Speech by Minister Lawrence Wong at the Completion of the Build-A-Playground Project

Jan 7, 2018

Good morning to all of you. As we are at the start of the year, I would also like to wish everyone a healthy and happy 2018. Happy New Year to all! 

Today, we have come together on a very happy occasion. It is a very good start to 2018 as we are opening Singapore’s first community-built-playground - built by you, for your own residents, for yourselves and your children. You see the playground right in front of you and you saw the video. It took so much hard work, engagement and it was a collaborative effort between the residents and HDB. Let’s give everyone a big round of applause. Well done! 

HDB living is special for all of us. Not just because of the flats we live in, but also because of the friendships and the relationships that we have with our neighbours. That is why when we build any new project, HDB pays a lot of attention to the facilities that can help bring people together and allow neighbours to interact with one another. 

One very popular facility within any HDB estate is the playground. Children across all backgrounds will come together to meet and play. But, it is not just the children as the parents and grandparents also gather together there. It becomes a place where relationships are formed, friendships are formed. The whole community can gather around at that playground.

The design of the playground has evolved over many years. At the start it was very simple, just basic seesaws and swings. Then in the 70s and 80s, we had more interesting designs. Those of you who grew up in the period like me will remember the dragon design - very popular in the 70s and 80s. 

Over time, we have added a wider variety of equipment and features. Nowadays with any new HDB estate, we even have 3-Generation (3G) playgrounds. 3G meaning that the playground is not only for children but there is exercise equipment for adults and the seniors as well – it is multi-generational. 

All the designs of our playgrounds in the HDB estates are very interesting. They tell the story of how our HDB estates have evolved. They capture snippets of Singapore’s history. 

That is why I am happy that this year, the National Museum of Singapore and HDB will be working on an interesting exhibition on Singapore’s playgrounds. The exhibition will be coming up later this year. It will tell the history of Singapore’s playgrounds over the years, and hopefully inspire us to think about what future playgrounds can be like. But, however the playground designs evolve, what we have learnt is that the most important aspect of a playground is not just the design but the process – how residents come together to design it and take ownership of it. When you take ownership of something, you will take pride in it, and make good use of it. You will come to appreciate the facility even more. So, the process is important.  

That is why we started the Build-a-Playground project here in Canberra. We want to thank Dr Lim, all the grassroots leaders here and the residents for your support. You are the first one. You are important because if the first one is a failure then we cannot continue. But, because the first project was so successful, we are going to do even more. After Canberra, we will have five more community-built playgrounds in other estates. The next one will be in Choa Chu Kang. This will be followed by Toa Payoh, Woodlands and Pasir Ris. You may ask, why only five playgrounds.

To build such a playground takes a lot of time. Dr Lim just reminded me that this project started about two years ago. But, it is time well spent as it is time spent engaging residents, getting residents’ designs, and then putting something together in a meaningful way. Residents were even involved in building the playground. We have certified contractors here to make sure that everything is done properly and the safety inspector will do one round of checks before opening it up. The playgrounds will be properly inspected and they will be safe.

In conclusion, this is a very meaningful project. It is a project that involves all of us working together. I hope that the Canberra residents and the grassroots leaders will make full use of it. We thank the Sembawang Secondary School students too – your designs have been incorporated into the playgrounds. Please make use of this facility. It is yours. You can take pride in it. You designed it. You built it and you made it happen. We hope that with more of such playgrounds in other parts of Singapore, we can continue to encourage Singaporeans to come together, stay connected with one another and more importantly, do your part to make Singapore an even better city and home for all of us. On that note, thank you very much, Happy New Year and enjoy the weekend.