More pics from Sungei Buloh

Housing for the people -losing bearing, losing sight

Chok Tong's assurance of more affordable housing for the people is being met with a big dose of scepticism. Not many want to believe him and I can understand why. Unless the details are work out wit a big change in the arithmetics, it is going to be 'more of the same and nothing new'. The media is splashing across its pages with news of many more sites being offered or going to be offered for more private housing. That's where the demand is, probably from rich foreigners. One developer quoted in the media commented that the sites in Simei and Pheng Geck Avenue could fetch $1000 psf on completion. So what is new? $1000 psf is the new standard of affordability. There will be more on offer. Singaporeans can watch with their salivas dripping from their mouths while the rich foreigners will grab them up, some from ill gotten gains transferred here as new money. As one forumer, Joshua Selvakumar, wrote in the ST forum, how could prices come down when the bids by contractors are going higher by the day? He quoted a 'surprise bid of $251m' which was three times the trigger price of $82m. Who is going to pay for such a high bid? No need to ask. And there was a little comment by the govt that the sites on offer would be withdrawn if the bids fell below its expected price. Govt is not about making money, more money and more money. Govt is about giving the people a good life, the general well being of the people. Who cares about the trillions the govt has in the reserves? Who cares if they have lost hundreds of billions in their investment. What the people is concerned about are their basic needs, like a decent and affordable homes. Not the shoe box quality in Hongkong and the Hongkong prices. A reporter even compared this and said how grateful Singaporeans should be. if we reach such a state like in Hongkong, who is to be blamed. We don't need a govt that set these as the standard or quality of living for the people. If the land price is not controlled, no matter how many more sites are put up, the cost of housing will keep running away, out of sync. Housing, medical and education cannot be equated to a commercial enterprise with commercial aims and objectives, and making as much money as possible from the people. Are we going to have more of the same, more 'affordable' flats? Are the scepticisms of the assurance justified?

A reassurance from Chok Tong

Last night heard Chok Tong reassuring the people that the govt had their interest at heart, citizens first and foreigners second. And the most important part, more properties would be made available and the government would "ensure that property prices do not fall out of sync with economic fundamentals." So basically he is saying that there will be more flats at affordable prices. Unfortunately 'more and affordable' are two words that are getting out of sync with the people. What is more when each cohort of citizens is about 30,000 heads and HDB sold less than 5,000 units of flats last year? When 30,000 people got hitched, there is a demand for 15,000 units and even at 50% rate, the demand is for 7,500 units. Out of sync or in sync? What about the additional demand from another few hundred foreigners, PRs and new citizens? Obviously 'more' means different things to different people. No need to explain further about the definition of affordability. It is totally out of sync from the hardlander's definition. The CPF was primarily a retirement fund but now would be emptied for the first 30 years to pay for an affordable flat. I agree that there will be plenty of CPF left if everyone will to go for a 2rm or 3rm flat. But the reality is that this is not the expectation of a Swiss standard level of living. With a huge chunk of money being used to pay for a flat, and expectation to set aside another chunk in minimum sum and Medisave, and the people still expected to save for their retirement, where is the disposable income? A family income of $5k is also very tight with 2 school going children. Are we in sync or out of sync? But if you everyone is having a million or several million dollar income, then everything is smooth going. Everything is in sync. Please tell us what is more and what is the meaning of affordable.

Correction to my HDB assumption

When I posted the article on 'Help save HDB' I used a ballpark figure of 20,000 units of flats sold for 2009. My assumption was way off the mark. I read from a report that the number of units sold was 4,736 units. Using a round figure of 5,000, 2,000,000,000/5,000, the deficit will come to $400,000 per unit of flat sold. Unbelieveable but it is true. I am prepare to change this number if anyone has a better number and wants to correct me. The $400,000 per unit is not only unbelieveable but incredible and even looks nonsensical.

More good news and good statistics

Foreigners are snapping up private properties in greater numbers. The numbers given in the ST shows that from 2007 to 2009, foreigners have bought about 20,000 units of properties here. If we are to extrapolate backwards, foreigners could have bought a few hundred thousands of private properties here. The good news is that more are coming in and buying. Another report says that Singapore is a choiced city for immigrants and there are enough in the waiting list to bring our population to 13m. This could easily triple or quadruple the prices of properties here, including those of public flats. The future of Singaporeans is so rosy. Wait for the 3rm flats to hit $1m and 4rm to hit $1.5m, and the bigger units in the $2m and more. Then Singaporeans can all sell out, move off to Lijiang or Chennai, or JB and Batam, build their own palaces and live there happily thereafter.