Singapore's Commons

Hey!
Here’s a brief Singaporean perspective from the three of us on the tragedy of the commons. In the case of Singapore, with limited land area, there are actually very few commons.

1. What is a commons?

• Something shared. resources held in common.
• Eg. Open unregulated waters, Shared wages in a communist system, shared public utilities (public goods in economic terms).
• Many associated problems.

1. Open unregulated waters => Overfishing at the Atlantic ocean by European countries and the US, causing near extinction of species such as the Blue Fin Tuna. Bringing in a 100 more fish will benefit the fisherman much more instead of the impact of losing 100 fish which is shared among the many fishermen in that area.
2. Communism =>Communal system. Common ownership. Free rider problem. Working harder will get you the same reward as someone that worked lesser since end rewards are equally divided. Everyone will work less, as there is no reward for working harder.
3. Public Goods => A type of market failure in Economic terms. Similar free rider problem. Hiring someone to clean up a common street will bring about benefits to all living along that street even if one refuses to pay, as others will take up the payment, and hence one will still reap the benefit. As a result, everyone will not pay

HDB flats are some of the most common housing type that can be found in Singapore. These are multi storey apartment blocks, whereby the residents share many common utilities and spaces.

a typical HDB void deck

One such space is the void deck, which is the space on the ground level of the HDB flat. These areas which are shared are often subjected to littering, dirtying of walls (dirty soccer ball marks), and vandalism. To maintain the cleanliness of these common areas, besides policies and regulations such as fines and corrective work order, before 2003, there was the cleanest estate competition, where the winner gets a cash prize of a thousand bucks. This was eventually scraped, and replaced with the “Our town sparkles program”, where estates will be judged, and if public areas are seen as clean and tidy, they’ll be awarded a sparkle sticker and a plague which residents can proudly stick at their lift lobby or display.

What are some of the key determinants that dictate whether the communal systems identified above examples above have worked or not?

• Firstly, there are regulatory bodies and policies that maintain these commons, such as the heavy fines imposed on littering and vandalism. These regulations prevent the degradation of the void deck.
• Next, another key determinant which made it work was recognition. As long as someone’s work and effort is appreciated and recognised (through cash rewards for example), communal systems can work out.
• Furthermore, using competition and showing recognition to estates that put in the effort to maintain the commons, also instils a sense of loyalty, pride and place within the residents towards their estate, encouraging community effort to maintain a common area which they can be proud of.
• These encourage residents to care for the common area even without regulation.

HDB laundry

Another common space will be the common walk way and corridors residents living on the same level share. Problems such as blockage of the corridor with plants, or increasing risk of a fire hazard by placing rubbish or stacks of old newspapers outside one’s house, blocking the walkway at the same time.

Lastly, being a high rise residential area, the air around is also communal and matters quite alot the case of HDBs. This is because, the open air is used as a space to dry and sun wet laundry. As all the residents’ laundry are hung out on the same column of designated open air, problems such as wet laundry from the higher floors dripping water down on to the clothes on the lower floors, or even worse, some residents hang out wet mops, which may drip dirty water on to the clean laundry of those staying below.



What are some of the key determinants that dictate whether the communal systems identified above examples above have worked or not?

These communal areas do work out alright as the commons of HDBs are mostly regulated and taken care of by a body called the Town Council. Any complaints will be handed into the Town council, which will eventually take action.

Furthermore, the Singapore government puts in plenty of effort to instil a sense of togetherness and belonging of different residential areas. This is done through the setting up of common play grounds and parks, which provides the residents a platform to interact. There are also community centres set up, with many activities available such as Yoga, or singing lessons, which encourages interactions between people living in the same area. When a sense of belonging, friendliness between the residents is instilled, responsible usage of the commons will be encouraged.