3 July 08
Mr Mah Bow Tan
Minister of National Development
Member of Tampines GRC
Dear Mr Tan
Upgrading of Playground Facilities
I am a student from Pasir Ris Secondary School. I am writing to you to give some feedback of the on the playgrounds in Tampines and suggestions to improve these playgrounds.
Tampines has been a great living environment for all ages and is flourishing under your expert management.
However, I wish to bring up a matter regarding the many playgrounds in Tampines. Recently, my school had me and my classmates design a playground suitable for physically and mentally disabled children. We decided to pick children with downs syndrome to focus this project on. Although many children can agree that playgrounds in Singapore are fine just the way they are, there is still a large number of children would not agree. Usually, these children do not like the playgrounds because the playgrounds are not suitable for them to play in. Not many, or maybe even none of the playgrounds in Singapore suit the need of children with disabilities and they are often outcasted. I propose that we make more user-friendly playgrounds for disabled children in our society.
If we are to make a playground suitable for these children, there should of course be extra safety precautions. Occationally, even normal children without disabilities get injured when playing in the public playgrounds. I know of this because I went home with a dislocated arm once after falling from the monkey bars. Safety features in the playground are of utmost importance but should (NOT A MUST) not restrict the fun for the children. Secondly, playgrounds should be redesigned to meet the needs of children with disabilities. Often, some parts of the playground are too high to reach or dangerous for children with disabilities. Some of these facilities are the monkey bars and the flying fox (the children would hold onto a handle and swing back and forth).
Me and my team have come up with a playground which we think will be suitable for these children. The playground will have three levels and will look like a smaller indoor playground. There would be a small "cosy" area for children to rest in, maybe gather in and just chat. The playground must also provide play equipment, such as mazes and games like tic tac toe on the walls. As children with downs syndrome enjoy repitition, puzzle games would thrill them. Also, since the playground is 3 levels high, there must not be a way for children to climb along the railings, as they often do when the play Blind Mice. The playground must also be linked up by crawl-through tunnels, as this will deter off any older children (like my childish primary 6 brother).
I hope you take this letter into consideration, and maybe, there might be a change in the playgrounds in the next community upgrading renovations.
Yours sincerely ,
Joshua Tan Chye Kiat
