TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao took time off this afternoon to chat online with netizens at two state news portal in Beijing, many of whom were anonymous. The event, titled "I have a question to ask the Premier" was conducted jointly by the central government and Xinhua News Agency. As of now, more than 100,000 questions have been posed online to Premier Wen: A journalist was charged with selecting the questions for Premier Wen to answer. The interview was screened live on CCTV4. Some of the questions revolve around sensitive and thorny issues such as sky-rocketing prices of properties, corruption, inefficient bureaucracy, rights of workers and limited job opportunities. The questions were fielded by netizens from all over China. Premier Wen did not insist they identify themselves before asking the questions. Though the majority of the netizens are anonymous, Premier Wen listened to their questions attentively and took pains to answer them. He did not cast doubts on their credibility because their identities are not revealed. In some cases where he could not come up with a satisfactory answer immediately, he promised he would look into the matter. Though China is a communist state, its leaders have shown a willingness to listen to the people unlike the authoritarian PAP government in Singapore which is used to talking down to Singaporeans. While there is an official "feedback" channel REACH, comments posted on it are seldom taken note of by the leaders who are reluctant to engage netizens directly and openly. More than 200 comments were posted a few days ago on the forum by Singaporeans who are mostly critical of the Budget announced by Finance Minister Tharman on Monday, but the mainstream media distorted the truth to give the erroneous impression that they are "supportive" of it. Ministers often dismiss the complaints of Singaporeans as trivial and concoct lame excuses to cover their ineptitude. PAP's strongman Lee Kuan Yew even described Singaporeans as "champion grumblers" in a recent interview with National Geographic magazine. Like China, Singapore has been plagued by a red-hot property market which is making public housing unaffordable to the ordinary people. Instead of addressing the concerns of Singaporeans, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan is adamant that HDB flats are "affordable" to Singaporeans despite evidence showing otherwise. Last week, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong claimed that there is nothing much his administration can do to control the prices of HDB flats when the government enjoys a sole monopoly over the public housing market. In contrast, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said during the interview that "he was determined to tame the "wild horse" of the country's soaring housing market and to keep the prices at a reasonable level within his term as Premier." Premier Wen is a leader of the world's most populous country and yet his annual salary is only a fraction of Singapore's ministers. His counterpart in Singapore - President Nathan earns about $3.7 million dollars a year. He has not been seen or heard lately. Singapore netizens should not expect President Nathan or PM Lee to chat with them online like Premier Wen anytime soon.  Read More →

Xinhua News Agency, 27 February 2010 Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Saturday said he was determined to tame the "wild horse" of the country's soaring housing market and to keep the prices at a reasonable level within his term as Premier. Wen made the pledge in response to netizens' complaints about soaring housing prices during his online chat with internet users around the country and abroad. "I really understand the complaints", Wen said, "housing prices in some cities rise too fast." "Huge population with limited land made people's access to houses a problem", Wen said, adding it was key to increase supply to solve the problem. Wen said the government would step up efforts to increase house supplies to make the access easier. Chinese government will build five million affordable houses this year after two million were finished in 2009. Two million shanty houses would be reconstructed this year, in addition to the 1.8 million completed last year, he said. The government would also give support on land, finance and tax to help people buy homes for their own use, and use economic and legal methods to curb property speculation, Wen said. "It is the government's responsibility to guide the property market", Wen said, "I am confident that the government would ensure a healthy development of the property market." - Xinhua  Read More →

By Seah Chiang Nee from The Star The public housing crisis has revived the question whether Singapore, with only 700sq km of land, can continue to accommodate the current five million residents, let alone increase it by a further one-third. HOW is this land-squeezed island coping with housing an enlarged population of five million, including hundreds of thousands of recent foreign arrivals? The answer gleaned from public comments about the Housing Development Board (HDB), the national icon that builds homes for 80% of the people is: “surprisingly poor”, given its sterling track record. For 50 years, the HDB has helped to transform this former squatter colony into a global city of fine homes. At early times, it set a world record of building an average of one flat every 45 minutes. The recent unprecedented intake of foreigners has, however, dealt a blow to its reputation, judging by the widespread complaint of poor anticipation, insufficient flats and spiralling prices. As a result, resale subsidised apartments, which are still cheaper than private ones, have moved out of reach of many young fresh graduates planning to get married and settle down. With affluent foreign PRs joining in the rush – some for profits – resale prices of HDB apartments have increased by some 45% in the last few years. The government, which usually plans ahead, is finding itself in hot soup for being under-prepared by the explosive demand. An indication of this: In 2008, HDB built only 3,183 new flats when there were over 90,000 PRs and 20,000 new citizens in the same year, according to official statistics. Only Singaporeans – not foreigners or PRs – are allowed to buy new government flats, which are generally well designed and planned. Because of the long waiting time, however, many Singaporeans opt to pay more for resale units in the open market, where they run into competition from PR buyers. Some commentators feel it is unfair just to blame the HDB, since the problem covers a wide range of population, immigration as well as manpower policies that involves the entire government and not just public housing. The top leadership has drawn up plans and an overall strategy for a 6.5 million population without fixing a time-frame. But with public unhappiness rising over the perceived costs, over-crowdedness, rising prices, the immigration inflow is being slowed down. “This probably means that if the authorities want to stick to its 6.5 million population, it will have to take a longer time – probably more than 20 years,” one business executive commented. The public housing crisis has revived a question whether Singapore, with only 700 sq km of land, can continue to accommodate the current five million residents, let alone increase it by a further one-third. The high density may already have affected some quarters overseas. Read rest of the article here  Read More →