The man who brought the kampung spirit to Singapore’s friendliest neighbourhood

Mr Raj, a resident and Chairman of the neighbourhood’s residents’ network (Toa Payoh East Zone 6).

Aside from organising regular donation drives and sharing their communal garden’s harvests,the residents run the “Dragon Chiller”, a ground-up, self-funded community fridge. About 50low-income families benefit weekly from this project. Coming together to save and share foodand look out for more vulnerable members is something that has gelled the neighbourhoodtogether.

We spoke to Rajendran Rajaram, the Chairman of Toa Payoh East Zone 6 Residents' Committee and Green Action Committee to find out more about the project and their community.

Raj’s volunteering journey with the community

Mr Raj and residents at their weekly vegetable sorting.

Raj had been based overseas for most of his working life but returned as he knew his son wouldhave to serve National Service. Before his son enlisted, Raj wanted him to experience theSingapore kampung spirit and adapt to our diverse culture.

“When my family and I came back, we saw a lot of people in need and wanted to help. Inspired by my 87-year-old mum, I began my volunteering journey with her informally. We would go from house to house to distribute bread, give free tuition to underprivileged kids, and so on. After some time, we were invited to join the Residents' Committee (RC).

No matter how busy I am, I prioritise giving back to the community. It’s always good to ensure the neighbourhood is united. I hope I can pass on this spirit to my kids."

These days, Raj has his hands full co-ordinating the executive committee of the 40-member strong Residents’ Network. Together, they plan various activities like once-a-month community movie nights with free popcorn and ice cream, and they even coordinate estate-wide celebrations for festivities such as Deepavali. To bring the festive spirit to the community, residents would even come together to make and put up decorations around the blocks!

Photo credits: Mr Raj.

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But what takes up most of his free time are the weekend Dragon Chiller Food Rescue initiatives.

What it takes to organise a weekly food rescue

Mr Raj with the rescued vegetables, for the Dragon Angel Rescue.

Saturday evenings are for collecting bread with the Dragon Bakery Rescue team, in preparationfor the 8am Sunday morning donations. Long queues snake the Residents' Network co-spaceand by 8.45am, everything is handed out.

On Sunday mornings, he heads out with the Dragon Angel Rescue to collect vegetables. The team then sorts the rescued produce into neat bundles before distributing or placing the greens into the Dragon Chiller.

Volunteers are of different races, ages, and come from all walks of life; there is even one special needs volunteer who heads down from Whampoa to help out. One of the youngest regulars is a five-year-old boy.

Initially, they only picked up vegetables through the Little India Veggie Collection team on Wednesday and Friday nights at Little India. Over time, their efforts expanded to include veggie rescue missions at the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, the fridge restock community and NTUC. On occasion, collaborations are done with organisations such as the Food Bank Singapore and FRSK (Food Rescue Sengkang). They also collect non-perishables from ad hoc donors.

“In line with the ‘30 by 30’ plan, our objective is to reduce the amount of food wastage in Singapore. There’s a misconception that the rescued vegetables have gone bad. At the start, many were worried and wary of falling sick after consuming them.

But in actual fact, the rescued vegetables are high-quality, Australian-imported, organic produce. Many people are surprised! The community is always happy to consume the vegetables and usually asks for more.

The community spirit that stems from such initiatives

Mr Raj posing with the iconic Dragon Chiller.

But the Dragon Chiller wasn’t always a large, three-doored display unit. The first communityfridge was a second-hand chiller Raj had bought to kickstart the project. Residents noticed hewas struggling with storing the food as it was too small. Within three short days, the communitypooled together $3,000 and the Dragon Chiller was born.

Items in the community fridge are free for all, provided they are consumed responsibly. Beyond storage concerns, a major challenge was the misuse of the food. Some would use it to feed pigeons; others would re-sell the vegetables.

“We try not to judge and instead, speak to them to understand why they’re doing this. If it is because of money, we refer them to social services. It’s fulfilling to see people change their attitude once they understand our purpose with the community fridge. The warm and happy feeling you get when you are making a difference is unbeatable.”

Mr Raj on a weekend night, preparing for the Dragon Angel rescue.

From strangers to friends

Mr Raj with the community that volunteers with the Toa Payoh East Zone 6.

Through various community events, Raj has made many friends. He jokingly shared that onehappy ‘problem’ is how long it takes to walk from his car to his home because he stops to greetand chat with everyone along the way.

Outside of the committee-led activities, personal group outings to Johor Bahru are organised. Often, they’ll catch up over coffee at the Residents' Network and play Rummy once a week. Parents will also bring their kids down to play table soccer and have fun in the bouncy castle.

By going out of their way to extend a warm hand, a bunch of neighbours have created a safe environment where friendliness and compassion can thrive.