Jalan Kukoh: The Sights and Sounds of the Experiential Learning Journey Part II

The second part of the experiential learning journey will be much shorter than the first and this will touch on the visibility of poverty amongst the backdrop of Singapore's success. As mentioned earlier, Jalan Kukoh is located at the heart of town. In fact, from the estates of Jalan Kukoh itself, one can notice the familiar bridges of Clarke Quay, Grand Copthorne Hotel and Studio M.

The View from Jalan Kukoh

This begs the question on the reasons why Jalan Kukoh is so well hidden from the eyes of the middle-class. Does making poverty visible show the cracks in the country's leadership? Does it make the cases of those that fall through the crack real? Does it show the repercussions of growing so rapidly, leaving the slower ones to fend for themselves a sign of poor leadership among Singapore's elite? The case of Jalan Kukoh is a unique one and would serve a lot of merit for inequality scholars from all disciplines to academically scrutinise. I start to wonder about the social and psychological repercussions for the residents of Jalan Kukoh as well. What would it mean to these residents, knowing that right across the bridge is a land not made for them? What would it mean to the younger generations of those living there? Will their position within the larger Singapore context and their own identity of being poor become more salient? 

Majoring in Sociology does open my eyes to the problematic structural issues that plague Singapore society. In no way am I saying that the state did a bad job of managing the poverty issue in Singapore but there has to be more open channels to discuss poverty in Singapore. We fail to realise how hard it is to witness poverty in Singapore and one has to start questioning whether this was done consciously by the state. Case in point, there is no straight bus from Jalan Kukoh to any nearby MRT station and this lack of access is startling considering that the residents here do rely on public transport to get to work. This experiential learning journey angered me but in a good way; it gives me a way to channel my frustration into improving the lives of those less privileged than myself. It has allowed me to see possible oversight that the state has failed to recognise. More importantly, being granted the privilege of being in university gives me the autonomy to actually enact change. I am unsure of what my other group mates have mentioned (admittedly, I have not commented on any blog as of yet) but I do hope that this journey has been as eye-opening for them as it was for me and I hope that this does give them the impetus to enact social change within the Singapore context. 

However if anything else, I hope that more people start to realise that we need to make the underprivileged more visible in Singapore discourse. More often that not, what we see in the media are the old and poor, those who are unable to care for themselves. What about those that are not old but are bogged down by other burdens that might disable them from improving themselves with the skills necessary for them to carve out a better life for themselves and those around them? Critically thinking about these issues and giving them a better life will not necessarily mean that we will have less for ourselves, it is not a catch-22 here. By providing them with a better life and giving them the autonomy for self-actualisation and empowering them with multiple avenues for success, we can improve society as a whole.