9/08/2010

Say No to 6.5m

Mah Bow Tan has announced that he would be using the 6.5m figure for planning purposes. Just planning only lah! I think he used 5.5m in his earlier plans and we have seen the great results. Flats get smaller and more expensive among other things. And there were huge distortions in supply and demands for public housing. Let’s see if he can do better this time and not caught by surprises again. My big surprise is that they have a planning department doing planning. What would 6.5m do to our infrastructure? I visited a friend in Hougang, in a small corner that was left with a few landed properties. Around them were high rise HDB flats that made their existence look so small and out of place. There were many low rise properties in the area, but no more. And I think the few left will be no more soon. That will be the fate of low rise properties if our population growth is unrestraint, or coveting that 6.5m target. When it is hit, they will be thinking of 10m. It will never end. In the not too distant future we can expect that they will have to downsize the Istana as well. Perhaps build an Istana on top of some new pinnacles like the Noah’s Ark on top of Marina Bay Sands. But before that, all the landed properties in District 9, 10 and 11 will have to make way. How else can the island keep on taking in more people? I am asking a silly question. HDB flats can also be downsized to 500 sq ft. After all the family size is getting smaller and with some choosing not to multiply. And one of the things that we can do in approving future citizens is to pick them according to size to fit into our micky mouse flats. Only those below 5 ft tall qualify to become new citizens. I am just talking about the consequence of space. There are many areas that will have to face the brunt of this 6.5m nonsense. Ha, I am talking nonsense again. We have plenty of space to build on, above and below, and land reclamation. Do Singaporeans have a say in the making of their country? Can the elected govt do anything it thinks fit without the consent of the people? In crucial matters like this 6.5m thing, Singaporeans must take a stand. Everyone has a stake in the well being of this country, for themselves and their children. No one shall be given the power to do whatever he wants to the country. The country belongs to all the citizens. If this is a bad thing, Singaporeans must stand up and say no.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

You surprised they have a planning dept ?
They have one in every ministry, so wat ? They still got caught off guard frequently, right ?

Tell them that since they have planning depts, getting caught off guard cannot be a valid reason ?

patriot

Wally Buffet said...

Maybe they need a planning department to plan not to get caught off guard with their plans. WTF.

Yup, if you own a landed property surrounded by towering HDB blocks, you will not only feel out of place in your little plot of soil but probably you will have vertigo everyday as well. There are pockets of such unlucky landed property owners all over the island.

I most assertively second the idea of downsizing the Istana grounds where our esteemed President is holding court. What a waste of valuable space right in the heart of Orchard! The land freed can be used to build premium HDB DBSS flats costing $5 to $10 million. After all, look who you are getting for your neighbour for this kind of purchase price. It's a steal man!

Wow! 6.5 million people on this speck of an island. More parking woes, more traffic congestion, more sardines to be packed into the MRT despite the $l billion signalling tweak. Now I heard that they are considering to make COE for cars so expensive that the average Joe will not be able to own one, even a red plated one. Then, the only one driving on our roads will be the billionaire PRs from the PRC and India and of course our elites and their followers.

So, if we have 6.5 million people and native Singaporeans at most only 3.0 to 3.5 million, then can my simple, stupid brain assume that half of the population of this country are aliens? Wow! wow! we will be in the Guinness book of records man!

Just yesterday, I was served by two of the foreign trash, their darlings. One was a Pinoy in a Starhub outlet. She had nothing to do and was chatting away with another trash from India. I was enquiring about a data plan for my IPAD. She just rummaged for a leaflet and threw it at me without even an explanation of the various plans. The attitude was one of disinterest. How's that for service talent?

Episode 2. A PRC trash manning a coffee stall in a food court gave me my drink and banged the coffee cup so hard on the counter that almost half the contents spilled out. How's that for service talent?

Good. Import more trash and go "shoot" your own foot.

PS. I meant "shoot" figuratively. Please don't be offended and forgive me for my poor English if you guys interpret it the wrong way. The fault is all mine.

Anonymous said...

"Say No to 6.5m".

No, we have no Right to say it and they will tell us to shut-up.

Me suggest that we the people, tell our leaders to free themselves from looking after us. They themselves go and enjoy their live here or anywhere they like. Me for one, prefer to take care of myself and many that i know, are likewise very sicken to be led and handled in the manners of the last many years.

Another way of course is to learn to like life the way it is now and bear with it.

Last but not least is to find alternative abroad.

Remember, Singaporeans have absolutely NO RIGHTS TO SAY NO TO YOUR COMMANDERS.

So, please don't dream !

patriot

Anonymous said...

planning department...for what? Just pray to the God of No Mercy and all will be well.

Anonymous said...

Those people always crowed loudly that they look and plan years ahead, but when floods happened, they said they were caught off-guard.

When the demand for HDB flats became a problem, they said they were also caught off-guard.

When the MRT became so crowded and bursting to the seams, I am sure they will say they were also caught off-guard.

Now, what is it that our multi million dollar ministers are not caught off-guard I wonder?

Oh yes, their salaries. Did they say that they were caught off-guard being paid so much?

Anonymous said...

New movie coming to town. Title is 'Caught of guard'.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

Although no one can predict the future or what the "optimum" number of people should be, I would add my own guessimate: 6.5 million seems a little on the low side to me, give the great bustling cities like HK, and NY's island of Manhattan, and Bangkok.

NY has 11 million, Bangkok 10 million and they're about the same size as Singapore.

So from those figures, my guessimate: 9-10.5 million.

Let it rock man! Keep those borders open!

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

My individual opinion and wish is to hold the population at the present 5m level. In fact it is too much to my liking. 4m should be what I am comfortable.

Everyone can have their on preference of what they are comfortable with. Yours is 19m or more.

Anonymous said...

Whatever lah, 6.5m is just a figure they throw about. When the time comes, and big issues surface with the increased population, they are again going to tell us, they were caught off-guard. Simple as that.

They will never say they miscalculated or that they made a mistake in anything that turn out the wrong way. We have seen that many a time.

But they know ignorant Singaporeans never learn.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

In that case MBT 6.5 million is as "valid" as your 4 mil or your "put-words-in-matilahs-mouth-and-distort-his-point-of-view-because-I-can't-mount-a-decent-argument" exorbidant number of 19 million.

Open borders rock the house! (I mean hotel)

Anonymous said...

Excuse me...

Singapore is an island...

Exactly how much land can be re-claim from the sea without sparking real tensions and even outright war when we extend the island physical boundaries until it literally squeezes against another soveriegn country's physical borders...

Currently the total surface [up & down too] land area of singapore is about 700km...so you have a 6.5 million people projected target...that is about X number of people per square 5 metres or so...looks like personal space boh hui liao [imagine someone carrying a very bad csn cause death type of air born virus..u see the dead and dying in a days never mind weeks]....the numbers they are targeting is illogical...imagine if there is a global event or a global or regional war...how much food and finite resources to maintain the 6.5 million or even more population before food or portable water or resource riots breaks out in x number of days...

Don't think malaysia/indonesia will allow refugees from singapore to cross their border since they will be attending to their own citizens first with their already owned strained and finite resources...

The policy makers/decision makers and so called planners of the singapore government are looking very narrowly at the short term and damn the long term consequences.

Very cold blooded and with evil hearts/souls to boot i see here.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Liu Thai Ker said we can afford 7.5m and there is Tekong and Ubin on stand by. He forgot that we still have Kusu, Sister Islands, St John, Coney, Hantu, and Christmas Island.

Now I change my mind. 10m is still very comfortable.

Anonymous said...

Some world cities may have denser population than Singapore, but they have hinterlands that serve as a release valve.

Oh yeah, we too have all the little atolls to crow about.

Anonymous said...

More are needed, so when a plague or killer disease happened, hope some from the huge population can survive and not a small population that gets totally wiped out.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

If there is an epidemic, Malaysia and Indonesia will shut their borders. The only way out is possibly to fly, if other countries did not shut their airports.

Basically no way out. Suma mati.

Everytime I am in a crowded train I ponder how fast a contagious disease could get out of control when it can spread throughout the whole train. Everyone exchanging their breaths, with all the viruses and bacterias.

MRT becomes Mass Rapid Transmission.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

anon 1019:

No need hinterlan these days. You have super cheap flights going to hinterland of your neighbours.

"Getting away" from Singapore "to relieve the valves (or whatever mechanism)" has never been a problem. Just go and stand next to the Batam/ Bintang ferry and count heads, and you'll see my point :-)

anon 1112


High density living comes with certain risks. You've identified diseases. True. But when, in modern times has a jiller disease wiped-out an entire city?

Never.

Even SARS -- as deadly as it was, was dealt with swiftly and effectively.

Other risks to high density populations:

1 Natural disasters
2 Terrorism
3 Infrastructure failure

So what? Being alive means being exposed to risk anyway. As long as reasonable measures are taken, it's OK.

You are not ever going to prevent your oh-so precious mortal existence from the possibility of coming to a brutal, catastrophic end... by some type of calamity.

Not even if you pray and sacrifice to all the gods.

Anonymous said...

In a listed company, you need to obtain shareholders mandate to issue new shares. The logic is simple because new shares will dilute current shareholders interest.

Any political party which plans to increase the population in a material way, must state this agenda clearly and seek citizens' mandate. Doing it before obtaining mandate could impair the trust of the citizens and could be detrimental to current citizens.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

We have just prevented out poorer citizens from taking free buses to the island resort. Sorry, correction, we have prevented them, protected them, from gambling.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Anon 11:28,

Clever of you to qualify your 'shoot'. Don't pray pray: )

Anonymous said...

Yet another man crossed from Malaysia via the Causeway using his wifes' passport.

Both the Malaysian and Singapore Immigration Officers on duties were 'off guard'.

The door of Singapore is literally very wide open.

patriot