I am interested to know also.

Between solid concrete cement and steel ‘I’ beam and the external wall were covered by fabricated alumimum panels, I can say the following:

1. Cost – it is going to be a great reduction in material cost and labour cost in building those shaft with steel ‘I’ beam and alumimum panels. That is one main way for HDB to reduce the lift upgrading cost, especially in the past year when there was a price hike of concrete cement.

2. Protection – there is no way the aluminium panels shaft will provide the same protection as a concrete shaft. The steel ‘I’ beams only form the framework of the lift shaft that is covered by alumimum panels. I doubt the alumimum will hold up in a fire or a strong impact.

.

Could you tell us what SHOCKED you? I know you mentioned steel against concrete but what does that mean to a lay person like me? It seems like there is a huge difference in the price between both. Anything else we should be concern about?

What about safety? Has it been compromised? Thanks.

Well if Mr Chiam can said that, I suppose he has his method.

Well, I saw them at Bedok North, Blk ( not sure of blk no. ) but it was infront of blk 501 facing the open carpark and if you travel along Avenue 2 I’m sure you will see more.

Is there any safety issue with this construction method? Some years back Mr Chiam See Tong debated in Parliament that that he can do lift upgrading cheaper and later HDB came out with cheaper design.

BTW, please tell us the address and the blocks in question.

Long term investment ?.

Many many years ago, budgeting was 1-yr, 3-yr & 5-yr. Now, you can’t even know what will happen in 1 year.

They are still very stuck to their old school of belief. The life-cycle of everything nowsadays has greatly shortened and they really really need to re-look their past assumptions.

They may have a niche of control over here. However outside this country they have no control over international vagaries to which the value of financial papers are conditional.

The question at the first place should be “What is the job/duty of the Town Council???”

Funds should be collected to pay for only the planned projects & maintainence fees, and probably a common sink fund among all the Town Councils for ad hoc projects. It shouldnt be holding so big a “responsibility” in investing “public funds”.

The Town Councils are like mini countries to me now (minus police, civil defence and military…

Dr Teo Ho Pin, Coordinating Chairman of the 14 PAP Town Councils and Mayor of North West District said:

“Maybe a couple of percentage out of the total investment portfolio (were used in those investments), so the exposure will not affect the overall investment portfolio or the sinking funds per se. There’s definitely no fear that any of the PAP town councils’ sinking funds will be wiped out. All the supporting PAP town councils’ sinking funds are in safe hands.”

Maybe a couple of percentage out of the total investment.
We the citizen of Singapore want to know how much?
Please tell the citizen of Singapore.
Thank you.

back to serious issue, I believe this TC investment questions shall remain questions as people may forget soon. Ginko deficit of the extreme kind. See, even this article is now relegated to lower ranks in the articles menu and newbies will never see it to keep the conversations going and comments coming in.

regards
Mellanie Hewit Kang

I believe and treasure Personal Privacy.
We should uphold our privacy rights.
If possible, I hope your friend can give us more details and let the people know if there is really something appropriateness somewhere.
Its for everyone’s benefit.

My friend wrote a letter to ST complaining against her employer. ST published the letter without revealing her identity. Few days later, Today published the same letter with her identity on it it. My friend never wrote to Today. What is going on with Singapore Press Holdings?

what do you guys really expect to change?
“Lets hope we get some accountability.” >>> ya, I think that is exactly what we shall do. :p

Time will confirm my believe is right or wrong.

thank you for the inititative. I had almost given up on ST Forum. They seems to publish the most mundane issue while the area of pertinence is neglected. lets hope they publish ur letter.

on another note, someone wrote to TODAY on the 31 oct about this.

Lets hope we get some accountability.

I just spoke to a friend on this issue. she told me the town council guy interviewed on TV sounded sheepish and evasive when asked how much money is lost in investment.

regards
Chih-Yang

The digging is on and will continue, lets see how many more shocking things will surface other than those already discovered. I agree that many singaporeans will be too shock to know the truth of many things which are still hidden from the people as the late President Ong Teng Cheong had tasted and found difficulty even as President then to unlock the keys to certain state financial secrets. I think all of us knew how he was done off by who we all know later on after that incident. Just imagine how ugly and dirty things can be happening in a small little nation like singapore.

I fully agreed that Town COuncils should not use public funds for such risky investment. The catch is how can the loss be compensated? From the Ministry of Finance or otherwise? Dr Teo, co-ordinating Chairman of the 14 PAP Town Councils hopefully can elaborate more on the extend of the investment loss. I am sure it is in the tune of millions of dollars. He should also reveal how the surplus funds is used so that there is transparency here. Many people were sued by the courts when tehy can’t pay up the maintenance fees. I was summoned with a warning letter after three months of non-payment and the legal fees payable was close to a hundred dollars – about 1/3 of the total 3-month consolidate bill. It was excessive and prohibitive.

I am not surprised also if our CPF funds are used for investment by the govt and there may even be some losses due to the current adverse investment climate. Transparency ought to be the key here as the money firstly belong to the public and secondly the government is selected by the people who entrusted them this mandate. This trust seems to waver over the past few years. unfortunately.

The whole government machinery runs on a very secretive top-down approach that if we dig further, more cob webs may appear. The skeletons hidden inside may be scary and frightening as the late Me Ong Teng Cheong have tasted abit of. He had difficulty as President then to unlock the keys to certain state financial secrets. I think all of us knew how he fared later on after that episode.

There is certainly a need for a far more comprehensive check system on our governance here. Parliament to me is just a lot of smoke but if the top men running the show don’t compliant, we are still back to square one. This is the piteous state of our country’s politics. And politics does affect the daily lives of people like you and me. For too long, we have trusted the people at the top to run the show but lately we realised that they may be not so trustworthy and reliable after all. More shocks may come in this unstable hard times of our life. Be prepared. There is no perfect government but at least they should be transparent and upfront with the people. We don’t need a government that is of first class model but one that listens and acts according to the heart beat of the people.