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They Told Us To Move: Dakota—Cassia
What happens when an entire community is moved?
Dakota Crescent was one of Singapore's oldest public housing estates and a rental flat neighbourhood for low-income households. In 2016, its residents—many of whom are elderly—were relocated to Cassia Crescent to make way for redevelopment. To help them resettle, a group of volunteers came together and formed the Cassia Resettlement Team.
They Told Us to Move tells the story of the relocation through interviews with the residents from the Dakota community and reflections by the volunteers. Accompanying these are essays by various academics on urban planning; gender and family; ageing, poverty, and social services; civil society and citizenship; and architectural heritage and place-making. Through this three-part conversation, the book explores human stories of devotion, expectation, and remembrance. It asks what we can achieve through voluntary action and how we can balance self-reliance and public services.
This book is for people who want to understand the kind of society we are, and question what kind of society we want to be.
Dakota Crescent was one of Singapore's oldest public housing estates and a rental flat neighbourhood for low-income households. In 2016, its residents—many of whom are elderly—were relocated to Cassia Crescent to make way for redevelopment. To help them resettle, a group of volunteers came together and formed the Cassia Resettlement Team.
They Told Us to Move tells the story of the relocation through interviews with the residents from the Dakota community and reflections by the volunteers. Accompanying these are essays by various academics on urban planning; gender and family; ageing, poverty, and social services; civil society and citizenship; and architectural heritage and place-making. Through this three-part conversation, the book explores human stories of devotion, expectation, and remembrance. It asks what we can achieve through voluntary action and how we can balance self-reliance and public services.
This book is for people who want to understand the kind of society we are, and question what kind of society we want to be.
- GenresNonfiction
268 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 19, 2019
The Cassia Resettlement Team has done amazing work - from befriending the residents of Dakota to ensure their individual needs are met to research and advocacy for the inclusion of persons excluded from the system. They did it quietly, but proudly. They had a strong ethos and believed in their work. And that shows from the book, put together with purpose and care, making sure the Dakota-Cassia relocation is documented down. And when you document something, people can continue to know and understand and work on it long after it has passed.
I found that the structure of the book really facilitates learning and understanding social issues from many different angles. Eight residents and the head of the Senior Activity Centre at the Dakota area were interviewed, and for each interview, a volunteer and an academic would comment on a key issue presented, write about their experience with the resident, or about their experience with the relocation in general.
I know this has been done by another reviewer, but I feel that these two paragraphs will summarise anything that I can ever say about this book best.
This heartfelt comment was written as a conclusion to the book and project by Rocky Howe, head of research and advocacy at the Cassia Resettlement Team. The Cassia Resettlement Team has done amazing work - from befriending the residents of Dakota to ensure their individual needs are met to research and advocacy for the inclusion of persons excluded from the system. They did it quietly, but proudly. They had a strong ethos and believed in their work. And that shows from the book, put together with purpose and care, making sure the Dakota-Cassia relocation is documented down. And when you document something, people can continue to know and understand and work on it long after it has passed.
"The commentators of this book, in their responses to these inequalities, have emphatically argued that the measure of our society’s progress should be how we treat our most vulnerable. The call to shift society’s most vulnerable back from the neglected periphery into the centre of attention is underpinned by a strong moral demand for the social and political inclusion of the marginalised. The call for inclusion as a demand for justice is a challenging but transformative call. More than simply extending already existing institutions and distributing benefits to those who do not yet have them, inclusiveness is about changing the terms of public discussion and the political process to be attentive to differences and disadvantages that arise from our relative social and economic positions.
"This attentiveness to how relative advantages and disadvantages shape unequal outcomes, to how we stand in relation to one another, makes possible two features of a just society. First, it does not pretend that society has been impartial towards all its constituents. It does not cordon off features of who we are and what circumstances we face in life—based on our race, gender, or availability of family—and claim that they are irrelevant to how society is organised. Secondly, by including our voices in a shared public sphere, we become more capable of exercising moral responsibility to onr another. These will allow us to live in a society where each of our own demands for justice will be seen and heard, and give us assurance that our home will nourish who we are and what we want to be."
I found that the structure of the book really facilitates learning and understanding social issues from many different angles. Eight residents and the head of the Senior Activity Centre at the Dakota area were interviewed, and for each interview, a volunteer and an academic would comment on a key issue presented, write about their experience with the resident, or about their experience with the relocation in general.
I know this has been done by another reviewer, but I feel that these two paragraphs will summarise anything that I can ever say about this book best.
This heartfelt comment was written as a conclusion to the book and project by Rocky Howe, head of research and advocacy at the Cassia Resettlement Team. The Cassia Resettlement Team has done amazing work - from befriending the residents of Dakota to ensure their individual needs are met to research and advocacy for the inclusion of persons excluded from the system. They did it quietly, but proudly. They had a strong ethos and believed in their work. And that shows from the book, put together with purpose and care, making sure the Dakota-Cassia relocation is documented down. And when you document something, people can continue to know and understand and work on it long after it has passed.
"The commentators of this book, in their responses to these inequalities, have emphatically argued that the measure of our society’s progress should be how we treat our most vulnerable. The call to shift society’s most vulnerable back from the neglected periphery into the centre of attention is underpinned by a strong moral demand for the social and political inclusion of the marginalised. The call for inclusion as a demand for justice is a challenging but transformative call. More than simply extending already existing institutions and distributing benefits to those who do not yet have them, inclusiveness is about changing the terms of public discussion and the political process to be attentive to differences and disadvantages that arise from our relative social and economic positions.
"This attentiveness to how relative advantages and disadvantages shape unequal outcomes, to how we stand in relation to one another, makes possible two features of a just society. First, it does not pretend that society has been impartial towards all its constituents. It does not cordon off features of who we are and what circumstances we face in life—based on our race, gender, or availability of family—and claim that they are irrelevant to how society is organised. Secondly, by including our voices in a shared public sphere, we become more capable of exercising moral responsibility to onr another. These will allow us to live in a society where each of our own demands for justice will be seen and heard, and give us assurance that our home will nourish who we are and what we want to be."
January 1, 2020
Written in the style of interviews followed by reflection pieces of the volunteers who were a part of the team which worked with the residents. A lot of repeated themes, and gave me a greater understanding of the situations which these residents face living in rental units, but was not as enlightening as This is What Inequality Looks Like nor did it feel as well-written.
Favourite Quotes:
"Tong, it seems, had internalised a narrative far too common in a society that glorifies self-reliance and individual ability, that a dependency on care implies powerlessness and failure"
"such bureaucracies treat individuals as statistics rather than as people with varied needs; their primary aim is control, rather than to respect people's choices. When bureaucracies operate in this manner, they transform into an "iron cage", trapping us in a dehumanised system where efficiency and compliance with orderly processes are prioritised over respecting people's right to dignity and self-determination"
Favourite Quotes:
"Tong, it seems, had internalised a narrative far too common in a society that glorifies self-reliance and individual ability, that a dependency on care implies powerlessness and failure"
"such bureaucracies treat individuals as statistics rather than as people with varied needs; their primary aim is control, rather than to respect people's choices. When bureaucracies operate in this manner, they transform into an "iron cage", trapping us in a dehumanised system where efficiency and compliance with orderly processes are prioritised over respecting people's right to dignity and self-determination"
February 12, 2021
This is a compilation of interviews, ethnographic insights, and sociology essays reflecting on key phrases and themes captured by the interview data. It’s a decent book that explores the disruption and transition process that Dakota residents (often elderly and definitely low-wage) had to endure when forced by the authorities to relocate. Texts like these are important to help us gain perspective on life in singapore beyond our immediate social group, which is often warped and makes us take our small luxuries for granted. However, many of the scholarly or reflections written were very boring. It became quite tiring to read scholars write about questioning what the term “community” or “kampong spirit” meant, who it excluded, who is in charge of disseminating this ethos etc. I mean I’m done with my undergrad studies of sociology lol and I don’t have tolerance for any more of this referential essays that are barely philosophical.
December 6, 2022
“What happens when an entire community is moved?” This was what drew me to read this book and also because I have a personal interest towards Dakota Crescent estate. This book is split into three parts: interviews with residents, reflections by volunteers and academic essays.
I felt this book rather underwhelming yet an important one, I kind of expected more in depth interviews. I am honoured to be able to read through their personal insights and was touched by Chin’s and Bilyy’s interviews. However, a lot of the interviews and reflections were similar. I found the academic essays section to be rather boring and not as thought provoking as I hoped. It felt like a lot of technical jargons and asking me questions when I wanted to questions to be answered instead by an expert.
The process of relocation is a recurring theme in Singapore and I think it’s important to see why it can be detrimental to a person and how we can ensure nobody falls through the gap.
I felt this book rather underwhelming yet an important one, I kind of expected more in depth interviews. I am honoured to be able to read through their personal insights and was touched by Chin’s and Bilyy’s interviews. However, a lot of the interviews and reflections were similar. I found the academic essays section to be rather boring and not as thought provoking as I hoped. It felt like a lot of technical jargons and asking me questions when I wanted to questions to be answered instead by an expert.
The process of relocation is a recurring theme in Singapore and I think it’s important to see why it can be detrimental to a person and how we can ensure nobody falls through the gap.
September 12, 2019
This is an important book of my colleague Ng Kok Hoe at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, which aims to shed light on one side of the Singapore's public housing experience that is often unmentioned. It does so telling the stories of hardship of those people who had the greatest challenges in adapting to the public housing policies. It is important to recognize these voices, first because ignoring them is adding more hardship to these people's lives. Secondly, these voices and analyses help to understand the policy challenges, trade-offs, and tough decisions that governments have to make in the pursue of economic and social growth. There is a lot to learn from this book.
June 28, 2020
These days there’s so much emphasis placed on the ever-changing face of Singapore and its ever-moving classes, so this book is a necessary reminder that even in this city that’s perpetually moving, there are people rooted to a sense of place and time who cannot be ignored or forgotten. It felt like a privilege to hear from residents of Dakota Crescent themselves what the place meant to them and how they felt about their relocation. There was also a lot of valuable context about the evolution of Singapore’s public housing policies and urban development. Packaging the book into thematic sections with a resident q&a, reflections of a community volunteer and notes from an academic was innovative, but I think resulted in some missed opportunities. For instance, I would’ve liked to have heard more about the CRT - how it was formed, its vision, decision-making processes and its goals for both the residents and its volunteers. The naïveté and lack of sophistication in the volunteer musings suggest this is an area that could’ve been explored further. The book also suffered from being quite dryly written despite the diversity of voices, so a lot of the humanity was lost in the reading. It’s absolutely worth reading, especially if you live in Singapore, but I think it’s time to up our game when it comes to anti-poverty discourse about this country.
December 30, 2022
"The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members."
In Singapore, decades of strong economic growth have resulted in a rapid rise in living standards for the vast majority of its citizens - a burgeoning middle class, high levels of educational attainment and literacy, and near-universal homeownership. But what about those left behind?
Through the lens of personal realities; the stories of the elderly poor and low-income rental flat residents of Dakota Cresent, They Told Us to Move tells the story of loss, displacement, and inequality in modern-day Singapore, with insights into the lesser-known implications of public policy. The discourse of personal responsibility vs state welfare; the limits of ad hoc, volunteer-based care in the face of inadequacies in institutional mechanisms of care; the exposition of societal conditions through individual narratives, stories.
TTUTM does this through a series of three-tiered stories - an interview with a resident of Dakota, a reflection by a volunteer of the Cassia Resettlement Team, and finally, an academic essay that synthesises both. The themes of grief, loss, mental health (and even suicide) featured in the interviews - the sense of powerlessness among Dakota's elderly residents, in the face of external events, was palpable. However, this book shines in its incisive commentary of Singapore's social and housing policy, by academics of different fields - including Teo You Yenn of Inequality. An important read to understand the trade-offs that underlie these policies, and whether society can do better.
In Singapore, decades of strong economic growth have resulted in a rapid rise in living standards for the vast majority of its citizens - a burgeoning middle class, high levels of educational attainment and literacy, and near-universal homeownership. But what about those left behind?
Through the lens of personal realities; the stories of the elderly poor and low-income rental flat residents of Dakota Cresent, They Told Us to Move tells the story of loss, displacement, and inequality in modern-day Singapore, with insights into the lesser-known implications of public policy. The discourse of personal responsibility vs state welfare; the limits of ad hoc, volunteer-based care in the face of inadequacies in institutional mechanisms of care; the exposition of societal conditions through individual narratives, stories.
TTUTM does this through a series of three-tiered stories - an interview with a resident of Dakota, a reflection by a volunteer of the Cassia Resettlement Team, and finally, an academic essay that synthesises both. The themes of grief, loss, mental health (and even suicide) featured in the interviews - the sense of powerlessness among Dakota's elderly residents, in the face of external events, was palpable. However, this book shines in its incisive commentary of Singapore's social and housing policy, by academics of different fields - including Teo You Yenn of Inequality. An important read to understand the trade-offs that underlie these policies, and whether society can do better.
May 7, 2019
It's unfair to say if I like or dislike this book. I think it doesn't intend to be liked or love, it perhaps intends to teach interested but still unaware readers like myself.
I learnt a lot! Highly recommended!
My favourite quote:
“An economy of gratitude can generate an oppression of goodwill. Channelling resources into things and programmes which do not address current unmet needs is not only wasteful, but also oppressive” (Ad Maulod, 112)
I learnt a lot! Highly recommended!
My favourite quote:
“An economy of gratitude can generate an oppression of goodwill. Channelling resources into things and programmes which do not address current unmet needs is not only wasteful, but also oppressive” (Ad Maulod, 112)
April 16, 2019
P249
The commentators of this book, in their responses to these inequalities, have emphatically argued that the measure of our society’s progress should be how we treat our most vulnerable. The call to shift society’s most vulnerable back from the neglected periphery into the centre of attention is underpinned by a strong moral demand for the social and political inclusion of the marginalised. The call for inclusion as a demand for justice is a challenging but transformative call. More than simply extending already existing institutions and distributing benefits to those who do not yet have them, inclusiveness is about changing the terms of public discussion and the political process to be attentive to differences and disadvantages that arise from our relative social and economic positions.
This attentiveness to how relative advantages and disadvantages shape unequal outcomes, to how we stand in relation to one another, makes possible two features of a just society. First, it does not pretend that society has been impartial towards all its constituents. It does not cordon off features of who we are and what circumstances we face in life—based on our race, gender, or availability of family—and claim that they are irrelevant to how society is organised. Secondly, by including our voices in a shared public sphere, we become more capable of exercising moral responsibility to onr another. These will allow us to live in a society where each of our own demands for justice will be seen and heard, and give us assurance that our home will nourish who we are and what we want to be.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 14, 2021
This book was a difficult read. The conversations in this book can be uncomfortable and jarring; yet, it is also a beautiful sociological analysis of identifying the general from the particular or as Teo You Yenn says "seeing a story to get to a case".
Each chapter of the book is arranged in a similar structure: an interview with a resident in Dakota, a reflection by a social worker and an analysis by an academic.
The interviews with the residents are significant as they give a personal recount of the effects of forced relocation. More importantly, they are a reminder that we cannot generalise the elderly's lives into "simple one-dimensional narratives" and that "they have led long lives and are stronger than we think".
Some recurring themes seem through these interviews are the pernicious sense of loneliness felt by the elderly; the frustration caused poor communication and lack of democratic involvement of stakeholders by bureacracy; the sense of resignation faced by the elderly to their fates. Yet, in juxtaposition to these more heavier themes, there are also themes of hope and determination faced by social workers and some eldery residents to fight against this forceful relocation; heartening recounts of the power of service as embodied by "Roger" - an important figure in the community; and the power of heritage issues have become grassroots issues.
In a country facing the existential challenge of having an ageing population, this book serves as a stark reminder that more has to be done for our elderly and the care and welfare system in Singapore.
Each chapter of the book is arranged in a similar structure: an interview with a resident in Dakota, a reflection by a social worker and an analysis by an academic.
The interviews with the residents are significant as they give a personal recount of the effects of forced relocation. More importantly, they are a reminder that we cannot generalise the elderly's lives into "simple one-dimensional narratives" and that "they have led long lives and are stronger than we think".
Some recurring themes seem through these interviews are the pernicious sense of loneliness felt by the elderly; the frustration caused poor communication and lack of democratic involvement of stakeholders by bureacracy; the sense of resignation faced by the elderly to their fates. Yet, in juxtaposition to these more heavier themes, there are also themes of hope and determination faced by social workers and some eldery residents to fight against this forceful relocation; heartening recounts of the power of service as embodied by "Roger" - an important figure in the community; and the power of heritage issues have become grassroots issues.
In a country facing the existential challenge of having an ageing population, this book serves as a stark reminder that more has to be done for our elderly and the care and welfare system in Singapore.
June 5, 2021
There's something magical about how rooted humans are to their surroundings and environment, and these interviews and analysis captured this somewhat amorphous bittersweetness so well. It stirred up nostalgic feelings of my own experiences with neighbouring flats en-blocing, and gentle reflections about what I'd like to preserve in my own surroundings. There's obviously a more historical and analytical element to the interviews for those looking for it, but I think the beauty of this book lies in its ability to capture the humanness of being uprooted.
February 1, 2021
A riveting and engaging collection of multiple voices. Prof Ng takes curious readers to the very physical community as they listen to the unique stories by many who call the place a home. Through the heartfelt sharings, the book probes the readers to rethink a citizen-centric policy design and sensible engagement of residents - a blatant contrast to the cold and ordered displacement - in relocating persons from their homes to their new houses.
March 29, 2020
Sadly didnt get much out of this book.
February 25, 2022
This book was so so so beautifully written and encapsulated all the stories and memories of dakota.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews