3/29/2012

Income ceiling raised for 2 rm flats in mature estates

The income ceiling to buy 2 rm flats has been raised from $2000 to $5000 for the affordable HDB flats in mature estates. But the ceiling of $2000 will stay for new estates to keep them affordable for the lower incomes.

This policy change is funny in many ways. If people can afford to buy a flat with only $1000 pm income, the raising to $5000 seems to be unnecessary. And if it needs a $5000 income to be able to afford a 2 rm flat, should not the other categories of ceiling be raised proportionately to make them affordable as well?

The official reasoning is that raising the ceiling would provide those earning $5000 another option to buy down instead of being forced to buy more expensive but still affordable flats. This is a dramatic change in policy direction from the HDB. In the past or current, the policy is to make sure that the buyer will expend whatever he has in his savings or his income to buy the most expensive flats available. If he earns a bit more, force him to buy from the sharks in the private sector. And this policy has singlehandedly led to the present situation whereby many did not have much left in their savings for retirement, and a 30 year mortgage repayment that eats up their disposable income. Oops, think I make a mistake here. Someone was reported in the main media that many Singaporeans have enough savings in the CPF for retirement. Believe me, it is true.

The old thinking of doing things right may not be right in this particular case. The little change in direction may help a little in allowing people to buy what they really can afford and still with some savings and a little more disposable income to go with. To focus on doing things right, HDB may want to seriously look at the old policy of forcing people to buy more expensive but still affordable flats and extend this policy change to all the other categories of affordable HDB flats. The right way to go is to remove the ceilings and build more flats to meet the demands. Don’t interfere with the people’s income and how they should spend their money. Many would want to buy smaller and really affordable flats and save at the same time for their retirement and a little luxury with the extra cash available.

The flawed policy of not building to frustrate the people by creating a false demand is obnoxious and definitely not right. Would HDB do the right thing and do it right by going all the way instead of just stopping at 2?

And believe me, some daft Sinkies will still argue that by not putting a ceiling on the income, there will be so big a demand for smaller flats that the lower income will be deprived of their chances of buying one. And some great talents will superimpose this view, when the simple thing to do is to build what the people want. If the demand is for cheaper 3 rm or 4 rm flats, then build it for the people.

Why insist on people spending all their money to buy more expensive affordable flats, or why not follow the private developers and build 650 sq ft flat to sell at $1m? Then keep harping that the quality of life will not be affected. Can do or no can do?

41 comments:

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Let me make a qualification. What is right to the govt may not be right to the people. What is right to the people may not be right to the govt.

Different interests, different agenda.

Anonymous said...

For all/most of the MPs...right or wrong doesn't matter as long as they sing the same tune

Anonymous said...

Once one become a gangster, one has no choice but to behave like one.

Anonymous said...

Growing up from the 70s i witness the demolition of 1 living room (no bed room) flats at Kim Keat Ave. It was quite a specticle! It was explosive demolition, i think the first time carried out on a HDB flat. i also remember giving tuition to neighbourhood kids living in the "no bedroom" tiny apartments with units facing each other, no sunlight can get into the corridor, hauntingly eerie. As Singapore progressed i was imbued with a sense of optimism that we are seeing the demise of the no bedroom and 1 bed room flats and all my friends and fellow Singaporeans can look forward to living in at least a 4 room HDB flat :-)). How time can prove me WRONG! Singapore is REGRESSING ...

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Sinkies will keep getting richer and richer with bigger and bigger income to live in smaller and smaller flats and unable to afford to own cars. But the quality of life will not be affected.

This is the new Sinkie dream. Own a million dollar flat regardless of size.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

Wah. Complain some more. Nothing will make any of these whinging motherfuckers satisfied.

Aw...just bring in more foreigners ASAP. At least those wankers are grateful.

Veritas said...

Many evils of PAP can be traced back to HDB. It is a multi-facet hydra from the start. First, HDB is not there to provide cheap housing as spin by PAP. HDB was a wicked idea to break up closely knit Chinese and Malay community and put them into insular barracks.

Before, the Chinese quarters were supporters of Barisan Socialize while Malay kampong supports PKMS. With one stroke of, the grassroot power of opposition were broken.

HDB also help to create a meek and docile population that were channel into MNC. PAP always spin and give impression that Singaporeans were homeless before joker Lim Kim San come with HDB and do the "let there by light".

In fact, before HDB many Singaporeans live in landed property. Those rural Singaporean enjoyed a self-subsistence lifestyle. PAP wanted to destroy their life. Together with Land Acquisition Act, Singaporeans are sardined in HDB prison, closed to MNC factories (this is how early estate such as Toa Payoh and Bedok come to being), and put into debt.

To clear these debts, Singapore are force to stooge for MNC. We, once proud free people are now slaves. We once have our garden, play with mud, rear chickens, grow potatoes, living under the blue sky, are now squeeze into a cage of 100m if you are lucky.

There are so much wickedness in HDB, to cut things short Chok Tong an incarnate of devil make life even more miserable for everyone.

Land Acquisition Act, comes with a tacit social contract that citizens are provided by cheap housing. Starting with Chok Tong, PAP arbitrating and profit massively by selling land rob from us on a crazy spread to developers and foreigners.

Citizens are restricted by COE to buy cars because PAP say land is limited. On the next second, PAP say Singapore is too big and so we must import the whole world of FT.

Using the land robbed from us, PAP resell it back to our sons and daughters planning to get married, at the price that can only be repaid in 30 years mortgages.

To prevent frugal Singaporeans from saving monies so that everyone is miserable at old age, PAP forces Singaporeans with higher income to take up larger HDB house, or buy from the private property developper sharks.

The above policy has another more wicked intention. Singaporeans are use to provide a backstop for property speculator and developper.

When Singaporeans get jobless and got foreclosure, PAP accuse us not living within our means.

Such tyranny increases when LHL come to power. Its time we kick out PAP.

Anonymous said...

I'm old enough to remember one Minister boasting in the Straits Times about 20 years ago.

Something along the lines of;

Singaporeans are getting richer.
Don't want to buy anything smaller than a 3 room flat.
So the HDB has to stop building 3 room flats.
So PAP is very good for Singaporeans.

I think this was in the early 1990's.
Just after the CPF liberalisation allowing us to use CPF money for property purchase.

How hollow it all seems now.
Now we complete the circle.
Back to building small flats to keep everything affordable.

"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
Harvey Dent, in the Batman movie, The Dark Knight.

Anonymous said...

There used to be many good apples. Now one by one is rotting and the worms are crawling out. Some still look good with a layer of plastic coating on the outside. But surely, the rot within is getting bad.

The party used to be a good apple too.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Singaporeans used to own this little red dot but this little red dot is now the Kingdom of Lanfang with a high defence budget to protect the owners' assets. Singaporeans will remain slaves if they don't reclaim back their rightful ownership of this land.

Gintai_昇泰 said...

Hey most of us agree with what you just said. Using HDB in social engineering and keeping themselves in power!
But HDB and Kand Acquisition Act to take from poor farmers to make huge profits is only one of the tools. There are many others. CPF is one of the most powerful tool unheard off in the world except Sg. Using the entire country's CPF to creat and grow so many large and small GLCs controlled by Temasek and the govt of course.
After using our cheap abundant CPF monies to invest and grow their wealth they then decided may as well lock them up forever using schemes and excuses to deny you the retirement life savings. It's like worst than a prostitute !
If I take out all my CPF today and lost it in the casinos tomor it's my money. It's got nothing to do with you. Just fuck off your dirty hands from my CPF account. It got nothing to do with you. Anyway we still work till we drop dead so what retirement payouts at age 65 onwards are u talking about?
Truth is they got no money to pay all the baby boomers at one go cuz all our is tied up in assets and 50 yrs investment in so many near bankrupt Ang Mo banks! They looking at 50 yrs returns! Lol!
Don't forget Sg is just a 700 km sq piece of Rick with nothing! Where is the collactoral? When banks loan u money in case of default they will seize your assets. What have we got?
We got no oil field, no forest or minerals! Unlike neighboring countries where they got abundance resources so they will never die!
Because of that, they need to lock up our CPF and over value those pigeon holes to creat wealth and assets! Got it?
It's all part of a great scheme of social engineering and perpetually in power! The PAP tentacles are now in every nook and cranny of this 700 sq m of rock!
After all they don't just call us "Sinkies" for nothing? We are sinking and condemned to a life of misery whilst they reap huge profits and dividends! Really langgar!

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