Dr William Wan, General Secretary of Singapore Kindness Movement, with the winners of Feels Like Kampung Spirit.
Singapore, 14 May 2019 — Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM) concluded their first ever open-call video competition on neighbourliness, themed “Feels like Kampung Spirit” on 29 March 2019. A heartwarming video about residents in Admiralty bonding over their love of football, won the top honours and walked away with $5,000 in cash prize.
Submitted by Eric Teo, 21, a final year Mass Communications student at Republic Polytechnic, Admiralty CSC: Reigniting the Kampung Spirit profiles PAssion Children’s Football (PACF), started by Hussein Razzak at Admiralty Community Sports Club (CSC). Hussein is one of the founders of this volunteer football training programme in 2007, to encourage children to pick up football. With the help of parent volunteer coaches from the Admiralty neighbourhood, the programme grew over the years, progressing from the initial open fields to a designated football pitch now.
Eric Teo, winner of the Feels Like Kampung Spirit video competition, hopes his video will inspire Singaporeans to foster the spirit of neighbourliness.
Being a fan of the local football scene, Eric knew of this programme through Hussein and felt that it fit the neighbourliness theme well and made for a compelling story. Eric remarked, “We normally associate bonding over football to be a father-and-son thing, and Admiralty CSC showed that it is also a chance for the whole family to bond with their neighbours.”
Coming in at 2nd place, “Gotong Royong” was submitted by students of ITE College Central. It talks about the story of Nek Ma, a selfless and generous individual to her neighbours and illustrates how kindness begets kindness as her neighbours bonded to assist her during her time of distress.
The video that clinched the 3rd place is “Trilinq Kampung Spirit”, where residents of Trilinq condominium debunked the myth that kampung spirit does not exist in private housing, where the close-knit community often hold gatherings to foster close ties with their neighbours.
The top 3 videos will premiere on Singapore Kindness Movement’s Facebook page on Monday, 13 May, Wednesday, 15 May, and Friday, 17 May respectively.
In partnership with Viddsee, this competition aimed to gather heart-warming stories on neighbourliness in Singapore, and ultimately inspire Singaporeans to be more gracious. In line with SKM’s current campaign ‘Be Greater’, SKM firmly believes that community cohesion is crucial in establishing a better Singapore.
General Secretary of Singapore Kindness Movement, Dr William Wan said, “A gracious society starts from our neighbourhood. We are neighbours by chance, but friends by choice. It warms my heart to see that the Kampung Spirit is very much alive in our neighbourhoods, and I hope that more Singaporeans will take the initiative to get to know their neighbours better and be greater.”
Find out more about our Neighbourliness programmes here.