Speech by SMS Desmond Lee at the Opening of Phase 1 of Kampung Kampus by Ground-Up Initiative
Feb 18, 2017
A very good afternoon to all of you. Thank you for inviting me to join you here at the opening of the first phase of Kampung Kampus and to launch HeartQuarters, GUI’s net-zero energy building.
Community Spirit
This event caps for me, a week of kampung-ness, but if I may just describe it. A couple days ago I was invited by Mr Liat to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital to take a look at the kampung that he has built in his hospital campus. I went to the rooftop and lo and behold, there were a couple of urban villagers farming on the rooftops, which were designed for rooftop gardening. And that embodied for me a sense of urban community, going back to basics, getting involved in soil, growing fruits, vegetables, other produce, which they would then be able to sell at the food fiesta three times a week, bring staff, bringing neighbours together. Together with almost 1.5km of planters, lush greenery, making the institution very much a part of a City in a Garden.
Just this morning I went for my Friends of Ubin Network, or FUN, meeting. This morning was another session of kampung, and part of the Ubin Project, the five pillars, some of the pillars we are pushing are heritage, history and community. We have a living village on Pulau Ubin, villagers who have lived there for many many decades, brought up with a certain set of values and a mindset to life, life’s challenges, and to society and community, family and friends that define rustic, but very heartwarming. So together with stakeholders, with civil society, we are working together with the villagers to re-energise and to keep going that very unique community on Pulau Ubin.
So this week of kampung-ness is capped off by this visit here at Lai Hock’s invitation, to join you all at the opening of this zero-energy building. But a different way and a different approach to rooted-ness and to bringing people back to the soil. I serve in a constituency where many of my residents used to live in villages – Ah Ma Keng village, and the villages around Choa Chu Kang. They also grew up with that set of values, and with that view of family and community that many of us wish we still had in our DNA. It’s all still there and that’s what tugs at your heartstrings when you come to places like GUI, it’s still in our DNA, it’s still there.
Even as we globalise, even as we go into the digital age, even as we look for opportunities around the world and in the region, even as we celebrate different pathways to success, we need to counter-balance this with a deeper sense of rooted-ness. Our roots must run deeper and they must course through the soil, and it can never only be an initiative the Government leads, in fact, the civil society, communities, volunteers, all play an important part in helping Singaporeans find their feet, and to find their identity and to grow it and evolve it along the way. And for Singapore, for Singaporeans, a not too distant memory is the memory of our rural countryside, about life in the fields, in the villages. So, even as we live in HDB, many of us like to refer to it as vertical kampungs; that really shows us what we are actually longing for. It is not the environment, it is not purely the setting, but it is the sense of personal inter-relationships with one another that allows our older generation in the kampung to leave their doors wide open. So that is really a frame of mind, a level of trust, and an unspoken sense of respect amongst each other and understanding.
Kampung Kampus
I am happy to see so many of you all here this afternoon, people of all ages and from all walks of life – many of you volunteering and joining Lai Hock, weekly, daily perhaps, to celebrate that community spirit that I just talked about.
When GUI first moved to this space in 2009, it had only – I understand, 100 square metres of space for community farming. But in the last eight years or so, the GUI community has grown considerably. Not just in terms of physical space, but more importantly, as a community, or you may say, as a family.
Indeed, the achievements of GUI did not come about easily or by chance. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Lai Hock and his team on the opening of Kampung Kampus. More than being just a space built from brick and mortar; it is, and will be, a living space that was borne from your imagination and vision. This is a culmination of all your hard work, and this space is a testament to your resilience and the can-do spirit. The determination to find rooted-ness and to help fellow Singaporeans re-connect with their roots.
GUI was first set up to create a community space for people to come together, to interact, build character, to bond, promote sustainable living and to foster stronger ties. The hands-on experience given to your volunteers, to get their hands dirty – be it in urban farming, carpentry work or building a space, cooking pizzas in your huge coal-fired stove, this experience is invaluable in our urban environment. Do continue to do your part to nurture the spirit of social responsibility, sustainability and innovation.
Building community
Community-led ground up initiatives are crucial in building the Singapore of the future. I said earlier that finding one’s roots has to be more than just the Government’s responsibility. In fact, I think all over Singapore, people recognise that we have a part to play. And so, like Pulau Ubin, it’s not an NParks’ obligation, or duty, or responsibility. We brought in civil society, we brought in green groups, we brought in marine groups, heritage groups, arts groups, this morning we were joined by a sketch artist, joined by villagers, their children, educators, sportsmen, kayakers, all coming together with a common mission, but coming from a different perspective.
When like-minded people come together with different perspectives but wanting to co-create new spaces and implement new ideas, they will be fully invested in the project. Because they are not giving views, they are not giving suggestions for other people to take up; they are themselves front and center in making it succeed. So hopefully, this will, in turn, kick-start more projects around Singapore and promote active participation in social causes, but more importantly that we feel that it is our responsibility to grow this, to grow these social causes, and not support as a third party, other people’s initiatives.
Volunteer Activism
In this regard, volunteerism would be a powerful tool to build a more compassionate and inter-connected society. We can all do our part to support the growth of volunteerism in Singapore. Through the stories that have been shared by your volunteers earlier, I can see that this spirit is very much alive right here in this part of Singapore.
From young people, to families and senior citizens, you are never too young or too old to make a difference. Volunteers like you sacrifice your time and effort, and you do so out of passion. I hope that you all continue to be a change-maker. It is only through action that you can make a difference in your own lives and in the lives of others.
Conclusion
Once again, I would like to congratulate Kampung Chief, GUI and all the volunteers on the opening of Kampung Kampus. I hope that you will continue to keep the kampung spirit alive and inspire more people to join you!
I wish all of you a pleasant and enjoyable day ahead, and in the months and years to come. Thank you.