Ethos

Institute

Towards a Kind and

Gracious Society:
AChristianPerspectiveon
Being Good Neighbours

TOWARDS A KIND AND

GRACIOUS SOCIETY: A CHRISTIAN
PERSPECTIVE ON BEING GOOD
NEIGHBOURS

Rev Dr William Wan

Ethos Institute for Public Christianity

Copyright The Bible Society of Singapore 2016

Published by Sower Publishing Centre
(A ministry of The Bible Society of Singapore)
7 Armenian Street, Bible House
Singapore 179932
Tel: (65) 6337 3222
Email: info@bible.org.sg
www.bible.org.sg

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
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copyright owner.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible,
New International Version NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica,
Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The author wishes to thank Serene Leong and Clare Tan
for their assistance in researching for this booklet.

Printed in Singapore
ISBN: 978-981-220-561-2

978-981-220-562-9 (eBook)
BSS 2016 1M

Ethos Institute is a trademark of The Bible Society of Singapore.

Bible Society is a trademark registered with the Intellectual Property Office of
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CONTENTS

About Ethos Institute vii

Ethos Institute Engagement Series

viii

Executive Summary

ix

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: The Importance of Neighbourliness

Chapter 3: A Kind and Gracious Society and the

Christian Community

Chapter 4: Conclusion

Endnotes

25
47
53

About
Ethos
Institute

ABOUT ETHOS INSTITUTE

thos Institute for Public Christianity was formed by National

Council of Churches in Singapore, Trinity Theological College
and The Bible Society of Singapore in 2014. Ethos Institute seeks
to serve church and society by engaging contemporary issues and
trends from the Christian perspective. Ethos Institute offers:
Studies on important topics and issues from the Christian
perspective
Regular lectures, seminars, conferences and symposiums
for the Christian public
Resources to Churches and Christians in different
professions and vocations
Resources to the National Council of Churches in Singapore

Contact:
7 Armenian Street, Bible House, #03-08 Singapore 179932
Tel: (65) 6304 3765 Fax: (65) 6337 3036
Email: info@ethosinstitute.sg
www.ethosinstitute.sg
vii

Engagement
Series

ETHOS INSTITUTE ENGAGEMENT SERIES

Series Editor: Roland Chia

he Ethos Institute Engagement Series aims to address pertinent

issues in church and society from the biblical and Christian
perspectives. Authored by theologians and scholars in different
fields, this booklet series discusses a variety of topics including
theology, politics, economics, education, science and the arts. The
booklets are an important resource not only for pastors and leaders
of the church, but also for Christians who wish to reflect more deeply
on the most important and pressing issues of today.

viii

Summary

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

very year, thousands of complaints are lodged by neighbours

against one another indicating a diminishing of civility and
neighbourly consideration. The situation has become so dire that
the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth conducted a public
consultation last year to seek views from the public on how to
encourage good neighbourliness and to improve the management of
disputes between neighbours. A Community Dispute Management
Framework was created and a Community Disputes Resolution
Tribunal (CDRT) was set up. If mediation failed to resolve issues,
offenders may be ordered to pay damages of up to $20,000, or
apologise to his neighbour. The party failing to comply with the
order of the CDRT could result in a fine up to $5,000 or jailed for up
to three months for a first offence.
The kampung spirit where neighbours care and share appear
to have been lost, or rapidly disappearing. The call to revive the
kampung spirit is consistent with what was loud and clear the
longing for neighbours to have a reasonably close relationship, who
offer us help, and expect help in return.
The vertical kampungs of high-rise living appear to have
resulted in residents losing a sense of belonging. The common
residential spaces no longer function as it did beforewhere people
interact informally as they cross paths in everyday living, where
each learn to accommodate the other, because the living together
in relative proximity necessitates the giving and taking, and where
common civilities are expected in the social connectivity.
Neighbourhood is the crucible where civil relationships and its
accompanying civilities either grow or fail to grow. When neighbourly
relationships are forged, positive neighbourliness is generated, and
where it is not, civility suffers and with it unpleasantness follows.

ix

TOWARDS A KIND AND GRACIOUS SOCIETY

In light of the Christian ideal of loving God and our neighbours,

the book seeks to answer the questions, Who is our neighbour? and
How do we love our neighbour? The Parable of the Good Samaritan
is revisited at length to understand neighbourliness in its biblical
context. The question is not so much Who is my neighbour? but
Whom am I a neighbour to? Neighbourliness is not a static noun
waiting for something to happen, but an active verb making things
happen and making a difference.
The ideal of kindness is highlighted because the way the
good Samaritan reaches out to the fallen Jew is the outworking of
kindness in action. Kindness is at the very heart of God. Kindness
and graciousness (rooted in grace) are intertwined. The simple
definition of kindness as other-centeredness should drive a kind
person to proactively reach out to our neighbours who are strangers
by chance, making them friends by choice.
As the title of this book implies, we are reflecting on the
possibility of fostering a kind and gracious society by the way
we conduct ourselves as good neighbours a la parabole du bon
Samaritain.
Though we are still a way to go from experiencing a freefall in
civility, we do recognise that there is much we need to do to reach
out to our neighbours as part of our Christian mandate to be the
light of the earth and salt of the world. The very nature of light and
salt is found it its ability to permeate wherever they are found and
to make a difference.
While it is possible to live without interaction with our
neighbours, it is not what Christians are called to do. In any case,
it would be impossible to establish a society or civilisation with a
continuing deficit of civility and consideration for others.
As a faith community, we cannot afford to be a private church
by withdrawing into a lifestyle enclave of warm mutual acceptance
within the confines and limit of our Christian. We need to engage
our society by contributing to good neighbourliness. This book offers
some practical suggestions how we can do that.
In expounding on neighbourliness in terms of the sharing of
common space, our neighbourhood is extended to the relationship
between colleagues in the workplace. It is further extended to
cyberspace where interaction takes place in a different kind of
common space.
If you have no other aim or quest but the pleasure of God and the
good of your neighbour, then you are enjoying inward freedom.
~Thomas A Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

Chapter
One

INTRODUCTION

ingapore, our island home, is a miracle nation for many reasons,

one of which is the extraordinary way we have moved from a
rural kampung1 to a modern high-rise lifestyle in just over 50 years.
In the 1960s we were just under two million people and about 1.3
million lived in squatter huts with attap2 or corrugated zinc roofs
and cement flooring at best. Today, Singapore has a population of
nearly 5.5 million, of which nearly four million are citizens and
permanent residents, and about 1.5 million are non-residents.3
With 82% of our people living in apartments built by the Housing
Development Board (HDB),4 we are one of the worlds densest cities.
At the World Cities Summit 2012, Dr Cheong Koon Hean,
CEO of HDB, spoke about the role of housing in the success story
of Singapore, A very important investment that the government
did from the very beginning when the country was a young and
independent country was to invest in housing. We made sure that
our people had good and affordable housing. Today, home ownership
in Singapore is more than 90%, and the share of rental housing is
very low. These state policies are very important for social stability
and building a sense of nationhood. I think that Singapores longterm approach to planning and public housing has been two very
important pillars for us to develop to where we are today.5
In the late 60s when folks from the kampung were resettled
in new HDB estates, it was quickly noticed that when one ethnic
1

TOWARDS A KIND AND GRACIOUS SOCIETY

group became predominant in certain areas, other ethnic groups

would stay away. A policy was then put in place to set limits for
each of the three major ethnic groups (Chinese, Malay, and Indian)
in one housing area to prevent ethnic segregation, encourage mixed
communities, and in that way build the Singaporean multicultural
nationhood.
But a nation is not just about infrastructures and housing
policies. Though hardware is important to nation building,
heartware is even more important. A house made of bricks and
mortar becomes a home when love dwells in it. A house provides
shelter, but a home is where you weather all of life's little storms
and revel in the sunshine.6 In the same way, having physical
neighbours do not automatically create neighbourliness. For
neighbourliness to happen, we have to work at it with love through
the little storms of life.7