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

On 3rd September, my group made our way to Jalan Kukoh. We planned to meet at Tiong Bahru and headed for our 'Poverty Walk' from there to Jalan Kukoh to see the gradual changes in the buildings and lifestyles. On hindsight, I don't think we chose a really good time to take the walk with the main reason being the weather was a killer (among other reasons explained later). At Tiong Bahru, we got to know each other more through conversations about bubble tea of all things but I guess that Taiwanese drink does bring people together.

The start of the Poverty Walk @ Tiong Bahru

Most of us dressed simply for the occasion and the weather probably the main contributor to that decision. When we were at Tiong Bahru however, I don't think we really knew what pictures to actually take, what to notice or to give any sight much significant thought. Our sole focus at that point was to get to Jalan Kukoh. It was a nice time to take a leisurely walk and smoke though since the pathways were relatively well-shaded. We took the opportunity to also walk in pairs and to introduce ourselves, what we were studying in NTU, our interests and our exchange plans (the latter is interesting and will be addressed in the later part of this post). 

First cluster of flats we explored in Jalan Kukoh

We finally arrived at Jalan Kukoh after close to an hour of walking from Tiong Bahru (mostly because we got lost because of my horrendous navigation skills). Jalan Kukoh was exactly what I imagined; the air was stale, the neighbourhood was dead and the only occupiers of this seemingly large zone of HDB flats were the elderly who were taking a smoke or playing checkers. The air did smell strongly of cat pee and of other unsavoury sorts that was unique to Jalan Kukoh. I felt a tinge of jealousy though, Jalan Kukoh had much more facilities than Stirling Road but jealousy aside, there were definitely many parallels that I could draw with where we were and where I lived. From this point onwards was where my own unique learning journey started; this will be presented with quotes heard during the journey and my own interpretation and dissection of it. Although this may seem too clinical to some, it does help in making this blog more concise lest it becomes pure ramble.

A better picture of an estate in Jalan Kukoh

"Wah, this place was cleaner I thought. Where are the needles, the sanitary pads and cigarette butts?"

"Okay what! Some of them still got [air-conditioning] units."

This sentiment was not surprising to me. More often than not, we do have an image in our minds whether through media portrayal or stemming from our own biases and misconceptions. Their opinions, although unsurprising, did bring about a definite sense of frustration on my end because I felt that they wanted a performance of poor. These performances I refer to stem from another branch of symbolic interactionism theorised by Goffman (1978) and it did allow me to relate better with my groupmates; to some degree they were here not to learn about poverty but to watch a show, of sorts, about poverty instead.  I think the opinions brought forth stemmed from an expectation that poorer estates had to perform the role of looking poor; what they fail to understand however, is that these residents are not here to make the performativity of being poor congruent with their actual social class, they are here to eke out whatever comfort they can hope to afford. 

Police surveillance cameras adorn the estates of Jalan Kukoh

"There are so many cameras I also scared of doing something wrong."

Much of what we witness within the estates of Jalan Kukoh resonate with the findings Teo (2018) mentioned as well. Explicit state surveillance is commonplace in areas that have a significantly high crime rate or are places of residence for the poor; it is not uncommon to see states conflate high crime with low SES however. I could see the discomfort of my group whenever we had to walk along the corridors of these estates and pass by surveillance cameras and it eventually evolved to being uncomfortable in the area in general regardless of whether there were cameras there. While this pseudo-panopticon effect created discomfort for us only being there for a couple of hours, imagine what the stressors of anticipatory punishments have to be for the residents there living day-to-day. It does create meaning-making to those growing up at Jalan Kukoh as well because it did create a certain sense of isolation, dread and deviant-labelling for myself when I was witness to it living in Stirling Road as well. Although not much research has been done on ghettos, deviance and the meanings attached to them in the Singapore context, existing research conducted in the United States does resonate with my thoughts as well (Bullough, 1967).

For the sake of word count, I will end the first part of my post here with some of my own learning points. First, privilege does obscure our own views of those living in poverty. More often that not, we criticise those that ask for aid when their lives are not congruent with what they imagine them to be. However, I contend that this is no fault of our own but I do feel like the voices of the poor themselves are not heard enough within the Singapore discourse. Secondly, the Singapore state should realise the ramifications of creating such explicit areas of surveillance; if it can create such discomfort for students of the middle-class to be in those areas for a few hours, what consequences hold for future generations who live there? The voices of Jalan Kukoh are not heard enough and lest we forget, the policies we make for the betterment of society at large should include the subaltern as well (Spivak, 1999).