and do you now see the parallel with mr yap’s situation.
it is the programming of the human digits over at hdb that could not find it in them to help poor old mr yap and his family, in other words, the heart is missing – as we would expect from following any sort of programmed system.

look around you today and the arguement that the yaps ought ‘to have known better with poor planning etc” does not hold water – at least for me.

is there any certainty what lies ahead even if you have made the best protective plan against and adversities? no; we may have a 20yr plan but things unforseen could happen along the way and then what? we reach out for help and get accused that it is our own damn fault for not looking ahead and plan properly.

i’m sure the yaps had planned for a ‘live happily ever after’ kind of life – but things change – they always do – and even after having sold their first flat, they did not expect to run into problem – least of all with hdb. yes, on hindsight, they now realised it is a mistake to assume hdb would help them out. it is therefore necessary for them to now look more closely at what is best for their future and to try to get the best arrangement – right here, right now – this is why the 4-room flat.
someone quesioned – why 4, why not 5 room? good question. it tells us that the yaps are being reasonable and hdb would do well to read into such things. they ought to, with the thousands of similar cases each year. no; programming is the way, it’s the system adopted.

“unfortunately, we have been ‘cultivated’ and ‘programmed’ in our growing up years and somehow subconciously we tend to lean toward the practices that we have live through in our daily lives. ”

To an extend, our parents and surrounding relatives (at least speaking in my generation where community Camaraderie is imminent as we all live in very close proximity and people are less calculative), did play an important part in our bringing up (overly protective and/or being coerce to believe submissive is the right behavior to uphold “Refined Confucious Teachings ~ Singapore style”.

In the later years, I think the lack of exposure or the opportunity to get further exposure (sort of live outside the cocoon). All these contributed to the current state of mentality and mindset that I never failed to spot from Singaporeans touring Hong Kong, United States, Thailand, Japan…etc. I even find myself at odds when I do my home tour. It is a sad scene to see. There was a glimmer of hope when I learned of the NTU protest and indeed they should be encouraged to speak their mind more often.

127) Daniel on October 11th, 2008 9.45 pm

I sure wished TOC can address this. I dislike making assumption when factual information can be made available. I fully understand they are on part time basis and is trying to do a community service. To me (may be it is that occupational disease), I cannot tolerate mediocre service. This is my job requirement as well as a business consultant. So I always believe that if you want to provide service work, do your best. It is okay to make mistakes but learned from mistakes and gives your best effort to avoid recurrence. Whether it is free service or lip service, you have got to give it your best.

Praising people is a walk in the park. I rather speak my mind and be honest with my thoughts even if sometime it will get me into trouble. At least , I feel good inside and will stand by what I say with supporting reasoning. Whether one choose to believe or not, you can’t control people’s mindset.

I must say this, I once was very very anti-government (influenced?), then, as I aged and get more exposure and understand life better (at least spiritually I hope), the policies deployed then was necessary under those circumstances. I am not sure of the younger ministers now, I don’t know them and have no clue what they are trying to do for Singapore. All I heard and witness is they are enjoying over-sized packages (even bigger countries Prime Ministership or Presidents cannot match). Do I feel good over it, a resounding no. But then, if they are able to make common Singaporean’s life better, so be it.

Do I see improvement in Singapore over the decades? Obviously yes, but can be better. I supposed the excuse of not opening up more has very much to do with what I had concluded in my earlier post #123.

Anyway, my life will not miss a thing even not having to regularly visit this site again. In any case, I will see changes within Singapore (gradually) and may be 10 years from now, my wish of total “freedom of Speech and Freedom of Expression” will come true albeit I may finally decided to throw in the tower and migrate. If I do, I will be happy for the Citizenry of Singapore.

I am quite surprised that you are making this statement and giving them due credit for the suggestion. I would say “pot calling the kettle black” or even “pot calling the cotton black”.

After all these 43 years and to use an extreme example purely for illustration, it is quite sad that the inventor even has the cheek in telling the robot off to act more like a human.

We are not robots in the strict sense but “gemami” does have a point on ” ‘cultivated’ and ‘programmed’ as in humans and robots respectively.

fully agree with you. i believe its the reason why we are here in the first place.

unfortunately, we have been ‘cultivated’ and ‘programmed’ in our growing up years and somehow subconciously we tend to lean toward the practices that we have live through in our daily lives. what i mean is that we do sometimes subconciously do the same thing we are fighting to change because of the way we have been programmed.

change will take time. we need to be patient and not to give up so easily . . . else . . . we would be the sort of ‘freedom fighters’ that give up at the first sign of trouble.

give these people a chance to learn from mistakes and – hopefully – things will be presented and shared as they are from now on. we must be optimistic if not we will return to the msm way.

Good humor. No, I am beginning to feel tire and sick of all this mercenary movement (if I may term it). Somehow, I felt there is a hidden agenda (in particular this article, that facts provide are in questions ~ parents= father +mother? where do they live before they move, do tthey own a hdb as well, what’s the relationship between Mr. Yap and his parents (father so to speak)…etc can Mr. Yap reconcile with his father assuming he own a hdb to sell it off to help them combine the money to opt for a 4 room so every body can live under the same roof…etc). All these questions that I wished to high-light to you have been lost in transist or was it deemed racist comment that warranted a censorship? Or what is it?

I have been commenting only months ago and revisited quite a few of the articles and its championing content. Apart from the Human Rights compaign week, the rest to me jare ust ranting issues and lop-sided (no more better than MSM).

As you can tell, I will play devil’s advocate from now even though I dislike the many policies of the current governing party. There is a saying, core value changes when the going is ever north way. I guess this site is beginning to look like one.

I am a person that believes in fundamental value and hold my principle of believes and am also a stancthed and strong advocate of freedom of speech and freddom of expression. Any censorship to me defeats the principle foundation of the freddom rules. I can live with any policies the current governing party throw at us, I cannot reconcile only on true freedom of speech and expression. That to me is every human being fundamental rights.

In this aspect, I would thought any kind of views should be respected in its face value and let others to make judgment on the credibility. Ya, nobody likes to hear racist remarks or engaged in personal assault in internet exchange, but if you are to strongly believe in freddom of speech and expression, you cannot avoid differing views. I supposed readers and posters are matured enough to differentiate and made their own conclusion, otherwise, we only prove the governing party right, Singaporean by and large are not matured and gracious enough to weather criticism and inadequate in making their own decision.

If you read on many of the comments in other articles, you will realize what I am implying. Sad as it is, but it is a fact of life. Reality can be ugly and we are not the only one to face it. All my life I have traveled and live in various countries for a significant period of time, long enough to understand a little bit of the local culture and whenever I made the comparison, Singaporean by and large is at the bottom line of things in terms of society graciousness, tolerance, community and citizenry bonding. Worse off if you talk about common ethiquette.

$110K (CPF) + $67 (HDB Loan) + $49K (Bank balance) = $226K

Not enough for Teck Whye but certainly enough for other areas.
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I think it’s not right on your calculation, you should take the lastest transcation price & not from 3 months ago.

JMHO

I think you are living in the woods. You think the HDB pricing is unfair, poorly structured and over-price? You have a choice not to live in it. No one forces you to live in it or live in one. You can always choose to live in a Condo.

Please, don’t just blindly oppose good governance for the sake of opposing. Think with senses and reasons. Don’t just jump on the wagon. It is not that the Yap cannot afford a roof over their head, it is purely they want it their way and no other way even when they clearly cannot fulfill the financial side of things. I will say let them eat their cake. Cruel, heartless and unsympathetic, call it whatever one’s wished, it is a fact of life. There are much worse off people I can find to help and sympathize.

In my opinion, this article should not even be published. I am suspecting how much value is there discussing a none issue or was there a hidden agenda. You go figure.

$110K (CPF) + $67 (HDB Loan) + $49K (Bank balance) = $226K

Not enough for Teck Whye but certainly enough for other areas.

in the 70s,80s,90s most will take less then 20 yrs with single income to fully pay up the load. It is only when HDB overcharge that cause families like the Yaps to meet with such problems.

Now Isa, what more can you say about this?

Affordable is the word that been misused by the government. You can afford anything as long as you can pay by installment, but whether you can service the installment is another thing. Even the cheapest HDB is no longer cheap.

The problem is worsened by the rising cost and inflation with thank to PayAndPay scheme of the Leegime.

OR

is it more important to wait indefinitely for HDB give them a bigger loan to buy a more expensive flat in Teck Whye?

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(I took the lastest – Sept transcation)

Yishun from $190,000 – $335,000 (avg $262,500)
Woodlans from $193,000 – $325,000 (avg $ 259,000)
Jurong West from $172,000 – $359,000 (avg $265,500)
Teck Whye from $215,000 – $240,000 (avg $227,000)

Teck Whye isn’t that expensive like you say but I think the $67,000 given is not enough for them to purchase at any of the area we mentioned above :(