In the past, Singapore was filled with kampungs, and the old and the young worked together in farms.

It is no accident then that Kampung Admiralty - the first of the Housing Board's 10 Build-To-Order projects that co-locate childcare and senior centres to encourage inter-generational bonding - evokes memories of "gotong royong", or community spirit.

The 11-storey "modern kampung" next to Admiralty MRT station in Woodlands boasts a host of integrated facilities and amenities as diverse as a medical centre, hawker centre and vegetable farm, and is slated to be completed next month.

The complex will also include two blocks of 100 studio apartments.

The project is part of a $3 billion plan to help Singaporeans "age in place".

Studies have shown that such social interaction offers seniors a slew of health benefits: reduced loneliness, delayed mental decline, lowered blood pressure and a smaller risk of disease and death.

Singapore is following in the footsteps of societies like Japan and the United States, where nurseries and facilities for seniors have been combined under one roof. Some childcare centres and pre-schools are already organising regular activities for their children with seniors.

Kampung Admiralty will take the intermingling further by offering more spaces for spontaneous interactions between seniors, children and people from all walks of life.

For instance, the complex's accessible ground-floor plaza will allow relationships to develop in a more organic and meaningful way.

And the vegetable farm will allow seniors with green fingers to pass on their knowledge to younger people, while deriving a sense of purpose and accomplishment.

Kampung Admiralty can help show that seniors are not just passive beneficiaries of community service, but that they can be active, valued contributors energised by their desire to keep on giving back to society.

Toh Wen Li