Public Consultation on Encouraging Neighbourliness and Resolving Community Disputes

James Suresh, the co-creator of Mr Kiasu, organises the National Day street party held annually at Opera Estate. This potluck is a tradition that has a history of 14 years! Residents living along the street contribute food, tables and chairs.             

"I believe the longevity of this initiative is down to how we aren't just a loose collection of people who happen to live on the same street. We are neighbours, and all of us in the community making a conscious effort to be neighbourly." James Suresh

Source: Singapore Kindness Movement

  A. What would help us build closer ties with our neighbours?

Using home grown herbs from their community garden at Jurong West, Mr Yeo and Mr Tan brew herbal drinks for the residents in their community every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And guess what, all drinks are available free-of-charge!

              Source: The story was obtained from the Vertical Kampong Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/VerticalKampong Vertical Kampong is a National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre initiative that promotes neighbourhood-based volunteerism

B. How can closer ties with neighbours help us deal with disputes and complaints?

Mr Tan is unhappy because Mr Lee, a new resident who is living directly above Mr Tan's flat, has been making loud noises every day. The dragging and banging sounds persist after 10.30pm and Mr Tan perceives that Mr Lee is making noise on purpose.

But instead of complaining to the authorities, Mr Tan decides to approach Mr Lee in person, and tries to solve the problem in a friendly way. With a warm smile, Mr Tan explains to Mr Lee that he goes to bed early, and asks if Mr Lee could move his furniture earlier. Mr Tan also offers to help. Mr Lee apologises for the disturbance he caused. He shares with Mr Tan that he is still settling in and he hopes to finish all these in a week's time. Mr Lee also agrees to reduce such activities after Mr Tan's bedtime.

 C: What would encourage us to be more mindful that some of our behaviours might annoy others?

      Comic courtesy of Housing & Development Board, 

How can we be good neighbours?

D:  What kind of disputes between neighbours might we need help with?  What types of interventions by public agencies might be helpful? 

E:  Who in our community could we turn to when disputes arise, and why?

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What is mediation?

During mediation, a neutral third party (the mediator, who is typically a trained volunteer from the community) assists disputing parties to reach a mutually acceptable agreement. The mediator does not impose a solution or a decision on the parties, but helps them to discuss the issues and arrive at their own outcome in a calm and objective manner.
Today, mediation is a voluntary process where both parties must be willing to find a mutually-acceptable solution. But this process will have limited effectiveness if one party does not attend the mediation, as disputing parties would not have the chance to discuss the issues.
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True case (names altered)
Mrs Ang reported that her neighbour, Mr Koh, often had drinking and mah-jong parties with his friends several times a week, including weekends. Sometimes these sessions would start as early as 2 pm in the afternoon and end in the wee hours of the morning. During these parties, Mr Koh and his friends would make a lot of noise, smoke along the common corridor. The noise and the smoke would disturb Mrs Ang's family members who were trying to sleep. Both parties did not communicate with each other at all.

Mrs Ang approached the Community Mediation Centre. It was revealed during a mediation session that their first disagreement arose during Mr Koh's house-warming party - when Mrs Ang called the police for the loud noise. He said it was 'a loss of face for him in front of his relatives and friends'. As for Mrs Ang, it was important for her husband to rest after a whole day of driving his taxi and her two children to have a conducive environment for revision after school. When Mr Koh learnt about this, he agreed to be more considerate, and that for future gatherings, smoking and drinking would be done inside the house. Mrs Ang was satisfied with Mr Koh's apology and both agreed to live as good neighbours to each other and to communicate more with each other.
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F: How effective do you think mediation is? Why might you want/not want to give mediation a shot?

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For the extremely difficult disputes, we might want a Tribunal to achieve resolution.

A Tribunal:

 Does not involve lawyersMay mandate mediation if both parties have not attempted mediation or either party previously refused to attempt mediationCan make a judgement and issue a range of specific orders (stop playing music that is audible from your neighbour's flat after 10.30pm) when parties cannot come to a mutually agreed outcome through mediation-------------------------

H: Should there be a Tribunal to adjudicate the most difficult cases?

I: Some people refuse to attend mediation. Should a tribunal be able to mandate mediation?