Speech by MOS Alvin Tan at the 5th Singapore-China Social Governance Forum

Introduction

尊敬的 浙江省委 政法委书记 王成国阁下

最高人民法院 审判委员会 专职委员 刘贵祥阁下

各位领导

下午好。感谢中方同事的热情欢迎和盛情款待。

较早时，王乙康部长谈到"礼"与"法"之间的平衡，并分享新加坡如何运用"礼"与"法"来应对一个实际的日常挑战：社区纠纷。

接下来，我会以英语发言，分享新加坡在处理社区纠纷方面，通过社区自理能力与政府介入的方式来应对这个问题。

Singapore's Urban Reality

Colleagues, Singapore is a small, densely populated city-state. Over 95% of our residents live in high-rise apartments. Specifically, around 77% live in public housing (HDB) and 18% in private apartments. Everyone has neighbours living above, below, or right next to them.

This urban reality makes neighbour disputes inevitable, a challenge shared by cities worldwide. Whether it is noise, dripping laundry, or corridor obstructions, neighbour disputes are a part of city life. And if these small issues are not managed well, they can grow into deep-seated unhappiness and affect the peace of the whole community.

Good Neighbourly Relations

Our basic idea is that the best way to solve a problem is to prevent it from starting. Earlier today, we spoke about "上医治未病" 的思想. So we want to do it preventively before the problem is affected downstream. We call our approach the Community Disputes Management Framework - 社区纠纷管理框架.

The base and core of this framework is good neighbourliness. When neighbours communicate regularly and practice empathy and mutual consideration, they can often resolve issues themselves without needing formal intervention. But when disagreements do happen, we encourage early and amicable resolution between the parties.

Our Primary Tool: Mediation

And our primary tool is mediation - 调解. When relationships break down and neighbours need help resolving their disputes, neutral third parties are available. This is where we use community mediation as our primary tool.

At our Community Mediation Centre - 社区调解中心, we have trained volunteer mediators here at the CMCs. These community mediators do not take sides; they help neighbours talk and hear each other's views and perspectives in a calm manner. Our CMC has achieved some success, with over 80% of voluntary mediation cases settled amicably.

However, this works only if both sides agree to show up. Some parties refuse to consider mediation for personal reasons or misconceptions, while others may register but fail to attend sessions. To fix this, we updated our laws in 2024 to introduce "Directed Mediation - 调解指示".

We are now running a pilot where appointed public officers can legally order neighbours involved in noise disputes to attend mediation. If you are told to go, you must go. If you don't show up without good reason, it is an offence. We believe mediation is the best avenue when neighbours need help resolving their differences, and this is how we use the law to bring people to the table so they can reach agreements based on neighbourly consideration and mutual respect.

The Middle Ground: The Community Relations Unit (CRU)

There is also a "middle ground" in our governance. Some cases are more serious than a simple misunderstanding. Think of a neighbour who deliberately bangs on the floor or walls in the middle of the night, every night, for months, and in fact we have such cases in Singapore.

To handle these tough and severe cases, we have been piloting a new team called the Community Relations Unit, or CRU, 社区关系处 in one town. These public officers have the power to investigate and take enforcement action in severe neighbour noise cases. They can take statements from affected parties and surrounding neighbours to better understand the situation. After investigations are completed, they can issue advisories and warnings, giving disputing neighbours an opportunity to resolve their issues before further escalation.

If the advisories or warnings are not heeded, they can issue abatement orders. These orders tell a person they must stop the behaviour that is affecting their neighbours. If they ignore the order, they can be charged in court. This gives government "teeth" and enforcement to stop bad behaviour quickly, before it destroys the peace of a whole block of flats.

Last Resort: Tribunals

Finally, in the Community Disputes Management Framework, we have Community Disputes Resolution Tribunals，邻里纠纷审查庭. These are specialised courts designed to provide quick and effective relief for residents when upstream efforts, such as community mediation fail to resolve the dispute. As Minister Ong mentioned, this is our curative medicine. Our "last resort."

Residents can file a claim here themselves without a lawyer. A tribunal judge hears the case and makes a legally binding decision. The judge can order someone to stop a behaviour that is disrupting the community peace. In very extreme cases where someone repeatedly ignores the court order, the judge can even require them to vacate their home for a period of time. We don't like using these powers, but we think they are necessary to protect the community from individuals who deliberately cause disturbance to others.

Conclusion: A "Democracy of Deeds"

Our experience shows that solving community disputes requires a balance of both community effort and government interventions. We need the law to set clear boundaries and handle the most difficult cases. We also need to keep building our community's capacity to solve its own problems.

We need and want to move toward what our founding leaders called a "democracy of deeds." A society where citizens don't just wait for the state to solve every problem but actively work together to maintain harmony.

各位领导， 我们在努力迈向一个共同价值观为根基的优良社会。当我们建设一个彼此尊敬和包容社会，就可以减少通用法律的概率。

我们期待和中方的经验学习，聆听你们的意见， 谢谢。