47 community stakeholders recognised for efforts to enhance their neighbourhoods

Sep 23, 2024

On 21 September 2024, the Municipal Services Office (MSO) recognised 47 community stakeholders for their active contributions in improving the living environment in their neighbourhoods. These community stakeholders, part of MSO’s OneService Kakis (OSK) network, were presented with a certificate of appreciation by Ms Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State for National Development and Foreign Affairs at the annual OneService Kakis Appreciation Event.

MSO’s OneService Kakis network

The OSK network was set up in 2021 to cultivate an informed and active pool of community stakeholders to address municipal issues. Today, MSO has about 3,700 “kakis” in the OSK network.

This year, 47 “kakis” were recognised for supporting or participating in MSO’s engagement initiatives (refer to Annex A for the list of initiatives). Some also led ground-up projects in their neighbourhood with the support of MSO’s Love Our ‘Hood Fund. They come from different segments of the community, including residents, grassroots leaders, non-profit organisations and teachers.

For example, Mr Johny Tan, Chairman of Boon Lay Zone D Residents’ Network, led a project, HeARTland Kindness Mural, to address municipal issues such as corridor clutter, littering at void decks and obstruction of pathways. The project involved painting wall murals around the neighbourhood to promote considerate behaviours among residents. Residents from the neighbourhood were also invited to bond and paint these murals together with the artist. Johny also organised tours for around 100 residents to view the murals. The project was completed in March 2024.  

One of the wall murals painted as part of HeARTland Kindness Mural

Temasek Polytechnic (TP) was also one of the community stakeholders recognised for its involvement in Project Code R.E.D. (Research, Engage, Deploy). The TP students had collaborated with MSO to develop solutions to municipal issues as part of their coursework, providing them with real world learning opportunities through these partnerships. Some of these student-led projects incorporated Behavioural Insights (BI) to nudge behavioural change that effectively addressed municipal issues. For example, one of the projects involved students applying behavioural insights to encourage basketball court users to cease noisy activities by closing time. By piloting the different messages in Bishan basketball courts, students found that explicit messages highlighting the desired behaviours led to more users vacating the courts before closing time.

Mockup of digital countdown clock proposed by TP students

Graciousness Survey: Satisfaction with neighbourly behaviours has increased

The Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM) has been a key partner in MSO’s efforts to address municipal issues. Since 2021, SKM has worked with MSO to conduct its annual Graciousness Survey^[1],   measuring residents’ sentiments on social norms related to neighbour noise, second-hand smoke and cleanliness in common areas.

The findings from the Graciousness Survey 2023-2024 showed an increase in satisfaction with neighbourly behaviours, with 81 per cent of respondents expressing satisfaction with their relationships with neighbours, up from 69 per cent from the previous year. The most significant improvement was seen among the younger respondents aged 25 – 44 years.

Respondents cited more positive experiences across neighbourly behaviours that were deemed important to them. Behaviours such as neighbours willing to offer or accept small acts of help from each other as well as reducing unintentional noise and informing neighbours in advance of potential noise-producing activities were perceived to have increased compared to the previous year. More residents were willing to resolve issues directly with their neighbours, rather than to resort to seeking assistance from official avenues. Refer to Annex B for more findings from the survey.

In addition to the survey, SKM also collaborated with MSO and other agencies such as HDB on public education campaigns to promote pro-social norms, including norms developed by the Community Advisory Panel on Neighbourhood Noise, as well as partnerships with various Town Councils, People’s Association and grassroots organisations to support community-led initiatives.

Ms Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State for National Development and Foreign Affairs, commended the OSKs for their contributions. She said, “Social norms evolve all the time. With close collaboration between the Government and the community, we can encourage norms that promote greater harmony and cohesion in the neighbourhood, and support efforts to maintain a pleasant living environment for all. I thank our OneService Kakis for stepping forward to lead positive change from the ground up.  We hope to empower and inspire more changemakers to impact the community.”

Issued By    : Municipal Services Office (MSO)

Date             : 21 September 2024

ANNEX A

LIST OF MSO’S COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT INITIATIVES

ANNEX B

SINGAPORE KINDNESS MOVEMENT GRACIOUSESS SURVEY 2023-2024: KEY FINDINGS ON THE STATE OF NEIGHBOURLINESS

State of Neighbourliness

Overall satisfaction on relationships with neighbours has increased from last year, with more than 4 in 5 satisfied with their relationship with neighbours.

Neighbourly aspirations

Across different neighbourly behaviours, the most often cited as “important” were:

• Not smoking in common areas, or near windows, balconies or other areas
• Playing their part to keep common spaces clean and tidy
• Keeping noise levels down, especially during quiet hours
  

Satisfaction with Neighbourly Behaviours

Satisfaction with neighbourly behaviours has significantly increased. The largest improvements came from offering help to each other, or being considerate when it comes to noise.

Room for Improvement

While experiences were more positive compared to 2023, respondents felt there was room to improve on the following behaviours:

• Not smoking in common areas, or near windows, balconies or other areas
• Keeping noise levels down, especially during quiet hours

Resolving Neighbourly Inconveniences

When it comes to neighbourly inconveniences, there were fewer who claimed to have encountered disturbances compared to 2023. Among those who did, they were more likely to attempt casual forms of resolution than seek official avenues.

Informing Neighbours in advance about noise-producing activities

More claimed to have informed neighbours of noisy activities compared to the past year.