Why squash kampung spirit?

COMMENT

My hero in this World Cup finals has been kicked out.

I do not mean Luis Suarez and certainly not Cristiano Ronaldo.

It is an ordinary Singaporean man, Mr Rooban Kanth, who I am talking about.

The 26-year-old lives in a cul-de-sac known as Sing Avenue, which is just off the much busier Rangoon Road.

When the World Cup finals started earlier this month, he moved his 42-inch television screen from his bedroom to outside his family's landed property whenever there were matches on.

For Mr Rooban, the reason was simple: He loved football and he wanted those who were not as lucky as him to get a chance to watch The Beautiful Game.

But a handful of police officers clearly did not think so.

They probably did not realise this, but while they were enforcing the letter of the law in the interest of "safety", they put a real dampener on a truly ground-up community project.

Mr Rooban's spontaneous initiative had everything good about it.

He did not do it for money or fame, but to share the joys of a game he loves so much with others.

He even passed beer and energy drinks around, and brought out a fan to keep his audience cool.

It also brought back memories of the old kampung spirit where neighbours got together and bonded over a common activity.

Mr Rooban has probably also achieved more for the integration of foreigners into society than any event that the grassroots organisations have come up with so far.

At a time when the Government is dishing out grants to support community initiatives, here is one which does not require any funding - but does not have the authorities' backing.

The police may have valid concerns.

After all, how do you argue against a big, scary and catch-all term such as "safety"?

The screening took place right in the middle of a T-junction.

And with close to 100 people outside Mr Rooban's home, the audience would have inevitably spilled over onto the road.

MINIMAL TRAFFIC

But the entire Sing Avenue is lined with no more than 20 homes and a handful of shophouses.

So traffic on that road would be minimal at best, especially in the early morning.

What is more, when The New Paper was there one night, the only cars turning into the road had on board those who were coming to watch the games.

If road safety was the issue, the cops could have just asked Mr Rooban to station someone along the road to alert motorists of the obstruction, a task which is not alien to some of them who work at construction sites.

So while we celebrate the community spirit we have been witnessing at our community clubs which broadcasts the World Cup matches for free, let us not forget Mr Rooban and his merry gang.

Surely, they deserve praise as well.