Every kampung needs a Ketua Kampung (Chief).
What’s the difference between an HDB block with an Uncle Woof-Woof (an endearment for my old neighbour in our previous estate), and a HDB block that is silent, disconnected and even hostile?
Well, perhaps this:
Man, 66, arrested for murder after woman stabbed in Yishun noise dispute – CNA
(https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/yishun-murder-knife-attack-woman-dies-arrest-neighbour-5365531#:~:text=SINGAPORE%3A%20A%2067-year-old%20man%20was%20arrested%20for%20murder,to%20hospital%2C%20where%20she%20died%2C%20said%20the%20police.)
Uncle Woof-Woof (named aptly so because, according to my mother, he was a good KPO who would ‘bark’ i.e. care and ask questions and was always there and available when you needed him) was a middle-aged man who knew EVERYONE in our HDB block.
He was always saying hi, and always being friendly to our neighbours.
When there was a chameleon that had found its way into our home, he had been the one to charge in with an umbrella and chase it out, at the behest of my mother. The same was true for my neighbour with a giant rat under her bed.
Uncle Woof-Woof exemplified Kampung Spirit. So, too, does my own father, albeit he is a quieter man who smiles and does not engage unless he knows you well enough, or if you initiate contact.
These wonderful men are great examples of what a single friendly face in an HDB building can do – to remove vermin from homes, befriend the friendless, and generally act as a force that maintains peace and harmony within a common shared residence that is a HDB apartment building.
In my own experience, having 2 young children who are GUARANTEED to be loud, I’ve had a neighbour come to my door asking me to keep my children quiet. While I cannot appreciate the way he’d broached the subject (he was very abrasive), I can understand his frustration.
This was followed by police visiting my unit, and counsellors from the nearest Family Service Centre visiting my home.
Did any of this help to reduce the noise level? Unfortunately, no. It was not enough, because no one who had tried to help us had availed me of the very thing I needed to stop the noise – connection.
Support, care, community – these were the things that would have helped me: not judgment, censure, or a ‘quick fix’. Said neighbours eventually moved out.
Right now, more and more, we need a Ketua Kampung in every block. It doesn’t take a lot to step up and say ‘that’s me’. We don’t need a task force or another organisation, or even a Neighbourhood Support System Program (although that could be helpful).
We just need one man to step up and say ‘I’ll do it. I will smile at my neighbours today. I will hold the lift and press the button to their floor. I will be courageous enough to say hello to new faces in my residence’.
The more Uncle Woof-Woofs we have, the better for society. If we want unity in the face of an increasingly maddening world, care and support have to come from us.
The next time you see trouble – a child crying, a father screaming, a mother struggling or a lonely old man talking to himself – borrow the Ketua Kampung spirit and be available. Help is at hand – help is in YOUR hands.
Lee Shermin Aminah
Happy Heart Hub
26/09/2025