Julian Lim
I’m a post-65er. My generation is known as the one that didn’t have to suffer. We grew up in a meritocratic society, went through the education system, and are lucky enough to enter working life in a country that is prosperous and well-organised.
Fast forward to 2011.
Soon a mother-to-be, I have just started to learn about my maternity benefits and also started to think long and hard about the problems I will face in raising a child while holding down a full time job. Like every parent, I hope to provide my child with good care (facilitated by time from parents) and a good quality of life (facilitated by plain money). I am also waiting to sign on the dotted line that will put my husband and I in debt for almost half a million dollars in exchange for the keys to our 4 room flat next year. As the election draws near, the hot topics of expensive public housing, high cost of living and foreign talent policy have emerged and led me to think about how we Singaporeans got embroiled into such a situation today.
Fact: Singapore needs a skilled workforce to survive and to be the most competitive Asian country.
This has led to the Government’s policy of educating all men and women, upgrading of skills to ensure all men and women contribute to the workforce, and thus the economy. This further leads to an improved standard of living, but everyone needs to work doubly hard to maintain status quo.As a result there is a greater sense of aspiration, both men and women feeling that they have studied and worked so hard, so they deserve more in life, and want more out of life. However, the strain of such a hectic working life leads to family units where husband and wife both work and toil to achieve more, yet end up with less time for childbearing or raising their kids. Many couples put off starting a family all together.
Fact: Low Fertility Rates
Our Total Fertility Rate declined from 1.6 in 2000 to 1.23 in 2009 and to 1.16 in 2010. The population needs a TFR of 2.1 to replace itself. To arrest the decline, the Singapore government started to import foreign labour, convert the suitable ones to PR and then eventually PRs to citizens to support the aging populace.
The government’s assurance to uneasy Singaporeans is that this is vital for our economy. You will also see a slew of content on press and on national television that propagates cultural diversity and harmony, integration of various cultures, and reminders that our forefathers were once immigrants too.
Fact: More Foreigners
In 2010, we have 5.076 million people, of which 3.230 million are citizens, 0.541 million are PRs, and 1.305 million are foreign residents. (Figures from Dept of Statistics, Singapore.)
This has given rise to a situation where Singaporeans feel threatened by foreigners but somewhat also accepting of the fact that it makes us more cosmopolitan and it keeps the economy running. If you’re a property agent, you welcome foreigners because they are a great source of agent commissions! If you’re a business owner, you welcome foreigners because they are just as skilled yet are less demanding about salaries! If you have colleagues and friends who are foreigners, you feel that hey they are just like you, ‘nice down-to-earth folks’ with the same drives, dreams and aspirations.
If I were a People’s Action Party (PAP) or an opposition candidate for an hour, and the press asked me the golden question: what issue would you look into if you were elected into Parliament, what would I say?
Well, I wouldn’t say lack of car park lots even though I do drive. And I wouldn’t be so clueless as to say everything that the PAP has done is fine so I don’t have anything to change. I wonder why Miss Tin Pei Ling, one of the new PAP candidates for the elections, even bothers to join the PAP if she really thinks there is nothing she can to do to value-add to the party. As a voter, I wonder why I should contribute my tax dollars to her salary when she doesn’t attempt to work her brains harder. And I’m not discriminating against my own gender.
I would say, simply because I’m a 30-something mother-to-be, that I think more can be done to encourage couples to start families and have children. I’m not against the “we welcome foreigners” policy. I’m saying that more can be done to solve the problem at the root than to treat the symptom of it. And I use the word ‘solve’ casually here – a better word would be ‘manage’. We can manage the problem so it becomes less critical. If you think about it, one out of every four people in Singapore are foreigners. Now, that’s a staggering statistic. But it does make sense why almost all cashiers I meet at Giant supermarket are PRC Chinese, and the sales lady helping me at the pharmacy is Filipino. If we could get it to one out of every five or six people, the sentiment on the ground would be very different. We may be able to embrace the foreigners in our midst better than how we are doing now, attributing the tough competition for jobs and living spaces to foreign talents.
What can be done to encourage couples to start families and arrest the declining fertility rate? Their concerns about career and making a living as opposed to childbearing need to be addressed. Their concerns about providing quality care for their newborns and children need to be addressed. Their concerns about the effects on their quality of life with a child or children in tow need to be addressed.
A one-time cash incentive or cash payouts are a ‘nice gesture’ but not the decisive factor for a couple to have a baby. Paid maternity leave helps but in reality it helps only in the first four months of the entire eighteen years and some might argue, lifetime of parenthood. What is the working mother going to do with the baby after four months? The options are not cheap, not pretty and not much – hire a maid for approximately $600 a month, place the newborn in infant care for approximately $1500 a month, or entrust the child to grandparents, assuming they are not working themselves now that the retirement age is 62.
Many people do not realise how hard a decision it is for a woman climbing the career ladder to give up what she has achieved to start a family. Some women don’t even have the luxury of such a decision; a single income source is just not enough to pay for the flat, living expenses, and support parents from both sides. Many decide to continue working full time out of not having a choice, some simply as means to upward mobility. I also know women who forego careers for children only to regret it a few years later. It is all these considerations that make couples shelve family plans for now, till they feel they have achieved more in their careers, or till they feel they can afford it.
I wish Singapore could be as thoughtful as Sweden, Norway and the UK – where they offer one year of paid maternity/ paternity leave. However, as an informed Singaporean well aware of the “hard truths”, a year of paid maternity leave places Singapore out of the competition as best Asian country to site a regional HQ or MNC arm in – if the government enforces such protective measures for its workforce, companies could easily shift to another country where they don’t have to deal with such rules.
Hence, I feel a more elegant solution would be to encourage an economy that offers part-time jobs for mothers – so they can juggle the dual responsibilities of child-minding and making an income to upkeep the family in a Singapore that’s become increasingly expensive to live in. Not only should part-time jobs be available, it must be looked upon as an important mechanism for the economy. Companies could modify parts of its operation so that part-time workers can contribute meaningfully, and also provide a career progression path for such part-time workers.
Overall, the business environment needs to embrace part-time workers, which the government could encourage through incentives. It will be money well spent if it can achieve better fertility rates while keeping a good percentage of Singaporeans in the workforce. It also means a less lax foreign talent policy, and less disgruntled Singaporeans.
Part-time jobs give mothers a choice. It allows a mother to continue her career, albeit at a slower pace. Most of all, now she can find time for her child, while continue to make money to ensure a reasonable quality of life for the child. The decision to start a family is not so difficult now. Yes, we would like to have our cake and eat it. If it’s possible, well, why not? This goes to serve the big picture which is summed up earlier in this writing – women can continue to be part of a skilled workforce and contribute to the daily grind of the grand machine called Singapore.
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@realities
Real realities:
Reality no.1 : if you pore over any global statistics, they will tell you that out of all the 195 countries that ever existed on this earth, Singapore is ranked almost the lowest at 193 for birth rate. We are less fertile than even Korea, US, japan, china or 99per cent of first to third world combined. There is no ‘demographic economic paradox’ here.
Real reality no. 2: : we are in competition not only with the Chinese, Indians but also anyone from Europeans to Taiwanese to philipinos, Indonesians etc. That’s why we need our govt to put singaporeans first and have a Singaporean first policy and ensure we are Adequately prepared, equipped and armed to compete, not rely on foreign labor
Real reality no. 3 &4 : precisely because we are small and lack natural resources, we need to maximize and capitalize on whatever ideas and talents we may have, NOT RELEGATE opposition and alternative voices to 2nd class citizens and do character smearing on even talented and qualified opposition candidates.
You really need to be careful what u wish for, for your “realities” of being outcompeted and becoming irrelevant will really come to pass if we continue on this more of the same path.
This is the version that will never get played out in glowing PAP manifestos. You see, there are no successful economic centrespreads, but plenty of misfired policies.
When real people on the ground, tell it(as they have experienced it),PAP says the people are just ungrateful about 1-time handouts.
So, have we buried our heads like ostriches in the past or are we really resigned to having more years of PAP social engineering via economic justifications?
Don’t think we should bother even grooming the S’pore DNA. Just order babies from the latest factories – any growing economy will suffice.
Reading through, this mother-to-be ponders not so much on the general election, but more on the present day realities of working life here.
However,I second her idea of ‘part-time work’. I feel that a lot of 12-hour jobs can be broken down into two 6-hour jobs. For example, present day we have the 12-hour security job–we can break this into two 6-hour jobs, and by employing 2 persons to do each 6-hour shift, we can double the employment rate and at the same time raise productivity, which will result in higher wages and a less stressful life for working people here.
@budamax1952
mothers here should be able to do 3/4 day
work and keep employed and have better
staff-employer cooperation
i do not think life in singapore can be
less stressful if the govt keep increasing the heat on us with more FTs
For those who were conned by the government about astronomical tax rates in other developed nations, get the facts right and do a realistic comparison before shortchanging yourselves.
I move over to Australia with my eyes wide open that I will be paying higher taxes.
They even scare you with high GST!
But I actually find myself paying less tax, less GST.
As long as you have a family, you receive very attractive family benefits. And our GST is not levied on essentials.
My family earned half of what we get in Singapore but we managed to even buy a rental property to rent out.
And my super (equivalent to CPF) earns a 10% return.
While my situation does not apply to all, I think Singaporeans should really look deeper into issues. Don’t just quote the Straits Times. That is being daft.
Sweden and UK has high tax rates, but the absolute take home pay after tax is still considerably higher than what Singaporeans bring home. N their high taxes don’t just go towards maternity benefits, it’s also for subsidies in medical and education. Countries with high taxes are also because they took the welfare state route — tis is not necc for Singapore. Singapore doesn’t need to tax us more to afford more maternity benefits. we just need the govt to encourage a working environment that is fairer to working mothers, for eg, incentivize companies for part time jobs or mandate that companies keep jobs for mothers after their unpaid maternity leave. BTW, the one year leave is not a fully paid leave in most of these countries, but the mothers are promised their jobs when they are able to return to the workforce. The environment is pro-parenthood.
When PAP keep bringing in foreign workers to drive the economy, not much effort need to be spent on improving productivity or fertility among locals.
Long term, Singapore suffers. Every year, those enlisting for NS gets lesser and leaves Singapore vulnerable. The youngsters also cannot identity with this nation and call it our “endearing” home.
SM Goh kena questioned point blank by a young officer on what he is defending should raise some alarm bells.
The reality of what Singaporeans can afford with their income — are we as “rich” (meaning we can afford things like housing, car, food, essentials) as someone in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Taipei, Sydney or KL?
The answer? http://satayclub.net/2011/04/ubs-singapore-has-lowest-wages-amongst-the-asian-tigers/
Turns out that we are on par with KL, while all the other 4 cities have people whose income can buy them more things.
That’s what we have for Quality of Life.
PS/ Pls don’t give BS about $$ does not equate quality of life.
Actually, I’m thankful of the government for the high price of HDB, as my parents have fully pay up their five room flat in a prime location and I will be inheriting this property which today is valued at close to 750,000sgd and probably by the time I retire it would double in price for me!!!! 3 cheers!!!
Singaporeans are stupid never thought stupid enough to delude and assume tht they ”own” assets.
What Singaporeans are doing is simply paying exorbitant rent for a 99-year lease that has no mortgage value, no collateral value, non-transferable (excepting death) to any independent bank or financial institution. The title deed belongs to HDB. Upon full payment, one gets a photocopy – useful for shitwipes!
What makes it worse is that is of paying property tax for something one never owned (cos HDb is the landlord and the owner) and secondly paying for the costs of buiding that particular unit (flat). Would someone pay $$$ to rent a flat and still pay property tax and building cost(s) of that house or unit?
Is not this deception? Is this what public housing is about? It is misleading the masses and perpetuating the illusion of ownership
The incumbents are so fearful of letting the public know as to how much actually goes into building a flat. Why? Something is simply not right!
Upgrading is a scheme to ”milk” more money – on top of eg 10k (bill for uprgading) deductible from cpf savings by instalments, many overlook the other hidden costs that would arise – interst rates on mortgage, conservancy charges, propert tax. The end game is to have one deplete all of one’s CPF monies in a flat that is preposterously and ridiculously priced.
Why is all these transpiring? Blaming and cursing Mah Bow is a waste of time. LHL is the prime minister. He being ”prime” …. approved of it. He is equally culpable.
It is the one-party sytem that has screwed up many issues and it is likely to worsen if it is allowed to remain.
@ Gen Y,
Your parents have got their flat cheap in the past thanks to 1st generation leaders pro Singaporeans policy.
Are you able to pass a $750,000 resale flat to your kids, fully paid with no debts?
And can you see where things are going? By the time you retire, if HDB prices goes up to $1.5 million, our kids may not be able to pay off the mortgage within their lifetime.
How many people can earn $1.5 million in their lifetime?
@ Mother Ponder Very True
FYI, no intention to marry forever. As current environment doesn’t encourage pro creation….
PAP is losing the people touch !!!
Raise the salaries of the political office holders and also the president
AND Lim Hwee Hwa goes round and asks stallholders not to raise prices because of inflation to help the poor !!!
haiz ! do you really wants this heartless government !!!
@ Gen Y,
You are right about the environment not suitable for procreation.
Our kids have to work till they drop because if they intend to retire by 62, they have only about 35-40 years of working to accumulate $1.5 million just to pay off the mortgage. And make sure they don’t get laid off due to foreigners.
Alternative.. have strangers stay in your dream home by renting out a room.
dear ALL parents to be
do YOU anyow attend/sendoff any strangers/aquaintance parent funeral send off?
i for 1 do not do that..funeral sendoff is very very taboo..its disturbed YOUR yin/yang balances beside fengshui balance
now think for ONCED this realive scenerio
if your son is being COMMAND to send off a COMMONOR mother/wife against their believes..YOURs as well butt had to do it by some sellfish bastead law which name i will not mentioned in istana temasek kris ground…
what do YOU says? buy his duties off?
today some bastead mother
tomorrow some bastead common wife?
PONDOR NO MORE…
@Parasite
Reality 2 – Our economy is now in a more advanced phase but it is essentially the same race. Don’t forget that once upon a time, we used to be a cheap production base in textiles, then consumer goods, then electronics…And now we aim to target manufacturing goods which are of even higher added value – each of these transitions require a labor force of higher skilled knowledge workers. China and India have abundant cheap labor. They are now the factories and back offices of the world. But they also have a huge talent pool and are increasingly competing against the rest of the world for a slice of the high value-added goods and services. It will be naive to think that they are not capable of competing with us in those sectors that you’ve mentioned, and let’s also not forget that manufacturing remains an important and sizable component of our economy. Competition is global, nobody will pause a second when this little red dot gets distracted with frog in the well issues.
Reality 3 – Drifting slowly to irrelevance? Not just yet! At the moment we still have a meaningful role to play. Singapore is by the way an important player in the currency markets and if you follow recent developments on CNH, we may yet have a role to play in the internationalisation of the Yuan. And what about us being a private banking hub for affluent individuals in the region? So we still are relevant now and we need to stay nimble and focussed, and adapt quickly to changes to keep ourselves in the game.
Reality 4 – You are right, the competition will eventually figure it out. But we do have certain aspects going for us, such as stable government, established laws that are conducive for businesses and a good supply of knowledge workers (native or acquired). These are not that easily replicated. Look around the region, our neighbours are still not nearly there. But to keep the advantage, we must continually hone our skills to become better at what we do. And like how we’ve came through all these years, acquire new skills to position for new macro developments. Enterprising trendspotters will hit jackpot. Ultimately, it’s boils down to whether one can do the job. Nothing academic about that.
Realities
a stable government, established laws that are conducive for businesses and a good supply of knowledge workers (native or acquired). These are not that easily replicated. Look around the region, our neighbours are still not nearly there
………………
our neighbours..the malaysian government is known to be corrupted/lazy and not so greedy already adjust the laws..many many laws that BENEFIT their citizens whether orang asli/muthu curry or banaskin cina…
the poor workers/texi drivers get rebates direct from everyday lives whether tolls or taxes..
the malaysian motorcyclists do not pay tolls in malaysian highways..the texi driver pay 50% nia…
the malaysian government till today charged the cheapest in healthcares even in johore for poorer singapoorium parents-2-be…
and the singapoorium babies born in johore hospital are just as healthy as the kandang kebrau maternity services
but @ a heavily discounts rates…
what did our pap government do for the above scenerio? they just said..wahlau it will take 56 liteyears to readjust..
so let it be..just tightened your belts lor…
Realities, 21 April 2011
what are the so-called “frog-in-the-well” issues? so does it really matter what is the main economic drivers if it doesn’t translate to better lives for the people.
by all means roll out the red carpet to the wealthy. but you say till like S’pore is Swiss Bank. by that measure, would S’pore say no to dirty money from terrorists, mafia, drug lords, organised crimes syndicates, etc? private banking hub? gahmen had many hub dreams in the past, whatever happened to education hub pipedreams with numerous high profile private schools’ sudden closures?
your certain aspects going for S’pore is at the expense of the people. “good supply of knowledge workers”? rather telling how you view people doesn’t it? as a number in the stats, economic digits devoid of life, subservant to the state, rather communist-like also…. you must be oblivious the ills that people are suffering from.
not everyone shares your realities.
@realities
It is indeed very clear to all that you have been really thoroughly brainwashed by the PAP and the “CNH” /CNA that you are repeating the platitudes & “hard truths” verbatim word for word. However merely regurgitating what some ministers say are not going to bring us any solutions.
Reality 1: already discussed. We are 3rd lowest birthrate From bottom.
Reality 2: …”we used to be cheap production base etc. And now we are moving to high skilled jobs..but china & india have abundant talent pool etc etc. Which can compete for the same jobs”…
Singaporeans already know this and heard this ad nauseum. So what are we doing about all this? Answer : Continue to rely on mncs and cheap foreign labour to compete for the same foreign investment with china and india. One day we will be as cheap as china and india in order that the mncs will take pity on us and stay on in Singapore?
Reality 3: this is so laughable I am at a loss for words. Yes I follow CNA and we are important hub for currency and play a role in the YUAN Internationalisation and private banking for the rich and famous. But may I ask what has all these got to do with you and me and all the singaporeans who like u do national service & take public transport? This type of economic policy is precisely the type that is designed to enrich the few and irrelevant to the masses and increasing the income and poverty gap.
Reality 4: “we have to Continually hone our skills in what we do” etc to keep up. Reality is we have almost zero productivity gains over the past 2 decades. Real incomes have fallen despite attending all the training and retraining while GDP has gone up. Who has benefitted? Not the average Singaporean who had to sweat out to keep up with “the competition”. Not the family of 4 I saw tonight who had to make do with a “set meal for 2″. Not the elderly and sick who have to sell tissue paper and clean toilets.
Wake up to the real reality, singaporeans!
Ah! If LHH asks stallholders not to raise prices because of inflation to help the poor !!! How about cutting down her MP salary? With the stall rent increase, who will pay for all this? Recently Hong Lim’s hawkers moved back to their newly renovated food centre…stall rental increase, who will foot the bill? When election is on its way, you will see all these PAP MPs will try to do all kind of things to help poor people, hypocrite smile to young kids or even you greet you at the MRT Station : “Hello, Good Morning” What a shit!!!!
HDB price go up will lead to higher rental which in turn will lead to higher property tax.
Downgrade your HDB, you have to pay legal fee and agent fee to sell (1%+2%); and pay legal fee and agent fee and stamp duty to buy (1%+1%+3%).
During the mortgage period, you pay interest.
Old HDB price sure come down as it approaches end of lease.
ONE Reality :
PAP run out of ideas to create jobs so have to build 2 Casinos.
hello julian lim,
your proposal of having more part time jobs for women, in fact applies to men too. Who wouldn;t want a part time job if it is able to release some pressure and give you some time to pursue your own interests, and at the same time earn enough for 3 meals a day.
Such dream jobs i think can be created only in two areas:
1. Production line work, as in relatively low skilled, factory operatives. This routine work style are suitable for parttimers because the uniformity of the production will make sure that continuity problems between changing shifts, are non existent. On the other hand, managerial jobs are more complex and it is difficult to have part time concept without sacrificing control and effectiveness in the company.
2. You be your own boss. In this case because you are the boss, you call the shots. You can do such parttime stuff even at home, especially if it is internet based business.
It is no use asking the goverhment to make part time jobs, and this is also not pap’s fault.
PAP faults are simply the fact that they charge $200 maid levy, they don’t give enough financial support to encourage a family which need to continually pay bills for kids welfare. One-shot payments as you said, are useless.
I get angry because they use the country’s money to increase the prata man salary 26% for no rhyme or reason, and then ask the hawkers not to increase their prices, whilst the government rents on which the hawker centre is sited, doesnt change.
The government is so rich, why can’t they share the wealth to encourage mothers to be, there are so many possibilites. It is unfair.
follow the way of genuine helping people to make livelihood better and better(but not make cost of livings and housing prices so high yet want people year after year put up false front and work like slaves to debts and bills year after year to maintain the false glory, and gov cost structure simply too high, one way for them is that they could reduce pay, but doubt they would do that since year after year they must get promoted, get increment and bonuses to get their supporters happily and thus united)
else people will show ruling party who disobey this law the way out…
keep it up heros of elections, speak up for us… people will have eyes to see… for the sake of themselves and next generations who are already in huge debts and liabilities..
how to wake up and work HAPPILY without unreasonable monthly pushy debts and bills and erp and increase fares and locked cpf and unknown reserves funds and land sales prices and high RESALES COV and BTO prices and high cost of livings(ever increasing these few years), this is what all parties should look into… reduce cost structures like high pay of governements and mp and especially ministers will help.
wake up please, they wont help us local to pro-create, they will just import PRs to make it 6plus million population, it is fine to import, but the balance was out as they did it too fast too furious.. it is always about balance in life as it is good for retail businesses and wholesales business for pr and workers to come in, but to house them, to avoid congestions, to make sure they dont speculate our properties and coes and make prices unreasonably high, this is a challenge..
bless ourselves
First of all, ppl mus not scared voted for Opp la…
Otherwise talk n talk also like dat one.
for the sake of ourselves and next generations, i am sure more people will vote freely for freedom… time for the people to be resilent ourselves and creative and able to build the nations for themselves, dont let our children look down on us or say we made the political situation lop-sided.
Cancer cells can only be tackled in a single way – eliminate it (short-term pain, with 50-50 chance of long-term survival) or it will kill you eventually (No chance of survival in the mid-term). Choose your future plan carefully.
PAP had overlooked citizens sentiments on the ground this time. And the price to pay could be hefty.
How could they have made such simple mistake?
It is better to risk the uncertainties of having to rejoin Malaysia than to be oppressed forever as slaves under the lash of the present regime!
Once a single Mother
I pay GST on petrol in Au,car,food from coles or woolworth.
I dont benefit from the family benefit scheme as my family is grown up. The GST here is 10 percent .Have you forgotten the train fare you pay?4 times more compared to SG. Please tell me what is cheaper in AU. The average person earning above 20k is 28 percent tax. The electricity,gas and water price is higher as there is a base pprice
I once attended a seminar on electrical maintenance held by SP Services.
I asked the GM one question: How is it that the electrical tariff of Singapore is so high as compared with that of AU.
He replied: I cannot commend. On pressing the issue, he said: This higher tariff in Singapore is caused by the higher costs due to underground cabling which is more costly as compared with those carried over in pylons.
I put it to him this way: Is it not caused by the fact that some years back the government privatized the electrical infrastrucure to SP lock stock and barrel for SP to charge for what citizens have already paid all over again.
He appeared stunned by my query.
A system of taxing and privatizing has created a high cost of living here in Singapore, as simple as that – double taxing one by government the other by GLCs.
This happens in selling the HDB flats as well because lands used for constructing the HDB flats were already paid by citizens out of taxes.
HDB charged for land at market price and citizens pay for them again – double taxing.
Mah has forgotten this tax-and-privatize double taxation. He has not the same deep insight of Lim Kim San who obviously know that lands acquired for public housing is for public housing. He has seen high housing costs would lower our economic competitiveness. PSA finally has to reverse high rentals charged to major port users because of this market-price policies on lands when big operators started moving out of Singapore to Malaysia.
Our government is always prepared to give in on high-land-cost policies to the big foreign companies doing business here but not to its own citizens. Our leaders once mention that the world is like a big ocean the big shark eat the fishes and fishes ear the shrimps. Our our own citizens being treated as shrimps and foreign talents as sharks and government as fish.
It is time opposition brings up this tax-and-privatise inequity in running the country.
No wonder the government and the rich are getting richers and richer reaching first world standard while one third of population are left behind in the third world.
If minister Mah cannot see the wood for the tree, and tries to gross over such major error in policies of the government, we will be sunk.
This asset value enhancement policy has run a little amok.
We can all appreciate the need for people to see their asset values hold and appreciate in line with inflation. But asset prices taking off like this due to the govt squeezing supply over a few years is unacceptable.
MBT’s argument on lowering land cost being akin to raiding the national reserves doesn’t hold water. And hearing MBT’s rebuttals to the opposition parties is an even bigger turn off.
Some economic ills are no fault of the PAP. Some are. And this one can be atributed (in no small way) to actions of the PAP. It would do the PAP a lot of good if it were to face the facts and chart a better course forward.
Just 20 or so years ago, a couple can get a new 5-room flat at less than 200k(or was it less tha 100k?) because of the old valuation. My mother became the sole owner after her divorce and it’s fully paid up(in I think less than 10 years).
But now? A couple will probably have to spend 20 or 30 years to pay off the price of a new flat