She lives with two sons and a daughter in a two-room rental flat in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6. Her eldest daughter has moved out after getting married.

True to her fears, her son, now 20, was admitted to a boys' home for several months for disciplinary issues.

Ms Fadillah said her daughter often plays at home or the playground in their neighbourhood. Once in a while, she would bring her to playgrounds further away, including those located near condominiums and private estates. But on such occasions, she noticed that there were hardly any children there from families living in the private homes. These children would probably play in the playgrounds located in their condominiums or be cooped up at home, she reckoned.

Within the Ang Mo Kio/Yio Chu Kang precinct, a private housing estate at Lentor Street is situated just 2.5km away from the block of rental flats where Ms Fadillah and her children are staying.

Homemaker Jacqueline Aw, 39, her husband and two daughters — aged 2 and 6 — are among the families living in the Lentor Street estate.

Her elder daughter is enrolled in a NAFA Arts Preschool, the first arts-theme preschool in Singapore. The child also attends various enrichment classes in abacus, gymnastics, athletics, piano, dancing, as well as English and the Chinese language.

Her girls do not play in the neighbourhood park, but instead enjoy going to the indoor playground at SAFRA in Toa Payoh and Punggol.

Ms Aw, who grew up in a rental flat and knows of friends and family who have lived or are living in such units, said she is happy to visit them if they invite her family. Nevertheless, the former flight stewardess noted that her family does not know anyone living at the rental flats at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6.

The situation and prevailing sentiments among residents in Ang Mo Kio are mirrored across the island in various housing estates.

Rental flat residents, for example, said they have few opportunities to interact with Singaporeans from different family backgrounds because their day-to-day activities are often confined within their neighbourhoods.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/the-big-read-social-stratification-a-poison-seeping-into-10283526

After the video circulated online, there was an outpouring of goodwill from Singaporeans, many of whom compared the foreign workers favourably against locals.

The workers, The Straits Times understands, had in fact been asked to move the car. But public response was telling, with many Singaporeans saying that foreign workers here are helpful and friendly - perhaps even more so than locals.

People ST spoke to suggested reasons that foreign workers are seen in such a positive light, although they were cautious not to generalise.

Associate Professor Tan Ern Ser, from the National University of Singapore's department of sociology, said: "It could be that we tend to be generous in our views of people who are no threat to us. Here, we are speaking of foreign workers who perform the menial tasks that we avoid doing ourselves."

An unequal relationship of power could affect the way foreign workers interact with locals.

"Because the foreign workers see themselves as of lower status to middle-class Singaporeans, they may tend to display what could be deemed to be deferential, even subservient, behaviour, but manifested as friendly or helpful behaviour.

"Consequently, we may actually develop some positive stereotypes about them... along with some negative stereotypes. The latter could be activated should they, for instance, compete with us for public space or amenities," Prof Tan added.

In big cities like Singapore, people tend to mind their own business, he said. The sizeable Bangladeshi population here could also make it easier for the temporary migrantsto "perpetuate the tradition they brought from home".

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/why-public-sees-foreign-workers-as-more-helpful-than-locals

This could be over issues such as loud events at void decks or neighbours cooking ethnic food, for instance.

In the latest Institute of Policy Studies-OnePeople.sg survey, at least four in 10 Singaporeans indicated that they sometimes, or more often, encountered and were upset by the burning of religious items in their estate.

This was the highest proportion among several items causing grief in neighbourhoods.

Top peeves included loud events at void decks or common areas, religious chanting or praying, and neighbours cooking ethnic food.

Only a quarter of Malay and Indian respondents had at some level encountered and were upset with the burning of incense, joss sticks or other religious items in their estate.

But when broken down by race, the study found that 67.4 per cent of Malays, 57.6 per cent of Indians and 35.7 per cent of Chinese were at least "sometimes" upset with the burning of items.

"This indicates the need for management of these issues to reduce the possibility of ill will between communities," said the researchers behind the study.

Chair of the Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circle (IRCC) Alvin Tan said that deliberate and sustained efforts are critical to minimise interracial and religious tensions.

"Because people come from very different backgrounds and have different beliefs and practices, (the IRCC has) to carry out activities on the ground very deliberately," he said.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/loud-noise-in-common-areas-burning-of-religious-items-could-lead-to-tensions-among