Do you know your neighbours?

Neighbours can be a real godsend during times of crisis. It is always comforting to know that help is easily accessible; after all it is not always possible for relatives and friends to arrive at the scene in the nick of time.

Isn’t it ironical that in an age when information technology has enabled us to communicate with anyone around the world in a flick of a second, most people don’t know who their next-door neighbor is?

Most of us especially in the city don’t know the identity of the person next-door; we don’t seem to have the energy to maintain neighbourly relations anymore.

Neighbours should stand by each other at all times. It is for no other reason than the fact that these are dangerous times we live in. We need to place more emphasis on the need to co-exist with neighbours in harmony and support one another in times of need.

Neighbours can be a real godsend during times of crisis. It is always comforting to know that help is easily accessible; after all it is not always possible for relatives and friends to arrive at the scene in the nick of time. Even if you cannot spend as much time with your neighbours as you would like, try to grab the opportunity especially during festive periods like Christmas, Easter, Eid, birthdays etc. to exchange food, gifts and invite them over for lunch or barbeque get togethers.

It is quite hypocritical in a case where all occupants in a certain block of flats gather to pay their condolences to a bereaved spouse of their neighbour for instance and most of them don’t even know the deceased’s name. Don’t get to a point where you are too busy with your own life that you don’t take the time to know you neighbour.

However, this doesn’t mean that we should spend every waking moment with our neighbours and make them our best friends. If we can be on good terms with them, we are assured of having help and love at hand. It would be ideal if we struck a balance between being a responsible neighbour and a friend. We must acknowledge the fact that we stay in a community and are not “islands”.

As an African proverb goes, no one has a granary full enough to never need a neighbour so throw your doors open and welcome the people next door into your home and heart.