Andrew Loh
Come next Tuesday to Friday, the Housing and Development Board will host the International Housing Conference, an event to showcase and boast about the HDB’s achievements over the last 50 years. Titled, “Sustainable Housing : Charting New Frontiers”, more than 30 experts and speakers from all over the world have been invited to the conference.
Undoubtedly, the HDB’s achievements are remarkable. It was awarded the United Nations Public Service Award in 2008. No one should begrudge it the accolades. Providing homes to a 5 million population in a land area of about 710.2 sq km is no mean feat.
50 years on, however, the HDB’s role is no longer that of just providing physical houses or flats. Its policies, especially in the context of an increasing number of foreigners, an ageing local population and the expanding income-gap, are under scrutiny. The issue is no longer one of making sure there are homes for everyone but one of whether Singaporeans are able to afford these homes, especially among the lower-income and the elderly.
Despite the oft-repeated refrain that “HDB flats are still affordable” by government ministers, the fact is that an increasing number of home owners are defaulting on their mortgage loans. In November last year, Parliamentary Secretary for National Development, Mohamad Maliki Osman, revealed that there are 33,000 flat owners who were in arrears of three months or more. The number of homeless people sleeping in public areas such as the parks and void decks have also seen an increase. Perhaps the best evidence that HDB flats are being priced beyond those who are at the bottom end of the income scale is the long waiting period for public rental flats – which can be as long as two years – and the government’s recent announcement that it will be building more such rental flats the next three years. In total, when these are built, the number of public rental flats here will be 50,000.
That could mean anywhere from 100,000 to 200,000 people who require these flats – and this is quite an astonishing figure.
In Parliament in 2009, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan disclosed how acute the problem is:
300 new applicants join the rental queue every month. The number of people returning flats is 150. Over and above that, there are over 500 appeals from Members of this House each month, from those who do not qualify for rental housing, who are not on the queue at the moment. I think all Members would know that this is probably the largest item on the agenda, as far as MPS is concerned. (Source)
Mr Mah also revealed that there were 4,550 applicants for rental flats as of February 2009.
Mdm Siti (not her real name) is one of those whose application for a rental flat has been denied by the HDB. Unable to service her bank loan, she had to sell off her flat. However, her flat fetched a lower price than when she bought it. She lost almost $50,000 in the sale, she tells The Online Citizen. With her children going through difficulties of their own and unable to take her in, she applied to the HDB for a rental flat. She was denied because under the HDB rules, having sold off her flat, she has to wait 30 months before she is eligible under the Public Rental Scheme. In the end, she had nowhere to go and ended up in a park.
Mdm Siti’s predicament is not unique. An increasing number of home owners, unable to pay their loans, either have had their flats repossessed by the HDB or the banks, or were forced to sell them. A rental flat is their last chance for a roof over their heads. But with the waiting period for such flats a lengthy one, these people have no choice but to put up wherever they can. And this means public areas where some live for many months.
Mr Mah, referring to those who no longer can afford buying their own flats, said “the family, not the Government, should be the first line of support for those in need.” While this may be desirable, often it is not a viable option, such as in the case of Mdm Siti whose children face problems themselves. One would argue that the government should indeed be the “first line of support for those in need”. After all, the HDB is the only public housing provider in Singapore. Where else can those in need go to, if their children or families cannot provide support?
Government ministries and departments, such as the Ministry of Community Development,Youth and Sports (MCYS) and the National Parks Board (NParks), together with the Voluntary Welfare Organisations, must work
closely in tandem with the MND and the HDB. Otherwise, as in cases which TOC have come across, the homeless are burdened further by being placed in homes and treated like prisoners or are fined as much as S$500 for taking shelter in public areas. Some of these homeless families have children as young as three or four-years old. It is unconscionable that our children should be made to face the unpredictable Singapore weather in the open, especially during the cold, rainy seasons.
So while the HDB trumpets its achievements to an international audience come next week, it must keep in mind that a growing population of those who can no longer afford its flats will be its biggest challenge going forward. The HDB must be more compassionate towards those who request for rental flats and it must be more aware of what is happening on the ground – Singaporeans who are affected adversely by its policies.
Perhaps the HDB should reflect on its priority and its first responsibility – to provide truly affordable homes for Singaporeans – in this its 50th year. Indeed, sustainable housing is what Singaporeans are hoping for.
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Related posts:
- Biggest hike in 8 years but “we’re better off”
- Needy waits 2 years under HDB’s Public Rental Scheme
- HDB: Homelessness due to policies? BTS better than BTO? 31,000 flats unsold, but nobody knows?
- TOC Editorial: The holistic approach to eradicating homelessness
- Wall Street suffers biggest ever one-day fall – Dow Jones crash 778 points
Most important is no one is seen camped on the streets or in public places. Then everything is still OK. If they camp in remote beaches like in Sembawang or in nature reserve out of public sight, it is still OK. Unless Online citizen make an expose of it, then action will be taken.
Even in the US, there are tent cities. So if we don’t have , we are considered luckier than in the US..
Whatever hardships Singaporeans may be facing, all these are nothing compared to the sufferings of the Haiti people.
So Singaporeans are very lucky. No earthquake, no hunger and no tents in the streets.
‘Homeless’ Prince William spends night on street
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/12/23/prince.william.homeless.uk/index.html
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I invite Mah Bow Tan and Vivian Balakrishnan to celebrate HDB’s 50th anniversary by spending a night at The Pinnacle@Duxton’s roof top garden with the homeless people in Singapore. They can then explain HDB’s and MCYS policies to them and their children.
1st of all
welldone TOC for gettin back on line
now back to the homeless threats…singapoor do not need to have a homeless situation @ all….
EVERY workin or x-workers will have a plus balances in their cpf savins
without a doubt this do needs to show proofs @ all
if the government is GENUIED in helpin the present homeless in makin them NOT homeless..let them used whatever cpf balance in their savins for a 2nd/3rd hands purchases in a used hdb ole flat..hdb do not needs to tear down EVERY ole flats
which is why it been built on a 99 year ole lease…
every europeans government has been doin it ALL alon in the name of easin the homeless situations..how come the singapore HIGHEST paid ministers cannot do the same?
Thanks for this Andrew, a poignant read. Hope to see more grassroots investigative journalism from TOC.
Very soon, a rental service for high quality tents might just happen. Maybe the humanitarian NGOs could pilot a scheme. If they can support the earthquakes and Tsunami victims with good tents, maybe these homeless people could also benefit from a peace of mind during thunderstorms with better quality tents.
Last year, Jessie Roobalosani fell into that category. A mother of three children, she became homeless and wound up in a government-run shelter after leaving her alcoholic husband. She now lives with her mother, stepfather, and three children in a one-bedroom apartment in a public housing block, one of hundreds that line Singapore’s tidy streets.
Six months ago, Ms. Roobalosani found a job as a baggage scanner at Singapore’s Changi airport. That took her off the welfare roll, so now she struggles to pay the bills from her $535 monthly salary. Her mother was recently hospitalized with a stroke and is no longer around to take care of her two young sons while she’s at work.
Roobalosani says she applied for various government grants but got bogged down in demands for supporting documents and interviews. None of the promised aid came through, she complains.
“By the time you’ve done it all, you just want to quit. I’m genuine. Why do they want to bother asking so many questions?” she says.
Experts say Singapore’s stringent evaluation of welfare claims acts as a deterrent to all but the most dogged. Only 26,000 households currently receive benefits, up from 22,700 at the end of 2007. By contrast, more than 100,000 households – the bottom 20 percent of Singapore’s income rung – earn less than $715 a month, a level that can be considered poor, says Mr. Leong. That bottom percentile has seen its income decline in real terms since 2001. Singapore has no official poverty line.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2010/0108/Rich-Singapore-resists-welfare-reforms
Jessie Roobalosani sounds like someone who doesnt bother to follow the procedures of seeking welfare.. Supporting evidences (such as medical records etc) are definitely required! How else can the Govt units ensure that welfare is given rightfully? Interviews are again part of the process to ensure that proper agencies can be roped in to aid her further.
[i]hoddioo on January 24th, 2010 11.12 pm Jessie Roobalosani sounds like someone who doesnt bother to follow the procedures of seeking welfare..[/i]
singapoor have welfare mey?
which department whoincharged?
hello paplicker don’t anyhow says WELFARE handouts
IT DOESN’T EXIST!!! want to bullshI t..try gettin a cow to dung instead………..
how come sg only donate 50k to Haiti?
Are we really first world country? If we r, why we have charity shows asking for millions of dollars almost every 2 months? Isnt that the job of the gov to provide for the needy?
Why? But our gov is so well paid…do they deserve it?
This is the tragic circumstance, resulted from an archaic rigid bureaucratic system. Having a short hand and severely ignoring expediency totally derails the objective of a WELFARE system.
It sneers at the underprivileged and beat down their self-esteem to beggar for scrapes that barely sustains a person. The person who survives the humiliation and tribulations gets to hop onto the many (slapping) hands system. Those who cannot muster enough strength to hurdle over the long and tormentous screening process are left nursing their broken confidence in life for a very long time if not forever.
Such selfishness is not only visible in such cases, It is also a glaring characteristic of many Singaporeans. I believe that such perverse trait is unconsciously lulled into us by the strong arm laws and punishments laid out by the government.
Like most parents always said, “Do not cross the O.B. markers” and “Mind your own business” and everything will be fine.
Something I came across.
“First they came …” is a popular poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out.
We do not own homes here in SG unless you are super-rich and can afford to buy a freehold bungalow. All HDB flats are leased by HDB for us to stay at a very high price. You end up paying the monthly rental (installment) for your whole life. HDB needs to mzimise shareholders value since it is a (semi) private organisation. Why should they care about the underpriviledged?
I proud to be Singaporean a peaceful country, advance in technology and multi racial country. But I hate the leader because they are daylight robber with license.
A HDB flat with high price and interest. For a local hardly we can afford to buy a flat.
Why does the HDB Flat cost that high?? Simple reason because all the PR and Foreigner from other country say that Singapore house is cheap .
Water and Electric bills keep increasing .
To manufacture a car only cost $30000 plus but our government very cunning just for a piece of paper (COE) can cost more than car price.
Not enough with the Road Tax the Government implement with ERP every where( Enter Road Pay )
Lots of FW/FT working in Singapore . End of the day Local like us just wait to become homeless.
In the beginning they name their party as PAP (PAY AND PAY) After the PAP family have monopolize Singapore Market and make a fortune , Singaporean will getting (POOR AND POOR)
Dear Singaporean we need a change of command in our beloved country. Let show the LEE FAMILY and PAP how strong is Singaporean(Local) if we put hand in hand as 1 family and fight for our right.
Without a local people like us Singapore can’t be like today .