TR EMERITUS

Following the public outcry over the case of Indian new citizen Sinha Shekhar who subletted his resale HDB flat for rental income while staying in a private property, HDB has introduced new regulations to prevent private property owners from profiteering from their resale flats. Not only is the Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) of non-subsidised flats increased from three to five years, buyers of resale flats are not permitted to concurrently own both an HDB flat and a private residential property within the MOP. They must now sell their private properties within six months of purchasing a resale flat, according to Channel News Asia. In its press statement, HDB said this will help ensure buyers purchase flats only when they have the intent of staying in it for long term and ensure equitable treatment for all flat lessees during their MOP. The move is likely to be welcomed by many Singaporeans who have been squeezed out of the resale market by private property owners who can afford to purchase another resale flat for subletting, some of whom are new citizens and PRs like Sinha Shekar. A YPAP leader and new citizen from India, Mr Shekhar sparked a massive furore two months ago when he boasted about renting his resale flat for income while staying in a private condominium in a comment posted on the REACH Facebook: [Source: REACH Facebook] In the above exchange, Mr Sinha Shekhar, who is the Head of Rehabilitation at Ang Mo Kio Thye Hua Kwan Hospital, wrote that he paid “really high” for a resale HDB flat and the rent he is collecting is not enough to pay for the bank instalments. Mr Sinha also revealed that he owns a private property, implying that he bought the resale HDB flat NOT for occupation but for rental income. In addition to the MOP, the government should impose a minimal residency period before PRs are allowed to purchase resale flats in Singapore. PRs form some 20 percent of buyers in the resale market and they are contributing to the sky-rocketing prices of resale flats today due to their spending power and ability to pay higher than market value for flats in attractive locations.     Debunking official myths of HDB flats series: 1 Myth 1: Singaporeans are “owners” of their HDB flats 2. Myth 2: HDB flats are “affordable” to most Singaporeans 3. Myth 3: Rising prices of HDB flats “generate” wealth for Singaporeans   Related articles: >> Mah blames Singaporeans for strong demand in public housing >> Mah: 16,000 BTO flats next year >> Median COVs hit a record high >> $300,000 for four-room BTO flats in Punggol >> Mah Bow Tan: HDB flats are still affordable to first time flat buyers >> Why Mah Bow Tan’s policy of high HDB flats is wrong >> Letter to Mah Bow Tan on HDB policies >> Singaporean want govt to allay anxiety over HDB leasehold >> Mah Bow Tan embarrassed by Reform Party’s Hazel Poa >> Mah Bow Tan: “Unrealistic” expectations to blame for unhappiness about flats >> Taiwanese PR paid record $ 650,000 for 4-room resale flat >> Grace Fu: PRs are helpful to HDB flat owners selling their flats >> HDB launches “traveling exhibition” to trumpet its achievements in the heartlands >> PAP to upgrade 12,000 HDB households ahead of next election >> Mah Bow Tan: We do not want flat prices to go down >> Prices of resale flats to rise further as PR quota reached >> Taiwanese PR offers $50k COV for resale flat >> Mah Bow Tan: PRs have minimal impact on resale flat prices >> No empirical evidence to suggest that public housing is affordable in Singapore >> When will Singapore’s property bubble burst? >> Why HDB is unable to reveal break down costs of new flats now >> HDB to consider introducing rules to curb property speculation >> HDB blames Singaporeans for not selecting flats when given the chance >> 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     Please join our Facebook discussion on this article here and invite your friends to do so as well to raise awareness among fellow Singaporeans.  Read More →

I have a huge issue with PM Lee citing Khoo Peng Beng, the architect behind the Pinnacle, as a new immigrant. Peng Beng and I were classmates in secondary school in St. Patrick’s on East Coast Road. This was way back in 1983-84. To cite him as an example of a new immigrant is a joke. Peng Beng is as Singaporean/Malaysian as they come. We share a common culture, he stayed in the dorms in school, and he studied for many years and worked here for many years. He is not a new immigrant, and is not a consequence of the new immigration policies set up by PM Lee. So the question is this: if we could have immigrants like Peng Beng 25 years ago, why do we need such a drastic new immigration policy where we are innundated and overwhelmed? Surely the policy which allowed us to have the Khoo Peng Beng’s 25 years ago, should be the one in practice. Not the free for all from countries with drastically different values and cultures that we have now?   Joseph Teo  Read More →

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally speech last night showed how out of touch he and his colleagues are from the reality on the ground, not that Singaporeans expect much from him anyway. Instead of addressing the genuine concerns of Singaporeans at his pro-foreigner and ultra-liberal immigration policies, he spent much of the time trying to convince Singaporeans to swallow his "bitter medicine" whether they like it or not. Due to the PAP's open-door immigration policies, foreigners now make up 40 percent of Singapore's population, up from 14 percent in 1990. Of the remaining 60 percent who are citizens, an increasing number are born overseas. A survey conducted by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) revealed that two thirds of Singaporeans feel that the continued inflow of immigrants will dilute our national identity. PM Lee appeared living in an ivory tower of his own as he waxed lyrical of how the new arrivals have contributed to Singapore by quoting a few rare examples. Does PM Lee know how it feels like to take a sardine-packed train to work every morning, to compete with hordes of foreign applicants who are willing to accept lower pay at job interviews and to feel like a stranger amidst your own country of birth? Not only is he ignorant of the tremendous amount of strain the immigrants have put on our social fabric and cohesion which cannot be resolved by throwing money at the problem, he continues to deny and trivialize the rising disaffection and disgruntlement among Singaporeans. While Singapore does require immigrants to make up for the shortfall in population, we seriously need to take a step back right now and ponder if the current immigration policy is the way for us to move forward into the future when even large countries like Australia are having second thoughts about immigration. The ease at which foreigners are given Singapore PRs and citizenships simply makes a mockery out of our nation's sovereign identity and devalues our pink IC. It is so much easier for a mainland Chinese to obtain Singapore PR than Hong Kong PR though the latter is part of China proper. The media is full of reports of PRC cleaners, bus drivers, construction workers, factory workers and even freelance prostitutes being given Singapore PRs and citizenships which will never happen in Hong Kong since they can't even find a job there in the first place. What Singapore needs are real foreign talents who can complement our present workforce and make us more competitive and not third class "foreign thrash" who cannot even speak proper English. Singapore is a multi-racial society and we have a sizable minority who cannot speak Mandarin. How is the government going to integrate these newcomers from China who cannot communicate in English? PM Lee said in his speech that the government has been holding free language courses for them. Can we expect these immigrants who are educated in Chinese back home in China to pick up English overnight? In the very beginning, we should have a stringent screening process in place to exclude foreigners who cannot speak English like Australia, Canada and New Zealand instead of opening the flood-gates indiscriminately to everybody. It is disheartening to hear that PM Lee is completely deaf to the growing chorus of disapproval from Singaporeans at the way he is running the country. It seems that he is pretty confident of breezing through the next general election with the support of the new citizens who will undoubtably be grateful to the PAP for giving out Singapore citizenships to them. We urgently need a serious, comprehensive and lengthy discussion and debate on the present immigration policy involving all segments of society across all races and age groups and a moratorium should be imposed on the inflow of foreigners till we are absolutely certain of the direction we are heading. PM Lee cannot simply force the rest of us who are unsupportive of his immigration policies to move together with him or worst still, to forcefully drag us along in spite of our protests. Unfortunately, under the present political system dominated by one single party, it is impossible for alternative view points contrarian to the establishment to be aired publicly either in Parliament or the media. Without a strong opposition, or rather an alternative government-in-waiting to voice out our concerns and fight for our rights as citizens of this country, there is little we can do to reverse the PAP's immigration policies. The next general election may be the last window of opportunity for Singaporeans to reclaim the ownership of their country and plot their own destiny before they get overwhelmed by the tens of thousands of immigrants the PAP is mass-importing each year to strengthen its position and perpetuate its political hegemony in Singapore forever.   Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. Please use our online web form to contact us.   The UBS Series: >> Part 1: Singapore has lowest wages and domestic purchasing power among Asian Tigers >> Part 2: Moving towards a Russian standard of living >> Part 3: Why Singaporeans are paupers in a first world economy   Related articles: >> Urgent need for population debate in Singapore >> The fallacy of using lax immigration policies to solve low fertility and aging population issues >> PAP mass-recruiting Taiwanese PMETs to compete with Singaporeans >> Halimah Yacob: Not true that employers hiring foreigners over Singaporeans >> Conversation with a PRC prostitute given Singapore PR by the PAP >> Teo Chee Hean: PAP’s immigration policy has always been “strict” >> How the PAP allows foreigners into Singapore to compete with locals for jobs >> Why Singaporeans ‘fear’ of new immigrants is absolutely rational >> SM Goh reassures immigrants that they are still welcomed in Singapore >> Singaporean working in China lashed out at grouses of Singapore PRs >> Eight reasons why foreign workers will be preferred over local ones >> Declining wages of Singaporeans and the continued denial by PAP leaders >> Halimah Yacob refutes UBS study findings >> Halimah Yacob: Productivity drive will be derailed if foreign worker challenge not addressed  >> Exposing the six major flaws in the PAP’s immigration policies >> Wong Kan Seng promises to tighten immigration policies >> SM Goh: Foreign workers numbers may still rise >> Malaysian car mechanic applying for Singapore citizenship >> PAP launches Singapore Citizenship Journey to help new citizens integrate >> Compulsory for new citizens to attend “sharing sessions” with grassroots leaders >> Wong Kan Seng urged Singaporeans to be more tolerant of foreign workers >> Tharman: Foreign workers increase income of low-income families >> Sylvia Lim: Pace and influx of foreigners over last few years is wrong >> Amy Khor urges Singaporeans to welcome foreigners >> PAP MP wants more money to be spent to make new citizens feel welcomed in Singapore >> Shanmugam: Foreigners generate jobs for Singaporeans >> Vivian happy there are 4,500 new citizens serving as grassroots leaders >> Cosmetic changes made to immigration policy >> SM Goh: New immigrants needed to make up population shortfall >> PAP ministers hailed contributions of foreigners >> SM Goh expressed support for Zhang Yuanyuan >> State media: citizens have more rights over PRs >> Zhang Yuanyuan got her Singapore PR in only 2 months >> Official reply from government on the Zhang Yuanyuan fiasco >> Singapore PRC PR proclaimed loyalty to China publicly >> PRC resident hung China flag to celebrate its National Day >> PRC student in Singapore wants more scholarships for foreigners >> PRC prostitutes solicit for customers on Singapore’s cyberspace >> ERA: 40 per cent of resale flats buyers are PRs  Read More →