Why can’t Singaporeans have nice things?

image : freepik.com

Efforts to make Singapore accommodating and comfortable for the public have grown more common over the years. These projects range from setting up community libraries to the convenience of bike sharing services.

Facebook user ‘Hengster Kor’ spent months gathering books and shelves, and dedicated his hours to setting up a library in his estate’s common area at Boon Lay. Barely a day later, he was shocked and disappointed to find his efforts had gone to waste, as someone had stolen two of the bookshelves he had painstakingly compiled.

“I started shifting things out yesterday evening from my office. I thought I could continue the process by putting up posters and decorations. This morning when I went down to send my son off to school, I saw the shelves were missing. It was really demoralising,” he said in a Facebook post.

Netizens took to the comments section to echo his disappointment. Some emphasised that Singaporeans - although living in a first world country - possess a third world mentality.

Kor came up with the idea of an open library during the pandemic. However, he did not have enough books to start the project, and began his hard work in March instead. As news of the stolen bookshelves spread to the media, the books have re-appeared, but the shelves still remained missing. Kor has resorted to building shelves using plywood from discarded furniture.

His unfortunate experience has also prompted netizens to reach out in the comments, with some offering to donate more books and shelves to replace the stolen ones.

Are community efforts worth it?

Community libraries are one of the many initiatives that residents have undertaken to offer a shared hangout space for residents. Unfortunately, there are many other examples of community projects being abused.

The “Share the Umbrella” project at Toh Guan left needy residents in despair, as the umbrellas catered for the project were repeatedly stolen, hence leaving the racks empty in times of a downpour or hot sun.

In 2019, Shimano-MTB also expressed disappointment when it found out that its cycling totems were severely damaged. The totems were stationed across park connectors for cyclists to service their bicycles. Instead, most totems were found badly damaged with multi-tools being cut off, and pumps stolen.

A more commonly seen sight is the multiple incidents of bike vandalism and misuse which happened in 2017. As bike sharing services such as OFO grew popular, the public bikes were found in canals, hurled from HDB blocks, and some were even repainted with their locks changed.

A Reddit discussion thread prompted a debate on potential solutions that Singaporeans could do to address why “nice things” could continue to remain a possibility in the future.

Some commented that such community projects should be set up in view of high traffic areas, where there is a CCTV present, or in front of police and petrol stations to deter vandals from abusing the spaces.