Love thy neighbour
The author contrasts the lack of civic sense in Indian neighborhoods with the structured, government-led social engineering of Singapore. The piece explores how urban planning and policy can influence community harmony and neighborly relations.
Why it matters
It offers a comparative analysis of urban social cohesion, suggesting that government policy can play a significant role in shaping societal behavior.
I was awakened early one morning by the deafening noise of building materials being unloaded on the roadside opposite my house. When I requested my neighbour who had ordered the stuff, to relocate it as it would hinder free movement of vehicles and pedestrians, he snapped, “It’s not your road”. In another incident, when flood water entered houses in a low-lying area of the city due to torrential rains, neighbours rushed to rescue an elderly couple who were caught in neck-deep water, unmindful of their own safety. These examples represent two extremes in the matter of neighbourly relationships in our society.
The author presents a personal observation and compares two different societal models without promoting a specific political ideology.
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