Go small - to get residents involved

Go small - to get residents involved

That’s one way to get more people to take part in managing their estates

By Aaron Low

ONE of the most irksome things neighbours can do to you is to leave bags of rotting trash lying in common areas.

It is something I experience quite often, living in a Housing Board block which has rubbish chutes located along common corridors. Based on what gets dumped at this common area, it is easy to guess what my neighbours had for dinner.

Last weekend, for instance, a family had chicken rice and hokkien noodles. They also had durians and dozens of mangosteens for dessert. The rotting food was left in the open for all to see, instead of being wrapped in trash bags and chucked into the chute.

Such a lack of civic-mindedness is a result of the missing link between HDB residents and town councils, which Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong spoke about in an interview with The Straits Times last week.

Mr Goh lamented that while town councils have worked thus far in maintaining common areas in HDB estates, the connection between councils and residents remains weak.

This has been a major shortcoming of the 20-year town council project. One of the key objectives in having councils was that residents would take on more responsibility and a greater interest in the running of their estates.

But many still do not care. Trash left in common areas and vandalism are found in many housing estates like mine.

Such indifference towards one’s surroundings is even more stark when one compares public housing to private estates, such as condominiums. There, residents take a much greater interest in how their estate is managed.

This is no doubt because dirty corridors would increase their monthly conservancy charges. Residents also know the effect that poor maintenance can ultimately have on the value of their property.

Hence, it is a real pity that the majority of HDB dwellers continue to remain disengaged from their town councils.

For one thing, a community of engaged residents would mean that people treated their estates with more care.

For another, the councils represent the closest thing there is to local government. They provide residents with the opportunity to manage their physical living environment.

Such involvement in town councils, if undertaken successfully, can enrich grassroots democracy and raise political engagement among residents, albeit on a small scale.

So why do residents continue to be switched off, and what can be done to raise their level of interest?

The law already stipulates that at least two-thirds of councillors have to live within the same estate. Yet residents are not stepping forward. Why is this so?

One hurdle may be due to the perception that town councils are politically partisan.

Town councils were created with the deliberate aim of getting residents to recognise that there is a clear link between their vote and the estate they live in. The law mandates that the elected MP heads the relevant town council.

While residents are comfortable voting for the MP and party of their choice in the confines of the polling booth, some may have reservations working with MPs in town councils, for fear of being seen as members or supporters of a party.

This could explain why a proposal by opposition politician and Potong Pasir MP Chiam See Tong in 1988 to hold elections for council posts in his constituency failed to take off.

Despite sending invitations to 19,000 residents, just six responded. Most town councils have between 25 and 35 councillors for each estate. Mr Chiam ended up appointing his entire town council.

Apart from the political factor, another reason for residents’ lack of involvement could be sheer apathy: They prefer to pay the fees, and let someone else take responsibility for running the estate.

Most estates are kept spick and span by a small army of cleaners who sweep floors, wash corridors and clear drains. No wonder many do not see a need to invest more time and resources, abiding by the old adage: if it ain’t broke, why fix it?

On the flipside, many town councils themselves appear closed off to the involvement of residents, other than those who are already grassroots leaders.

Yes, town councils do reach out to residents, polling them on the colour schemes for their blocks, and sending out monthly newsletters.

But if councils are meant to be a form of local government by residents and for residents, more needs to be done to involve them directly, for example by explicitly inviting residents to sign up to be councillors. I have yet to see such notices, whether on notice boards or town council websites.

For those keen to serve, councils might, in fact, be seen to be signalling that they are not open to accepting them.

Managing and maintaining an estate is a serious undertaking. It ensures the well-being of thousands of residents, and involves millions in fees paid by them. Hence, professionally qualified individuals are usually a first choice. They are likely to be people the MP knows personally as competent and trustworthy.

But this should not preclude the involvement of those from the wider community of residents.

One way to involve a wider cross-section of town residents is for town councils to form smaller committees to focus on specific areas of interest.

There could be a group looking at how to make an estate more elderly-friendly; or a group to study how best to make use of open spaces.

Such groups would involve many more residents in the work of a council and expose them to the work of the council so that in time, some may be suitable to become councillors.

Town councils can find diverse ways to give people the opportunity to have more of a say in how their estates should look and operate.

Doing so would hopefully see residents come forward, not just to take greater responsibility for the maintenance of their estates, but to claim ownership of the environment in which they live.

Source : Straits Times - 06 July 2009

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