The following is Mr Low Thia Khiang’s speech in Parliament where he questioned the Ministry of National Development on the Lift Upgrading Programme.
Sir, I note that prefabricated metal lift shaft is commonly used now instead of ferroconcrete lift shaft under the LUP. The Minister has also mentioned in this house that this change would reduce the total cost of construction arising from faster construction and lesser need for foundation.
I would like to request the Minister to provide a detailed breakdown of the cost reduction and how much this translates into savings for the HDB, the Town Council and the residents in terms of dollars and cents.
I also would like to know whether metal lift shafts would be the choice for all future LUPs? If that is so, would the use of steel, which by nature is a better conductor of heat, increases the breakdown frequency of the various heat-sensitive mechanical and electronic components of the lifts? This will have implications on maintenance cost.
As Town Councils and eventually the residents are responsible for the cost of the maintenance of lifts, are Town Councils given the choice to decide the type of lift shafts they prefer under LUP?
Hougang Town Council recently called for a tender to replace 54 numbers of lifts to 26 blocks of flats but MND informed the Town Council to prepare financially for the coming LUP in Hougang Estate. Although the objective of the government is to complete the LUP program by 2014, MND has not informed the Town Council the planned commencement and completion dates for the Hougang LUP.
Sir, such information is vital for Hougang Town Council to plan and accommodate works by the HDB so as to avoid wastage of the Town Council’s precioys resources. Such wastage of resources was experienced in the ongoing demolition of the HDB blocks at Hougang Avenue 3 and 7, just a mere 7 years after the lifts at these blocks were upgraded at the cost of some $400,000 to $500,000. The Hdb refused to reimburse Hougang Town Council the costs for the unexpired cyclical period. Had Hougang Town Council been informed of the plans of the government, the money could have been saved and put to better use.
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To Opposition party wards HDB has no money to spare, to PAP wards HDB has alot of money to spare. This “Horse” is a money sucker.
The elites own TCs already lost money on the minibonds. Are they now trying to get Hougang TC to lose money also by making them waste money on these lifts?
Also,HDB flats have got a 99 years lease but if they are to be demolished before the 99 years are up, then why sell them to us with such a long lease?
aiyoyo
really waste of $ to demolish when lift upgrade done!
why the ELITEs like that huh???
never think of earn $ yet keep wasting $$$!
why there’re so many such ELITEs in this country behave like that huh?
aiyoyo
I would like to point out that in Hougang, opposition wards, residents do not need to pay for the new lifts. Yet in PAP wards, residents have to come up with thousands of dollars to share the cost.
Now HDB tore down the flats in Hougang. What kind of integrity does the PAP have?
4) charsiewbao
Mmm…how about self-declared integrity that may or may not exist?
Hey! What’s all the fuss?! It’s a fine example of good governance. So impartial and just?!
We should definatley vote in more oppositions into parliment. For one, they can fight for us lesser mortals and help push for lower cost of living.
`To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.’
Barrack H. Obama
# 4) charsiewbao
This is the way how papees stays in power for so many years. As long as they feel any thread from any opp party, they will do just anything to make them look real bad. Its their politics and its very dirty one too. Imagine, their govt have to date loss more than $100billions of our taxpayers monies and they don’t even feel any guilty at all cos its not their party’s money. The only hope that LTK continues to probe further into all the dirty things of the papees into the public especially money issues which are still well hidden from the citizens by using the MSM to brainwash the people with different details.
Our Esteemed Leader LTK questioned the Minister :
“I also would like to know whether metal lift shafts would be the choice for all future LUPs? If that is so, would the use of steel, which by nature is a better conductor of heat, increases the breakdown frequency of the various heat-sensitive mechanical and electronic components of the lifts? This will have implications on maintenance cost.”
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I wonder if this question will be answered with consultation to Engineers?
And what kind of reply would engineers give if asked by the minister?
LTK :
“I would like to request the Minister to provide a detailed breakdown of the cost reduction and how much this translates into savings for the HDB, the Town Council and the residents in terms of dollars and cents.”
=> LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
IF YOU ARE CAPABLE OF GIVING AN ANSWER,
DOES SINGAPOREANS HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW?
JUST 1 SIMPLE WORD ANSWER: YES / NO
your final answer is………………….:
“I also would like to know whether metal lift shafts would be the choice for all future LUPs? If that is so, would the use of steel, which by nature is a better conductor of heat, increases the breakdown frequency of the various heat-sensitive mechanical and electronic components of the lifts? This will have implications on maintenance cost.”
A “stupid” question since the Ministry of National Development “can’t tell seven years in advance” of redevelopment plans – “not even seven months”.
4) charsiewbao on February 11th, 2009 10.05 am
Wow, Hougang ward Residents do not need to pay and pay for LUP?
How come non-Hougang ward HDB lease holders need to pay and pay for the LUP ? I have to pay $700- $800 I was told by a neighour.
To be fair, TC has been ‘well’ managed.
The fund gotten from S&CC should be able to pay and pay for the LUP?
Is it true?
Kown Ser Teo
12) Teo Kown Ser on February 11th, 2009 5.21 pm
The fund gotten from S&CC should be able to pay and pay for the LUP?
Is it true?
They have already lose more than $12millions of the SC&C fund from the people on their illegal investments, and still no one is accountable for it so we becomes the suckers.
This is downright dirty politics if you asked me. Only a party that is afraid of challenges and want o cling on to power will resort to all sorts of underhanded means.
There will be more dirts to surface when one is in their BAD LUCK time. 44 years chinese means “see-see” (dealth) and you already can see the stages of rotting taking shape now.
At the WP rally at Hougang during the 2006 GE I remembered LKT invoked the heaven for fair play. He proclaimed in teochew ‘Tee Wu Mak’ (meaning Heaven Got Eyes). Sure enough the dark clouds drifted away and he was able to complete his speech. This was in sharp contrast the day before when it rained heavily during another party’s rally. No prize for guessing which was that party.
The righteous will also triumph over evils. Democracy over communism, dictatorship and fascism. The Soviet Union lasted less than 80 years. Hitler was defeated. Mussolinni was killed by his own people.
Politics is not dirty. People are dirty.
PAP had done a good job in the past. Those who invest in shares and bonds will notice the disclaimer at the bottom of the document stating that past performances are no indication of future earnings. Alas, the 10,000 investors failed to read them carefully. In the end, the 4 million citizens of Singapore will realise too late for putting all their eggs inside the PAP’s basket.
Do your part for the future survival of Singapore. Vote for democracy.
To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history….
HISTORY WILL NEVER REMEMBER U.
people, open your eyes and witness what is happening. and i give the outmost respect to hougang residents.
for being able to suffer the consequences in order to have an alternative voice in parliament who truly able to speak up for all singaporeans.
The citizens at Hougang and Potong Pasir are righteous and fearless,
the other constituencies can learn from them.
patriot
i may consider moving house to hougang.
Better still, WP to contest Ponggol and Sengkang, please expand your boundary, die die my whole family and neighbours will be on your side.
All talk only lah.
Come election time, all will still vote PAP..
Although not all voted,
those who voted
Chosen them.
Non-stop for half CENTURY.
#22) isa on February 12th, 2009 11.44 am
All talk only lah.
Come election time, all will still vote PAP
………………………………………………….
I believe most TOC readers here will vote for credible opposition party candidates BUT TOC readers form only a negligible percentage of the elligible voters. Yes, don’t just talk. Please do your part by publicizing this web-site to others including PAP supporters. Spread the news. Think of ideas of helping the opposition parties to get more votes and supporters. Change the climate of fear.
Edward’s point is crucially important.
People who visit this blog frequently or even a few times a week
are people Concerned about the way the system is run.
The rest , many are apathetic . Why so? TOC is the most well Advertised Blog in Singapore, prolly right up there next to Mr Brown.com. But why so not the majority read these blogs? Many reading this blog does not mean majority. i.e >= 50.1%.
Why? Many can be 10 or 1000. this is neglible effect. Some say insignificant.
This majority do not bother to read because they do not feel it matters to them. Manjority if not all singaporeans are Pragmatic. They cannot find reasons to justify to read and post comments. Yes, this is shallow mentality. All issues can affect us 1 way or the other. If only they are enlightened to this truth.
Singapore is characterised by the majority.
I am also telling people I come across about TOC.
1 time, I ask a friend for his comments or views about EP. He thought I meant English Premier League. I told him what I meant and he said, act blur saying I no no. I no convenient to comment due to work related reasons.
i also no no what he meant.
I would suggest TOC to do more affiliation of their websites not only with local sites but also to more foreign related sites to draw higher traffic and awareness. This is the only way to create awareness, if neccessary to increase the consistency of youtube uploads too.
26) tiredsingaporean on February 14th, 2009 2.14 am
Agree.
Why depend on just singaporeans?
That may take 20 years at least.
Let the foreigners educate singaporeans
and
assist them to come out of their shell and well.
When that one no more, a new beginning. Big Bang 2.0
Demolition of upgraded flat goes to show how easy it was for pap to throw away taxpayers hard earned money. Just invest, demolish, and throw everything they have collected from us through overcharged. It is not their money to be concerned about.
Back to the wastage issue, honestly, its not only the LUP which is stuffed of it. Much of the so-called “upgrading” programmes – what do they really do? Back when I was living in the west, I had the sidewalk near my block torn up and repaved 3 times within 2 years. And everytime it looked exactly the same as before – a raw, cemented surface. Then there were silly things like the pump room door which kept getting changed so often I’d lost count after a while but got to know the contractor charged to changing it every couple of months.
I’ve lost count of the number of HDB estates I’ve passed by undergoing “upgrading” which entails silly things like the outer facades of blocks which were just painted a year or so back hammered out just to be re-surfaced and re-painted to look exactly the same as it was before the upgrading works.
If they really had the interests of resident at heart, how about spending the money on the things that really matter, like leaking pipes or concrete ceilings which are coming apart on their owners’ heads? My neighbours and I have raised this before to different bodies and the reply we got was always the same old “oh, the interior of the flats are the responsibility of the owners, not ours”. So, in the end the residents, without much say, end up putting up with the dust and noise for who knows how long to have HDB estates with nice looking exteriors but leaking sewer pipes, cracking ceilings, faulty windows (which, incidentally, came with the flats, for many I know) and who knows what else is out there.
And thus, its better to waste money on something within your so-called responsibility (which by the way, are merely defined by a set of man-made rules which can be re-written if someone in the right position really wanted or bothered to) than to spend it on something which would really matter to the residents?
“I also would like to know whether metal lift shafts would be the choice for all future LUPs? If that is so, would the use of steel, which by nature is a better conductor of heat, increases the breakdown frequency of the various heat-sensitive mechanical and electronic components of the lifts? This will have implications on maintenance cost.”
Asking irrelevant questions shows how intelligent a person is.
Confidence lost.
Zenhora,
Is LTK’s question irrelevant or his act of questioning irrelevant? You sound like somebody who does not depend on the lift to access his HDB flat.
The Government Gazette has revealed that changes have been made to polling districts. Such changes are part of the steps that need to be taken ahead of a General Election. (Straits Times)
TOO LATE NOW! the papees govt has already made their final arrangement to call for an early snap election in days to come. If the 2 present opp parties cannot get their new members ready in time, maybe Potong Pasir will be gone too, all they have to do is just telling the people there that CST is not going to last much longer and there will be no successor and pap will automatically take over. Call it dirty game, but this is Singapore PAP way of politicing. No choice, before the old man kicks the bucket (which would not be long), he will at all means grab this last straw of opportunity he has, to do whatever he could to keep all the power and money to his family members.
Hope LTK (Hougang) is well prepared now as they might just change last minute boundary at Hougang to swallow up more votes for themselves, which they will do this time, just to cut down the % of LTK votes.