Where Have the Sounds Gone?

Table of Contents

1. Development and Ideation

2. Struggles, A Change of Mind and Poster session

3. Theoretical framework

4. Intervention

5. Group interactions and dynamics

6. Reflections

7. Conclusion

8. References

Development and Ideation

Our initial intervention concept was inspired by Dr Andreas Heineck's 'Dialogue in the Dark’ which was an interactive experience where participants navigate through a pitch-black ‘obstacle’ course by relying only on their sense of hearing, simulating the daily lives of the blind. This shows us how auditory stimulation can induce vivid imagery and lasting impressions. While researching for sounds that would replicate the same phenomenon, we came across a short YouTube video titled ‘The Sounds of Singapore’ where a myriad of sounds iconic to Singapore were compiled into an audio clip and each distinct sound we heard brought back nostalgic memories. Drawing on these principles, we envisioned a soundscape which would pose a question of ‘Where have the Sounds Gone?’ to the residents of Clementi Avenue 5 Block 453. In doing so highlight how, with time, certain sounds have gone ‘missing’ from void deck. With the beginnings of an intervention, we took to the streets of Clementi to look for an appropriate site for the site survey.

We initially intended to execute the intervention within a void deck, framing as a chance encounter. As we wandered, the idea began to take further shape. We knew that for a soundscape to work, it should be performed in an enclosed space with minimal external distractions.

We stumbled upon our intervention site by chance, as we were about to settle for a previously scouted site when we saw this (Figure 1). We were initially drawn how eye-catching the staircase was and also by how the stairwell itself was an enclosed and intimate. The suitability of the site was further aided by the high volume of human traffic as this void deck was near a bus stop. Given its potential viability, we decided to visit this site again during daylight hours.

Figure 1: Void deck of Clementi Avenue 5 Block 453, A view from the bus stop

Our second site visit was more informed. Although the purpose of this visit was to get a better feel of the area, we spent the time discussing on how we could potentially expand the scope of our intervention. This was when we decided to include the void deck as part of the intervention in the section ‘The ‘Void’ in the Void deck’. Drawing inspiration from news articles that noted the increasing lifelessness of void decks and our observations of residents treat the void deck as a merely transitory space (Huiwen, 2017), our intervention in the void deck is aimed toward encouraging residents to explore, dwell and interact in the void deck rather than just pass through it. Subsequently, we took the time to collect the sounds needed for our soundscape. Our final portion of the initial intervention was oddly, conceptualized as we returned to UTown. During the cab ride back to school, Yue Chen’s passing comment of how he missed the Tang Yuan stall that used to operate in Clementi prompted the suggestion of food can be used as a means for meaningful conversations. Bringing in Amanda Heng’s performance piece of ‘Let’s Chat’, Jessica suggested that that we could use Tang Yuan to mediate conversations. This was how the ‘Tang Yuan or ‘Tuan Yuan’ was conceptualized as a means for us to ‘reunite’ with the residents in the void deck over Tang Yuan after they have experienced the previous two sections of the intervention. In doing so, it allows us to record their responses to our intervention.

Our final site visit before the actual intervention was a means to familiarize ourselves with its set up and collect photos for the poster showcase. It was after this where we finalized our intervention into three primary sections, the ‘Void’ in void deck,the Staircase of Sounds and Tang Yuan or ‘Tuan Yuan’.

Struggles, A Change of Mind and Poster session

Despite having a promising concept, we lacked strong theoretical grounding. Based on the feedback given during the poster presentation, we realized that we had ‘forced’ the theories to fit into our intervention to achieve a sound theoretical backing, rather than allowing the theory to naturally fit into our the intervention. The attempt to reconcile both the ownership of public space and the balance between progress and cultural preservation, amounted to an overly complex intervention.

Logistical issues such as the inaccessibility of the staircase and its infrequent usage by residents, especially seniors in the community, challenged the accessibility of our intervention. One issue that particularly threatened the inclusivity of our intervention was how the question central to our intervention was only expressed in English. We internalised the comments given to us and endeavored to modify our intervention accordingly.

This prompted us to simplify our intervention by narrowing our focus to the ownership of public space. Our intervention addresses the hostile architecture and the elements (i.e. Sounds) that have gone missing in the void deck. Besides the restrictive hostile architecture in the physical space, we also question the immaterial aspects fabricated into the void deck architecture, (e.g. the imposed rules and regulations). We eventually decided to keep the Tang Yuan component as a way to facilitate discussions with the residents

Theoretical Framework

Void decks refer to open spaces located on the ground level of Housing Development Board (HDB) flats (Lim, 2014). First implemented in the 1970s (Koh, 2015) by modernist architect Liu Thai Ker (Lim, 2014), it was intended as a communal space that facilitates interaction amongst residents. It also aligns with the 1989 Ethnic Integration Policy’s vision to foster racial tolerance and diversity within public housing. Common activities organised at void decks include weddings, funeral wakes, community centre functions and even balloting during the general elections (Koh, 2015); through which residents develop pan-racial values and stronger bonds with one another.

Despite being recognized as a space for communal use, the void deck is becoming an increasingly politicized space in the recent years. This is attributed to the Town Council’s “desire to manage these spaces to reduce misuse and keep resident conflict over their use in check” (Lim, 2014, p.83). A notable example is the placement of signs prohibiting ball games, rollerblading and the parking of motorcycles. Additionally, metal rails are installed at certain void decks, thus fragmenting the space and inhibiting its use for large-scale gatherings. This can be interpreted as a form of hostile architecture: an urban planning strategy that seeks to curb undesirable behaviour through the subtle manipulation of public spaces (Koe, 2016). Together with personal observations made during our recce, the locale allocated to facilitate activities that promote social cohesiveness is eventually transformed into a liminal space that is heavily patrolled.

Our decision to converse with Clementi residents over a bowl of Tang Yuan was inspired by local artist Amanda Heng’s ‘Let’s Chat”. The collaborative artwork premiered in 1996 (NUS Museum, 2017), and has been performed numerous times at various locations in Singapore due to its positive reception. Its setup comprises of a round table, a few chairs and a fresh batch of bean sprouts. The audience is invited to join Heng in the simple act of “cleaning” the sprouts. The mundane act has proven to be effective in invoking lively conversations ranging from culinary experiences to other facets of Singaporean life, bringing to mind the nostalgic “kampong spirit”. We seek to reclaim void decks as spaces of meaningful interaction through this aspect of our intervention.

Intervention

On the intervention day itself, we brought all our necessary logistical resources and set up our intervention in the void deck as planned. We put up the question of “Where have the sounds gone?” on the walls of the void deck in the 4 major languages (English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil) of Singapore, facilitating inclusiveness.

Figure 2: Question posed on the walls of the void deck in the major 4 languages

(English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil)

Figure 3: Chalkboard to welcome the residents and create a friendlier space for interactions

We also brought over chalkboard, table and chairs, so as to create an open and discussion-friendly space. Then, we started giving out packets of Tang Yuan and ice creams to the public.

Figure 4: Setting up table and chairs at the intervention site

Figure 5: Preparing Tang Yuan for the residents

This naturally prompted interactive conversations with the neighborhood residents, acquiring insightful feedbacks as we posed them questions regarding the public ownership over the void deck.

Group interaction and dynamics

Throughout the project, each of the group’s members brought a unique take on their idea of Model City to the table. Coming from different Faculties(FASS, FOS, Business), we had different perspectives on what Model City meant to us. As Jessica, Noel and Sean hail from FASS, we thought of the project in a more creative and aesthetic manner, looking for different ways to enhance its presentation. The three of us also thought of our project in multiple perspectives and searched for deeper meaning in the topic we investigated. Thus, the project took on a more artistic form as we referenced the way we carried out our project with local artists and styles of architecture.

With Kun Woo and Yue Chen majoring in science and business business respectively, they brought an analytical and incisive perspective on how things were to be done. This allowed the process to be structured as they kept track of what is supposed to be done and made sure it was not cluttered and disorganised. Therefore, the dynamics among the group members were complementary as each of us had skill sets that corresponds with each other.

Starting on our project, we were all generally excited for this project. Kun Woo took the charge by looking things from a macro view. Jessica handled the creative aspect with her input on the creative direction of the project through her artistic references and the designing of icon stickers. Sean held the team together by tying up all the loose ends of the project and making sure everything runs well. Yue Chen played the devil’s advocate by constantly clarifying about the project while Noel captured the essence of the project by noting down details that were brought up in our meetings and site survey. These different roles that the team members undertook got the project up and running.

As much as team collaboration was strong, we had our own weaknesses. Nonetheless, they were made up by the other team members’ strengths. Noel and Sean, tend to lack structure to our ideas generated. However, Kun Woo’s analytical and incisive manner lent integrity to these ideas, building an appropriate concept. Yue Chen playing the devil’s advocate helped to clarify many of the ideas that will have went on unclear if not for his clarifications. Jessica’s artistic sense helped to put our project in an artistic lens that we will never have thought of.

Reflections

We have come to appreciate how simplicity is beauty. We were initially very ambitious over the project, and we incorporated many features into it. These included aesthetics, nostalgia, the notions of Singapore as a Renaissance city and Singapore as a global city. The overt focus on aesthetics caused the project to be far too complex, as evident during the poster presentation.

The intention of our intervention was to breathe life into the void deck by conversing with residents on the shared experiences of the old Clementi. In retrospect, we were quite successful in interacting separately from the residents but missed out on facilitating conversations among the residents. However, there might be a limitation in achieving this as our conversations were structured as interviews, which made the conversations more rigid.

Figure 6: Mother of two who said that her kids preferred to play along the corridors outside her unit

Figure 7: Middle-aged couple who liked the convenience of the New Clementi but missed the tranquility of the Old Clementi

Figure 8: Middle-aged lady who felt that town council should spend more time consulting residents on what they wanted for the void deck

We also learnt how to effectively conduct interviews. Firstly, it is important to choose the questions strategically during the interviews as many of the participants had to rush off to settle their own things. Secondly, it is important to strike a balance between guiding the conversations and giving the interviewees the freedom of expression. Excessively guiding the conversations might impose certain viewpoints on participants. However, giving excessive freedom to participants might result in a diversion to less important issues. For instance, one middle-aged lady we interviewed attempted to preach to us.

Figure 9 : Middle-aged lady preaching to us in Chinese

We have also come to appreciate how the construction of space can influence the behaviour of residents. Through our interview with another middle- aged, english speaking lady, we realised that the shrinking and increasingly fragmented architecture of new void decks have robbed it of its initial purpose. Given the abundance of blind spots, ball games that used to be safe in older, larger void decks are now considered to be too dangerous in the current void decks. Another middle aged lady also said that her kids preferred to play along the corridors of the level she stayed on, where there was more open space.

Figure 10: Abundance of pillars which reduce the space available for games in the void deck

We realised there is still a lack of communication between the town council and residents on the matter of what the residents desire in the void decks. For instance, a few residents felt that the town council prioritized aesthetics over the utility of the void deck. The chinese-speaking old lady that attempted to preach to us also felt that residents should come to a compromise with the town council in coming up with stipulated playing hours rather than placing a blanket ban of ball games in the void deck. The town councils might have adopted a blanket ban approach for the sake of efficiency. However, we felt that it has also caused unresolved tensions between the town council and residents.

Nonetheless, there are other tensions that are harder to resolve. When we asked one of the chinese-speaking old ladies if she missed the old water fountain in Clementi, she mentioned that she was happy that it was demolished as many foreign workers would cluster at the old fountain on weekends, which made the public space look unsightly. This reveals the ongoing tension between locals and foreign workers, where some locals feel superior over the foreign workers. This tension might be harder to resolve, as some locals might enjoy the cheap labour provided by foreign workers, but they do not want the foreign workers to assimilate into Singapore society due to their poor backgrounds.

Most residents we interviewed liked how the infrastructure development in Clementi has made the lives of residents more conducive. However, they did not like the higher noise levels coming from ongoing construction works and high human traffic.This shows that progress is seldom perfect, often involving trade offs.

Conclusion

Throughout the entire project, we sought to bring out the essence of what the public space means to the Singaporean, how it affects Singapore as a model city. It was a long drawn process, having had to pivot our intervention project and modify our objectives to ensure our intervention project had a better focus. Nonetheless, as we developed our concept along the way, we realised that the idea of the void deck for the Singaporean is not limited to the shared physical experiences that takes place in the void deck. The shared experiences Singaporeans have has evolved into a more immaterial form, taking the shape of shared memories, conversations, connections. With development and modernisation, long gone are the days where you see communal gatherings in the void deck. However, that is not to say that the kampung spirit has gone missing, but rather we begin to see it manifest in different forms as Singapore changes. It remains as a part of us even as the physical landscape of Singapore is rapidly developing.

References

• Huiwen, N. (2017, October 14). Shrinking HDB void deck leaves empty feeling. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/shrinking-hdb-void-deck-leaves-empty-feeling

• Koe, A.L. (2016, May 7). Stayin' alive... in the face of hostile architecture. The Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/stayin-alive-in-the-face-of-hostile-architecture

• Koh, J. (2015, January 27). Void deck. Singapore Infopedia. Retrieved from http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_2015-01-27_191959.html

• Lim, W. S. W. (2013). Singapore’s Void Decks. In S.C. Editor, J.M.J. Editor, J.Y.Y. Editor, R.P. Editor, S.S.

• Editor and E.T. Editor (Eds.), Public space in urban asia. (p. 80 - 89). Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

• NUS Museum. (2017). Let’s Chat: with Amanda Heng. NUS Centre for the Arts. Retrieved from https://cfa.nus.edu.sg/calendar/113-letschat