By Leong Sze Hian
I refer to the article “HDB resale prices: Don’t just find a scapegoat – It is not an issue of us-versus-them, but one of a rise in demand” (ST, Feb 11).
It states: “But actually, what exactly is the issue? Are rising HDB resale prices an issue?”
Well, the issue is that the HDB’s Market Subsidy Pricing policy pegs the prices of new flats to that of the resale market. This makes new flats increasingly an affordability issue for Singaporeans.
As for the statement “Surely not to the majority of 880,000 or so households who already own an HDB flat, to whom rising flat prices means rising asset values”, what good is a higher priced HDB flat if you need to downgrade to a smaller flat in order to have enough money to retire?
Under current rules, downgraders can only purchase a resale flat. As the price differential between a larger and smaller resale flat may not be very substantial, the alternative of downgrading to a new smaller flat may mean a wait of 5.5 years (2.5 years waiting period plus 3-year Build-to-order (BTO) construction period).
This problem may be further compounded by the change in policy last year that after age 55, any shortfall in the CPF Minimum Sum (MS) must be topped-up from property sale proceeds (CPF monies utilised plus accrued interest), before the balance can be used for housing again.
With the MS at $117,000 now and projected to increase to $161,000 and $271,000, in 2013 and 2023 respectively, anyone selling to monetise their flat may not have much left after meeting this Minumum Sum rule and the price of a smaller resale flat.
The article also stated: “What of the charge that some people are buying HDB flats for rental income? Actually, this is patently the case – and rightly so. HDB’s 2008/09 annual report states there were 22,754 flats that were sublet. No one knows how many more flats are being sublet illegally. A number of HDB flat owners will also be renting out some bedrooms for income”.
Actually, the 22,754 flats that were sublet as stated in HDB’s annual report had their applications approved in just one year.
So, how many flats in total are being sub-let entirely?
How many applications were not approved?
How many are sub-letting their flats because of financial difficulties?
For those in financial difficulty, is it possible to apply for a waiver of the 5-year and 3-year rule before flats purchased with or without a housing subsidy can be entirely sub-let?
For those with genuine financial difficulties, this option may be better than compulsory acquisition of their flats at 90 per cent of valuation.
I agree with the statement that “(people have) to acknowledge that the market is moving faster than one’s income and savings can keep up with”.
In this context, the problem may be that some of the HDB’s policies are out-dated and do not reflect the reality of a changing environment, such as the 2.5 year waiting period, because in the past the HDB built to sell, as opposed to today’s BTO approach. This may effectively mean waiting for another threee years for a flat on top of the usual 2.5 years.
The income ceiling of $2,000 and $3,000 for eligibility for 2-room and 3-room new flats have also not been changed for many years, despite rising new flat prices and the higher cost of living.
I also refer to the “Special report : Homeless wanderers – Number of homeless people doubles” (Sunday Times, Jan 31).
It states that “About 60 flats are voluntarily surrendered to the HDB every month”.
Many of the occupants became homeless because they could not afford to pay for HDB flats.
In this connection, I refer to the articles “New flats to stay affordable” (ST, Jan 27) and “HDB flat supply will meet demand : Mah” (ST, Jan 14).
The latter states that “a family with a monthly income of $3,000 can buy a flat worth up to $250,000 and spend only 30 per cent of their income every month on the mortgage …. This means they can comfortably buy any of the flats (three-room and some four-room) offered in the latest BTO projects this month”.
A typical financially prudent household of four persons (couple with two children) may find it hard to make ends meet with a disposable monthly income of $2,100 ($3,000 less 30 per cent for the HDB mortgage).
A breakdown of a typical household’s expenses is as follows:-
food ($40 x 30 days) $1,200
education ($200 x 2 children) 400
transport 300
utilities 150
insurance (various) 100
telephone/internet 70
service & conservancy charges (S & CC) 40
property tax 20
television license 10
medical 10
_________
Total: $2,300
The household may be left with no savings or any money for leisure activities.
If the household has more than four people, like those staying with their parent(s) or have more children, it may be quite difficult for them to survive.
As there are hundreds of thousands of people with a disability or chronic illness, a household surviving on a $3000 per month income with such a family member may also find themselves stretched financially.
Affordability depends on individual circumstances, and it may not be quite appropriate to generalise that a $3,000 household can afford a HDB flat.
According to the Department of Statistics’ Household Expenditure Survey report, there are about 106,000 households with less than a $1,000 monthly income, and about another 116,000 households with less than a $2,000 monthly income.
I therefore estimate that there are about 300,000 households earning less than $3,000 a month.
So, does it mean that about three in 10 households may find these new BTO three-room flats beyond their means?
The issue of affordability may be further compounded by the HDB’s Income Ceiling policy, whereby a household earning over $3,000 a month is not eligible for a new three-room flat, and has to purchase a new four-room or bigger flat.
As the HDB celebrates its 50^th anniversary this year, instead of just the HDB determining affordability, I would like to suggest that an independent third party be engaged to study the affordability of HDB flats.
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First, allow me to applaud the TOC team for your efforts. Singapore would only be a better place when we have dedicated people like yourselves.
It would really be interesting if the govt can release their official figures if indeed any of the writer’s deduced figures are not quite up to the mark.
Good work dear toc. U have brought out many meaningful issues. Wish you could give more insights on smaller rental flats, rents that have increased lately. Especially affecting older occupants who also spend more money on their medical expenses and having difficulty making ends meet. Thanks again TOC !
What a great title! In the breakdown of expenses of a typical family, there is no budget to buy books and computers for the kids. I still can’t believe education in Spore is not free, as funded by Govt revenue. Where does all our taxes, levies, fines, returns from investments, ERP revenues etc gone to?
This shows MBT has been lying.
He doesn’t care about the lower income. Same shit with the Hen.
With this kind of minimum sum how can anyone make monies from HDB flat sale?
If you do a projection, with the current contribution limit, and the fact that they can shift the medisave limit and minimum sum limit and the contribution limit, whatever went into CPF is not going to come out.
It is really shitty how they run Singapore.
these pigs cannot compete overseas and make monies overseas.
So, they have to feed themselves by milking poor people in Singapore.
This article didn’t mention the exorbitant charges that poor people who surrender their HDB flats have to pay.
clothes?
medical?
parents?
newspapers and books?
wedding dinner and cny ang pow?
recreation and hobbies?
eating out?
fridge, washing machine, tv, oven, dvd, radio, aircon etc break down?
funds to retire in JB??
funeral expenses after jumping from flat due to old age illness???
This is my conjecture, though I hope that i would have the time to do more research to substantiate my allegations – the key problem is that our Ministers DO NOT understand nor comprehend how the middle/working class Singaporeans live ….. I would even go on to say that they have been coddled since their students days identifed as ‘scholars’, cushioned from the reality of living, with good salaries, on the way to be ‘groomed’ as Singapore Ministers. As a result, they have no clue about how the common Singaporean live.
Chris Lim
The demand of HDB flat is too high.
thank you, mr leong.
this is a hot election topic. i only hope that singaporeans genuinely affected by this “affordability” issue will unite to vote out PAP.
vote protest. Vote Opposition.
That people are allowed to sublet their flats and many choose to do so is not necessarily a good thing. It is one thing for people to let strangers share their roof out of kindness, and another for them to have to let strangers rent part of their home in order to survive. We have raised Mah Bow Tan’s salary to great heights while at the same time allowed him to create a huge housing problem for Singapore. Time to kick him out!
Worker’s Party – if you are reading this, I hope you will take this opportunity to position your party. While I am very sure HDB will not provide you the necessary data to do your economic modelling, it will be good for the Worker’s Party to strategise, do an analysis and provide a substantiated and clear policy wrt housing problems facing Singapore working class.
Note – By jurisdiction, HDB, as a public service, is supposed to be non-partisan; but because the public service has been reporting to the political master for so long, it does not know any different. So any opposition party trying to get information from HDB will most definitely be snubbed.
Chris Lim
HDB flats are not Bak Kua. HDB flats are not consumables. Those people who own 2 or more properties tends to treat HDB flats like one. The mentality of Singapore elites (including the writer Chua Mui Hoong of the article quoted by Mr. Leong, “HDB resale prices: Don’t just find a scapegoat …” (ST, Feb 11)”) should always remember there are many other people not in their category.
In the article, Ms. Chua declared she owns a HDB flats, probably protraying that she is like ’ the other 879,999 flat owners’. Unfortuately she forgot to declare whether she owns other properties.
She also mentioned ‘hoping to sell her flat at higher price than she paid for it’ just like other flat owners, but she forgot to state her plans after that. Is she going to sleep by the roadside? Therefore, I am quite convinced she owns a second property, if not more.
If Government is serious about it’s policy of home-ownership to all Singaporeans, then it should not let the HDB prices run away simply citing the theory of Supply & Demand as the main cause.
Please consider the following points:
1. Supply of HDB flats are controlled by Government
2. Demand of HDB flats are constantly increasing at a projectable and steady rate, barring circumstances like influx of new emigrants and population decrease due to natural catastrophic events.
3. Concern on dwindling of population caused by low birth rate is genuine, however to mitigate the effect of it on property prices by depriving the general population of affordable homes simply doesn’t bode well of Government’s home-ownership policy.
Good luck to you, Ms. Chua, a typical bootlicker elite.
I now realized how stupid I was for voting for PAP…
But from now onwards I will just be Daft and vote in the opposition.
Let’s all be Daft!
(I think I’ve just found a new slogan…I will be shouting out this during this coming election.)
not only HDB’s policies are out-dated, policies in IRAS lagi outdated…..just look at the wife claim relief and parents claim relief, some of the conditions are so out-dated….
Wife Relief Claim:
One of the conditions is that if the husband is claiming for wife relief, the wife’s income must not exceed $2000 annually. First of all, an annual income of $2000 will works out to about $166.67 per month. What kind of job yield such an income??? This income level maybe reasonable 10 or 20 years ago but not now.
Parents Relief Claim:
Same as the above, one of the conditions that a son/daughter can claim for parent relief is that the parents’ income must not exceed $2000 annually. What kind of job yield such an income???
The other condition of only 1 child can ask for this claim even if the parents has more than 1 children is also something to look into. Why other children cannot ask for this claim and what is the basis of this condition???
Really time for them to look at all these outdated policies…..
Is the maths correct? I get the feeling it left out some things.
Is the 30% the extra cash amount that has to be paid after deducting from CPF?
Also, $3k is the amount on the payslip, since I am quite sure the income ceiling is not based on disposable income. you’d need to take out 20% for CPF deductions, before taking off another 30%. If 30% is indeed the extra top up amount, than 50% of income is gone…
I only wish such discussions are being considered in parliament – its about caring for people who has built up this nation.
BTO flats are not affordable. One stage, BTO flats in Sengkang/Punggol were selling close to $700k. I sympathise with a lot of young couples who took the plunge, a few “selected” went on national TV and told everyone the price was reasonable looking at their combined income of $5000 to $8000. These couples I believe think that they have a job like our SM, work till 88.
MBT has been under a lot of fire, especially with so many people crying about ERP (introduced by him) and BTO also by him. The prices kept escalating, Ang Mo Kio Peak 5 room 139sqm is asking for $1.2M, the HDB the homes are almost sold out. But they are still advertising on HDB websites and outside. We had a lot of people thinking we need to vote MBT out, even Raymond Lim (famous for oil prices dont correlate with utility bill when oil prices at all time low of $30 per barrel). A few opposition parties are eyeing MBT’s turf and even SM Goh had to step in to boost his morale, saying citizens have rights to target any minister.
My guess was correct, the latest BTO Sengkang and Woodlands prices came down but mainly for 4 room and below (no 5 room was offered). Honestly, this price revision is made available so that all of us are happy before the election. This temporary strategy of revising price downwards for election purpose has been used repeatedly and had been very successful. Especially when our local controlled media will use it to magnify its impact until it sinks.
After election, of course, the prices would shoot north again and people would resume their normal complaints, as usual, Singaporeans lah.
I think it is high time, we need to unseat several of these ministers to make an impact. I think MBT(affordability), RT(oil prices dont…), Khaw(means testing), LBW(ping fiasco) and LSS (cheaper better faster) should be unseated.
The article quoted by Mr. Leong was written by ST Senior Writer Chua Mui Hoong.
In her article, she declared she owns HDB as well, but she did not say she owns 2nd or 3rd properties or not. She hopes to sell higher price than she paid for it, ‘like the rest of 879,999 flat owners’ she put it. She forgot to suggest, after that, then all 880,000 families all go camping at Changi Beach / Sembawang Park.
I dont think she was sincered. She had hidden agenda when writing the article, i guess.
Why do we want to go down the path of Japan when we can see the aftermath of their high asset era. Going by our recent policies of the MIWs, we seem hell bent on plunging into the same mistake. At least the Japanese still can live off the land and they are big enough to ride it out. We can’t eat the concrete bits of our flats or try to plant potatoes along the common corridor. What’s the use of your high asset prices when you can’t capitalise on it, you only throw the problem to another fellow S’porean. When all of your disposable income is spent on mortgage payment, do you think you can have enough funds to even try out some small business venture which should be encouraged. I guess you would be worrying about your job, hoping to be gainfully employed for 20 – 30 yrs which seems like a fairy tale nowadays.
Thank you, TOC for this thought provoking article. Obviously, those self-serving white pigs have been complacent and are no longer hard driving ever since rewarding themselves with obscene pay raise. They are happily counting their money month in month out just sitting in their offices doing nothing.
It is time for us to stick the spurs into their hides.
Is there a country in the world where retirees don’t downgrade to smaller houses when they sell their homes? It is used everywhere as a way to finance retirement, especially since in old age, most people don’t need a big place. As to affordability, it is called demand and supply, but hey, in Singapore, citizens get a discount. Not many countries give such hefty housing subsidies, yet people still complain! Maybe Singaporeans should try living in Sydney, London, HK, Tokyo… so they can compare life there. There are plenty of affordable flats in Singapore but it may not be in your favorite location. I’d like to buy a flat in Ginza, Tokyo but I cannot afford it. Would I complain how unfair it is and blame the whole world for it? Buy what you can afford. Also it is worth noting that property prices went down a lot last year. Did you buy then? No. Prices low, scared to buy. Prices high, complain.
I think we are riding the Japan wave, trying to make public housing paid by 2 generations instead of 1. Transport prices at all time high, similar to Japan too.
Singapore is also a protectionist market, unlike its claims of staged competition e.g. Singtel vs StarHub. Everything is state-owned. And in Japan its almost the same, now look at Japan…
But remember, Japan pay is at least 50% higher than Singapore pay. So we are having a high cost of living like Japan, just without the high pay component. Plus Japan has safety net for their citizens, most get pensions at retirement, in comparison, our CPF is held ransom with ever changing rules. Japan companies dont hire and hire, they make sure their employees have long term and rewarding career, unlike in Singapore, we are often replaced with cheaper FTs or retrenched when numbers dont look good.
Our government does not look after citizen, just their own coffers.
testing … my earlier posting censored?
Hi guys, the article was brilliant. Very enlightening and mind boggling.
Perhaps you guys at TOC should consider an iphone app where it would be easy for all to read and receive updates on all new happenings on your web.
Not the first, but definitely the first for an alternative media in Singapore
A fair number of those who lease their whole HBD flats are grassroots leaders who own and live in their private property.
The PAP has been saying that it is the Singaporeans who cause the HDB price to rise and not the foreigners. It is like blaming the glass that toppled over that caused the milk to spill and not blaming the guy who toppled the glass. The real problem is that there are too many foreigners hence too much demand. Admitting it is tantamount to incompetence on some people who was not clever enough to anticipate the housing issue.
If I turn on the shower tap, will the toilet floor get wet? No one is clever enough to anticipate that….hmmmm.
There is another issue: notice that the news report on CPF interest rate, only the interest rate for ordinary account is reported.
The fact is the medisave and special account at the moment is still higher than 2.5% at the moment.
But they don’t want to tell you. They are progressively changing your ideas about the CPF interest rate to make you forget about the 4%.
I would like to comment about something. The transport for 2 adults plus two teenage children is much higher than 300, sigh…more like 400 to me, if got kids, that is alot. And the allowances are quite alot…really no money left for leisure..
Because of that, many families have to eat instant noodles because there is too many mouths to feed and u cant have discount on transport. Is that the life we want, is it because HDB is so affordable that ppl have to cut down to 2 meals a day. Speaking from experiences.
Someone once claimed that the HDB was the biggest housing scam in the world. After reading all the arguments put forward I am begining to believe that there is some credit to this claim. However I still cannot believe that HDB is loosing so much money due to the subsidy it is supposedly giving. It just does not add up. Where is the money going?. Some told me it’s called “creative accounting”. Just like the creative report that 94% of us trust the government.
The breakdown of a typical household’s expenses seems a too little.
no need to give allowance to kids?
no need to pay for maid? insurance for 100? where got enough? property tax is even more…. medical bill where got $10
@whyso
Which planet r u from? Property prices drop alot last year? Maybe to u, yes, if u r living in private property. Hey, we r talking abt HDB that saw a hefty increase last year despite the recession.
And Ginza Tokyo? Want me to show u the prices in the suburbs. Stop bullshitting since many of us cant even afford to live in the Singapore downtown anyway. It is even more expensive than Tokyo. Gets ur stupid facts correct first, thanks.
Long time ago there were four families squeeze under the same roof.
Now, i want my own room, my own flat, my own car, my own phone, my own computer, my own ipod, my own tv, my own i don’t know what … Not only that. I want to have more than 1 property, I want to go many holidays and best of all I don’t want to work. I also want to complain and complain because that’s all I am good at. I don’t know how to solve the problems of Sg and the world, so I like to complain, easier wat..
So tell me, is there something wrong with me or is the world just not big enough for me?
The newspaper article quoted by Mr. Leong was written by ST Senior Writer Chua Mui Hoong.
In her article, she declared she owns HDB as well, but she did not say she owns 2nd or 3rd properties or not. She hopes to sell higher price than she paid for it, ‘like the rest of 879,999 flat owners’ she put it. She forgot to suggest, after that, then all 880,000 families all go camping at Changi Beach / Sembawang Park.
I dont think she was sincered. She had hidden agenda when writing the article, i guess.
How many PR’s have a HDB and renting it out? If they rent it out, it’s obvious the are staying somewhere else ! And one can safely assume they are speculating (1 yr holding period is nothing when you rent).
The stats speak for themselves. MBT has been sleeping past few years in not building enough for the demand.
And we can’t expect them to admit any mistakes – so the only way to change this is to change them.
Wake up Singapore.
@ I want
Views like yours are views given in to what the msm want to achieve. The ‘I want’ mentality has been used by the PAP to ward itself off the responsibility of looking at the real housing issues facing the lives of Singaporeans.
Sure, there are many Singaporeans with this mentality, but then again, ask yourself this, who is responsible for such worldly desires, Singapore style?
Let us not equate the majority of Singaporeans living on the fringe with a smaller group of Singaporeans with this mentality. For every one of them who seek to acquire the ‘must haves’ of the day, there are another thousand out there who can only dream of having them, and this is the reality that is facing them each day.
So your distorted view based on the ‘I want’ ideology is completely flawed.
Now let us get back to the real issue facing us. There was a time when Singaporeans had their own lands, and, on these lands were their homes and things they could call their own, like plantations and livestock. To acquire these lands, the government started building truly affordable hdb flats to provide for those who were evicted from lands gazetted for redevelopment by the government.
Once there are no more lands to acquire, the government rightfully looked toward measures that would help increase the value of these flats.
Now, here is the catch. The increased value is in no way supposed to benefit the hdb dwellers but more for the long term benefit of the government when the 99 years lease is over. The government has a vested interest to ensure that its hdb value does not depreciate for whatever reason.
This self-driven purpose became an obsession. The current hdb turmoil is a result of this obsession. The government has over the years, implemented many measures to make sure that Singaporeans do not benefit from these measures when a buy & sell transaction is made. It has crafted many policies to see to it that it gets a handsome cut from such transactions.
With huge monies to be made from such transactions, do you think it is within their logic to keep hdb flat affordable?
A bastard locked all his 10 family members in the house, and he was the only one in the house who can cook. The bastard had enough ingredients in the fridge for 10.
Hours passed, the family members got hungry, and all started to dig out the money from their wallets and piggy banks, all putting up bidding price for the bastard to cook a proper meal for them.
The bastard claimed it was due to Demand and Supply that the members were bidding higher and higher prices for the meals.
What a demand & supply!
Your analysis is good as it brought out the hidden but underlying realities facing the masses. It also implies that past questions raised by ruling party ‘s MP have been superficial at best, and did not address the core housing issue. There is therefore a real need for independent voice in the parliament. We as citizen cannot leave this wound untreated for it will lead to the decline of Singapore. Singapore must progress.
We should really take what we read by Senior Writer Chua Mui Hoong or any other Straits Times ‘journalist’ with a huge bag of salt. Better still, we should not even bother reading this drivel. Just stick to world news and sports! Haha. I admit that some positivity in reporting is beneficial and will keep Singapore’s press from becoming like the sensationalistic American media, but Singapore’s media really can’t help who they are, becasue they practically ARE a part of the government. Deal with it. It’s just more propaganda.
As to how lower-income families are going to cope with rising flat prices? I guess a level-headed response would be to live with your parents or a close relative who owns a flat. I plan to do that. Buying more of these expensive flats are just going to push prices higher and higher (adding to the demmand), and guess what, we’ll be digging our own graves. One day when we lose our jobs in our 40s, and still have 20 years left to pay for that 4 room flat we bought, the PAP is just going to blame us for not living within our means. It’s would be like complaining to a brick wall.
The government tells us to live within our means, we should just do that. Stop buying expensive flats, live with your parents for as long as you can, work hard and improve yourself and save money. If life is still hard after that, we can try to emigrate like many of the foreign workers that come here. Their countries were difficult to live in TOO so Singapore is but a convenient escape. You don’t need to be a doctor or lawyer to emigrate.
There are but a handful of developed democratic countries that actually make life easier for their people. 21st century Singapore may not be one of them.
1)How many people and households are going to be affected by this MS rule over the years.
The excat numbers should be available.
2) How will it work, if the HDB loan had been paid by cash instead of CPF.
Good article Mr Leong.
If the stats board says that, then it must be true. How affordable, is truly a big question mark.
Maybe MBT calaculated according to his salary.
It is time to change the rule of 1rm and 2 rm flats. What nonsense, after so many years and so much of pay. They still do no get it.
unfortunately most people will read MSM and not this article which is excellently written and pointed out the issues very well.
The ST reports are getting worse by the minute. Today’s article on Pre U places is really embarassing for the ST. More like a knee jerk reaction from MOE than an investigative piece.
More places, in Hwa Chong and RI? How many? (isn’t this the least we want to know?) How many new places vs the IP places? 5 percents? 10%?
ST – Stupid Times written by stupid reporters – or should I say MOE workers? Zero investigative work!
Since the government is promoting to the people to have bigger family nowadays, it is only right for them to make 4 & 5 rooms flat more affordable, so that this big family can have a decent space to stay and still can cope with their daily expenses. A 4 rooms selling at those BTO may cause S$300,000 and above before interest payment and with interests payment calculated on a 30 years may come up to half a million. So for the first 30 years on average, the owner is paying about $1,400 per month on average which is very close to the market rental rate. So it is as good as renting a house for the first 30 years of your lease. So you don,t really own it.
May I suggest to the government, they may want to sell the new flats based on the number of years lease especially for those who just got married and starting a family with very low CPF balance. This category of family can opt to buy their house at 30 years lease at 1/3 of the selling price e.g a 4 room flats can go for $100,000 for a start, and also enjoy government grants and subsidies at pro-rata according to years of lease, they may end up paying only $70,000 for a 30 year lease 4 room flats. Of course they have to enjoy HDB subsidised loan as no bank may want to learn them money for such a short lease.
In future, if their family income increases, they can increase the lease by quantum of 10 years as they feel comfortable with their financial situation and top up with additional loan to cover the increase in price for the additional lease.
This may encourage young couple to marry early as they find that getting a matrimonial home to start family is very easy for them.
Folks, i am very tired of living in sg though i am a native born sg. By looking at our govt handling all the policies in all areas of aspect, i cant see any future at all…
Wat kind of govt we had!! they only care bou their pockets. i wondered is there any rule that can detained all these white pigs to jail with trial (proven for years , especially the later recent years)????
Can’t there be an opp. party collided with the foreign , western countries to question and pressure this current ruling party out ??? Can we??? Pls answer!!! i could no longer afford to pay them anymore such a ridiculous obscene pay becos they are going to make me homeless very soon… and i pui pui them!!!
May all these white pigs receive the divine retribution in their lifetime!!! May the heaven of God strike them with thunder and lightning (proclaim in their pappies logo)and their whole families will have a taste of homelessness, loss of possession and finally being thrown as a wanderer!!!!
Pui Pui our garhment!!! Vote them all out!!!!
ST drivel,
don’t get so upset my friend that’s how the master try to convince us about the influx of foreigners workers/talents also. Instead of stating the actual numbers, they always use terms that you can’t quantify such as “slow the influx” (how many?), “affordable” (how much?), etcs.
when they can’t convince you, they will try to confuse you.
YummyMummy ,Feb 12, 2010 5:59 – “What a great title! In the breakdown of expenses of a typical family, there is no budget to buy books and computers for the kids. I still can’t believe education in Spore is not free, as funded by Govt revenue. Where does all our taxes, levies, fines, returns from investments, ERP revenues etc gone to?”
Simple, to fund more BILLION DOLLARS losses by old fart’s daughter-in-law.
I just hope to hear from all opposition parties asking all the MIW to come out with a good explanation to all the singaporeans during this coming GE, bet they all will be “stung frozen” looking at each other face as usual.
Dear TOC
I find that your website is more professionally moderated than another major site where I keep expericiencing comments that are strangely not posted though they are objective and non-racial in nature.
Somehow,the moderators there seem to be BIAS and somewhat UNPROFESSIONAL becuase when I POST TO THEIR Admin ON MY FEEDBACK on the matter,I GET STRANGE REMARKS SAYING THAT MY COMMENT IS DUPLICATE WHEN IT WAS SIMPLY TO SEEK CLARIFICATIONS ON WHY MY COMMENTS WERE NOT POSTED?
i think i would read your site more often from now on.
regards
HDB IS A HOME FOR THE FAMILY, A ROOF OVER THEIR HEAD, for the average Singaporean famiy.
ONLY THE RICH CANBUY N SELL APARTMENTS/HOUSES AS AND WHEN THEY LIKE,
DEFINITELY NOT HDB DWELLERS.
An asset?
If you sell it, and need buy a similar flat on open market, u wont make much.
Besides buying a resale market flat, ultimately will cost you more, ‘cos of the need to servicve the new loan.
Of you could downgrade, but then the family would live in cramped conditions.
Wy would anyone want to do that.
HDB IS A HOME FOR THE FAMILY, A ROOF OVER THEIR HEAD, for the average Singaporean family.
LIONS ROAR,
Same here.
Nowadays they dont even allow good quotes that are copied from TOC to be pasted there.
I think it happened after they publish an article that they get more readership than TOC.
THEIR OWN SELF-PRAISE GOT TO THEIR HEAD.
IMAGINE THAT, AFTER SELF-PRAISE, THEY STARTED ‘INCREASED MODERATION.
‘Home Ownership for Singaporeans’ policy has been screwed up!
If this policy is no longer relevent in today’s context, I hope the government will step out and say something. Do not confuse the people further.