When it comes to kampung <\/em>spirit, many may think of neighbours sharing food or leaving doors open for visitors.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Singapore’s old kampungs<\/em> have made way for high-rise HDB estates and a faster pace of life, that doesn’t mean the neighbourliness has disappeared.<\/p>\n It has evolved alongside different generations of Singaporeans, taking on a new form.\u00a0<\/p>\n This National Day, AsiaOne talks to Singaporeans from different walks of life to find out how kampung <\/em>spirit lives on.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the past, kampung <\/em>spirit may have come more naturally as family and neighbours relied on one another in daily life.\u00a0<\/p>\n But nowadays, it has become something that’s more intentional with organisations hosting events, gatherings and workshops to bring people together.\u00a0<\/p>\n One of them is Playces, a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping “ordinary people” start community initiatives such as reading clubs, craft circles, neighbourhood events and mutual-help projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n Speaking to AsiaOne, Playces founder Gena Soh said that the organisation’s long-term vision is to create a society where “everyone feels that they can contribute their gifts to public life”.<\/p>\n This contribution does not have to come in the form of a large-scale initiative, she explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n In fact, it can be something as simple as teaching one’s neighbours how to crochet, organising a meal, hosting a conversation, looking after a community space, or helping someone else’s project succeed.\u00a0<\/p>\n “We want to help create a society in which people approach one another with greater trust, curiosity and generosity \u2014 and where citizens see themselves not only as users of the city, but as people who can actively shape its social life.”<\/p>\n Rather than recreating the neighbourliness of the past, the 29-year-old said that Playces hopes to help Singaporeans “practise a contemporary version” of kampung <\/em>spirit.\u00a0<\/p>\n One example is a void deck party where residents gathered to converse, share food and enjoy performances. This transforms the void deck into a space where neighbours can meet and build new connections intentionally.\u00a0<\/p>\n “A void deck party is not meaningful only because an event happened there,” Gena said.\u00a0<\/p>\n “It is meaningful because residents see that the void deck can become a place they shape together. Someone brings food, someone performs, someone moves chairs, someone watches another person’s child, and someone who initially came alone leaves having met a neighbour.”<\/p>\n Sharing food is a way to bring people together \u2014 and it doesn’t always have involve big, fancy meals or gatherings with people whom you already know.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Singapore, many donors and volunteers are involved in efforts to save food from going to waste and also redistribute the items to the community.<\/p>\n One such person is Gregory Peck, an avid advocate for food rescue and a member of the community in Singapore.\u00a0<\/p>\n To Gregory, the kampung <\/em>spirit is “still very much alive”. Unlike the past when neighbours depended on each other, modern-day Singaporeans may need opportunities for them to come together, he noted.<\/p>\n And the best way to do that? Food.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Once people start sharing food, conversations and relationships tend to follow,” the 55-year-old told us.\u00a0<\/p>\n Through food rescue activities, the retiree has met people from all walks of life whom he “probably would never have crossed paths with otherwise”.\u00a0<\/p>\n “When you are rescuing food, those social differences become much less important,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n “People start talking about what they cook, what they eat, their families and their lives. For me, that is where the kampung <\/em>spirit really becomes visible.”\u00a0<\/p>\nContributing via community events<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nSharing (food) is caring<\/h2>\n