Social experiment bonds whole neighbourhood

Agents of change: Khoo showing Kulsanofer how to work the library’s book lending system at their community library in Taman Subang, Selangor.

PETALING JAYA: A social experiment on collective action has turned into an eye-opening experience for a PhD candidate.

Sometime in July this year, Kulsanofer Syed Thajudeen – a mother-of-four living in Taman Subang here – was interested to see whether the Islamic concept of using waqaf (community endowment) to pay for infrastructure would work in her urban neighbourhood, mainly inhabited by professionals and retirees.