HDB should invest more in low-income housing
The news last month that two HDB blocks in Toa Payoh – previously slated for redevelopment – have been converted to dormitories for foreign workers employed by Singapore’s new integrated resorts have unsurprisingly triggered some consternation. Dissenters groused that the government was once again prioritising foreign workers at the expense of low-wage Singaporeans, who face the unsavoury prospect of homelessness given the acute shortage of HDB rental flats.
Indeed there has been anecdotal evidence to suggest that homelessness in Singapore is on the rise. TOC had earlier reported on a community of the homeless in Sembawang Park, a situation that appears to be mirrored in other parks such as West Coast or the East Coast. Such families were usually forced into residing in parks after having their applications for HDB rental flats turned down. One particularly wrenching case was that of a single mother, seven months’ pregnant, who had been camping out in Sembawang Park with two young children for the past three months after having her application to HDB rejected.
These developments suggest a failure of government planning on two fronts. The first is that perennial bugbear, an inability to provide sufficient housing for the large foreign worker population. This has spilled over into the kind of abuses that Singaporeans have unfortunately grown inured to, such as workers being squeezed like sardines into unhygienic dorms.
The second is that the government has simply failed to provide enough rental flats for low-income groups. A report by the Straits Times on 20th June 2009 stated that while 300 applicants join the queue for rental flats each month, only about 150 people return flats in the same period. As of February 2009 the average waiting time for a one-room flat was 19.5 months, almost five months longer than in December 2007, while the wait for a two-room flat was 15 months, five months more than in 2007.
The government’s excuse was that most of the applicants did not appear to be in financial difficulties and it responded by tightening the rental criteria further. That does not seem to be borne out by the plight of the homeless, unless one tries to argue that such families are trying to economise on their housing costs.
Furthermore, there are about 200,000 households with less than S$1,500 in monthly income, far more than the 42,800 rental flats in total meant for households at that income level. Even if one assumes that most of those households own the flat they live in, given the lack of a social safety net surely there should be a large buffer of rental flats to hedge against the situation where those households fall on bad times and are forced to sell their only asset.
The reality is that low-cost housing in Singapore is becoming an increasingly scarce resource, and that adding foreign workers to the mix will only tax it further. HDB has to invest more in building rental flats aimed at low-income Singaporeans, barring which it should provide them with subsidies and vouchers to enable them to afford rental flats in the open market. HDB should stay true to its founding purpose: to provide affordable housing to Singaporeans. Otherwise Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan’s recent remarks that Singaporeans will benefit from the rising prices of their HDB assets will sound increasingly hollow to low-income Singaporeans.
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“These developments suggest a failure of government planning on two fronts”
Talking about planning, i like to check with readers, is bicycle path well planned ?
The recent announcement was only Tampinese residents can cycle legally on foot paths.
What does this imply?
All cyclists, young and old must cycle on roads and not pedestrian footpaths else they will be fined if caught?
While the idea may be to reduce accidents on footpaths, will this not increase accidents on roads?
sorry for digressing. But i felt the itch.
So the incumbent thinks that most of the applicants did not appear to be in financial difficulties and it responded by tightening the rental criteria further?
So who are the ones that help to pay the incumbent salaries, who are the ones that give them the MAN DATE they need so badly. Who are the ones that give up their life to defend this island. who are the ones that truly think this island is their home?
Seriously people need to wake up and not be push around again. deny them that mandate, we are not treated like citizens at all….ironically, we are the ones that give them that power to bully us.
“The government’s excuse was that most of the applicants did not appear to be in financial difficulties”
Is the foreign workers employed by IR staying at the two HDB blocks in Toa Payoh converted to dormitories in financial difficulties? If not, why rent to them???
why does our govt/HDB let FWs live in such a choice location? then can turn around & blame locals for being choosey?
why not let them stay in places like Boon Lay or Ponggol instead? little wonder true blue S’poreans feel 2nd class, because we’re treated as such.
maybe some FWs can stay at Oxley with that old man! lol… :P let that old man lead by example how welcoming he is (&charge low low rental rates).
lmao….
I heard that over 2700 new flats catered to middle class families who earn up to $10,000 a month. About half of these are found in Choa Chu Kang and Hougang.
95% of these flats will be prioritied for 1st time buyers.
To me, these potential buyers could be young couples or middle-aged couples in their 30′s to 40′s. prolly professionals. But i not sure if PRs also can buy them? At least, i think, the new citizens who may have been renting when they were PRs are now buying them.
Thats so good right, new citizens come to hougang. the more the merrier.
2 HDB blocks turned into dorms.
Soon, 2 entire estates may be turned into a dormitory township and it will be the beginning of the end for local born Singaporeans.
are the 2 blocks subject to racial quota? or are they “unique”, if so, why?
Flats for foreigners to help the IR.. but none for locals. Whats new? You think they care about what you say? As long as they win every election… they DONT
Our government has NO sympathy for homeless and poor, they only want citizens to donate to charity or ask homeless family/friends for help. In charity, instead of distributing funds to help, they park it in investments and build posh buildings and pay their mickeys $600k of peanuts.
It should not be Govt sympathy we demand, it should be Govt responsibility. The homeless and poor should not be dependant on charity to survivie. If the Govt proclaim itself first world or first class, they will meet the challenge of eradicating such poverty and there should never be a marginalised group.
This first class Govt should meet the challenge by reshuffling the budget without raising a penny in taxation or other means of collecting revenue. For eg cabinet manpower, ministers salaries, perks and bonuses, banners or advertising expenditure, scholarships for children of super high income families, bodyguards for ministers everywhere they go and I believe a whole lot more.
Wat happended to “Singaporean come first for Govt???
By the way….do these foreign talents pay t.v licence during the lease???
i really wonder why basic issues were not addressed when the garmen decided on the 6.5m (now 5.5m) population target:
1. why housing supply were not increased in anticipation of the increased demand. this has led to the current high HDB prices which has left policy makers in a fix now: If a deluge of flats are built now, HDB prices will fall and those who bought at the current high may have negative equity. Yet HDB cannot let the prices surge indefinitely. What is the way out? HDB to buy back at current high prices and build more to satisfy demand?
2. why transportation needs were not addressed. there was a period last year when MRTs were bursting at the seams. SMRT only increased the frequency afer numerous complaints by the public. Even so the trains are still packed.
3. why medical needs were not catered to. Anyone who requires specialist treatment will know that the wait in public hospital is at least 3 month. This is indeed a long time to wait. Just pay a visit to public hospital clinics (or polyclinics) and anyone can see that medical staffs are barely coping.
I hope the opposition can take up these 3 points during the next election campaign. It’s time someone is accountable for the failure to manage basic social needs properly.
So now the PAP is admitting that the IRs are meant to create jobs for foreigners, NOT SINGAPOREANS??!!!!!!!!
The action of the govt speaks volume about their priority. No country and for that matter, no govt in the world will be so stupid as to set aside a central choice location for the housing of transient foreign workers whose sole purpose is to reap as much benefit as they can from their host country.
Why allow these foreign workers ease of accessibility in a central town when true blue SINGAPOREAN newly weds are reduced to queing for flats in outskirt towns and having to travel for hours to work in downtown ? Have our govt forgotten that it is our SINGAPOREAN forefathers who help built Toa Payoh ?
It is extremely nauseating to read news after news about how our govt places importance on the foreign workers over the locals. By the way, very good article, and please keep up the good work TOC !
“13) Brendan on January 7th, 2010 11.50 pm
So now the PAP is admitting that the IRs are meant to create jobs for foreigners, NOT SINGAPOREANS??!!!!!!!! ”
you can only make a wild guess.
Who is gonna ask them this question?
That is the situation we want. So be it.
the smartest people on earth.
pap is exerting its power by telling Singaporeans to wait behind foreigners for home. Come election, show them what real power is.
i think S’poreans should boycott the 2 IRs, since our dear leaders only language is $$$.
as consumers, people have the spending POWER!! :D
Jobs for foreigners, NSF for Singaporeans.
Yes, i don’t intend to patronise any of the IRs. Hope they close down and the foreigners get sent back.
[i]Brendan on January 7th, 2010 11.50 pm So now the PAP is admitting that the IRs are meant to create jobs for foreigners, NOT SINGAPOREANS??!!!!!!!! [/i]
do you all know that the ir project will required 35,000 foreign talent cards dealers/blah.blah.blah…
where else are they all gonna stayed? kallang river?
we are already DOOMED as singapooriums…we are just LIABILITIES..not an asset…leekuanyew is the biggest final employer….trust me on that….
he already planned far far ahead…
35,000 rentees…all under his wings inc…
35,000 spenders..all under his ir rosort in vivocity/sentosa…
35,000 blah b;ah blah all under his pockets…
now imagined this scenerio 35,000 just spent a monthLEE sum of mere $500/month..how much would leekuanyew inc raked/reaped?
you all do the sums/figures….
aiyoyo
revert back to 70s or 80s la,
hdb flat not so high $, life is not so pressure also…
alamak
aiyoyo
I do know of some foreigners renting a room from these rental flats.
Even more ridiculous was when I found out a group of foreigners was sharing to rent the whole rental flat. Who to blame here? HDB for lack of governing or Locals who took advantage of the situation to profit from it and depriving those truly in need?
I think we all got it wrong; it’s not FTs before Singaporeans lah, it’s the PAP before anyone! These workers were got in to provide manpower to the 2 IRs & generate money for the PAP! I am convinced that whatever money they made, will be used to fill the huge crater created by Ho Ching & the GIC & honest to goodness, they are desperate! It doesn’t matter if the citizens die, the only thing that matters to the PAP now is to recover as much money as possible! I think they don’t really have a good feel for this coming election & chances are they might lose a couple of GRCs (fingers crossed)! If that happened, it might be more difficult for PAP to withdraw money for ‘investment’ without being question in Parliament & PM Lee will have to spend more time fixing the opposition!!
Toa Payoh only? There’s this block (16 storey) in Havelock that was supposingly enblocked only to be renovated and rented out…to foreigners too.
Foreigners are important . They can be cheaper labor. They can be PRs. They can be NeW CitiZens. Then they can vote.
PRs can help drive the market.
Priceless.
Come on us, its too late to lament or complain or kpkb.
They have landed.
They are in our midst.
Every few person we see at least 1 is a foreigner if not direct-foreign-originated.
They are here to stay with PRship or citizenship.
The game WAS over long ago.
R u still living in Oblivion? wahaaha!
Sentosa increasing car entrance fees and parking fees…
I have “boycotted” sentosa as long as I can remember, and have no intention on going there, same for marina bay IR..
Mark my words, if the IRs are not making money, maybe due to another recession, or pandemic, I am pretty sure the casino entrance fee will be waived for singaporeans, and the authorities will have a very good storyline prepared to tell us why it is good for us to waive the fee..
I have no problem on this issue.
HDB was started to meet the housing needs of the citizens. Later it become open to PRs. Now its housing foriegn workers. I understand there are so many people who are unable to pay their HDB loans and are in arrears. Based on HDB rental criteria these people do not qualify for rental flats should they sell their flats. In most cases these people have lost their jobs due to the recession (blame the global forces) or to foriegners (blame themselves for being choosy and lazy). Instead of helping these people, we are helping the very foriegn workers to get cheap housing so that more citizens can end up homeless.
P.S. While TOC’s intention was good in reporting the plight of the homeless in Sembawang, I understand the authorities have started to monitor and take action on those who live in the park. Lets not forget, sleeping in the park is an offence and recently someone was fined for that, in our first world city.
IR= Immgirant Resort.
Homeless citizens can stay in NS army camps–Pulau Ubin?
Foreign labour stay in very ‘choice’ Toa Payoh
Sh*it. Taking care of foreigners before the citizens again.
Giving low cost housing to foreigners allow them to survive on lower pay and thus giving downward pressure to Singaporeans’ salaries. Why the need for Govt assistance for foreigners? It should be the onus of the IRs who are privately owned to house their own foreign workers.
I have never stepped into sentosa in the past. Looking at the situation progress, I am certain, I will never step into IR until everything is free for Singaporeans. You can use the word boycott, I guess that shows my loyalty to the citizen. Otherwise what is the point of serving NS and still get bullied by PAP.
We got a government that simply don’t give a freaking damn about the homeless. Nice try PAP, see what happen in the upcoming election. I hope ur failure is guarantee.
When govt do anything for the foreigners be they PR , new citizens or foreigners, they do it on the quite. We have to find out ourselves or get it from the new media.
When the govt do small things for Singaporeans, wah!!!. the news is splashed across the main media, printed or otherwise.
We need to help ourselves reach our goal by reaching out to the apathetic majority. We need to put in effort by ourselves.
Hong Lim Park events cannot draw enough people. It only draws the regular faces. Since the people who turn up at events are so few, we need a new Strategy :
1. we the readers need to talk to people by ourselves . Talk to friends, relatives (CNY, Hari Raya, Deepavali etc) strangers, man on the street (while waiting for bus, MRT, at shopping malls).
Time is running out. We may not have enough time to reach the majority. We readers are the Minority else this blog would have overtaken the MSM. So, talking to ourselves is not enough as the Majority apathetic are not reached.
Now, i talk to strangers, a lot.
#34 the doctor is right!
its easy to reach out to 1000 people in a day. 100 days = 100,000. That is equiv to 3 months or so.
It may come in 3 months time.
Taking a more modest estimation,
IF 100 readers each talk to 100 people over 3 months,
that may reach out to 10,000.
1000 readers and volunteers and members of loyal opps => 100,000.
now, can sign that petition.
now, proceed to hong lim.
Indeed there has been anecdotal evidence to suggest that homelessness in Singapore is on the rise. TOC had earlier reported on a community of the homeless in Sembawang Park, a situation that appears to be mirrored in other parks such as West Coast or the East Coast. Such families were usually forced into residing in parks after having their applications for HDB rental flats turned down. One particularly wrenching case was that of a single mother, seven months’ pregnant, who had been camping out in Sembawang Park with two young children for the past three months after having her application to HDB rejected.
Paraphased a quote :”show me the beggars, where are they?” or words to that effect by a famous international politican of the East.
a)Profit and Loss ?—-you want Profit
b) Problematic worker or obedient worker ?—–you want Obedient worker
Taking our Population of ONLY True SGCZ
Ovrall Top 10% income owners——you knw who
Nxt Top 20% income owners……..Top civil servants, CEO of MNC/Big Corp.
Nxt Top 30% income owners…….. Entrepreuners, Professionals
Nxt Top 10% income owners…….. Civil Servants ( Normal )
Nxt Bal 30% income owners …… You are a Grumblers. We hve had enuff of
you…pathetic,losers..blame yr forefathers.
Go replace this last lot of 30% with Foreigners…..their Cheaper.
their Hungrier
their obedient
And if they fall sick or can’t find jobs later….jus sent them home. No headache.
Plenty of replacement avaliable.
So…to the bottom 30% SGreans ..better realise now…the “Writings are on the Wall” …….your services are no longer required..you are expendable.
Jus go and surf the StraitsTimes forum…
a) Abt Flats matter……you get a sense that most poster are Ordinary folks.
b) Abt Top Debater…..you will see many support ,especially posters that I
believe,fall above the 40th percentile income earners.
( jus read and deduce from their comments )
These are the grp that “exploit ” on the lesser or weaker.
Its not surprising that these same few Posters..would label most other posters as Whinners and losers.
Its also not surprising that these few posters are in support of F/ts,irregardless of what skill….or even if it was “real talent”.
The fact is…they jus want Cheap,Obedient,Easily expendable worker to support their “Ever Growing” appetite and maintain and keep their Machinery going.
Pathetic..but True!
letting prs bid for resale flats achieve many objectives:
1. it allows the land prices to be bid higher and govt take advantage of that,
2. it allows the hdb property tax to get higher,
3. it allows the Singaporeans (new buyer) to carry a higher loan for the same flat build years ago. resulting in singaporeans having much less monies to take out from the CPF.
4. it allows the government to eventually moderate the growth rate of the minimum sum, resulting in fewer Singaporeans getting their monies out of CPF, without them looking too bad. this is only true if they don’t cock up the GIC/TH investments again.
5. It allows the PR to think that they get a good deal, which helps Singapore to get more cheap labour from mainland.
6. those who sold, cannot afford to buy (at least some) and will have to stay with relatives. That will drive per household income because whether you have 3 working person contributing to a household or 5 working person contributing to a household, household is the sum of the contributions and evidently, we should expect 5 person contributing with their jobs should be more than 3 person contributing with their salary.
that’s why only the govt is pushing for higher and higher property prices not Singaporeans. Most of us want price stability much like the same thing we want from the price of food.
36) whjho on January 8th, 2010 4.59 pm
Paraphased a quote :”show me the beggars, where are they?” or words to that effect by a famous international politican of the East.
Is the HDB population in our midst really increasing? (HDB = Homeless Destitute Beggars). Does anyone know the statistics?
It’s a shame that such Singaporeans even though born & bred here, have to go about living like a wild animal – while foreigners have a decent roof over their heads.
2 HDB blocks in Toa Payoh have been turned into dormitories,
So that IR foreign workers will have no accommodation worries?
Did I hear them wrongly?
I thought S’poreans are supposed to be their Top Priority?
So, why weren’t these flats instead being rented to S’pore low-income families?
Surely, we can’t let this kind of people rule our country!
Showed no compassion nor humanity,
All they cared about is their own fat salary.
They have long lost their souls to MONEY.
It’s time citizens showed our unity and pancake this party!
#1,
won’t this directly or indirectly lead to increase in domestic consumption in terms of so-called public transport ? i mean if parents force their children take shuttle bus instead of free transport with bikes cycling to the MRT?
PR are the ones buying resale in mature estates, while SG citizens queue for years for BTO in the outskirts. PR are not allowed to participate in BTO as they are considered direct purchase from HDB. If this goes on, mature estates will be dominated by PR while SG citizens relegated to the outskirts. And it doesn’t help that 2 prime blocks in Toa Payoh are reserved for foreign talents.
From a moral standpoint, I have been against the building of the casinos (let’s not kid ourselves that they are IRs), a pig is a pig, a gambling den is a gambling den and let’s call it as such. From an economic standpoint, I do not see the casino creating that many jobs for Singaporeans, as we have so clearly seen, it is creating more jobs for the FT.
In addition, I dun think it will succeed. Las Vegas and Macau can thrive with the casinos because they are SIN CITIES where anything goes, it is a well known fact. The Singapore government job will do a half baked job of trying to make Singapore look cool and sexy but do all means to regulate it, remember Crazy Horse?!!!! It closed down because the restrictions around it on marketing and promotion were so restrictive that it never got off the ground. I am making a personal bet that the IR would not succeed.
What?! Flats in convenient Toa Payoh to be rented out to FW?! I had to buy a flat in Jurong West when my entire family lives in Bedok,Simei,Tampines;simply cos they don’t want to build new flats cheap and fast in the east!
don’t worry!
HDB flats are very affodable! and there is enough HDB flats for everyone!
i am also the monkey’s uncle!
its a double (or more) blow for parents with kids & are of the lower income group. why?
1) there are many schools near that 2 blocks,
2) shorter travel distance = save money,
3) mature estates are well served in many ways, like shops, clinics, other amenities.
4) being well served by public transport, any emergencies that need to be attended, travel time is shorter, so working adults may work out a more flexi-off time that reduces disruption at work. instead of 1 or 1/2 day of maybe boss can let staff go on a per hour basis? that will depend on the type of work also…
HDB should give piriority to households with kid/s. otherwise, such practices will surely drive birthrates lower….
singaporean still never wake up. low intelligent branch.
BOT is not the way to control HDB supply for Singaporeans.
MBT, use your pig brain lah! To many people, HDB flats are the roofs over their heads, not the stupid damn COEs or any cars on the road you know?!
MBT, you know well before hand by sitting beside LHL, that it has been the Government’s intention to increase Singapore population as much as 50%, and you did nothing to keep the ample supply of new HDB for the locals, and as a result caused many Singaporeans to suffer from sky-high HDB prices.
What have you been doing? Still advising how to improve Singapore’s football standard is it?
By the way, Goal 2010 also failed, you are god damn lousy! You are incapable and not fit to be a Minister at all.
Objective #50,
these toa payoh flats are rented out the foreigners at a cheap price!
it’s cheap and good. they can have it, but not singaporeans. singaproeans need to pay high price, or live in jurong west.