SINGAPORE: The Sembawang Town Council closed off a void deck at Woodlands Ring Road in late November after complaints of noise from residents, but some Singaporeans say that free play should be allowed and even encouraged.
Writer Mr Gwee Li Sui did a bit of sleuthing and wrote in a Facebook post about an elderly woman living in a condo who said she was “aghast” at a suggestion published in ST Forum that selected HDB void decks should be converted into futsal courts to nurture skills and teamwork.
Three days after the suggestion was posted on ST Forum, the elderly woman wrote that Singapore should “not go overboard and forget what the void deck is for.”
“It’s not just about the noise, which is one nuisance that can arise. I’m a physically infirm elderly person who has weak knees and poor balance, and there are many like me in this ageing society.
I would not relish having to dodge flying balls – even if the suggestion was for only lighter balls to be used – and colliding with running children and risk falls when I come down from my flat and walk through the void deck,” she wrote.
She also asked where she could wait for a taxi safely or where neighbours could have a chat if “football fanatics (are) hankering for the use of void decks that endanger the safety of not only the elderly but also other residents and their young children.”
This left Mr Gwee wondering where exactly the elderly woman lives. Condo or HDB?
In a Jan 4 (Thursday) Facebook post, Mr Gwee wrote that he had looked her up online and realized that she had written a letter published in ST Forum in 2022 as someone living in a condominium, not an HDB flat.
“So I googled this writer. In 2022, she wrote:
‘I am an elderly car owner living in a condo. I am unable to use facilities such as the swimming pools, jacuzzi, golf practice green and tennis courts.
Is it equitable for me to subsidise the residents who use these facilities, which incur much higher maintenance costs than a mere parking space?’
Now she lives in HDB and takes a cab?” he asked.
A commenter on Mr Gwee’s post wrote that fortunes can change, adding that it’s possible that the elderly woman has had to move from a condo to an HDB flat from the time she wrote the 2022 letter to the present.
The writer then responded that it’s also possible that it could be a case of two different persons with the same name. /TISG
Read also: Resident unhappy after Town Council barricades Woodlands void deck to stop kids from playing football
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