By Callan Tham
The Straits Times, true to its form of operating as a government mouthpiece, publishes this gem of an opinion piece disguised as ‘Prime News’ entitled Life’s a beach but it’s no holiday (complete with the accompanying photo below):
MR I.B. YUSOF, a father of four young children, sold three Housing Board flats in nine years, netting $90,000 in profits.
Flush with cash after the first two sales, Mr Yusof, 44, took out a hefty bank loan and upgraded to a four-room flat in 2005. At the time, the sole breadwinner, who has a hearing-impaired wife, earned only $800 per month. He hoped to get a better job to pay for the new flat.
Unlike in some countries, where people are often too poor to rent – let alone buy – their first home, homelessness in Singapore is often the result of personal irresponsibility, stemming from avarice or divorce and dysfunction.
The story of Mr Yusof is true, but the conclusion is a swing and a miss. Ms Basu, the author of the opinion piece, made the conclusion that homelessness is self-inflicted in most cases when she can neither prove nor disprove the claim, and also manages to define divorcee as a ‘personal irresponsibility’. ST publishing this as ‘Prime News’ is just further proof that journalism is not practised at the paper that most Singaporeans ‘trust’.
Aside from the wilful redefinition of personal irresponsibility, it is also apparent to me that Ms Basu has failed to ask the right questions. HDB policies allowed Mr Yusof to sell his flats in order to realise a profit on his assets; this has been repeatedly heralded by the PAP government. If HDB confined itself to its original goal of providing functional and affordable public housing for citizens, this scenario might not have materialised.
Instead, HDB flats are marketed as ‘assets that grow over time’, not the neccessity that a roof over your head is. This strategy has been largely successful, and we are now reaping the whirlwind with increasing costs of new and resale flats. The HDB policies do not encourage home ownership, but instead promotes the use of a flat as an asset that can be used to increase personal wealth.
Other policies such as denying access of rental flats to single parents, based upon the fear of ‘an explosion in divorce rates or illegitimate births’, discloses the naivete in policy planning. Divorce is an unfortunate circumstance, but hardly an irresponsible move, and does not merit penalties. The undeserved social stigma is absurd enough without further punishment in national policies. And this goes without being questioned by Ms Basu (left) and even used as an unflinching justification of the policies.
This article is almost a personification of why the public remain largely uninformed and uneducated on policy issues due to dogmatic defense of the PAP’s policies, and further evidence (as if we need any more) of why a free press would do more to elevate political discourse than one controlled by governmental interests.
_______________________________________
Original article was first published on the Trapper’s Swamp blog
The ST Senior Correspondent in question, Ms Radha Basu, can be reached at radhab@sph.com.sg
_______________________________________________________________
HELP keep the voice of TOC alive!
If you like this article, please consider a small donation to help theonlinecitizen.com stay alive. Please note that we can only accept donations from Singaporeans. Thank you for your assistance.Do you have a flair for writing? Volunteer with us. Email us your full name and contact details to theonlinecitizen@gmail.com
of course, Shitty Times defends housing policies of the pigs.
What do you expect?
MBT and Vivian political future are at stake.
Do you think they intend to work to the benefit of the citizens?
Also, given the creative counting methods of the pigs, I don’t believe the guy got 90K.
They probably forgot to add in the amount he got after paying for COV for his 3rd flat.
Is 90K a lot? It is a sacrifice for staying in far away places.
dictatorships always use propaganda to pacify the stupid masses they control.
@objective: Can you prove the correlation that the article assumes, that is allowing single mothers to rent flats will lead to an explosion in divorce rates? Because that is what the article said, not the “correlation between the liberalization for single mothers, vs. the divorce and single mother rate”, which is also debatable.
Surely Ms Basu should have learnt in her training as a journalist (or even as just a plain ol’ uni student) to never make great jumps and sweeping generalisations such as the one she made in the article? She can’t even definitively nail down Mr Yusof’s case as irresponsible, and yet wants to suddenly apply the judgement to EVERY SINGLE homeless person in Singapore? Has she even met any of them?
Unfortunately there would be plenty of people only too happy to swallow what she has written, because if we can believe that they brought it upon themselves due to their own irresponsibility and greed, then it is easier to justify our not helping them.
I too wonder what is so outrageous about this article…just because it presented the other side of the coin that TOC did not report (or convenientlyigonored) it in their own article?
Ms. Basu have as much rights as TOC in reporting this article, and if it is bias, then TOC’s own article is also highly biased as well!
Let the reader be the better judge…at least now we know the truth behind!
@Unlike in some countries, where people are often too poor to rent – let alone buy – their first home, homelessness in Singapore is often the result of personal irresponsibility, stemming from avarice or divorce and dysfunction.
Some countries? I dont even have money to rent and even buy a home in sg now. And I am married. And there are countless people like me. Some of my friends refused even to consider marriage, afraid that they cant afford to give their children a better life in expensive singapore.
Is the gov helping? It obviously the housing is way too expensive now.
aaaah radha basu. i remember when she was just writing for the digital life segment, which she was equally unqualified for. now shes moved up to being another gahmen mouthpiece. how do ST reporters (there’s no way can they be called journalists) sleep at night?
They shd cut the HDB lease to 50 years for those ppl with low earning abilities.
Fair article. Much of it is true.
I personally know a few householders who had sold their flats, ostensibly to up/down grade, took fresh loans, and use the cash profit to buy cars or throw lavish wedding party/ceremonies for their children.
Some people need more help/coersion to manage their finances sensibly.
The article is crap because it assumes that every single one of its readers lacks the grey matter between his/her ears - which unfortunately maybe true for some. If a discerning reader analyses the Yusof anecdote, he/she will realise that there are many questions regarding his loss. Sure the poor sod is not financially astute, but heck, he lost his job. Isn’t that the main reason why he couldn’t keep up with payments? And you gotta ask what the bank was thinking when it decided to lend a hefty sum to a guy who is earning $800 a month.
But the weakest link in the article is the one between welfare and single mothers. You have one example and that’s it? No emperical evidence? Statistics? What about an analysis of other countries that practice welfare? Sorry but I just find the idea that allocating welfare to single mothers will result in an increase in divorce rates or some disastrous breakdown in society ludicrous.
@objective: with volunteer helpers like you, who needs adversaries.
toel …you’re saying that 3 room flat cost 100k and working at Mac Donald wil earn you more to pay for the flat ?
I believe that you’re talking through your anus ….
The average price of 3 room flat is now 22ok and working at the Mc Dnld is just enough for your meals ..transport cost and a very modest day to day living but not for paying your flat mortgage.
I think Ms Basu has been living in Batu Cave for too long. She needs to to climb out of her comfort hole to see what’s really happening on the ground, or rather along the beach.
How can she generalise that homeless is the resultant of irresponsible behaviour based on a lone family case (i.e. Mr. Yusof) ? She herself must be DYSFUNCTIONAL, not to mention DELUSIONAL to arrive at that conclusion. How about those homeless old folks we see in increasing presence collecting trash cans & carton boxes everywhere? Are they irresponsible people as well ? Ms Basu should seriously be BARRED from journalism judging by her journalistic ethic, or rather the lack of it.
Is this ST author insinuating that it’s Mr Yusof’s fault or our fault if we don’t get a home to stay? Oh wait, it’s not surprising. As ST is PAP’s mouthpiece, they would sing their praises. How shameless.
It seems like Ms Basu, is from some conservative town in India or perhaps a Taliban stronghold …where she might have attained a degree in Homemaking cum journalism.
She seriously needs to think and needs friends to understand todays world. Please do not neglect her, but pity her and lets educate, such a person.
Well noted TOC.
The idea of GCT’s PAP was to make Singaporeans feel that they were asset rich.Now it has returned back to huant.
@objective: You can claim whatever you want under a pseudonym. Why don’t you say who you really are and we all can gauge what a great, true volunteer you are.
objective..
you quote…
“I strictly don’t believe that the govt can lift them out of their circumstances, but they have to do it themselves.”
I think this kind of comments is not exactly objective.
How do you know everyone falls into this category?
Hence, any socially responsible newspaper will try to get story from both side… and from there… the papers can try to create awareness among the citizens and government alike… what is perhaps the real cause of issues.
Is it due to pricing of the houses getting too expensive, or is it people spend without planning? Roughly how many falls into whichever category… etc.
From what I see, Ms Basu just substiate her claims without making much investigations… willingly aligning herself to the usual chorus from the media that our government can do no wrong.
I think the purpose of Callen here is to address this particular bias that is lacking in our MSM.
At the same time, from your comments, you seems to fall into that category as well.
Well… u are entitled to your own views… but I feel the fact that you use the word “objective” as your nick… is doing a bit of disservice to the meaning of the word itself. lol…
notice these jokers stop talking about rental flats – their construction.
without rental flats, they could make you give them more monies through the cpf.
Ms Basu is a ‘foreign talent’. These people are willing to do or say anything their master tells them.
I notice fewer and fewer Singaporeans are joining the Straits Times.
That comic is just tasteless.
“A studio costs only 70k in Singapore, a 3 room flat about 100k+. Works out to be about 200+ to or 300+ a mth. Im sure working at macdonalds earn you more then that.”
When people spout “facts” like this, while hoping that we are not aware of the other “inconvenient facts” (e.g. HDB had stopped building 3 room flats for years and only started again recently – not that Mr. Yusof would be eligible from buying as he’d already used up his direct purchase quota. That HDB flat is priced way higher than what he claimed – $140k+ @Woodlands, $150k+ @Punngol, and much more for resale ones at mature estates. That an applicant have to be at least 55 years old to apply for an HDB studio apartment, and the lease for a studio unit is only 30 years. Etc. etc.) we should known better and just ignore them.
i agree with objective. taxpayers should not be made to subsidise the stupid moves of others.
the govt never forced anyone to speculate with their flats. if they’re going to gamble the roof over their heads, then they must be prepared to lose it. if they lose their home by speculation, society must support them. so conversely if they actually make a profit, should they be made to contribute back to society too?
as for single mothers, the simple fact is that people who cannot afford children shouldn’t have them. condoms are cheaper. in the event of an accident, get rid of it. if they can’t survive on their own, don’t get a divorce. for those who’ll say that they have good reasons to get a divorce, well too bad, keep your emotions about your spouse in check if you can’t afford to be independent.
let me relate a true story about my friend. he was chased out from by his family as a teenager and had literally zero financial support. he worked his ass off at odd jobs, moved from place to place, got his diploma, and is now earning a decent pay. and he is still working hard so he can earn more. at no point did he even borrow money from anyone, much less stand helplessly and demand help from society.
falling into hard times is one thing, having the intelligence and motivation to get out of it is another. those too stupid or lazy to work should pay for their mistakes, not be rewarded.
Why do Singaporeans have to pay the for the Mistakes of PAP? All the ill conceived policies / social-engineering / graduate mother schemes etc?
Why do we Singaporeans have to pay such ridiculous high pay to so-called Talents from PAP?
Why is it that PAP only serves those constituencies that voted for them (upgrading, whatever)? Residents in opposition wards doesn’t pay tax?
Why do we Singaporeans have to pay for the Sick / Handicapped / Old? Must we work 15 hours a day to PAY for others who don’t work at all?
We spent many hours working in Singapore. Don’t believe the crap from PAP for they LIE and LIE again about the Situation.
Do not be easily fooled that they are using the money to “pay off themselves” etc. Most of them use it on a lavish lifestyle. Once, there is a HoChing who netted Billions from his sales of stakes in Power Stations etc. Now HoChing lost it all. She sold the PowerStations only 3 years ago. Why can’t the person in question buy something with better care? Knowing that time is on her side?
Financial literacy and prudence, due diligence is the responsibility OF the GOVERNMENT, not the Wife, or The Father, not the FAMILEE. The Government should exercise care, conservatism and prudency.
How do we measure the performance of 1 person versus 1 country?
So many questions!!!!
@ Objective,
You said “Financial literacy and personal finance is your OWN responsibility, not the government, not your friends, not your family, your OWN.”
Tell that to the government!! So that they can return our cpf money back to us. Let us be responsible as you say for our OWN finances! I also believe that my money is my responsibility, i dont disagree with you. But the reality is our OWN government doesnt share this idea with you…they believe that they should manage your hard-earned money for you and continue to take more from you and make it harder for you to get it back by increasing the minimum sum and pushing back the withdrawal date!
Mr Yusof made his own mistake on buy/sell HDB flat. Buy/Sell of properties is not a game for those who only own one house. Higher property price only benefit the rich which own few properties. Commoner who own only one property is quite meaningless to “assets that grow over time”. But the high property price is making poor young couple financially difficult to start a family.
I agree with Chiper and Objective, that the responsibility of your financial well-being lies within yourself. However, this is not always so, because most people in life do not have financial literacy, financial education is not taught at school.
Why should taxpayers bear the brunt of mistakes made by others? Social responsibility of a citizen to others can only extend to this much, each citizen must play his/her part. Having said that, there are genuine cases of financial hardships, but I do reckon a substantial number of them are financial irresponsible, eg spend more than you earn, lavish lifestyle beyond means, gambling, partake in risky ventures without due diligence, bad money habits, speculate rather than invest etc etc.
Now, we have people at the top of the hierarchy actually also indulging in financial irresponsible behaviour. I guess these elites are much worse than the homeless people because they have absolute no accountability for their financially catastrophic investment losing billions of dollars of tax payers’ hard earned money with their whims and fancy. Why should tax-payers bear the brunt as well?
The government can choose to ignore the homelessness because perhaps arguably they deserved it, but people like Ho Ching and lee kuan yew controlling national investment vehicles like temasek holdings etc are still making millions for losing billions, without any call to answer for their financial incompetence and failures.
one country, two set of rules, one for the elites and one for the poor, and those in the middle have to suffer!
such articles will only re-enforce the fear couples have if they suddenly loose their jobs. so they may take “a few more” years to save enough. with that, birthrates will drop further. also, some may eventually not want any child if they find they may never have enough for rainy days or retirement.
the article, probably, written to make our govt look good, does not gel with the nation goal of increasing birthrates. you die your business? low birthrates dun come blaming people not producing enough hor…
a good example how our current leadership prefers to take the easiest route to patch a deeper issue up on the surface.
@objective
You are spewing contradictions. A studio costs only 70k in Singapore, a 3 room flat about 100k+. Works out to be about 200+ to or 300+ a mth. Im sure working at macdonalds earn you more then that.”. No doubt working in MacDs will allow you to pay the rent, if you don’t need power & electricity, transport and food, unless that person eats burgers and fries and packs home some Happy Meal. I don’t mind objectivity but I value realism.
What you are saying are hardly facts, just keep to the reality. The reality is some of us do fall in the trap of financial difficulties by their own doing, to grow as a society and improve our own humanity, we need to grow together and not leave those who made mistakes behind. Imagine where we’d be as a race if we have the mentality of everyman for himself.
HDB should allow more citizens to reverse mortgage their home. Many are left with no choice with sickness and unemployment. Most of them are left with very little in their CPF fund because their fund is sucked into paying their HDB flat. PRs have no problem, just cash out their flat and move back to their home country and live as a rich man ever after.
I am not so concern about the rising price of private property, as it is for the rich.
For me and my family depend on public housing. Like many countries, public housing is for those fellow citizens who cannot afford private housing. Unfortunately, the public housing in Singapore is also for the rich locals and foreigner PRs.
So where do we poor citizens stand now?
Like I always said, in Singapore it is You Die Your Business!
The rich & upper middle income have been brainwashed to accept the status quo, because things are comfortable for them and they don’t want to rock the boat.
The poor & lower middle income have been turned into daft sheep, willing to accept scraps of $200 GST offsets and scared of threats of their HDB becoming slums.
Wake up your idea lah!
Time for Change. Vote Opposition.
@objective: The link you have provided does not prove the correlation. Your calculations on the cost of flats does not take into consideration the difficulties of single mothers in procuring them due to existing HDB policy, which is heavily slanted towards the traditional family unit.
I am saddened but not surprised by some of the reactions here; it is so easy to paint with broad brush strokes based on assumption or experience. So I will use a utilitarian argument.
If we allow this government and its instruments to lose $5 billion in a single investment, why should we not use that $5 billion to help those who genuinely need our help? Are we so self-absorbed and self-centered that we think those who need help are undeserving because “no one helped us”?
I firmly believe that the role of government is to help those who cannot help themselves. In this sense, Singaporeans and Singapore as a society have much to learn and grow.
We started with rental flats.
NOW WE BUILDING MORE RENTAL FLATS.
Thot Singaporeans are richer nowadays.
@Callan Tham, I agreed with you on the role of the government. As for a single mother, it is always advisable for them to stay with their parent or relative on helping them to look after their kids. Alternatively, renting a room if financially incapable to buying a private property. If I am not wrong, they are allowed to buy from open market if they meet the age requirement.
However, helping the homeless like Mr Yusof or Imran can be very controversy. Imagine if people who fail in speculative investment on stock/property/commodity or business or even gambling in our newly IR which result in homeless, to what extend should the tax payers help?
Will people start buying expensive property and hoping to get a better job to pay for the mortgage loan knowing that if unable to service the loan, they can get help from government?
@ Callan Tham
i agree with u.
however, if money were spent on the people, to the King, it would be money wasted. but, if the money returns a profit, the GIC can boast about it. in the case where they screw up, Singaporeans should “move on”. besides, in this country, the King and his cronies have complete control over every damned thing, so everyone can bitch about everything, and nothing will change.
Sink-apore. money first. FTs second. citizens last.
@Stranger: The reason I don’t go around saying that I did this or that is precisely because I am using a pseudonym. Isn’t it a bit presumptuous for you to think that I do not volunteer?
Objective
If you are objective, you would not make conclusion so easily. Just because there are cases of people less wise than you (you call them iresponsible. Those who are wise should thank the Maker, not all are), anyone objective will not draw conclusion that ALL homeless people are ‘Yusofs’ or ALL single parents are divorcees or ALL divorcees deserve what they get.
Is it not clear that Ms Basu is being subjective by picking on ONE person to give her opinion on homelessness?
BTW, are widows considered single parents?
how is divorce a form of irresponsibility?!
Having no house to live in is not a joking matter.
To help or not really is not up to us to decide . What we as a tax payer our job is to pay our tax and let welfare organization do their’s , but from what i observe they’re not up to the job.
Reducing the amount given to the needy so that anyone that claim to be in need applied for help they just ”nah give you lah ” . Not much effort done from their side when THEY are the one paid by OUR money , choose the easy way out .
I’m sometime sad to see that our needy get left so behind that even our own people despise them , is it a dog eat dog world , i thought we are 1st world . With such a poorly manage welfare system only the real needy suffer and will never be able to catch up again .
@objective as a volunteer helping or not is not up to you it is for your organization to decide , they are the one that should check on the applicant that is what they are paid to do . I really pity you having wasting your time on the ones that you thought is cheating maybe you should volunteer for other organization if you think your current one is not up to the job .
Callum, thanks for this article.
Our volunteer friend looks to be suffering from volunteer fatigue….he/she sees a liar around every corner! What a sad existence.
The important thing when it comes to help the poor and the under privilege is not to swing too far one away or the other. We should not let them starve and live like animals but neither should we start to treat them like kings.
Common sense is the key. Unfortunately, in Singapore, common sense has gone out of the window. In trying to not support deadbeat bums, the system had became cold and heartless.
To provide unconditional help to all homeless people is also, of course a blanket statement.
The bottomline about the critics towards PAP’s policies is that PAP is not doing a job on the social benefits/welfare programmes comparing to what they have achieved in other aspects. A real dilemma would be to what extend needy Singaporeans should get help from the government.
One particular policy- the ‘asset enhancement’ for HDB flats (especially those whose flat is their one and only property) dwellers has certainly backfired. If PAP continues to ignore the warning signs, the dire situation will be irreversible in 20 years time, that is when the baby-boom-generation starting to lose their earning power. Many youngers are still being protected from their parents from the bab-boom-generation. The sheer number of this group is going to be overwhelming. Singapore will be flooded with negative asset family when the value of HDB flats starting to decline, while their debts and liabilities are simply too much for them to bear. All HDB flats will become slums.
Just wait and see.
Is the ST writer even a local? Looks like a foreigner.
Ta, I don’t think Radha’s nationality is relevant to the debate on the position she took in her opinion piece.
Zheng Xi
Objective, I am sure you know that as a volunteer, you do have to be non-judgemental and well, objective. It is not an easy role and from your comments, I sensed exasperation and a feeling of ‘burn out’.
Just to put that Daily Mail article into perspective : it reports about a mum renting a house privately and then applying for housing benefit. It does not confirm that she is indeed receiving the said full benefits. Westminster Council has some 300,000 on their waiting list alone for council/social housing and the waiting list for larger properties are as long as 5 years; much to do with the area and clientele they are servicing as well as the lack of new built social housing. It is not fair nor comparative to compare this single incident to what Singapore is facing at the moment. It is just sensational and patronising – a bogeyman trick.
I just find it so strange that after all the TOC reports about homelessness and lack of help, there seems to be more ‘rebuttal’ reports in the mainstream media saying that it is mainly their (the homeless) fault that they fail. As a Singaporean and as a human being, we do have a duty of care to help those who couldn’t.
@ objective. Spare us the BS. You bootlickers can claim whatever you want to be but don’t expect us to buy the BS.
why should kids of single parents be unfairly penalised? on 1 hand govt complain locals do not produce enough. on the other, discriminates against single parents?
to know that some entire blocks are rented out to foreign workers really fly in the face of what HDB is…
@ mice is nice
lol, i thought HDB is a company that intends to get as much money as possible from people that technically “rent” their buildings for 99 years?
hi The Just One,
oh my, i think you are right! they are really into this recycling thingy, like how people (PMETs) are recycled into other industries at a cheaper “price” (dun be choosey?).
is this why some PRs do not 1 2 take up citizenship? o.O
there is no leechin aroun as far as i can see…the facts lies is the truth..the single mothers are indeed havin a hardtime copein/strugglin with daily lives…
what hdb should and must alway do is to provide a simple housin over this single mothers and hdb do hav adequate 1/2 room 1/2 hall budgeted empty flats…
~period~