is also the Good Neighbour Award, which allows residents to nominate their neighbours. The HDB and the People's Association in collaboration with the Singapore Press Holdings and Singapore Kindness Movement organised the said award to acknowledge exemplary neighbours.

The implementation of a system of fines and warnings are also being considered by HDB to regulate refractory neighbourhood nuisances since the current year’s third quarter.

Yet, Senior Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu, who manages the workgroup, explained that instead of punishment, public education on well-mannered behaviour should be prioritised.

“A penalty system is not and must not be the first resort to shape Singaporeans' behaviour”, Madam Fu said. She also added that those residents who decline to cooperate will have to go through the penalties.