MM Lee: HDB will continue to build “affordable†homes
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MM Lee: HDB will continue to build “affordable” homes
December 14, 2009
During a visit to The Pinnacle@Duxton yesterday, MM Lee Kuan Yew reassured Singaporeans that HDB will continue to build “affordable” flats for them even as prices had sky-rocketed over the last few years, fueled partly by the relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore.
The prices of HDB resale flats hit a record high in June this year. An Indonesian PR reportedly paid $653,000 for a 4-room resale flat in Queenstown.
The Pinnacle@Duxton, which towers over Tanjong Pagar, was built on the site of rental flats. A 5-room unit there now fetches more than $500,000.
MM Lee, who is the MP for Tanjong Pagar for 54 years recalled how he used the two Duxton Plain blocks then under construction to win voters over during the 1963 elections:
“I said: ‘If you vote for me, these will be completed and will be yours’. If not, the Barisan Sosialis will win and you will have a bleak future.”
The opposition Barisan Sosialis never had a chance against the PAP led by MM Lee. Just before the election was called, a massive security operation “Operation Coldstore” led to the arrests and detention of several key Barisan leaders such as Lim Chin Siong.
One of them, a Barisan MP Chia Thye Poh was detained for 32 years without trial making him the longest political prisoner of conscience in the world.
The rising prices of HDB flats lead to some young couples to complain that they have been squeezed out of the market. Despite the huge increase in population between the years 2006 and 2008, the number of new flats built did not increase by much.
MM Lee offered scant consolation to first-time home buyers with a “highfalutin” explanation that “if they have confidence in the country and support the Government, then prices ‘must go up’ as they have every year since 1965.” The “alternative”, he said is “grim”.
‘They’ve got to decide if the country is going to go up or go down. If the country is going to go down, then the economy will go down, people’s incomes will be down, unemployment will be up and property values will go down,” he added.
HDB flats are 99-year old leasehold properties whose supply and therefore prices are entirely determined by the government which can be increased artificially by either limiting the supply of new flats or increasing the demand via immigration.
PRs are permitted to purchase resale HDB flats. According to Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng, there were over 90,000 PRs and 20,000 new citizens last year.
In a recent parliamentary session, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said that PRs constitute only 4 per cent of the buyers of resale flats without quoting any sources.
A release by real estate agency ERA in July this year revealed that PRs make up 40 per cent of the buyers of resale flats.
Singapore has no opposition in parliament to check on the ruling party. Policies are often formulated and implemented with little consultation with the people.
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HDB will continue to build “affordable” flats for them even as prices had sky-rocketed over the last few years, fueled partly by the relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore.
"Affordable" by whose standards of a Minister's pay, or by the ordinary Singaporean whose wages are determined by a PAP dominated National Wage Council, and whose PAP controlled NTUC will insist that all employment contracts should be based on 3 to 5 years term ?
“I said: ‘If you vote for me, these will be completed and will be yours’. If not, the Barisan Sosialis will win and you will have a bleak future.”
Are the HDB blocks truly "yours" ?
Now after 52 years in power, and the Barisan Sosialis has lost - the two blocks have been demolished before the 99 year lease is over.
Is there any bright future for those evicted residents of the two demolished blocks ?
‘They’ve got to decide if the country is going to go up or go down. If the country is going to go down, then the economy will go down, people’s incomes will be down, unemployment will be up and property values will go down,” he added.
Can the ordinary Singaporeans decide if the country is going up or going down - when the Prime Minister is helpless as to how the Singapore economy will go and is entirely dependent on the USA, China, India and the geo-political state of the World ?
All that is known is that Singaporean's incomes are down, as the Ministers' incomes are skyrocketing upwards; unemployment remains high with short term employment contract being insisted, as the PAP entrenched their own with iron rice bowl contracts
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During a visit to The Pinnacle@Duxton yesterday, MM Lee Kuan Yew reassured Singaporeans that HDB will continue to build “affordable” flats for them even as prices had sky-rocketed over the last few years, fueled partly by the relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore.
The prices of HDB resale flats hit a record high in June this year. An Indonesian PR reportedly paid $653,000 for a 4-room resale flat in Queenstown.
The Pinnacle@Duxton, which towers over Tanjong Pagar, was built on the site of rental flats. A 5-room unit there now fetches more than $500,000.
This type of price, they dare to said it's affordable.
I can't imagine ten years down the road, the cost of hdb flat - be it, resale or direct sale from gahmen.
If like that, young graduate starting pay must be at least S$3500.00 - 4000.00 per month in order to justify their monthly hdb loan. - This is just my own opinion/assumption.
It's just a 99 years old lease - not 999 yrs or freehold
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HDB flat value will rise as long as economy grows: MM Lee
By Asha Popatlal, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 13 December 2009 2123 hrsSINGAPORE: Public flats will continue to appreciate in value as long as the Singapore economy continues to grow. And with limited space, the future of public housing looks set to go up - with more skyscraper flats to be built.
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said this as he launched The Pinnacle@Duxton, which at 50 storeys, is the tallest HDB development in Singapore.
The first rental HDB blocks in Tanjong Pagar were built in 1963 on the site where The Pinnacle@Duxton stands. Today, it is the site of the tallest HDB in the country and the scene has changed significantly.
Mr Lee attributes the change to an early policy decision to build a home-owning society, which is what motivates Singaporeans to upgrade this asset for a better life, something which could not have happened with just rental flats.
Going forward, Mr Lee expects more of such flats to be built.
He said: "The Pinnacle@Duxton is therefore a good example that if the nation continues to do well, we can build more flats of this standard. But we should not make a quick profit from a resale of HDB flats.
"The rules on minimum occupation and requirement for family units nucleus are to discourage speculative purchases."Mr Lee gave out keys to seven of the first families to move in and visited one family, whose father had rented a flat in the area previously.
Speaking to reporters later, he said the government could have built a condominium in its place but preferred to build public flats in this central area and share the growth of the city with the people who had rented flats in the area before.
Responding to questions later on about young couples who are concerned about flat affordability, Mr Lee said this is linked to the country's growth - if the country is doing well, property prices will go up.
But if the economy goes down, unemployment goes up but incomes and property values decline.
One thing that will be going up is the height of future public housing.
Mr Lee said: "Well, it's a very special problem we face because we can't expand the city laterally, we have to expand the city vertically. Yes, we can have more (land) reclamations but that's only about 10, 15 per cent and we've reached the limit.
"Therefore, I see more and more of the old blocks being demolished and new blocks like The Pinnacle@Duxton being built."
Units at The Pinnacle@Duxton cost an average of S$486,000 for a 4-room flat and S$590,000 for a 5-room flat, when the last of the units were released in October.
The 50th-storey skybridge will also be open to non-residents for a S$5 fee.
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Responding to questions later on about young couples who are concerned about flat affordability, Mr Lee said this is linked to the country's growth - if the country is doing well, property prices will go up.
In my humble opinion - it's due to demand and supply. Which is caused by relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore.
Units at The Pinnacle@Duxton cost an average of S$486,000 for a 4-room flat and S$590,000 for a 5-room flat, when the last of the units were released in October.
The 50th-storey skybridge will also be open to non-residents for a S$5 fee. - Wow Lan got to pay moneyIn my humble opinion, many citizen major assets are HDB Flats - if the value/price drop ... ...
I called it asset rich, cash not so many
cos used it on housing loan and misc expense
overall conclusion - easy to develop stress which is harmful to our health. be it mental or physical
damn pissed off! -
many singaporeans are paying until death, what affordable?
u mean affordable if you have million dollars salary??
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A letter to Mr Mah Bow Tan on his “realistic” remark
December 15, 2009
Dear Mr Mah,
I refer to the comments you made in the parliament as reported by the Straits Times on the 24th Nov 2009.
You said that housing standards have increased over the years. As far as I know, flat sizes have shrunk over the years. How shrinking flats translates to higher standards is something you can address in parliament next time.
You said your three-room flat was like a palace but would you go back to your palace now? If you wouldn’t, why do you expect others would?
You said you need people to stay on the second and third floors of flats. Why don’t you set a good example and stay there? Conversely, why don’t you give further discounts to the lower floors to boost their attractiveness compared to the higher floors?
You shrugged off the suggestion that there is a groundswell of discontent. That is a mutli-million dollar shrug only multi-million dollar ministers like yourself is capable of.
You said that you want to better communicate to home buyers who want ready-made flats in good locations at cheaper prices. Would you tell home buyers to desire flats that take forever to build, situated at lousy locations and charged sky high prices? You would have achieved the ultimate marketing feat even the communists couldn’t.
You said that there is a mismatch as well as an element of unrealistic expectations. In a way you are right. How can we expect multi-million dollar ministers to realistically understand the plight of the common people?
Yes, the flat on the second floor will grow in value. That would mean even more expensive housing for my children who would have to pay even more to the HDB.
Thank you
Ng Kok Lim
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Think this is the new version of Monopoly my grandson asked me to buy.
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grandson still buying monopoly ar??? my goodness, people grandson already surf and post in forum and someone grandson still playing monopoly,,...wha Lau?? very back dated.
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HDB prices increasing
just step into HDB Hub and
see the number of transaction..
So many PRC..buying
tks to PRC and other aliens
that prices keep going up!!
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MM Lee offered scant consolation to first-time home buyers with a “highfalutin” explanation that “if they have confidence in the country and support the Government, then prices ‘must go up’ as they have every year since 1965.” The “alternative”, he said is “grim”.
‘They’ve got to decide if the country is going to go up or go down. If the country is going to go down, then the economy will go down, people’s incomes will be down, unemployment will be up and property values will go down,” he added.
Don't be a shameless bastard Lee Kuan Yew.
I will never support PAP.
I will never vote for PAP.
I will never support you or vote for you.
I want PAP to be destroyed and I want you Lee Kuan Yew to die.
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This is like holding the people ransom like that........
indirectly playing on the fear of singaporeans
the higher the cost needed to buy a hdb the higher the amount of fear it brings to an average person.
because all the money is used to pay the hdb loans
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It is sad to see, that the ministers are no longer working for the people, but serving the god of wealth.
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Originally posted by angel7030:
grandson still buying monopoly ar??? my goodness, people grandson already surf and post in forum and someone grandson still playing monopoly,,...wha Lau?? very back dated.
Obviously the Taiwanese 'hum' will teach its grand daughter to surf the porn sites in the internet to learn its flesh trade and learn from others their sexperience.Why does the Taiwanese 'hum' not flap its clitoris at the ‘Sammyboy Forum’ where it will surely get its orgasmic needs satisfied to its standard as an "Attention Seeking Whore" ?
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Originally posted by Atobe:
Obviously the Taiwanese 'hum' will teach its grand daughter to surf the porn sites in the internet to learn its flesh trade and learn from others their sexperience.Why does the Taiwanese 'hum' not flap its clitoris at the ‘Sammyboy Forum’ where it will surely get its orgasmic needs satisfied to its standard as an "Attention Seeking Whore" ?
Mr. Atobe, your Taiwanese Hum joke is getting a little bit "stale" no?
While I agree sista angel's humour can be somewhat "distasteful" to many of us hum-ble servants.
But surely, the mighty Atobe need not be so "hum-iliating", yes?
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Originally posted by jojobeach:
Mr. Atobe, your Taiwanese Hum joke is getting a little bit "stale" no?
While I agree sista angel's humour can be somewhat "distasteful" to many of us hum-ble servants.
But surely, the mighty Atobe need not be so "hum-iliating", yes?
The Taiwanese 'hum' is a joke - but the entire exercise is definitely not a joke ?Yes, the Taiwanese 'hum' is intended to be stale till it rots, as befitting the manner that it is found to be 'distasteful'.
No problem to 'hum-ble' myself with some 'hum-iliating hum-ility' - if it helps to bust the pro-PAP pests from disrupting the threads.
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$280,000 flat is after all, a home for a family
Last time 1980s 1 HDB flat cost $65k ish also a home for a family.
Of course higher prices better for PAP, higher property tax receipt to collect from e poeple of Singapore.
More good years to come
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Originally posted by sbst275:
$280,000 flat is after all, a home for a family
Last time 1980s 1 HDB flat cost $65k ish also a home for a family.
Of course higher prices better for PAP, higher property tax receipt to collect from e poeple of Singapore.
More good years to come
haiz, again last time...1980, most of us not even born ok. please lah, LHL said "LET MOVE ON FROM HERE"
At the peak of our economy progression, Singapore leap ahead of other nearby countries by 5 years is to 1 year. Notice many sgUncles like to shop for mei mei like me at Batam and thailand if not vietnam and even JB, and sgAunties likes to look like queen in Bangkok and Ho chi ming
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Originally posted by jojobeach:
Mr. Atobe, your Taiwanese Hum joke is getting a little bit "stale" no?
While I agree sista angel's humour can be somewhat "distasteful" to many of us hum-ble servants.
But surely, the mighty Atobe need not be so "hum-iliating", yes?
oh, it's sister Jojo. What!!!??? My Humor "distasteful"!!!???? Since when you tasted me? i am abit salty ya...hate bathing. -
Originally posted by angel7030:
haiz, again last time...1980, most of us not even born ok. please lah, LHL said "LET MOVE ON FROM HERE"
At the peak of our economy progression, Singapore leap ahead of other nearby countries by 5 years is to 1 year. Notice many sgUncles like to shop for mei mei like me at Batam and thailand if not vietnam and even JB, and sgAunties likes to look like queen in Bangkok and Ho chi ming
ask yourself touch your heart, are you sure wat Mah Bow Tan says of land price is applicable? Alrdy they've marked which plots are for residential or for industrial and so on, opportunity cost should never be an issue. Land cost is free in reality. Unless they want ppl to live at void deckI think even e cemetary at Lim Chu Kang is marked at a costly price to them.
Not to say HDB, even our MRT system. It's the only few tat's not even BOT and yet service wise loses out to Hong Kong or Taipei where within 4 mins 1 train would arrive compared to 7 - 8 mins here and making $100m profit a year from e citizens
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HDB flat prices: Affordable to who?
16 December 2009
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said at the Pinnacle@Duxton handover ceremony last Sunday that HDB flat prices can be expected to keep on rising as long as the economy continues to grow.
He also said that the “HDB will continue to build affordable homes of good quality, so that each generation of Singaporeans will continue to have a stake in the nation“, which is somewhat of an irony given that the Pinnacle@Duxton flats are the priciest in the whole of Singapore, fetching up to $650,000 (source).
In his address, MM Lee said that the movement towards a market-based pricing system for HDB flats has allowed HDB prices to move in tandem with the economy, thus unlocking the value of HDB flats and allowing citizens to share in the fruits of the nation’s growth.
In reality, such a market-based pricing system is flawed as it subjects HDB flat prices to volatile swings in the private property market. It also makes a mockery of the Government’s position that HDB flats are subsidized for citizens because by allowing HDB flats to rise in tandem with private property prices without any upper limit, the HDB still makes a tidy profit even after the subsidy and first time home buyers have to bear the brunt of a market escalating out of control.
The Government has sought to make home ownership the cornerstone of nation building. In the past few years however, the huge influx of immigrants as well as unregulated foreign fund inflows have contributed to the escalation of property prices, gradually pricing born and bred Singaporeans out of the market.
In 1963, the then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew threatened voters that if he was not elected, the two Duxton Plain rental block of flats then under construction would not be completed and voters would have a “bleak future”. (Straits Times, “Flat prices will rise but still be affordable“, 14 Dec 09)
Today, voters are being threatened with lift and flat upgrading programmes that can be withheld at will if Opposition candidates are voted in, despite the fact that they are taxpayers like all other Singaporeans.
Today, the Pinnacle@Duxton stands in place of the basic 10-storey rental housing blocks built in March 1963, not as a shining example of the success of home ownership, but as a testament to how the PAP Government has gradually lost its sense of responsibility towards citizens over the years.
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Originally posted by sbst275:
ask yourself touch your heart, are you sure wat Mah Bow Tan says of land price is applicable? Alrdy they've marked which plots are for residential or for industrial and so on, opportunity cost should never be an issue. Land cost is free in reality. Unless they want ppl to live at void deckI think even e cemetary at Lim Chu Kang is marked at a costly price to them.
Not to say HDB, even our MRT system. It's the only few tat's not even BOT and yet service wise loses out to Hong Kong or Taipei where within 4 mins 1 train would arrive compared to 7 - 8 mins here and making $100m profit a year from e citizens
in that case, i call Uncle Atobe to book a place in Lim Chu Kang first, now...where is the e link?
Hongkong MTR is build by the british, so is the new airport as their last goodwill to the people of HK, therefore today, the SAR adminstration is just raking in money with no loan cost or any breakeven cost. And Hk has a population of 7 millions living within a 110km land...not including those 9 mountains around hor. Obviously they need to have a faster MRT timming, and everytime, i have to squeeze in between some handsome dudes looking like Aaron Kok and Andy lau kok kok. And HK is not cheap, their property is the highest beside Tokyo.
As for Taipei, my hometown, it is totally different scene, we got so much land and space, but we also got great typhoon ya, that is why i come here in jOO Chiat and hide, cozy and nice and yet can disturb uncles. Do you that taiwan is world lowest birthrate, cost of living is also high, suicide is also high, peoples there like to jump and commit suicide from old age depression to failure in school and love, a society like japan, lucky i come here, if not may commit suicide too. they also work long hours like people in Singapore. But the property market is ok, most peoples live in terrace house with good reinforcement doors to prevent typhoons, most have cars and motor bikes, I ride motorbike in taipei, no need license also can. So, this lead to less people taking their train, and therefore the train can move faster in time. UNDERSTAND.
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I'm talking abt Taipei not even the whole ROC. Since when Taipei MRT is less pakced, 3 - 4 mins freq there's no seats at all
As for Hong Kong, in e first place they were worried abt having BOT for the MTR due to the handover issue. Hong Kong is big, but Singapore would soon end up the same problem, even higher demand for MRT and bus services.
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Originally posted by angel7030:
in that case, i call Uncle Atobe to book a place in Lim Chu Kang first, now...where is the e link?
Hongkong MTR is build by the british, so is the new airport as their last goodwill to the people of HK, therefore today, the SAR adminstration is just raking in money with no loan cost or any breakeven cost. And Hk has a population of 7 millions living within a 110km land...not including those 9 mountains around hor. Obviously they need to have a faster MRT timming, and everytime, i have to squeeze in between some handsome dudes looking like Aaron Kok and Andy lau kok kok. And HK is not cheap, their property is the highest beside Tokyo.
As for Taipei, my hometown, it is totally different scene, we got so much land and space, but we also got great typhoon ya, that is why i come here in jOO Chiat and hide, cozy and nice and yet can disturb uncles. Do you that taiwan is world lowest birthrate, cost of living is also high, suicide is also high, peoples there like to jump and commit suicide from old age depression to failure in school and love, a society like japan, lucky i come here, if not may commit suicide too. they also work long hours like people in Singapore. But the property market is ok, most peoples live in terrace house with good reinforcement doors to prevent typhoons, most have cars and motor bikes, I ride motorbike in taipei, no need license also can. So, this lead to less people taking their train, and therefore the train can move faster in time. UNDERSTAND.
MYOB
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Originally posted by angel7030:
in that case, i call Uncle Atobe to book a place in Lim Chu Kang first, now...where is the e link?
It is typical of a "kiasu" Taiwanese 'hum' to book a place in Lim Chu Kang before it even need the place, is the Taiwanese 'hum' worth a plot of Singapore land when its place of domicile is in Taiwan ?
The Taiwanese 'hum' had better wish that no one is buried - especially LKY - who will surely return to continue to torment the Taiwanese 'hum' in the after life.
Hongkong MTR is build by the british, so is the new airport as their last goodwill to the people of HK, therefore today, the SAR adminstration is just raking in money with no loan cost or any breakeven cost. And Hk has a population of 7 millions living within a 110km land...not including those 9 mountains around hor. Obviously they need to have a faster MRT timming, and everytime, i have to squeeze in between some handsome dudes looking like Aaron Kok and Andy lau kok kok. And HK is not cheap, their property is the highest beside Tokyo.
The ignorance of the Taiwanese 'hum' is certainly admirable to its core.
Is the Hongkong MTR and HongKong International Airport on Lantau Island built by British Money, or by HongKong money - even as Hong Kong had remained a British Colony when these works were started and completed ?
The MTR was built with PRIVATE Hong Kong capital, and continue to run without any subsidy from the Hong Kong Government and remained more profitable than the SMRT in Singapore.
What possibly could the 'hum' be suggesting by stating that "HK is not cheap, their property is the highest beside Tokyo" ?
What possibly is the basis for this statement that remains unsubstantiated, and is no more then a sweeping statement ?
Running through the following review - ‘Singapore vs Hong Kong – Where would you rather be living in ?’ - dated 19 October 2009 - it will perhaps bring some sense back to a Taiwanese 'hum' constantly seeking a central role for its misguided efforts to be an "Attention Seeking Whore".
As for Taipei, my hometown, it is totally different scene, we got so much land and space, but we also got great typhoon ya, that is why i come here in jOO Chiat and hide, cozy and nice and yet can disturb uncles. Do you that taiwan is world lowest birthrate, cost of living is also high, suicide is also high, peoples there like to jump and commit suicide from old age depression to failure in school and love, a society like japan, lucky i come here, if not may commit suicide too. they also work long hours like people in Singapore. But the property market is ok, most peoples live in terrace house with good reinforcement doors to prevent typhoons, most have cars and motor bikes, I ride motorbike in taipei, no need license also can. So, this lead to less people taking their train, and therefore the train can move faster in time. UNDERSTAND.
It is amazing that with the world not interconnected, the Taiwanese 'hum' will make its unwelcomed appearance here in Singapore, and will insult Singaporeans with its condescending attitude towards those who are born and bred here.
Even if it will take up its role as a pseudo-Singaporean, it will still be subjected to the typhoon and earthquakes of public opinion when it decide to stand against the Singaporeans who have grown tired of the Stalinist Autocrat and his PAP.
If the Taiwanese 'hum' intend to support the PAP - no one will stop its exercise of its own choice, however, it will surely rouse the ire of Singaporeans when it decide to preach its own ignorance to Singaporeans with its false assumption of knowing better and more then any locally born and bred persons here.
The Taiwanese 'hum' will surely be busted if it decide to take on more then it can chew, and it is best to listen to its own advise to 'diam, diam,' when it has nothing else to say.