I saw this post in EDMW (original source should be the Straits Times)
Jan 4, 2007
No cause to doubt credibility of HDB
I DO NOT think that it is justified to press the Housing Board for its land and construction costs or doubt its word that the flats are subsidised. In the first place, Singaporeans are not obligated to buy HDB flats. If they suspect that the flats are not 'at market price', they can buy private apartments.
However, the ongoing demand for the flats speaks for their market value. If a comparison were to be made, private apartments are still beyond the reach of the majority of Singaporeans.
Secondly, in view of the subsidy, owners should sell their flats back to HDB if they want to upgrade. However, HDB is good enough to allow owners to sell their flats in the open market and make a tidy profit.
Thirdly, the flats have improved in design and size since they were first built. If the flats are not 'at market price' and therefore unattractive, why are some Singaporeans using the names of their siblings, aunts and uncles who are still single to purchase these flats with the intention of selling them later?
I voted for a government which is trustworthy, honest and capable in every sense of the word and I have no cause to doubt the credibility of the HDB.
In fact, I appreciate what the Government has done to house poor Singaporeans like me in the 1960s when we were desperate for a roof over our heads during the Indonesian Confrontation.
Today, our housing system is a pride of the nation. It is unfair to throw brickbats of any kind at the HDB when it deserves bouquets.
Grace Cheah Gek Neo (Miss)
What do you think of Ms Neo's arguments?
(For my views on the HDB pricing, do a search using google on "HDB" in xialanxue.blogspot.com)
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4 comments:
Are u PAP dog?
some people should learn to read.
For my views on the HDB pricing, do a search using google on "HDB" in xialanxue.blogspot.com
What do you think of Ms Neo's arguments?
How about I tell you what I think of Ms Neo's letter?
It has the same odious pong as the ghostletters allegedly written by the old NKF.
I don't see how having the majority of a country's citizens living in what essentially are housing projects is something to be proud about.
Ms Neo also skips the issue of the legion of regulations and conditions which come with "owning" a HDB flat. E.g. say, when the 3 children in a 5-member family grow up, get married, and move out, the parents are often forced to sell their 5-room HDB flat and move to a smaller flat more appropriate for them.
Another issue, one does not purchase a HDB flat -- one leases it for 99 years.
Yet another point, HDB holds on to the title deed even after the money changes hands. I.e. the HDB dweller (not owner) may not use his HDB flat as collateral for a bank loan.
What we essentially have here is a nation where the majority of its citizens are tenants, with the government being the biggest landlord.
What do I think of Ms Neo's arguments?
Let me quote from the transcript of a 2004 TV adaptation of Stephen King's Salem's Lot:
FALLEN PRIEST [kneeling before the master vampire]: Did I do the right thing with my life? Was I misled? You know, don't you? Is there a God?
BARLOW (master vampire) [cutting his palm and thrusting the bleeding cut in the FALLEN PRIEST's mouth]: Whoever feeds you... is your God.
Miss Grace Neo, you may get up now.
XLX,
Ur posts getting lesser, write more okie?
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