TR EMERITUS

Dear Minister Mah, I write to register my protest against the response from your HDB Resale Department in regards to my appeal for a loan direct from HDB, as well as the general policies that are preventing me from providing for my family. My grouse with you are three fold: -          Formulating policies that are making housing for  Singaporeans unaffordable and unattainable -          Adhering to those policies when confronted by genuine cases of hardship -          Failing in your stated mission   Policies, what policies?! The first policy that I call into question is the BTO scheme. The scheme has led to a failure to build enough houses to meet the increasing population, leading to an unsustainable rise in the cost of home ownership due to the supply-demand dynamic. Isn’t it true that “from 2003 to 2008, the total population of Singapore increased by 17.6%, the number of HDB flats increased by only 1.2%”. Why was supply constrained, when it was obvious that demand was far out-stripping it? The second policy that is proving to be detrimental to Singaporeans is the 35 year age barrier to buying a flat. It does not take into account the fact that there will be people like me, singles under 30 years of age, who are responsible for caring for their families. Do we not deserve the right to care for our parents, regardless of our choice to remain single? The third policy failure that is most apparent to me is the market based “subsidy”. Why is it that in the 80’s and 90’s, my parents were able to purchase their flats from HDB, and repay their mortgages within 10 years? Why did we divert from the cost-based scheme, when it proved so successful in meeting the housing needs of the citizens of this country? With housing pricing out pacing household income, isn’t it time that you reassessed this policy? There are many, many more policies that I could shoot down, but I think in the interest of brevity, the above should prove sufficient to get my point across – the very policies that were meant to meet the housing needs of Singaporeans are preventing the sons and daughters of this land from having a roof over their heads!   Appeal to nowhere The summary of my situation is as follows: As a 30 year old Singaporean (born and bred), I am ineligible to purchase a house on my own due to one of the aforementioned draconian policies. To become eligible, I have to include my parents in my application. However, since my parents have taken two loans from HDB (a decade-and-a-half ago), my entire family unit is disqualified from buying from HDB (!?!). My parents were part of the upgrade craze in the 90’s, which was actively promoted by our government. They sold their second flat to move into a landed property. However, 2 major catastrophes caused us to lose that property: 1.)    A failed business venture and 2.)    My father had a heart attack After we were evicted from that landed property (which was forcibly sold by the bank at a massive loss), my parents have been staying with my grandmother, while I’ve been putting up with a cousin. This is obviously not an ideal situation, and I seek to redress this situation by reuniting my parents and myself, instead of being at the mercy of our relatives. I think more than three years of putting up with relatives is long enough, don’t you? The biggest obstacle standing in my way is the archaic policies of the sole statutory board that is tasked with housing my family and me – the HDB. After my initial failed application for the Home Loan eligibility, I appealed the decision. I've tried to buy direct from HDB, but they said NO. I tried to buy resale from HDB, and they say NO. Now I've tried to get a housing loan from HDB, and they say NO again. I sense a pattern forming. The rejection of my appeal shows both a lack of empathy, an obvious lack of understanding the current situation on the ground, as well as an utter failure to carry out the duties of  a Statutory Board who’s primary mission is to provide affordable public housing for SINGAPOREANS. Note the word Singaporean in the previous sentence. Not PR’s. Not integrated New Citizens. Not other rich foreigners with money to burn. But SINGAPOREANS. It tickles me something cruel to realise that according to your policies, PR siblings are eligible to buy flats from HDB, while my  family, all born and bred citizens, is cast aside as an afterthought.   Mission Statement: FAIL I find it the height of irony that on the HDB website, there are conglatutory banners for 50 years of good work (hints of “Mission Accomplished, perchance?). I think it should be amended to” 40 odd years of sterling work, and a decade of questionable results”. On that same website, I came across HDB’s mission statement to “provide affordable homes of quality and value” and “promote the building of active and cohesive communities”. I am sorry to tell you this, but HDB is failing to fulfill its responsibility to the people of Singapore, of whom I am one (and I have the two-and-a-half of national service to prove it!) All I am asking for is the chance to provide for my family. I would like to clearly state that I am not asking for charity – I am asking to be allowed to provide a roof over my parents heads. You speak of “cohesive communities”; what community is more important than family? By forcing us to stay separated, you are contradicting your own words here. Maybe HDB should change its mission statement to : "Provide housing for the rich, as only they deserve to live happily ever after. Oh, and PRs are welcome too!" Is it too much to ask for you to relax your unnecessarily strict rules so that I can get a loan direct from HDB, instead of being at the mercy of private banks (with the lesson of the US sub-prime crisis still fresh in the memory, can you blame me?), who are only allowed to lend me 80% of the cost of the house? And can you please advise me on what I am supposed to do when the majority of flats on the resale market come with $20K COV? Where am I supposed to get the kind of cash? How is that affordable?   The situation is coming to a head soon– my grandmother is selling her flat to pay for her healthcare costs, and my parents will soon be homeless. As their only son, it is my duty to care for them. But how can I, when the cost of homeownership is so high? How can I when the cost of renting is escalating beyond my means? Should I invest in a big tent, and join the other families that are camped out at the beaches? There are so many questions in this email, and I fear that none of them will ever be answered.   Muhammad Nazeem   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans.  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent It's all good news for Singapore lately as the country's GDP figures continue to post impressive growth prompting Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to exclaim that Singapore's "rebound" from the downturn has surpassed expectations. Speaking to the state media in Washington DC where he is attending a nuclear summit, PM Lee says "Singapore's economy has made a remarkable recovery from a year ago and he expects a good year going forward." "Our target is 3 to 5 per cent growth over the next 10 years. This year is off to a very good start - I expect we should have a good year......And we should make the most of these conditions this year to get momentum for our longer term plans to upgrade the productivity, transform the economy and to continue to work at our tripartite relationship between the unions, employers and the government, so that the next time something hits us, we are stronger than we were the last time," he was quoted as saying in Channel News Asia. When Singapore became the first Asian country to enter a recession in 2008, PAP leaders were quick to lay the blame on the global economy for Singapore's woes. It is not known if Singapore's "recovery" this time is due to the improvement in the global economy as well. Though Singapore's growth rates are starting to pick up, the economic gains have not yet trickled down to ordinary Singaporeans who continue to face a grim and uncertain future. The situation on the ground is not as rosy as portrayed by the state media. Many employers have not restored the wage cuts imposed on Singaporeans during the recession. Wages remain stagnant while the cost of living has sky-rocketed, including that of public housing. PM Lee claimed that he does not "expect" prices for daily necessities to increase drastically after the Trade and Industry Ministry revised Singapore's inflation rate from 2 percent to between 2.5 and 3.5 percent without substantiating it. Perhaps it is due to his "counter-intuition" or "hunch". PAP ministers stand most to gain from Singapore's economic growth as an unknown percentage of their multi-million salaries is pegged to GDP growth - the higher the figures, the more money they bring home. GDP figures can be manipulated easily by allowing the influx of cheap foreign workers thereby keeping labor costs low and inflating the output artificially at the same time. Prime Minister Lee was to receive a 8.8 percent pay hike his year. He currently earns about $3 million dollars a year or 6 times that of U.S. President Barack Obama. With the  "remarkable" recovery made by the Singapore economy, he should expect a "remarkable" increase in his take-home pay too, thanks to the generosity of Singapore taxpayers.   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans.   Related article: >> Misleading ST article on "highest growth in 16 years"    Read More →

作者：孟玄《风向》13/04/2010 新加坡李光耀父子最近表示要控告国际先锋论坛报诽谤，因为该报2月发表文章，指称他们为李氏王朝，该报立刻道歉，为造成他们父子任何不快以及难堪赔偿11 万4000美元。国际先锋论坛报是美国纽约时报投资的世界重要大报，纽约时报是美国最牛的报纸，极少肯如此低声下气认输，该报表示此文「可能被读者认为李显龙总理之所以当上总理不是靠自己的本事，而是靠他老爸得来。我们希望 清楚表明，本报绝对没有这样意思」。纽约时报和李光耀为诽谤官司缠斗数十年，每打每输，被打怕了。 16年前，李光耀父子控告国际先锋论坛报，指该报文章认为李显龙是靠父子关系坐上位置，官司结果是国际先锋论坛报同意赔偿67万8000美元，并且签署协议，保证不再犯同样过错。 西方报纸杂志在新加坡被整的很多，吃足苦头。华尔街日报、经济学人、彭博通讯社都同样服输，因为新加坡懂得怎么整治一面高唱言论自由，但是又舍不得重大经济利益的西方伪君子们。 李光耀在法庭上作证：「他设计出一套严格控制新闻法律 体制，以保证新闻记者们不要自认为他们才是最聪明，最伟大，无所不能的人物。」四年前李显龙总理表示：「如果你没有诽谤的法律，你就会变成像美国一样，人们完全没有法律证据事实就诽谤总统。」 在 纽约时报发表社论赞扬谷歌公司捍卫言论自由，不惜退 出中国市场的同一天，其姊妹报国际先锋论坛报为了不被赶出新加坡，乞求李氏父子。因为新加坡是亚洲金融中心，是全球经济新闻的来源，十分之一的国际先锋论坛报读者住在新加坡，它的印刷工厂在此，向全亚洲发行，在此出售所有亚洲广告。它声明：「如果你想要成为世界性的报纸，新加坡有许多银行、很多商业，拥有许多受过高等教育，懂得英语的人口，所以我们没有办法舍弃新加坡。」 八年前，彭博通讯社为了报导李显龙 夫人因为夫君关系主 持新加坡国有金融控股公司，而向李氏家族道歉。纽约时报已故著名专栏作家William Safire在其专栏中谴责彭博通讯社向李氏父子磕头，自我作贱，伤害网路新闻自由。 」Safire对于1994年国际先锋论坛报与李氏父 子达成协议愤恨不已。 Safire一直是美国捍卫新闻自由的健将，从 1970年代起就骂李光耀是个锡杯大小国家的独裁者(tin-cup dictator)。美国人看不起各地的小国独裁者，就用这种字眼侮辱之。可是李光耀不是省油的灯，立刻反击，他俩一来一往，笔战数十年。李光耀到纽约约 见Safire，两人辩论，谁也不服输，最后成为朋友。 纽约时报的美国读者们对于该报表现甚为不满，纷纷投书，表示纽约时报拥有长期捍卫美国宪法保障新闻自由的光辉传统，怎么可以屈服这种独裁专制政权呢？读者们说，称呼李氏王朝，又怎么不得了呢？纽约时报不是经常形容甘迺迪家族、布希家族、柯林顿家族为「家族王朝」吗？怎么到了亚洲，就因为用了「王朝」两字，又要道歉，又要赔款。美国媒体究竟怎么了？难道碰上新加坡公开表示压 制批评者，利用法庭控告任何敢于挑战诽谤西方媒体，就没有招了。根据前亚洲华尔街日报的法律顾问说法，的确西方媒体在打新加坡官司，从来没有赢过，损失实在太大。时代杂志、彭博通讯社、经济学人等被限制发行，否则就请滚蛋。两害相权取其轻，西方媒体无不屈膝了事。西方信 仰新闻自由的普世价值观碰上新加坡李氏父子，只 好投降。 中国属于西方媒体认定的压制新闻自由，独裁专制政权。中共会不会学习李光耀父子的好讼性格，制定严格新闻诽谤法条，压制西方媒体？谁要来中国发展商业利益，谁就最好听话，否则请君自行了断。这是一个非常可怕的前景。 来源：http: //www.worldjournal.com  Read More →