Monday 11 June 2012

Keep kampung spirit alive for stronger community: Tan Chuan-Jin

By Karen Ng, Channel NewsAsia, 9 Jun 2012
Minister of State for National Development Tan Chuan-Jin said it was important to keep the kampung spirit alive in order to promote community ties and effort.

He said the spirit of the kampung, which is the Malay word for village, can serve as a source of strength and a unique way to anchor Singaporeans to their country.

Mr Tan said this was especially important for multi-racial Singapore.




He made this point on the sidelines of a community event, the Heritage Kampung Carnival, at Bottle Tree Park in Yishun on Saturday.

The carnival, which will run until June 16, features kampung games such as "five-stones" and "capteh", as well as a mini-exhibition on kampung life.

Mr Tan urged residents to help keep the kampung spirit alive.

"To me the kampong spirit really is about getting together as a community, rather than on your own playing with your PSP or XBox or your iPad. ... I think a lot of these games and the things you see here is about hands on experience, building your own toys, making your own games and actually playing it," he said.

"A lot of it is about patience. It's not instant gratification and you need time, you need discipline. Which is something we don't have a lot of. It also encourages children and adults to be more disciplined and to actually spend time building something."

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