The Silver Kampung of the North

Communal Life in a vertical modern Kampung

‘We were close to our neighbours and did everything together,’ recalled Mdm Junita Ahmad who once lived in a humble Kampung (HDB, 2018). Will this be revived? Kampung Admiralty has a modern take on the revival of our Kampung Culture — deeply rooted in our country’s humble past. Here, we take the principles of the Kampung spirit —a sense of camaraderie, community, and trust. Kampung Admiralty provides multi-generational amenities —with elderly care support facilities as the main priority— for villagers to use and interact within one single realm. During its initial stage, we faced the challenge of having a very small land plot of 0.89 hectares (Yap, 2019) —an issue that is common throughout Singapore’s estate. Hence, the Kampung was built by stacking up multi-generational amenities that were once typically zoned on the ground level (Yap, 2019).

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We reimagined the public communal realm of the past Kampung days where neighbours would do everything together —previously mentioned by Mdm Junita. In this modern age, Kampung Admiralty senior villagers would get to experience once again under one roof. I recently went down to experience how the community of senior citizens and families spend their leisure time on a weekend afternoon. How has Kampung Admiralty adapted to a modernised Singapore? Firstly, its location is very convenient for our senior villagers —being located just right next to Admiralty MRT. As you arrive, you are welcomed by a double-volume Community Plaza. There, one would see people of all ages take a pause and engage in ephemeral communal events, seniors actively socialising with neighbours, friends, and family. Interestingly, an Urgent Care Centre is established to accommodate the healthcare needs of our senior citizens. 

 

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A more unconventional take for public housing, the second storey comprises a large-scale Hawker Centre that offers local cuisines at affordable prices to support our senior citizens. Here, one would see senior villagers having their daily dose of Kopi O while being with their circle of senior friends.  Kampung Admiralty’s villagers also get proximate access to their medical needs at their two-storey Admiralty Medical Centre. Moving up, one is welcomed by a three-generational Community Park —comprising a playground, senior fitness corner, and seating areas  that provides opportunities for the young and old to have a shared platform to understand one another. A childcare centre and an active ageing hub sits within the communal park to promote health and well-being for the villagers. Bringing in the Kampung touch, fruit trees like Rambutans are planted on the park which eventually shades the walkways of the park. At its rooftop, a community farm is established that encourages the hobby of planting amongst our senior villagers to keep them active and busy. Moving forward, incorporating these amenities are prominent to create a climate that revives the positive values achieved in our olden Kampung spirit — which simultaneously promotes a strong social support for our senior citizens to live in this modernised age.