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Showing posts with label Elections. Show all posts

MyQueenstown Votes #8 - Apprehension, Worries & Fears

Posted in Elections , News in the Dump , recent | Wednesday, April 27, 2011|By my queenstown

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MyQueenstown Votes #7 - Surprises at Nomination Day!

Posted in Elections , News in the Dump , recent | |By my queenstown

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MyQueenstown Votes #6 - Only a Fool Believes HDB Flats are Affordable!

Posted in Elections , News in the Dump , recent | Thursday, April 21, 2011|By my queenstown

Shameless! Treacherous! Plain Stupidity! A certain "leader" uses the the state media as his "official media" to explain his flawed ideas this morning about public housing. While ideas from the other group of representatives may not be the best, it is plain stupidity for this leader to be persistent about his policies claiming that the HDB flats are affordable!

Examples of High Prices of HDB flats
The latest BTO flat introduced in Dawson, Queenstown, costs $550,000 between $650,000 for a five-room flat. This translates to 33 years of housing loan and the couple is required to pay slightly more than $2,100 each month. (Figures quoted from the resident).

For another couple who preferred to stay close to their ill and aged parents in Mei Ling Street, they had originally intended to purchase a BTO flat. Since they earned slightly above $8,000, which was the threshold limit to own a BTO flat, they had to go into the resale market. However, they were deterred by the fact that a 4-room flat in Mei Ling cost nearly $650,000 in the resale market. They had initially wanted their children to stay with their aged grandmother who was terminally ill. Unfortunately, their mother (their children's grandma) had passed away last year.

Beautiful HDB Flats at a Price

HDB - A near-complete failure in today's perspective
Flats from the Housing and Development Board are built to serve the national building purposes. First, it aims to bring Singaporeans together, regardless of race and religion. Second, it aims to allow Singaporeans to "purchase a stake in the country." Third, it aims to give Singaporeans a "shelter" so that they will always have a place to call "home." Fourth, it aims to motivate Singaporeans to seek for a regular employment to pay the housing loan.

For many Singaporeans, owning a HDB flat equates to fulfilling the "Singapore Dream." What is more important than providing shelter and a home for your loved ones?

However, policies changes in the past few years resulting in escalating home prices have gone against these original intentions. Housing loans in the past could have been repaid within 10 to 15 years. In search for a better living condition, Singaporeans will aim for a bigger and better flat or a private apartment. This "dream has been shattered" because Singaporeans have to "pay and pay" to their deathbed for a "smaller and smaller" apartment flat.

HDB had failed terribly in serving the national building purpose in these areas.
1) The introduction of "privacy" blocks reduce interactions among neighbours, defeating the purpose of point 1.
2) The escalating housing prices have created a notion that "only the rich and educated" can afford HDB flats although generous grants were given to the poor
3) Escalating housing prices will become Singapore's "Time-bomb" one day when the children needs to assist their parents in paying off their housing loan mortgages. Remember Japan in the 1990s? Remember Hong Kong in the late 1990s?

Plain excuses to divert attention of the REAL ISSUE
Seriously, our efficient government has ensured that billions are be earned from the investments in overseas to cover the reduction in land prices for HDB flats. It is a national joke to see that this "stupid" leader was trying to claim that a deliberate reduction in prices of land is equivalent to "robbing the national reserves" when the ruling party had engaged in numerous flawed investments during the financial crisis.

Whether the measures offered by the alternative group of representatives are effective or not, it must be clear that the issues of "robbing national reserves by reducing land prices," "upgrading" and "ensuring that home prices will continue to appreciate" are not as significant as the "affordability of public housing."

In short, who cares about national reserves, upgrading and whether home prices will appreciate if they can't even afford a HDB flat?

This just shows how disconnected is this leader from reality.

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MyQueenstown Votes #5 - Money Money Money! Queenstown Needs More Money!

Posted in Elections , News in the Dump , recent | Thursday, April 14, 2011|By my queenstown

It seems like everything around you has become more expensive. Food prices have rocketed recently. So does home prices and electricity tariffs. Like other Singaporeans, some residents in Queenstown struggle to make ends meet, particularly those from the lower income group and the elderly population. While the social safety are available, many residents shunned them because of the social stigma involved while receiving monthly payouts from the state. Today, let's find out about the extent of increase in prices of necessities in Queenstown.

According to Tanglin Halt residents, prices of hawker food has gone up by more than 20% over the past three to four years. The famous Char Kway Teow operated by the brothers in Tanglin Halt Hawker Centre is 50cents more expensive whereas costs of fresh chicken at the market is now 70cents to a dollar more costly. When residents are asked for their explanation about the increase in food prices, majority of them cite the upgrading of markets and hawker centres as an important factor resulting in the increase in price of food.

It is true that rentals at Tanglin Halt Hawker Centre has increased from $150 to $190 for first generation hawkers. Rentals for second and third generation hawkers can increase to as high as $1800 in the food centre. Hence, attributing the increase in prices of food supplies to the rising global demand and falling supplies is a sweeping reply.

Merlene, a resident in Mei Ling thinks that food prices have gone up as she is able to compare very well as she is still new in Singapore. She budgets her spending each month and would try to make her own meals but it is often difficult due to long hours at work.

Likewise, Murshid thinks that food prices has gone up too fast in the recent years, comparing the standard prices of chicken rice and fast food. Even poultry products and fish from the markets experience an significant increase in their prices. He saves money by monitoring their income versus spending very carefully each month. In addition, they try to cook every meal themselves and would not spend on anything unnecessary.

An obvious method to reduce prices of necessities can be a reduction in rental rates at HDB shop houses and hawker centres. HDB, a public entity, can alleviate the costs of living by reducing rental rates.

Markets and hawker centres elsewhere in Singapore have pledged to stabilize prices for the next six months. However, there is no sight of hawkers in Queenstown doing so =(.

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MyQueenstown Votes #4 - Feeder Service Woes

Posted in Elections , News in the Dump , recent | Tuesday, April 12, 2011|By my queenstown

If you are resident living near bus stops and MRT Stations, you are liking to marvel at the convenience and accessibility of public buses in Queenstown. Journeys to Town or work places in the industrial estates are relatively short and bus frequencies are usually reliable and fast. Shenton Way? 25 minutes. City Hall MRT Station? 12 minutes. Orchard Road? 15 minutes. Boon Lay MRT Station? 17 minutes. At most bus stops along Queensway and Commonwealth Avenue in Queenstown, residents can hop onto a bus service that bring them to their destination directly. However, if you are a resident living in the heart of districts such as Commonwealth Crescent, Commonwealth Drive or Mei Ling Street, you may not benefit from the transport services at all.

Let's talk about the bus services which serve the various districts. Bus service 32 is a popular service for residents plying from Commonwealth/Red Hill MRT to Strathmore and Margaret Drive. Residents waiting for this service at Commonwealth MRT Station will notice that the service will arrive "at 4 minutes" for an extended period of time at the electronic display screen. During peak hours, waiting time can be as long as 30 minutes. If you are heading home at Strathmore from Redhill at 9pm, don't be startled that the bus may arrive some 15-45 minutes. There are new developments at Dawson and Strathmore but the frequencies remain atrocious.

Bus Service 195 - another unreliable service

Same goes for Bus Service 195. It either comes in pairs or once in a blue, blue moon! These complains, courtesy of feedbacks from residents, appear very common in our services. However, it must be understood that these trunk services serve as feeder services for Queenstown residents. Hence, the frequency for the service is atrocious because of operators such as SBS transit are keen on profit maximising and not keen on providing quality services. Well, let's take a look at other estates. Feeder services in Jurong West averaged 5-8 minutes whereas those in Choa Chu Kang averaged only 3-7 minutes (according to the operators' website).

Residents in Strathmore and Mei Ling Street have petitioned strongly for such service lately. On one hand, stallholders in Mei Chin Market are looking forward for a reliable service so as to improve the traffic flow to the market area. On the other hand, residents are looking forward to more bus services plying along Margaret Drive and Strathmore Avenue which bring them to markets prior to the demolishing of Margaret Drive Food Centre.

However, reliable sources indicate that all of these requests are wishful thinking. The LTA has rejected residents' request to extend Bus Service 64 to the MRT Station and Polyclinic so that residents from Mei Ling Street can travel home from Queenstown Station. Have you recalled that Mei Ling/Mei Chin district in Queenstown is a hilly region where elderly residents got to climb flights of stairs every day to reach home? (Read Here) This service will certainly make travelling more convenient for the elderly folks in Mei Ling!

Will there be an end to this transport "mess"? Perhaps, that is what elderly residents in Mei Ling/MeiChin have to "tahan" to their death bed.

Wei Jie

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MyQueenstown Votes #3 - Growing Old in Queenstown

Posted in Elections , News in the Dump , recent | Thursday, March 31, 2011|By my queenstown

For the past thirty years, Mdm Wong, 69, has been climbing that flight of stairs from Block 81 Commonwealth Close to the bus stop along Queensway. Each year, it appears harder and harder for her to complete that routine without a rest. Every two to three flight of stairs, she has to cling onto the pillars for support, catch her breathe, before scaling the rest of the staircases. Mdm's Wong experiences must be familiar for many Queenstown residents living in Mei Ling and Commonwealth Close. While Brickworks residents can enjoy the comforts of two elevators which connect ABC Market to the upper ridges of Rumah Tinggi, it puzzles many grey-haired residents in Mei Ling and Commonwealth Close why they are not given the opportunity of having an elevator to reduce their discomfort and inconvenience? Is there a lack of political will?

The never ending flight of stairs at Block 81 Commonwealth Close

Costs are cited as the premier reason why elevators are not built. Compare to the millions of dollars wasted in vanity projects, building an elevator can provide residents in Mei Ling, Stirling View and Commonwealth Close with convenience and scaling flights of stairs may be a thing of a past for these residents.

As reported in July 2010, the Mei Ling/Mei Chin/Stirling View district of Queenstown is built on top of the former Hong Lim Hill. Cemeteries, farms and villages used to populate the hill before a major excavation and land acquisition took place in the 1950s. In those days, technology was not advanced and the hill was not completely flattened. Dwarf-sized knolls spread across the estate and Mei Ling was built on one of them. Like other districts in Queenstown, some former residents of the village as well as victims of the Bukit Ho Swee fire moved into flats in Mei Ling. Even as the next generation of wealthier young adults, who had grown up in Queenstown, were heading towards newer estates to establish their own households, their parents, who preferred the comforts of the familiar Queenstown, did not follow and stay behind. Today, they have all grown old.

Mdm Lian is one such resident who faces difficulties in scaling the stairs

Mdm Lian is one of those residents who faced difficulties scaling the stairs from Stirling View. A devout Christian, she has to scale along the stairs before boarding a bus to reach her Church.

Elderly Programmes in Queenstown

Queenstown, an ageing estate, has many programmes which cater to the elderly's interests. One look at the list of programmes offered by the local community centre indicates that residents can participate in folk dances, karaoke, brisk walking, health screening and other activities in Queenstown. Low-income elderly residents can enjoy subsidies at Brickworks market and a proposed stamp-voucher programme at Mei Ling market. These programmes, undoubtedly serve the financial and social interests of the elderly population.

When MyQueenstown Team reported that a lack of elderly wellness and befriending initative in the estate, we are rebutted immediately, citing the availability of befriending and wellness activities offered by Wellness Centres and other Voluntary Welfare Organisations (although there are deficiencies in their approach in our opinion). However, a straw poll among 30 residents in Mei Ling and Tanglin Halt reveals that only 2 out of the 30 residents acknowledge the available of such programme, indicating either a lack of publicity or a lack of bureaucracy to run the programme efficiently.

The lack of interest towards the mental wellness of these elderly folks is prevalent in Stirling View. When MyQueenstown Team did our interviews and surveys there, we have met 16 elderly singles who do not participate in any community activities and live alone. We ask, "Is it really safe to leave them alone?" The outreach efforts have been muted and residents long to find someone whom they can approach and talk to. Will there be a permanent programme in Queenstown to serve the mental wellbeing of the elderly folks?

Find out more about the upcoming elections at our Elections@MyQueenstown portal

Peek into the perils of living in Strathmore and Dawson now.

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MyQueenstown Votes #2 - Perils of a New Estate

Posted in Elections , News in the Dump , recent | Wednesday, March 30, 2011|By my queenstown

Life is not rosy for many residents at Strathmore and Dawson. Despite living in one of Singapore's premier district where Orchard, Shenton Way, Marina Bay and Harbourfront Front are stone's throw away, many folks at Dawson and Strathmore have feedback to our facebook sites and email, complaining about the atrocity in getting a simple meal, boarding a public bus or getting groceries.

The decision to close down the iconic and influential Margaret Drive Hawker Centre must be extremely ill-informed. (Besides our HDB flats, what is more important than a food centre/court/market?) Besides aggravating residents and ex-residents on the lack of political will to preserve the unique heritage and community identity, residents are deprived of a fully functioning food centre. Although the community leader had sincerely asked the residents to wait patiently for new amenities through his facebook (Read here), one resident named Shirley Wong commented, "I can wait patiently for more train trips, new parks or sheltered connectors, but I can't wait for five years (For Dawson to be ready) without eating."

Margaret Drive Hawker Centre is forever our pride and a symbol of our rich heritage

The exact time in which the hawker centre and the surrounding blocks (27A, 39A, 6C) would be excavated or demolished remains a mystery. It is likely that the surrounding blocks and the hawker centre may remain vacant for a period of time especially residents were spotted hanging clothes at the corridor of Block 27A. So why are the residents and hawkers asked to move out so early?

The decision on not to build a replacement or temporary hawker centre appears to be dud. One check at the prices of food at Dawson Place reveals that a plate of wanton noodle costs about $4 whereas a similar plate of wanton noodle (with more ingredients and better taste) at Margaret Drive costs just $2.50. Consider the rising costs of living, it's brainless to understand why many residents are worried about their immediate future (since every has to eat). Will the residents be compensated on this ill-informed decision?

Residents at Block 27A hanging clothes outside their house. The potted plants and bicycles are there and it seems they are not going to move out so soon. So when exactly will the blocks be demolished?

Mr Wong at Margaret Drive Hawker Centre during her last weeks of operations

Mr Wong, in his 20s, drop by after school for lunch. He feels that it would be a pity as the stalls would be relocated, as all of his visits to the hawker centre have been promised above average food. On the other hand, he thinks that the improvements would be good and that Queenstown needs a revamp as it is rather run down especially the central area. His concern is that residents would have to experience an increase in food prices in the future. Mr Wong thinks that a replacement market is necessary for the residents.

The new districts in Strathmore are starved of food centre as much as the availability of bus services. Despite having a growing population, there is only one bus service number 32 plying along Margaret Drive. There are repeated calls to improve the frequency of the bus route whereas other residents commented that a feeder service is necessary to bring residents from Strathmore Avenue to Mei Ling, Tanglin Halt or ABC market now that the food centre is demolished. However, that thought remains far fetched considering our bus services are profit-maximising rather than community centric.

(We will discuss about the transport services within Queenstown in the next few days)

There are many residents in Queenstown who committed suicide in the past few weeks. Don't be surprised if you read about a resident who "starve" to death in the coming weeks.

Who says Strathmore and Dawson is a "heavenly" district on earth?

Find out more about the upcoming elections at our Elections@MyQueenstown portal

Wei Jie

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