Senior residents at Paya Lebar estate lose usual chit-chat corner after donated furniture removed

At a small playground at Jalan Kelichap, a landed housing estate along Upper Paya Lebar Road, a few pieces of donated furniture became the centre of a quiet dispute between residents and the authorities.

What began as a simple gesture, neighbours leaving extra chairs and tables for a group of elderly residents to sit and gather at a corner of the playground, has recently been flagged by the National Parks Board (NParks).

This followed feedback from some residents during a recent walkabout by Member of Parliament (MP) Diana Pang.

Why do pieces of furniture matter?

To some, it's just a few chairs, but to others, it's a place where they can sit and gather with their friends in the morning.

According to a Mothership reader who lives in the estate, a group of middle-aged women would gather at the playground every morning and sit on the chairs to chit-chat.

This had been a part of their routine for years, he said.

They had started their daily meet-ups even before the playground had undergone renovation.

Residents gave feedback to NParks to build a table and chairs

The resident shared that the playground was renovated back in 2022.

Before that, there were no table for the regulars to sit around.

Instead, there were only a few pieces of furniture, which had been passed down from neighbours who had moved house or replaced their furnishings.

The furniture included several chairs and a table, which were still in good condition.

These gave the women a place to rest and gather.

The resident said the group of women and their routine were so iconic that when plans for the playground's renovation were being drawn up, members of the community suggested the addition of proper tables and chairs for them.

They hoped this would enable the group to continue their daily meet-ups comfortably.

The renovated playground eventually included a stone table with a pillar in the middle, surrounded by four low cement stools.

However, the stools built were not the most ideal for older users.

Speaking to Mothership, one of the women, who was part of the regular group of five to six women who would gather there, said the seats built by NParks were "too low".

"Okay for younger people, but harder for us."

This would explain why they and other elderly residents would prefer to sit on the donated chairs instead.

MP Diana Pang received feedback regarding the donated furniture

Everything seemed to go well at first.

The donated furniture did not appear to obstruct others but offered comfort to some of the residents.

The donated chairs were placed around the table, in between the stools, while a donated table was left at the side of the playground.

In a Facebook post on Aug. 25, however, Pang, who oversees the Geylang Serai branch of the Marine Parade-Braddell Heights Group Representation Constituency (GRC), revealed that during one of her walkabouts, she had received feedback from some residents to remove the furniture.

"I'm heartened to see this strong kampung spirit, as residents have thoughtfully added to our communal spaces," she wrote. "However, I've also received feedback from some residents suggesting to remove these items from the park."

In response to Mothership's queries, the Geylang Serai branch of the People's Action Party (PAP) said a resident had expressed concern that the park was "becoming a dumping ground for pre-loved furniture".

The resident also shared the following suggestion:

"In my opinion. donation of furniture shouldn't be allowed to be placed at the playground and the relevant authority should remove them immediately after placing a notice of the intent and future action plan."

Notices of removal were put up on the furniture

On Sep. 24, there were notices from NParks pasted on top of the donated furniture.

The notices read:

"This item has been noted to be abandoned or parked at a non-designated area. It is likely to cause obstruction to other users of the park."

They also informed residents that if the items were not cleared by Oct. 1, they would be removed.

Residents' reactions to the removal

The Mothership reader said the notices came as a surprise, as there had been no wider consultation with the residents of the estate.

He felt the removal would "make the community too sterile" and inhibit "creativity and social interaction".

He added that the estate had a community group chat with 75 members inside.

While some members shared his sentiments, others felt that the donated furniture posed a potential hazard and obstruction, particularly the table, which was slightly out of place.

However, the question that lingered was: How do the aunties feel about it?

Most of the furniture has been removed

When Mothership visited the playground again on Oct. 10, more than a week after the Oct. 1 removal deadline, most of the furniture had been removed, and one chair and a low storage cabinet remained.

The low storage cabinet could double up as a stool for the residents, as it was placed around the stone table.

NParks' response

In response to Mothership's queries, Chia Seng Jiang, NParks group director of parks said the furniture "could cause obstruction to other playground users".

As such, notices were placed on them to initiate contact with their owners to remove them.

NParks later observed that most of the furniture had been removed.

According to Chia, they would temporarily allow the remaining pieces to remain on site till Oct. 15, as they reached out to the owners of the remaining pieces of furniture.

After the deadline, the furniture will be removed if it remains unattended.

Chia added:

"Our parks and playgrounds are for all to enjoy, and we encourage the public to be considerate of their fellow users and the environment. It is an offence to leave behind unwanted items or external materials in our parks."

Aunties have "no hard feelings"

So, back to the most important question at hand: How do the aunties feel about the chairs being removed?

The same aunty whom we met revealed that the group would usually take a walk together in the morning, before sitting at the playground to rest and chit-chat.

She added that they were aware of the furniture being removed, but held "no hard feelings" and that their routine would continue regardless.

In the end, the removal of the donated furniture proved to be no obstruction at all to the strength of their friendship, even if it would be nice if the current seats were a little bit higher.

Top photos via Mothership