Punggol 21 reborn - and jazzed up as well

Punggol 21 reborn - and jazzed up as well
By Lynn Lee
PUNGGOL 21-PLUS: Water sports facilities, parks with jogging and cycling tracks, and al-fresco dining are some of the highlights of the new Punggol. — PHOTO: HDB

AN ELABORATE plan to turn Punggol into a vibrant residential town is finally taking off, some years after shrinking demand for new homes stalled the project.
The plan, first launched as the Punggol 21 vision in the late 1990s, has also been jazzed up, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last night.

‘So this is Punggol 21-plus,’ said Mr Lee to chuckles from the audience.

Among other things, the north-eastern coastal suburb will have water sports facilities for kayaking and canoeing, gardens and parks with jogging and cycling tracks, and al-fresco dining.

The sprucing up of Punggol is part of the Housing Board’s bid to keep public housing estates relevant to new generations of Singaporeans, said Mr Lee.

‘Most Singaporeans live in public housing… so we are continually finding ways to improve our public housing and meet new needs and expectations.

‘Each new estate has been an improvement on the previous one,’ he said.

The transformation of Punggol, once known for pig farms and seafood restaurants serving chilli crab, was derailed by the Asian economic crisis of 1997.

Plans for around 80,000 private and HDB homes with parks and seaside villages housing shops and food stalls, had been announced a year earlier.

Construction began in 1998 but the brakes were jammed when demand for new flats nosedived.

As a result, only some 16,000 flats, home to around 42,000 residents, dot the landscape there now.

But with Singapore’s sparkling economy of the past few years, demand for new homes is on the rise. Punggol will be the site of many of these.

Zooming in on high-resolution images on a screen, Mr Lee gave a blow-by-blow account of the area’s transformation.

For a start, the Punggol and Serangoon rivers will be dammed up to create a freshwater lake. A waterway will run through the estate, linking both rivers. Blocks of flats will dot its banks, starting from the town centre, which will have malls, retail outlets and outdoor dining.

‘If you look outside, it’ll be blue and green in lots of places. We’ll have trees, plants, shrubbery by the water… make it cool, make it eco-friendly. A good place to live,’ said Mr Lee, as the crowd ooh-ed and ah-ed.

The project will take some time to be completed, he said, as it involves some 18,000 HDB and private flats.

Logistics executive Chen Hui Zhen, 28, said she cannot wait to try out water sports. She has lived in the Punggol area for six years and recently bought a new flat there with her fiance.

‘It’s good news for us. All this development means the value of our flat will go up if we do think of selling it,’ she said.

Mr Lee also took the opportunity to highlight a development upstream of Punggol - in Sengkang.

There, a new community club with four swimming pools, an indoor sports hall and a football field is being built. There will also be a waterway for people to enjoy water sports and activities.

Going back to the Punggol 21-plus vision, Mr Lee said it will add to Singapore’s reputation as a city with ‘fun and buzz’.

But even as Singapore reinvents itself, it will need to retain the qualities the country is known for: being clean, green and safe, said Mr Lee.

‘It’s quite important that we keep that brand recognition, even as we acquire new attributes and new lifestyles.’

Source :  Straits Times - 20 Aug 2007

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Housing

Housing
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced a slew of upgrades to housing in Singapore. For one, the new Home Improvement Programme will replace the current Main Upgrading Programme and will focus on small practical repairs like spalling of ceiling concrete and new entrance grilles and new toilets in flats.

And a new Neighbourhood Renewal Programme will replace the current Interim Upgrading Programme.

Source :  Straits Times - 20 Aug 2007

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Private estates can tap govt funds for minor upgrades

Private estates can tap govt funds for minor upgrades
PRIVATE housing estates are to receive government funds to pay for small-scale estate improvements. The funds, which are from the National Development Ministry’s Community Improvement Projects Committee (CIPC), were previously given only to HDB estates.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the move was meant to make private estates feel less ‘neglected’ in the Government’s upgrading efforts. Yes, they had earlier got a bite of the upgrading cherry under the Estate Upgrading Programme (EUP), which pays for major works such as new parks and covered drains.

‘But even then, private estates sometimes feel like they are stepchildren, neglected,’ said Mr Lee.

Opening up CIPC funds to these estates was an idea that Minister of State (Finance and Transport) Lim Hwee Hua and her committee had come up with, he said.

He had asked Mrs Lim to see what more could be done for private estates. Mrs Lim, he noted, had a close interest in the topic because the private homes in Serangoon Gardens are part of her ward.

The committee’s second recommendation, which the Government has also accepted, is for the EUP to be revamped. All the different works, such as lighting, streets and carparks, will now be done together in ‘one big bang’, said Mr Lee.

Source :  Straits Times - 20 Aug 2007

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Lower-income families get more help to buy flats

Lower-income families get more help to buy flats

LOWER-INCOME families will now find it easier to buy a Housing Board flat, thanks to a bigger housing subsidy and a more generous income ceiling for the subsidy’s applicants.
The Additional CPF Housing Grant, which is given to low-income families, will be increased to a maximum of $30,000 from $20,000 presently.

And the monthly household income ceiling for the grant will also be raised to $4,000 from $3,000 - allowing more than half of Singapore’s households to qualify.

These moves are to allow more people to own a flat and share in the success of Singapore through rising home values, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day Rally speech yesterday.

‘Look at the three-room flats today. If you had bought a three-room flat in the early 1970s, it would have cost you maybe $8,000.

‘Today, a three-room flat is worth $160,000, in some places more,’ he said.

‘It’s been a fabulous investment, you’ve had a house to live in, you’ve got a nest-egg which will see you through your retirement.

‘If you take care of it well, you have through this HDB home ownership… participated in the growth of Singapore, bought shares in Singapore, backed this ‘Singapore Inc’ and made it succeed.’

At $30,000, the new maximum value of the Additional CPF Housing Grant effectively means that the Government is subsidising about a quarter of the cost of a three-room flat, PM Lee said.

‘A three-room flat new from HDB today will cost you about $120,000, so $30,000 of that is a lot of money.’

Currently, only families which earn $3,000 a month or less can take advantage of the grant.

Its extension to households with a monthly income of up to $4,000 means that it will now cover about half of all households in Singapore.

Hopeful flat buyer Derek Bay, 36, cheered the news yesterday.

‘A three-room flat in Bukit Merah is roughly $200,000, so a subsidy of $30,000 definitely will help me a lot,’ said the sales co-ordinator, who is now living with his parents.

Mr Eugene Lim, assistant vice-president of property agency ERA Singapore, said the move will be ‘instrumental in driving up demand for new flats’.
Source :  Straits Times - 20 Aug 2007

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After 17 years, home upgrading schemes to get a makeover

After 17 years, home upgrading schemes to get a makeover
Focus on small practical repairs in flats, inclusion of non-standard items in precinct upgrading
By Jeremy Au Yong
UPGRADED UPGRADING: This map shows the estates which are targeted under the new upgrading plans. Most of those slated to receive the Home Improvement and Neighbourhood Renewal Programme treatment are ‘middle-aged’ estates. — PHOTO: NANYANG POLYTECHNIC

OWNERS of Housing Board flats will have something new to look forward to as the home upgrading programmes get rejigged.
One of the biggest changes comes in the form of the new Home Improvement Programme (HIP).

It will replace the current Main Upgrading Programme and will focus on small practical repairs like spalling of ceiling concrete and new entrance grilles and new toilets in flats.

The new programme was announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during his National Day Rally speech together with a slew of upgrades to housing in Singapore.

The HIP is targeted at what Mr Lee called ‘middle-aged estates’, which are estates with flats built more than 20 years ago such as Bukit Batok, Jurong East and Hougang.

They are not quite as old as Queenstown but not quite as new as Punggol.
The programme will be piloted in Yishun and Tampines.

A new Neighbourhood Renewal Programme (NRP) will replace the current Interim Upgrading Programme (IUP).

Where the latter was only for individual precincts, the former will combine two or more precincts to take advantage of economies of scale.

Said PM Lee: ‘Bigger area, larger scale, we can plan more and better facilities.

‘We will still have standard items like barbecue pits, community gardens, reflexology footpaths, covered walkways and so on. But now we can also consider non-standard items like a street soccer court or a skating park.’

What these items are will be decided by the residents.

Said Mr Lee: ‘We will have a budget, a menu; you will have a town hall meeting…You decide what you want for your own community.’

In explaining the decision to replace the two schemes, Mr Lee noted that they had been around for 17 years and said: ‘I think it’s time to upgrade the upgrading programme.’

The changes were welcomed by residents in middle-aged estates and property analysts.

Mr Mohamed Ismail, chief executive of real estate firm PropNex, saw the HIP as a scaled-down version of the MUP. And that would mean more people will benefit.

‘The MUP tends to favour creating additional space like an extra room. The details of the new one are not out yet but it seems like it focuses on enhancing individual units. In that case, it would require fewer resources and can be done faster.’

Mr Eugene Lim, vice-president of property firm ERA, agreed and added that such a scheme would make upgrading work more tolerable.

‘MUP is quite disruptive. It’s like living in a construction site for two years. The HIP looks to be more focused on improving liveability, and won’t involve a lot of hacking.

‘I think as a lot of flats are getting older, this move addresses a real need,’ he said.

Taken together, Mr Ismail said the HIP and NRP will ‘definitely enhance the neighbourhood overall’.

Engineer Lim Shin Yen, 27, who bought a four-room flat in Woodlands with her husband last year, hopes the new programmes will be unrolled faster.

‘On the one hand, I think I’d like more major work done on the flat. On the other hand, this way we won’t have to wait so long to get upgrading,’ she said.

Source :  Straits Times - 20 Aug 2007

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Working longer and CPF

Working longer and CPF
The Government will increase the interest rate paid out on CPF savings by one percentage point. This will apply to all CPF accounts, but only up to a certain amount, and under certain conditions. The change, which will cost the Government about $700 million a year, is to better prepare Singaporeans for retirement, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. This move focuses on helping lower and middle income groups, as they do not have the expertise nor money to invest in the stock market.
Working longer and CPF
It pays to be patient.

Older workers who delay drawing down the Minimum Sum in their Central Provident Fund account will be rewarded.

Those in their 50s will get a one-off Deferment Bonus interest, while a smaller Voluntary Deferment Bonus will be given to those aged 58 and older who are unaffected by the changes, but voluntarily delay drawing down their Minimum Sum.

Source :  Straits Times - 20 Aug 2007

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Majority will gain from CPF interest rate hike

Majority will gain from CPF interest rate hike
1 percentage point hike to cost Govt $700m a year but will help many build bigger nest egg
By Aaron Low
THE 1 percentage point hike in the CPF interest rate will benefit the majority of Singaporeans and translate to substantial gains for them, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday.
A young person aged 21 and earning $1,700, for example, can expect to earn $20,000 more in interest by the time he hits age 55.

And although the higher rate applies up to a cap of $60,000, more than half of the population of active CPF members will earn 1 percentage point more on all their CPF savings, said Mr Lee yesterday.

This move will cost the Government about $700 million a year, he added, but this will help Singaporeans build a bigger retirement nest egg.

‘I think we must improve returns and our main focus is to help lower- and middle-income groups,’ he said.

He noted that half of those still working currently have $45,000 and below in their CPF accounts, which is ‘not huge’.
Detailing the change, Mr Lee said that the Government will now pay a higher 3.5 per cent interest on Ordinary Account (OA) balances and 5 per cent on the Special, Medisave and Retirement Account (SMRA) balances.

But the higher rate will be payable only on:
the first $20,000 of a member’s OA balance, and

the first $60,000 in all his CPF accounts combined.
Simply put, this means that someone with say $25,000 in his OA will earn 3.5 per cent interest on the first $20,000, and 2.5 per cent on the other $5,000.

He will then earn 5 per cent on the first $40,000 of his SMRA balances, instead of the usual 4 per cent.

If a CPF member has less than $20,000 in his OA, more of his SMRA balance will earn the higher 5 per cent rate. But the maximum amount in all accounts that qualifies for the extra 1 percentage point interest is $60,000.

CPF members will not be able to invest this $60,000 in stocks, unit trusts and other investments under the CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS).

But they can still use the money for housing or medical expenses.

There will also be no change to the concessionary HDB loan rate formula, which is at 2.6 per cent, added Mr Lee.

Explaining these changes, Mr Lee said that there is a need to update the CPF system to better prepare Singaporeans for retirement.

Currently, the CPF is like a bank savings account, except that it pays a higher interest rate and is risk-free.

Those who want higher returns and can accept higher risks can invest their savings in shares or stocks, although many who have done so did not do well, said Mr Lee.

But the lower- to middle- income groups should not be exposed to unnecessary risks, as they do not have the expertise nor enough money to invest.

‘If all our CPF members were on the stock market, I think a lot of hearts will go ‘gedebook, gedebook’ every night,’ he said, thumping his chest to laughter from the audience.

This is why he has drawn the line at $60,000 in savings.

‘If you have more than $60,000…you should be able to look after yourself,’ quipped Mr Lee.

Turning to the rate increase, Mr Lee said that ‘1 percentage point may not sound like a lot of money, but it makes a big difference’.

To illustrate, he cited an example of a young man, aged 21, who earns $1,700 and buys a four-room flat over the course of his work-life.

By the time he retires at 55, he will have earned $20,000 more in interest, which is ‘a lot of money’, Mr Lee pointed out.

This will cost the Government $700 million in the first year, similar to the $750 million it pays out for the Housing Board building programme, he said, adding that the figure will likely go up in the future as people saved more in their CPF.

Mr Lee added that the Government had done its sums to make sure it could afford to pay the higher rate.

‘Because this is most important and you cannot suka suka write any number,’ he said, using the Malay term for ‘any-o-how’.

Financial analysts interviewed yesterday generally cheered the move, but Society of Financial Service Professionals president Leong Sze Hian thought the change might not amount to much for some of the low-income.

‘They use most of OA for their housing and get little in terms of their Special Account contributions,’ said Mr Leong.

Mr David Tan, 23, who is working as a sales executive earning about $2,000 a month said he was happy with the higher interest.

‘It’s good that they give more but I think I can probably get better returns if I invest the money elsewhere, which I won’t be able to,’ he said.

Source :  Straits Times - 20 Aug 2007

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Leg-up for older workers: More Workfare and a chance to be rehired

Leg-up for older workers: More Workfare and a chance to be rehired
From 2012, bosses will have to offer work to those near retirement
By Li Xueying
THE size of the Workfare payout for workers older than 55 is set to increase, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday. They will receive up to double what their younger counterparts get. The intended effects are three-fold:
Give more take-home pay and money in the Central Provident Fund (CPF) to older workers.

Encourage them to find re-employment.

Coax employers to hire them rather than replace them with younger or foreign workers.

Introducing higher tiers of Workfare payouts for this group will ‘give an additional leg up for the older worker’, said Mr Lee.

The change is meant to kick in only when the Workfare scheme is reviewed after a few years. But in view of the changes announced this year, such as the new re-employment law in 2012 and amendments to the CPF savings scheme, ‘I think… better not wait, let’s move now’, said Mr Lee.

Currently, a worker aged 60 earning $1,000 gets $100 in Workfare a month - or $1,200 a year. This amounts to 10 per cent of his salary.

‘When we revise the scheme, we will double this to give him $200 a month,’ said Mr Lee.

Right now, workers above age 35 but below 45, get three-quarters of the amount given to those older than 45.

Workfare - an income supplement scheme for less-skilled workers who earn $1,500 and below - was made permanent earlier this year as the fourth pillar of Singapore’s social security net, beside CPF, the 3Ms of health care and home ownership.

Increasing the Workfare payout buttresses two other strategies to encourage Singaporeans to work longer - legislation and education.

A re-employment law will take effect from Jan 1, 2012, said Mr Lee. It will require bosses to offer re-employment to workers who reach the retirement age of 62, up to 65. This will later be pushed up to 67.

Mr Lee said the new law will send a clear signal to employers and workers that the Government is serious about getting people to work longer. Compared to a law to raise the retirement age, the re-employment law is ‘more flexible for both the employers and the employees’, said Mr Lee. The offer may not be for the same job nor at the same pay.

Also, he added, it ‘doesn’t mean you will definitely get a job but the employer has to make an offer and take into account the worker’s performance, his health, his preferences and the company’s needs, and both sides work out a win-win arrangement, usually year to year.’

As for education, it involves changing the mindsets of both employers and workers, said Mr Lee. ‘We’ve got to get employers to recognise the value of older workers, deploy them effectively and make the most of their abilities and strengths.’

At the same time, workers must be prepared to ‘change gears’ after 62, accept lower pay and lower appointments so younger colleagues can move up the ladder.

‘Otherwise, if you have the oldest ones in the most senior jobs, our whole system will be like a mountain with greyer and greyer hair at the top of the mountain. And that’s not the way to be full of dynamism and vibrancy,’ said Mr Lee.

The three strategies - recommended by the Tripartite Committee on Employability of Older Workers - will help address the two ‘thorny issues’ on ageing. One is employment opportunities and the other, having enough funds for old age.

With rising life expectancies, Singaporeans can no longer afford to retire at 55 or even 62, said Mr Lee.

In his Mandarin speech, he acknowledged the concerns of some older Singaporeans who ‘feel their retirement is getting further and further away’. ‘They worry they will need to work for their whole life. They blame this on the Government, saying high cost of living gives them no choice,’ he said. ‘But we need to change our mindsets because times have changed.’

Bank clerk Jimmy Chong, 61, welcomes the planned re-employment law: ‘I hope to work after I retire, maybe up to 67, although the law will not be in time for me.’
Source :  Straits Times - 20 Aug 2007

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Big plus for Punggol residents

Big plus for Punggol residents
COME HOME TO THIS: With a waterway, jogging tracks and al-fresco restaurants, Punggol 21+ will turn the coastal suburb of Punggol into the inspiration for future HDB towns. There are also plans to revitalise several other estates. — PHOTO: COURTESY OF HDB

HOUSING Board (HDB) blocks rise up along the banks of a pristine waterway, amidst greenery, jogging tracks and al-fresco restaurants.
Welcome to Punggol 21+, which will turn the coastal suburb of Punggol into the inspiration for future HDB towns.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s interactive visuals had his audience of around 3,000 responding with cheers and applause.

They ooh-ed and aah-ed at the vision of new water features, promenades and HDB homes with terrific views.

‘I’m not selling them yet,’ Mr Lee said with a laugh.

Along with the new, something from the past may return too - Punggol chilli crab, on the menu of the open-air eateries to come.

Wowed by all he saw, civil servant and Punggol resident Melvin Yong, 35, said: ‘I could really see the ‘plus’ in the plan.’

Mr Lee also highlighted plans for ongoing improvements to revitalise several other towns and estates.

‘No other city in the world can do this,’ he said. ‘Public housing that’s attractive, that’s affordable, that’s appealing, that gives a quality home for every citizen and gives you an asset which will appreciate in value and also help to provide for your old age.’

But Singapore will do it systematically.

‘We will remake the whole city. It will take us 20, 30 years but eventually, the whole country will be transformed. And this is what Singaporeans will call home.’
Source :  Straits Times - 20 Aug 2007

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New HDB flat buy-back scheme for older owners

New HDB flat buy-back scheme for older owners

They can now sell their flats, without having to move out for another 30 years
By Fiona Chan, Property Reporter
ELDERLY HDB dwellers have finally been offered a neat way to swop their flats for more cash in their twilight years.
The Government is introducing a new scheme to buy back the flats of older HDB owners, but they will be allowed to live in the same flats for another 30 years.

The scheme, announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last night, involves shortening the leases of these HDB homeowners to 30 years, and then paying them the value of the lease foregone in cash.

It is aimed at helping HDB flat owners unlock the value of their flats. This is important because a flat is often a Singaporean’s biggest asset post-retirement, but he is often unwilling to sell it for cash which he may need in old age.

It will be open to people aged 62 and above who own a two-room or three-room flat, and who have only had ‘one bite of the cherry’, or who have bought only one flat from the HDB previously, PM Lee said.

The new scheme is a major improvement over an existing one. Currently, an elderly HDB dweller can sell his flat and move to a studio apartment with a 30-year lease, which costs at least $60,000.
But many older flat owners are reluctant to uproot themselves and relocate to a smaller flat in an unfamiliar estate.

In the new scheme, they will not have to move out of their current flats. Instead, HDB will shorten the flat’s lease to 30 years and buy back the remaining lease.

PM Lee did not give details of how much HDB would pay for the tail end of the leases that it buys, but he said the payout would be split into two parts.

There will be a lump sum amount paid upfront, while the rest will be paid out as monthly payments for the rest of the owner’s life, like an annuity.

As for what happens if an owner lives for more than 30 years after selling the lease back to HDB, the Ministry of National Development is studying the issue, he said.

Some elderly HDB flat owners told The Straits Times yesterday that they were intrigued by the idea.

‘This is an improvement over the studio apartments because I don’t have to go to a different environment and I don’t have to move to a smaller flat,’ said Mr Steven Lau, 60, an estate agent who owns a three-room flat in Bedok North. ‘It’s just me and my wife. We have nobody to pass the flat on to.’

For Mr Abdul Rahman, 64, the cash that he would get for his flat under the new scheme is a big draw. ‘If my wife and I have financial problems, we can’t ask my children to help us because they have their own problems,’ he said.

‘This would be a good chance to get money. Anyway, after 30 years I don’t know if I’m still living or not.’

Mr Mohamed Ismail, chief executive of property agency PropNex, called the scheme an ‘extraordinary solution to the greying population’.

‘Of all the HDB initiatives announced, this is the most unique and interesting,’ he said. ‘It allows people without enough cash to (get money from) their flats with dignity in their old age.’

The other HDB measures included making it easier for lower-income families to buy HDB flats. The Government upped the maximum amount of CPF Additional Housing Grant by $10,000, and raised the income ceiling so that households earning up to $4,000 can qualify for the grant.

Even more good news was in store for HDB dwellers yesterday, with the HDB upgrading programmes themselves getting an upgrade.

Both the Interim Upgrading Programme (IUP) and the Main Upgrading Programme (MUP) will be replaced by new and improved schemes, PM Lee said.

The IUP will be replaced by the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme (NRP), which will combine two or more precincts in large-scale planning decisions that promise more and better facilities.

As for the MUP, it will be replaced by the Home Improvement Programme (HIP), which will see more practical changes within each flat, such as new doors and better bathrooms. The new programmes will cover nearly all estates in Singapore.

Private estates will also benefit from improved upgrading with a revamp of the Estate Upgrading Programme. More importantly, they will now get Community Improvement Project Committee (CPIC) funds, just like HDB estates, to carry out smaller scale, but regular enhancements.
Source :  Straits Times - 20 Aug 2007

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