Welcome back to Season 2 of Home on the Dot. In this episode, we return to the topic of public housing by introducing the uniquely Singaporean public space at the base of most HDB blocks: the void deck. Despite its name, there is nothing empty about the void deck. It is a vibrant space for play, socializing, and key life events like weddings and funerals. It is also an escape for people when they have no other place to go. Student producer Dana discusses the history of void decks and explains how home often spills out the front door and into the void. She also visits a void deck that serves a particularly unique purpose: as a bird arena. Here, bird lovers from all over the country gather with their cages, creating a community around their singing pets.

On this National Day 2019, follow us into the void!

Sound effects from freesound.org. Music from audioblocks.com.

Listen to Season 1 here

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– Goh, Robbie B. H. and Brenda S. A. Yeoh. 2003. Theorizing the Southeast Asian City as Text: Urban Landscapes, Cultural Documents, and Interpretative Experiences. Singapore: World Scientific.

Additional links about HDB and Void Decks:

– Season 1: Happy Dream Blocks

– Prof Robbie Goh Profile – http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/ell/People_Faculty_GOHBH.html

– “Our Void Deck” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ44lofcmog

– “PAP town councils to ban use of PMDs at void decks, common corridors” – https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/pap-town-councils-ban-use-pmds-void-decks-and-common-corridors

– “Void Decks in Singapore: More than a Void” – http://www.ghettosingapore.com/void-decks-in-singapore/

https://www.facebook.com/SingaporeHDB/videos/504588936757315/

– A video by the Housing and Development Board Singapore (HDB) on the Void Deck and its design

– Older, more common types of void decks