TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent A Singaporean by the name of Chua Teck Kee has written a letter to the Straits Times Forum today explaining why he and his wife will not have more children despite monetary incentives to do so. Mr Chua has a one year old boy and is currently living in his mother's three-room flat with his wife and they were priced out of the resale market though they had obtained a build-to-order flat in Bukit Panjang which will not be ready until 2012. He was keen to have another child soon, but his wife wanted to wait till they had their own flat. Mr Chua felt that there are other couples in the same situation as him who are not keen to have more children as they do not have a flat of their own: "I am sure many couples are in the same situation, given escalating HDB flat prices. To improve the birth rate, the Government should go beyond offering monetary incentives. It has to remove practical barriers, such as shortage of housing and insufficient childcare facilities," he wrote. HDB flat prices have sky-rocketed in recent years due to limited supply of new flats and rising demand faced by immigration. Only slightly more than 3,000 flats were built in 2008 when there were more than 90,000 PRs and 20,000 new citizens in the same year. HDB had increased the supply of new flats, but they will not be ready until a few years later. As a result, some Singaporeans, especially young couples who want to start a family of their own are unwilling to do so as they are either living with their parents or living in a rented place. This will exacerbate Singapore's declining birth rate, prompting the ruling party to import more foreigners to make up for the shortfall. The influx of foreigners will escalate prices even further, thereby sparking off a vicious cycle. At the moment, the ruling party seems unaware of the fact Singaporeans are unwilling to have more children because of their misguided policies. The rising cost of living, especially that of public housing is a key reason behind Singapore's low birth rate which is only worsened by the ruling party's liberal immigration policies to rectify it. In short, the more foreigners the ruling party brings into Singapore, the higher the cost of living and the lower the pay of ordinary Singaporeans with the end result of a lower birth rate among locals.  Read More →

By John Ong The Ministry of Manpower has recently released the 2009 employment statistics. As expected, the statistics for employment creation is broken down by residents, which comprise of Singapore citizens (SCs) and Permanent Residents (PRs), and foreigners According the preliminary figures, the unemployment rate among residents, who include citizens and permanent residents, fell from 5 per cent last September to 3 per cent in December. (read article here) The state media is quicked to jumped to the conclusion that the unemployment rate of Singapore citizens has decreased as well with Chinese paper Lianhe Zaobao putting up a most misleading headline - "100 per cent employment for Singaporeans." Over the years, true Singaporeans, i.e. Singapore citizens, have been asking for employment statistics for Singapore citizens, and not residents which distorts the actual employment situation faced by SCs on the ground. However, MOM has stubbornly refused to publish these statistics for unknown reasons, except for an occasional paper which was published in 2008 - "Employment of Singapore Citizens, Permanent Residents and Foreigners,1997 to 2006". If MOM could publish an occasional paper which breaks down employment statistics by SCs, PRs and foreigners, surely it will be able to do so on a regular basis? If MOM is unable to breakdown the statistics, here is an analysis to show that the majority of jobs created in 2009 went to PRs and not SCs. From 2004 to 2006, an average of about 49,000 persons were granted permanent resident status in Singapore. This translates to a total of 147,000 new PRs from 2004 to 2006. Based on MOM's occasional paper, it can be computed that PRs gained a total of 62,500 jobs from 2004 to 2006. Therefore, on average, about 62,500/147,000 = 42.5% of the new PRs found jobs/were in employment from 2004 to 2006. In 2008, 79,167 persons were granted permanent resident status. The figure for 2009 has not been released yet. However, with government aggressive population augmentation strategy, we can safely assume that it will be higher than last year, and a consecutive estimate of 80,000 persons is assumed. Assuming that the proportion of new PRs who found jobs/in employment in 2009 remained at 42.5%, it can be calculated that the number of jobs created for PRs in 2009 = 42.5% X 80,000 = 34,000. With 43,000 jobs created for residents in 2009, the number of jobs created for SCs is only a measly 9,000, compared to 34,000 for PRs. It is clear why MOM refuses to publish employment statistics for SCs only. Nevertheless, we acknowledge that the above analysis is only an estimate. PRs could be losing jobs if all employers choose to keep all the SCs while letting the PRs go during the financial crisis. No jobs could be created for PRs if employers refuses to hire them. However, it is common knowledge that the above scenarios are highly unlikely, especially when male SCs are subject to the annual In-Camp Training (ICT) liability of up to 40 days, and PRs enjoy similar treatment as SCs in government assistance schemes, such as the Jobs Credit. We certainly welcome MOM, or Minister Gan Kim Yong to clarify. However, we will only believe in the hard figures broken down by SCs and PRs, and not any meaningless stories or anecdotes. Alternatively, we also welcome The Straits Times, or Today to do an alternative analysis to convince Singaporeans otherwise.   About the Author: This article has been contributed by a reader who is writing under the pen name of John Ong. An engineer by training, he strongly believes that all Singaporeans have the right to be heard and the time is now for all of us to do the right thing.  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent The day when HDB flats will cost no less than $1 million dollars may be closer than what Singaporeans think. A property agent has put up a 5 room HDB flat in Marine Parade for sale at a shocking price of $990,000 on an internet property portal: The previous record price paid for a HDB flat is $739,000 for a 5-room flat also in Marine Parade last year. Though Singapore was mired in recession in 2009, prices of resale flats continue to climb by 8.2 per cent: Prices increased by as much as 3.9 per cent in the fourth quarter alone: The sky-rocketing prices are fueled largely by limited number of flats built between the years 2006 - 2008 coupled with the large influx of foreigners into Singapore during the same period of time. Only 3,183 new flats were built in 2008 when there were over 90,000 PRs and 20,000 new citizens in the same year: [Source: HDB Financial Report 2008/2009] As public housing is a basic necessity in Singapore, many have no choice but to pay the price set by HDB, the sole provider and seller in Singapore. Despite widespread frustration, worries and resentment on the ground, the ruling party appears to be unfazed by the prospect of a property bubble emerging. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said recently that his government does not have any control over the prices of resale flats: “These resale prices are set by individual households who transact flats on a willing buyer, willing seller basis, and are affected by movements and sentiments in the wider economy, including the private property market. Hence, resale prices of HDB flats will fluctuate from year to year,” he explained. National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan, who is bearing the brunt of criticisms over his inaction to put a stop to the escalating prices promised to "monitor" the situation carefully. Though he acknowledged that some people may be “adversely” affected by the housing policies, he is adamant that they are beneficial to Singaporeans as a whole: “There’s no question that our policies are designed for the good of the people. While there may be certain parts of the policies that are not favourable, overall, I think these policies are for the well-being of the people and are good for the country.” Mr Mah did not elaborate on the inadequacies of the policies and how they can be fine-tuned to better suit the needs and interests of the people. While HDB has increased the supply of new flats, they will not be ready till a few years later which does nothing to dampen the red hot property market right now. With the rise in prices of HDB flats fast out-pacing the wages of Singaporeans, are they still affordable to Singaporeans as proclaimed constantly by HDB and the ruling party? Perhaps the "affordability benchmark" used by HDB will have to be raised to more than 50 per cent in the near future to ensure that the flats remain "affordable" to Singaporeans. Related articles: >> Singaporeans worried about retirement after depleting CPF to pay for over-priced HDB flats >> Mah Bow Tan acknowledged that rising HDB flat prices has sparked “fresh concerns” >> PM Lee: Govt does not have control over prices of resale flats” >> COVs of resale flats shooting through the roof >> HDB resale price index hit record high in 2009 >> Singaporean wants PRs to live in rented flats instead of buying resale flats >> Singaporeans wants PRs to be banned from selling HDB flats at a profit >> Shanmugam: Singaporeans likely culprits for driving up HDB flat prices >> Mah Bow Tan: HDB flats remain affordable >> Means testing for PRs to buy resale flats >> Immigration and public housing: should the govt or people plan ahead? >> Grace Fu: hard to predict demand for housing >> Indonesian PR bought 4-room flat at $653,000 >> Mah Bow Tan asks home buyers to be realistic >> PAP MP blames young couples who cannot get a flat for not planning ahead >> Home affordability: HDB versus the public >> Demand vs supply: so many applicants, so few flats >> Number of applicants exceed number of flats >> HDB to increase supply of flats >> Mah: don’t compare with prices in the past >> ERA: 40 per cent of HDB flat buyers are PRs  Read More →