SINGAPORE – On a quiet Saturday afternoon at a Yishun HDB void deck, small talk bounced among a handful of youth lounging around picnic mats and mahjong tables. Most were strangers who hoped to connect, but the ice was taking time to break.
Then a bubbling cheese pizza was whisked from an oven in a makeshift kitchen at their gathering spot, and the awkwardness melted away. People rose with smiles and chatter, converging over the one thing they now had in common: good food.
Behind the kitchen counter was 31-year-old Ngoh Shian Bang, who had organised this pizza party on Sept 19 with The Chop Community, a space for youth at Chong Pang Zone 7 Residents’ Network at 287 Yishun Avenue 6.
The event was the sixth community gathering that Ngoh had organised since May, under a project known as Kampung Soup Kitchen. The concept is simple: Cook and serve free food, so people can gather over a meal, recreating the kampung spirit of old.
Young and old alike turned up at the first Kampung Soup Kitchen on May 30, where Ngoh served two kinds of soups.
PHOTO: TOV.IE/INSTAGRAM
Most of the food and preparation costs are borne by Ngoh, who is also a full-time Lianhe Zaobao photojournalist. He has spent about $2,800 of his savings on the cause.
The young man sports a bandana beneath a head of curls and a spunky attitude. He told The Straits Times: “I like seeing people happy, and maybe I can make the world a little less lonely.”
He never expected his first event on May 30 to go viral online. He whipped up clear chicken broth and spiced pumpkin and carrot soup, and served them for free to about 50 strangers at the void deck underneath his Tampines flat.
What started as one man’s idea has since grown into a monthly community project, with various Residents’ Networks in Tampines and Yishun providing him with free venues, and volunteers helping with cooking and service. The menu has also evolved beyond soup to include ice cream, pizza, barbecued meat and satay.
Volunteer Solomon Kang, 47, grates cheese for a participant at the sixth edition of Kampung Soup Kitchen, a pizza party at The Chop Community held at 287 Yishun Ave 6.
ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
Ngoh reckoned that people resonated with the events because “it speaks to something deeper for them – the sense of yearning for neighbourhood”.
Modern society is more interconnected with social media and technology, but ironically, people feel lonelier, said Ngoh. He described feeling detached in Singapore as communal events seemed to dwindle over time.
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