Volume 5 Issue 3: Kampung Spirit

Even without kampungs, we’ve created new shared spaces within our neighbourhoods.

We might not be as closely clustered as a kampung of wooden attap huts, but we do have gathering spaces built into the estates we live in.

Town planners integrate gathering points like open plazas, town squares, green spaces and community centres into every estate, ensuring that there are natural hubs for both planned and incidental social activities across different generations.

We’re losing some organic community spaces which’ve fostered kampung spirit.

In modern-day Singapore, about 80% of the resident population lives in high-rise flats. While this provided families with a clean, private space for themselves, it can lead to feelings of crowdedness, social conflict and, counterintuitively, isolation.

Though residents do build communities in shared areas like void decks, their activities can negatively impact people’s feelings of safety and privacy. With time and new measures, these treasured spaces have become more sterile.

The digital world has changed the way we express kampung spirit.

The modern kampung is no longer restricted to interactions with our next-door neighbours. Internet and social media have given rise to virtual acts of neighbourliness with community-led neighbourhood groups that facilitate social bonding and sharing.

There are platforms like KampungSpirit and Friendzone for community support at a national level, along with the Singapore Global Network, which takes gotong royong worldwide by encouraging business communities and interest groups to connect and collaborate..

Our preference for online interactions may be leading to shallower connections.

By shifting our interactions online, we lose out on the emotional context and non-verbal cues in face-to-face communication. We also become emboldened to say more than we normally would. These can cause misunderstandings, especially during heated WhatsApp group discussions about clutter along corridors.

The vulnerable groups of digitally disconnected young children and seniors might also lose out on social bonding and community support without real world interactions.

The spark of kampung spirit is still within us.

While Singaporeans appreciate our privacy, there are still plenty of kampung-spirited people stepping up to front ground-up community spaces.

We have community-managed gardens, fridges and libraries, all started and maintained by Singaporeans embodying the spirit of compassion, generosity and solidarity. Outside of providing support to others, we have also built new communities to develop friendships around common interests like running and reading.

The psyche of the modern Singaporean has less room for the kampung spirit.

Younger Singaporeans who weren’t born in kampungs don’t have that same nostalgia for village living and enjoy having the luxury of a personal space they can retreat to.

With increased self-sufficiency, we no longer need to borrow sugar from neighbours, since it’s always available at a nearby minimart. Instead of playing with other kids at the playground, children turn to the TV instead. This reduces the incidental interactions that build up kampung spirit of old, though it also reflects today’s greater prosperity and institutional support for childcare, health and financial aid.