Love Thy Neighbour

Last week i attended a gathering under a void deck at my parents place in Woodlands. It was organized by some volunteers living around the neighbourhood to have a short prayer for the coming fasting month followed by a small feasting. Foods served on that day were prepared and contributed by the residents under no obligation. You can feel a sense of togetherness among the residents there.

Such a sight are diminishing nowadays. And i started to wonder why. Have we lived too privately? Have we become anti-social? Have we ignored the people living around us? How many of us knew the full names of our nearest neighbour? I could only find fault with one thing:

The architecture of our living environment.

Flats nowadays are structured to provide privacy for it's tenant. Gone are the days where flats have common corridors and having to get to one's house would mean having to pass through many others. Nowadays, the most you would have to pass through is ur closest neighbour's house. And that's it! Having to go though many units increases the chance of meeting with the tenants. And u dun just pass through them. The most u smile and that goes a long way. From such small gestures, over time it eventually transforms into friendship.

And then there's the lift. Lifts nowadays are abundance and stops at every level. Everybody wants to get on the lift by themselves. How many of you all have tried to close the lift door quickly knowing that there is somebody also wanting to get on the lift? Guilty eh? Hahaha! Me too!! Hahaha!!! Lifts in the 'older' days stop at certain intervals with no look-out windows. And sumtimes that confined, boring space forces people to make friends.

It seems that in our effort to have privacy, we have neglected our surroundings. (i.e our neighbours). It's kinda of a trade-off. It is sumthing we have learnt to accept and that is how the community will remain... unless sumthing is done.