In 2019, we had just sold our 4-room HDB flat and begun the paperwork to move to another resale HDB flat. One reason for this decision was because we hardly got any sun coming into our then-current flat. This made our laundry always smell a bit damp and moist, and hardly smelt sun-kissed.[i] When we sweated, our clothes gave off an odour despite using laundry detergent that claimed to be able to remove odours.[ii]

Then I saw a commercial for indoor clothes drying systems. Not a conventional clothes dryer, but a system where you still hang the clothes on poles in your apartment’s laundry area, and above the poles are blower fans and a UV lamp.[iii] Presumably the UV light would leave your clothes smelling sun-kissed as they hang on poles in the laundry area of your HDB apartment’s kitchen. I was shocked. Why didn’t we discover this product earlier? We might have avoided all the hassle associated with moving house. But there was another reason why I felt shocked. Why is this technology needed, to begin with?

Satellite view of the HDB block that I used to live in. (Source: Google Earth, April 2022)

Singapore prides itself for having a vision of being biophilic (i.e. having a love for nature). HDB planners incorporate greenery into new HDB estates, so that residents can be closer to a bit of nature. Yet, many recent HDB designs let light enter the balconies and living rooms, whereas the laundry area is parked at a dark and dim corner of the apartment, unseen to the passers-by’s eyes. This sort designed seemed intended to address the apparent concern that the way laundry was hung in the older designs on HDB flats made the façade look ugly. But as such, indoor clothes drying systems become necessary.

Laundry hung out on poles to dry on a sunny day, at a 40+ year old HDB flat. Beautifully practical, or unsightly? It’s a matter of perspective. (Source: Author, 2022)

Is this our understanding of having a love for nature? If we view nature as the other – the other green space, the other wild animals – then perhaps, yes. Bats and squirrels are fascinating, as long as they don’t come near or into our windows. We love nature, but only outside the confines of our house. Our house is our fortress of digital technology.

But there is another interpretation of having a love for nature, which urban gardeners will agree with. Their plants need sunlight to grow well. In growing plants in their houses, insects are inadvertently invited into their HDB flats. While it could be annoying, they accept it as how co-existence and co-dependence take place in this larger force called nature (自然界).

“Nature is time and space, andthe laws that govern them. It is the cycle of life: birth, growing-up and maturing, and death – and repeat. It is about the relationships in that space: between different lifeforms and between different physical and chemical elements. It is about the limits that these laws place on us, yet also about what these laws enable us. That is why nature is fascinating, lovely, respectable scary and empowering all at the same time.”[iv]

Having a love for only the nature that is outside our houses would seem like an incomplete love for nature. Having a love for nature means appreciating what nature has to offer to make our lives more liveable. It might sound utilitarian, but the truth is that our bodies – and societies – have co-evolved with nature for millenia (take, for example, why being in the dark makes us sleepy). For example, traditionally the Khmu people of Lao PDR believe in maximizing sunlight, especially the morning sunlight, in the house for health reasons.

A photo of a poster about the Khmu ethnic minority in Lao PDR, at Nahm Dong Park in Luang Prabang. The last paragraph is about the design of houses in traditional Khmu culture. (Source: Author, 2020)

From the point of view of comfort, integrating biophilia into the design of homes would mean good ventilation (wind) for cooling the house. From the point of view of resource conservation, it could mean collecting rainwater at the household level whenever it rains. And from the point of view of someone in charge of the household chores, it would mean having good sunlight to dry the laundry.

Laundry being kissed by the sun. (Source: Author, 2022)

[i] An explanation of why sun-dried laundry sounds good: https://www.futurity.org/line-dried-laundry-smells-2402452/

[ii] Line-drying clothes under the sun is suggested as an effective way to prevent odours in clothes: https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-get-smell-out-of-clothes

[iii] For examples, see: Vanderia HM1002UV – VANDERIA and EZ Bella (Automated) (ezziliving.com)

[iv] From: https://theeverydaynature.com/2020/04/10/yingshan-lau-singapore/