Community Heroes: Why we keep running and greeting strangers, despite what some cynics might say

I founded The Morning Greeters with three other friends back in 2013 when I was a final-year undergraduate at the Singapore Institute of Technology.

Our first “greet-and-run” session was on Jan 1, 2013 at Bishan Park. We publicised the event on Facebook and about 15 to 20 runners turned up.

The idea for the group came after one of my runs. It was when I realised that despite living in Bishan for the past two decades, it felt like everyone I ran past on my usual route was a stranger.

I had recently returned from a backpacking trip to Europe and felt that Singapore, despite its small size, ironically lacked that close-knit community spirit I experienced in much larger countries.

So, the next time I ran, I decided to greet every single person I passed on the trails at MacRitchie Reservoir.

I was pleasantly surprised at how effortless it was, and it was heartening to see smiles on the faces of those I encountered. That's when I knew I had to do something, and The Morning Greeters was born.

The Morning Greeters started off gathering runners from all walks of life for weekend runs. Now, a decade later, we are still going strong.

Our hope is that, through these sessions, participants will “pass the baton” and cultivate a habit of greeting others in their own neighbourhoods.  

We meet at a different venue each week. The sessions usually start from an MRT station and from there, the group runs to a nearby park or park connector.

We run for about 3km to 4km each session. Speed is not of the essence because we want each participant to be able to experience the good vibes of greeting others.

One of the best decisions we made throughout this time was our commitment to consistency, regardless of external factors.

Our members made a solemn vow to be there, rain or shine.

In the early days, this commitment was tested. There were instances when the turnout was sparse, with just me alone or accompanied by one or two others.

Some participants told us that the timing of our meets, usually 7.15am, was too early.

We also held sessions on Sunday mornings, which deterred younger runners from joining us since they preferred to sleep in on the weekend.

From time to time, we would hear negative responses to our greetings, such as,“What's so good in the morning?!"

Thankfully, it wasn't that often. 

It was these responses that kept us going and wanting to do more. We felt that our society needed us to remind them to be kind.

It would have been easy to be discouraged, but we held on to our belief in the power of our mission.

Whether we greeted one person or a dozen, I believe the impact of our actions transcended numbers.

Since the beginning, I have envisioned ourselves being in a community where people are nice and friendly to one another. If anyone were to meet a mishap on the streets, my hope is that there is always someone looking out for them.

We were fortunate to be noticed by a reporter from The Straits Times, who published an article in 2013 that attracted more people whose values aligned with ours.

We also caught the notice of the Singapore Kindness Movement, and were officially inducted as a ground-up movement that year, which helped amplify our message.

What started with just a few individuals grew to almost 35 regulars on a weekly basis.

Gathering people to believe in the same cause is not easy, but we believed and reached out to one person at a time, and this created a ripple effect that we hope evolves into a tidal wave.

One of our biggest hopes is to have more young members or students join us so that we can have fresh ideas and energy to do new initiatives.

Another pursuit we were thinking of embarking on was to gather ex-runners or even ex-competitive runners to join us.

Having spent 11 years with The Morning Greeters, my commitments naturally have evolved with time.

From starting the movement as a student to now being married with two kids and running my own design firm, the journey has been transformative.

One of the best takeaways from this movement is the wonderful friends I’ve made, in the community of runners and in the people who believed in our movement.

To anyone with an idea for a similar movement, my advice is simple: Take action.

You never know where it will lead, and even if it doesn't work out as planned, you'll know you gave it your best shot.  

ABOUT THE WRITER:

Adrian Phoon, 36, runs his own design firm, The Floorplan Collective. He enjoys building new things and exploring creative pursuits, though his first love is the outdoors and running.

The Morning Greeters is a ground-up movement supported by the Singapore Kindness Movement’s Kindred Grant, which provides seed funding for various kindness initiatives in Singapore. 

If you have an experience to share or know someone who wishes to contribute to this series, write to voices [at] mediacorp.com.sg with your full name, address and phone number.