HEAD T - MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Head T - Ministry of National Development

The Chairman: Head T - Ministry of National Development. Amendment No. (1). Mr Chong and Dr Faishal are not here. Mr Khew, could you move the amendment, please?

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Sustainable Development

Er Edwin Khew Teck Fook (Nominated Member): Sir, I beg to move,

That the total sum to be allocated for Head T of the Estimates be reduced by $100.

Sir, I applaud Minister Mah, MND, and many of his agencies in promoting, adopting and legislating sustainable initiatives - for example, making the Green Mark compulsory for all new buildings effective April 2008, planning and building an eco-precinct in Punggol, building an eco-friendly Gardens by the Bay, etc. I, however, feel that much needs to be done to make Singapore into an eco-city with sustainable development as its master plan. I would like to ask the Minister in his deliberations as co-Chair to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development whether he will consider including the following into his Sustainable Development Master Plan:

(a) Solar PV panel installation in centres for developers to install rooftop or BIPV panels on buildings to promote the pervasive use of these panels to reinforce Singapore's position as a clean energy hub;

(b) Make it mandatory that all common area lighting in HDB precincts be changed to LEDs. This will reduce substantially Singapore's use of energy;

(c) Make it mandatory for all commercial buildings to achieve at least a pass green mark within five years and provide incentives for those who achieve gold or better; and

(d) Establish landscaping and greening standards for developing sustainable landscapes and rooftops in Singapore. This will help lower temperatures throughout Singapore.

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Development Plans for Marina Bay

Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah): Sir, the Marina Bay area will be the most vibrant and exciting live-work-play destination in Singapore or even in the region. Over the past few years, more than $9 billion worth of private investments have been put in at the Marina Bay area. Besides the new office places, like the BFC, which will come onstream from 2011 onwards, we will soon be seeing an integrated resort, high-end apartments, Gardens by the Bay, Marina Barrage, the rejuvenation of Collyer Quay and many other projects. This is in addition to the completed iconic Singapore Flyer, Esplanade and Fullerton Merlion Pier. This is an exciting prospect. It has been estimated that 50,000 people will be living and working in that vicinity.

The Finance Minister has mentioned in his Budget Statement that there will be further developments at the Marina Bay in the next few years, and it will eventually double the size of our existing financial district. Would the Minister give an update on the development plans for Marina Bay, including the infrastructure to support upcoming and future developments? Beyond 2011, what is the Ministry's projection on the demand for office space at the Marina area? Will we have an over-supply situation of office and commercial spaces come 2011 and beyond? Also, what are MND's plans, if any, for the current Central Business Districts, like Raffles Place and Shenton Way, when the centre of gravity for the financial district is shifted to the Marina Bay?

Sir, allow me also to declare my interest that I do work in Shenton Way.

Land Use Planning

Mr Ang Mong Seng: (In Mandarin): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Sir, Singapore is a tiny country with limited land. In the process of urban planning, the MND should

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engage other relevant authorities and work closely with them so as to obtain optimum land use. The Finance Minister has also made special emphasis on the shortage of office space in Singapore. However, I have discovered that many sites near MRT stations which are suitable for offices are not fully utilised or developed.

In Hong Kong and Japan, many offices and commercial centres are built near the MRT stations, making full use of the land and optimising its economic values, while providing convenience to the people who commute by MRT to and from the office. In this way, precious time is saved and productivity is enhanced. The Toa Payoh HDB Hub is a very good example.

I suggest that the MND consider using some of the land or sites near Newton Circus, Jurong East, Clementi and Hougang for building offices near the MRT stations to attain optimal land use. This would also help to divert some vehicular and human traffic to the suburban areas, alleviate the congestion in the city area and, at the same time, provide one-stop service for Singaporeans who go to work by MRT. This will encourage people to use public transport.

*Cols. 1345-1346.

Retirement Villages

Dr Fatimah Lateef: Sir, with the rapidly ageing population, better technology and healthcare, there will be many more seniors amongst us in the coming years. More of these people will continue to be active and contributing to society. Many would like to remain independent and have accommodation of their own. We are already seeing this group coming forward to get rental flats and studio apartments. Rental flat application, however, requires strict criteria to be adhered to.

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I would like to enquire on the feasibility of setting up a kind of a retirement village or seniors' complex concept in Singapore. This will be a housing development specifically catered for the elderly to meet their needs. It is for supported independent living, which I feel is a good concept for HDB to explore. It would comprise of living units, facilities and, of course, have the relevant ethnic quota of integration. There can be economy of sharing costs, benefit of companionship and interaction and activities to keep the ageing minds stimulated. And, of course, we certainly will not just have old folks there but we will have people ranging from the age of 60 up to the end of their lives.

User-friendly Environment

Mr Zainudin Nordin: Sir, the other day I took a drive along Orchard Road and saw that new developments such as ION Orchard, Somerset Central and Orchard Central are progressing well. This led me to think about the future road traffic along Orchard Road and the role that public transportation has to play to manage the increased visitors and shoppers. It is already the most visited attraction in Singapore, attracting more than seven million visitors each year while thousands of local residents visit the areas for leisure or work each day. One of the critical success factors of Orchard Road is to make it even more pedestrian friendly and easy to access.

In the initial master plan, I recall the proposal to have a comprehensive, integrated and seamless pedestrian walk network, including covered and open walk-ways, underground links as well as second-storey links between buildings. This will certainly facilitate inter-mall traffic without the use of passenger vehicles and, therefore, reducing the number of cars plying Orchard Road.

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In March 2004, a cash grant incentive was also introduced to help with the construction costs to create more underground links between selected buildings in Orchard Road. I would just like to know how successful is this incentive towards further development of user-friendly and convenience for users and visitors. Sir, I would also like to know whether the Ministry of National Development is keeping track of the number of connectivities that are planned or in place and whether it is sufficient to cater for the future needs and uses. Is the cash grant incentive still available and is it sufficient? Could we consider other incentives, for example, tax relief on cost of construction of these connectivities?

Sir, I have seen some experiences in Hong Kong and Canada, and I would like to see such underground development where we connect buildings, such as a massive project, and there are F&B connectivity and it is very convenient for the people. Can we envision that to happen in Singapore?

Greening of Singapore

Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang): Sir, a plot of land in the new downtown Marina is worth billions. Even a plot of land for a hospital in Novena fetched over $1.2 billion recently. So, what is the worth of a garden or green space? Probably priceless.

We pride ourselves as a city garden, a garden in a city. The green living environment and green spaces in our urban landscape provide a good balance and form a vital part of our general well-being. With land prices escalating, some of these green spaces are fast disappearing, especially along our Orchard Road belt, giving way to new commercial and residential developments.

The Government should actively enhance our living environment and working space with more green spaces so

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as to provide a conducive environment not only for Singaporeans but also for all who come to visit, work or play.

We should allocate and preserve land just for more green spaces and we should actually actively do it especially in our quest towards a 6.5 million population in the future. I would like to ask the MND what percentages of the land in our HDB residential estates, CBD area and industrial estates are earmarked for green spaces and garden, and how these are preserved.

While MND builds gardens and green spaces, the Ministry should ensure and facilitate the accessibility of these green spaces to the people. The park connectors project is a wonderful idea, for just doing that. I had the chance of jogging at a few of these park connectors but my encounter was that many of these park connectors led to nowhere. I hope that the MND could quickly facilitate the park connectors project and increase the pace so that at least it leads to a park at the end of the day.

In addition, I would like MND to facilitate residents' involvement in our greening effort. What measures is the National Parks Board doing now to promote more community garden projects and what has happened to our rooftop greening projects amongst HDB estates, especially the HDB carpark areas?

Green and Conservation

Mr Sam Tan Chin Siong (Tanjong Pagar): Sir, thank you for allowing me to speak on this matter. It is a matter which I spoke on in my last budget speech one year ago, but the situation does not seem to have changed much. Hence, I would like to speak on it again this year.
It is about being a Green Singapore with a strong heritage for Singaporeans to cherish. Sir, I made five suggestions last

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year which may be too many for the authorities to follow up. So, I shall cut it down to three this year and hope that they will catch on.

My first point is about recycling bins. There are 1,600 sets of recycling bins within HDB estates. According to NEA, residents need not walk more than 150 metres from their homes to use the bins. It is commendable that the authorities have taken the effort to promote recycling. While it is good to cover our HDB estates with recycling bins, the success of the scheme depends on its implementation and all of us know that the devil is actually in the details. I have observed that some of these bins are often stuffed with rubbish and not cleared regularly and a few are more eye sores than recycling bins.

As recycling may still be a new concept to some Singaporeans, there is, therefore, a need to step up our public education on the greater and proper use of the recycling bins. In addition, we should have a systematic and nation-wide certification and tracking of these bins, as well as an evaluation of the economic worth of the recycled products.

I hope the authorities could consider these benchmarks which would give us a clear idea of the true extent of our recycling efforts.

My second point is about protecting old and mature trees. I know that NParks has a team of tree doctors actively caring and protecting old trees, but I still think that sometimes we take our trees too lightly. Take the example of this tree called Albizia in South Buona Vista Road. Sixty-three Albizia trees in that area have been earmarked to be cut down after one such tree at the Bukit Batok Nature Park toppled and killed one passerby. Here, I

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would like to express my full sympathy to the family of the victim for this very unfortunate incident. After the incident, the authorities had initially decided that 63 Albizia trees in South Buona Vista Road were to be chopped down but, thanks to the efforts of residents there, only 13 of them which were found to pose real safety risk will now go. It is great that the Singapore Land Authority and the NParks are flexible and taking public feedback into account. So learning from this episode, I would urge that our authorities not to take the quick and easy way of felling trees without exploring and exhausting all the other options.

My third point is on keeping old and functional buildings. Sir, I am glad that the en bloc fever has cooled down somewhat. But I join the chorus of architects and concerned citizens about the way and pace in which Singapore is changing. In our urge to modernise, I fear that we might be inadvertently tearing down some things that we collectively hold dear.

I hope the authorities could put some sort of administrative brake to the pace and way in which old buildings and familiar landmarks have been torn down.

4.00 pm

Sir, I know that it is difficult to regulate private condominiums and private houses. But the Government could try and save as many of its own old buildings as feasible - even its HDB flats - for example, the old walk-up and terrace houses along the MRT track near Commonwealth MRT Station, the black and white bungalows, the old Ministry buildings, etc.

Sir, I am not a sentimental man, and I know that there are good and practical reasons for turning to new buildings. However, we need to be mindful in our urban development and not to create a city with nice tall buildings but shallow heritage.

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Sir, just to prove that I am not a sentimental man, I am going to ask for the costs and benefits analysis. Since the National Library has been torn down, have we done any analysis on the benefits accrued from pulling down this historical building which many Singaporeans have grown up with? If so, can the authorities share this analysis with us?

Sir, the image that sums all this up for me is the National Stadium. This is another national icon that will be gone. This national icon holds lasting memories for many Singaporeans. Like the National Library and National Theatre, National Stadium can only live in our memories when it is gone. A country does not progress on the back of skyscrapers and modern glass buildings. It does so on the collective memories and patriotism of its people and the heritage, that all of us will remember our past and have a shared goal of building on and preserving the many familiar faces and places of this common space which we call Home.

The Chairman: Mr Charles Chong is not here. Mr Ong Ah Heng.

Housing of Foreign Workers

Mr Ong Ah Heng (Nee Soon Central): ( In Mandarin ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Sir, last year, our economy performed very well. Although this year, there may be some uncertainties, such as the declining US economy, our construction industry and service industry will continue to do well. A lot of manpower will be needed, and we may still have to depend on foreign workers. According to the report in the newspaper, even the coffee shops need to employ foreign workers to be the chefs and coffee shop assistants. I am wondering if the Government would build more dormitories for these foreign workers to stay in.

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In Ang Mo Kio where I live, a 4-room HDB flat can be rented out for as much as $1,900 per month and we can see some posters hanging on the lamp posts advertising for flats to let at between $1,700 and $2,000 per month. I asked the people how these flats can fetch such a high rental. They said, "Oh, easy, you just rent it to the labour contractors." The contractors will tell the owner that they are accommodating three workers there. Next day, five workers will be staying there. If the landlord does not go there to check, the contractor will put in seven workers, and eventually about 30 workers will be put into one flat.

Sir, if more and more HDB flats are having more than 30 people living in each unit, would the safety and ambience of the neighbourhood be affected? Would it not threaten the safety of the people, particularly the women folk, when they come back home from work in the night?

I would like to ask the Minister how long it would take before more dormitories can be built to accommodate the ever-increasing number of foreign workers. At the same time, could there be more coordination between the HDB and MOM to find out how many foreign workers would be allowed to come in each year, so that the HDB would have enough time to build enough dormitories for these foreign workers?

*Cols. 1347-1348.

The Minister for National Development (Mr Mah Bow Tan): Sir, 2007 was indeed a very good year. We had strong economic growth, with employment at a record high. Singapore captured global attention as we continued to transform ourselves into a cosmopolitan, vibrant and distinctive city. In fact, last month, we were listed among the top 20 global vibrant cities for the first time in the 2008 Hub Culture Zeitgeist Cities Ranking. I did not know the meaning of the word "Zeitgeist". So I looked it up in Wikipedia.

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It is a German word, that means "spirit of the age". So, basically, the Hub Culture Zeitgeist Cities Ranking is a ranking given to cities that, according to them, are places of innovation, places of change, places of vibrancy, all taken together to create a place of the moment. So we are one of the places of the moment. Let us hope that we will remain places of the moment for many, many moments to come. But, for 2008, we have for the first time got into the ranking, and these are just only one of the many accolades and commendations we received.

As many Members have pointed out, there are also many challenges because with success, come new challenges. With economic growth, cost pressures have gone up. Many Members have raised issues in the Budget debate and now about rising office rentals, housing prices, etc, and I will deal with these in detail. But I just want to say that even as we address immediate cost concerns, let us not lose sight of our longer-term development objective and focus. Our success today did not come by chance, but through persistent efforts over many years to remake Singapore into a distinctive global city. We have to continue to keep this long-term view and position our city well in the global competition for jobs, investments and talents.

Let me start with the longer-term development goals. The current cost challenges that we face are reflective of the pressures on our limited resources as our economy and population grow. Last year, the exuberance in the property market and the construction boom caused construction costs to spike up. And as a small economy, the worldwide increase in energy and food prices - we read yesterday that wheat prices have gone up 25%, just in one day alone - would have a direct immediate impact on us. And as

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we develop, these pressures are going to become more acute, not less.

Therefore, sustainable development must continue to be the key priority of the Government. The Government recently formed an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development, or IMCSD, to review policies and chart new strategies for Singapore's future development. The Committee is co-chaired by Minister Yaacob and myself and also includes members from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Transport. And this Committee will work closely with the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Climate Change which is chaired by Prof. Jayakumar. This is a strong signal of the commitment of Government to ensure that the growth we strive for is not at the expense of our quality of life.

Many MPs have spoken on this issue of sustainable development during the Budget debate. Let me take this opportunity to articulate our philosophy and approach to sustainable development.

The term "sustainable development" came into vogue after a very important Commission introduced its report. This was the Brundtland Commission. And they published the report in 1987 called "Our Common Future", and this term was in that Report. Although the term had been used earlier, it was after this Report was published that the term "sustainable development" came into the vocabulary. But when Singapore became independent in 1965, this phrase was not in the vocabulary. We had not heard of this phrase. But we adopted sustainable development principles right from the beginning, and we consistently practised these principles in the last 40 years of our development. Not by choice, but by necessity, because we are a city state with scarce resources and with no hinterland. We evolved our own "Singapore Way" of sustainable develop

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ment in the last 40 years, it served us well by achieving both economic growth and giving our people a good quality of life.

This Singapore Way is, first and foremost, about a good system of governance. Our sustainable development approach is founded on long-term comprehensive planning, and supported by a set of key policies and best practices and breakthrough innovations in technology. Few cities in the world have an integrated planning framework like ours, where technical agencies, across Ministries, come together to plan the land use and infrastructure needs of our development over a long-term horizon, over a few decades. This allows us to judiciously maximise every bit of our land resources. We have pioneered traffic demand management measures like the Vehicle Quota System and the Electronic Road Pricing system. We have planned self-sufficient townships to reduce the need to commute. We have achieved breakthroughs in waste and water management and developed NEWater to enhance our water security.

It is a total system approach that includes both software and hardware. In our own unique and holistic way, we have been able to achieve a liveable environment in the context of an economically vibrant, highly urbanised and densely populated city.

The Singapore Way is also a highly pragmatic approach to development, or "pragmatic environmentalism". We seek the most viable and cost-effective methods of achieving environmental sustainability outcomes. We focus on measures that are practical, effective and will make impactful contributions to environmental sustainability. Going forward, we will continue to experiment and make investment decisions in green technology, taking into account economic viability and effectiveness.

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Third, and this is related to pragmatism that I talked about, the Singapore Way is about achieving a sustainable and mutually reinforcing balance between development and environment. We need to remind ourselves that sustainable development is still about development, and that, at the core of the whole concept of sustainable development, is quality of life for our people. We still want growth. We still want good jobs. We want a better life for ourselves and our children. For the years ahead, we will have to do more to achieve greater resource efficiency to support our economic growth. We also need to ensure that our people have an excellent quality of life - that we can continue to breathe clean air, drink clean water, enjoy green places and spaces.

This means that we will have to strive to achieve all our development objectives - economic growth, a good living environment, our environmental heritage - in a balanced way. So tough trade-offs between the needs of the economy and housing, between housing and conservation, between development and preservation of nature areas must continue to be made, especially in a small and resource-scarce city state like ours.

We also cannot forsake growth, as growth ensures that we have the resources to do even more for the environment. It is only with growth that Singapore will have sufficient resources to implement measures to undertake investments that will help us cut down on energy consumption or will help us to make use of the renewable energy, both of which will help to mitigate the impact of climate change.

So we want a virtuous cycle of economic growth and a high quality of the living environment supporting one another, not placing one objective in front of or at the expense of the other.

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Going forward, how do we make the next leap to become a leading eco-city in Asia? The key is partnership. An eco-city needs eco-residents. Sustainable development is as much about changing lifestyles as it is about new technologies or green buildings. We need to partner the private and the people sector to make fundamental changes to the way we live, work, play and commute at the level of individuals and businesses. So when I heard Mr Sam Tan talking just now about making more efforts to facilitate highest rate of recycling, I was encouraged because it is through such efforts, advocacy from MPs, from leaders in the community which are taken up by the people in the community that we will succeed in our efforts.

I am also happy to see the concrete efforts that are being made on energy audits and energy efficiency in the various CDCs. For example, Mayor Teo Ho Pin talked about the efforts made by North West CDC during the Budget debate.

4.15 pm

Going forward, the IMCSD hopes to partner MPs, CDCs, grassroots organisations, NGOs, etc, to further promote and expand ground-up efforts in support of sustainable development. The IMCSD also intends to co-create sustainable development strategy with the people and private sectors for the future by seeking the views and the expert knowledge that resides both locally as well as internationally. I expect that some of these discussions will reflect the inherent tensions between development and environment that face our resource-scarce state, whether it is between conservation, that Mr Sam Tan talked about, and development, or whether it is between conservation of buildings and conservation of green spaces, wooded areas, etc, or whether we need to set aside more

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space for housing. But I think this kind of discussion debate is essential to foster greater awareness of the challenges we face and greater ownership of the kinds of solutions that we are able to come up with to resolve these challenges, solutions that we have to come up with together.

I am greatly encouraged by the various suggestions from Members about how we can further our sustainable development efforts. The IMCSD will study them carefully. In particular, Mr Edwin Khew asked whether we will be looking at encouraging environmental sustainability in our built environment, including public housing, and the answer is unequivocally yes. Apart from the broad strategies, the IMCSD will also look into specific new initiatives in various areas, such as in transport, in our built environment in promoting the green industry, in expanding green spaces to make Singapore the leading eco-global city in Asia.

Mr Edwin Khew also asked whether the Government will be introducing more financial incentives to encourage environmentally-friendly practices. I do not preclude this. But the IMCSD needs to address sustainable development in a holistic way with a whole slew of measures, including public education, research and development, and, if necessary, legislation. The IMCSD intends to launch a blueprint next year that will provide a comprehensive roadmap of the initiatives and the measures that we need to take to sustain our development for the next 10 years and beyond.

Even as we do more domestically, we hope that we can share with other cities our model of sustainable development, and we have started with an important project that Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr George Yeo talked about just now, ie, the collaboration with China on the Sino-Singapore Eco-City Project in Tianjin. This is an important project and we hope that,

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through this project, we will be able to share with the Chinese authorities and the Tianjian authorities some of the development strategies and measures that we have taken and, at the same time, also learn from them some of the measures that they have taken. Together, we hope that we will be able to create and build an eco-city that we will be able to replicate in other cities, one that will be a viable model for other cities in China.

In January this year, the UN biodiversity chief, Ahmed Djoghlaf, visited Singapore. He told me he was visiting Singapore for the first time and could never have imagined such greenness and nature co-existing in the heart of one of the most populated cities in the world. He encouraged us to share our strategies and programmes, especially in the greening of Singapore, with other urbanised, highly built-up cities around the world. We have promised that we will do so. So, we hope to share this model of sustainable development, a model that is economically and financially viable, replicable and addresses the needs of cities that are in a special environment, that is highly urbanised, densely populated and economically vibrant.

To do that, I think one of the keys will be a land-use strategy that will help us in this effort. So we will continue to plan our land-use judiciously to ensure that we can grow comfortably into the future and yet provide an even higher quality of living environment for our people. In the next few months, MND and URA will roll out its land-use plans for the next 10 to 15 years in the Master Plan 2008. This Master Plan is a process that guides land-use planning for the next 10 to 15 years and it is a process that will engage and involve as many people as possible in developing this plan. We will develop this plan with three key objectives in mind:

(1) To ensure that we have sufficient land to support economic growth;

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(2) To reduce commuting by bringing jobs closer to homes or, in some cases, homes closer to jobs; and

(3) To provide greater greenery and leisure options for our people.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked about plans to rejuvenate the CBD and to develop Marina Bay. To meet the future demand for Grade A office space, URA will be releasing land around the Tanjong Pagar precinct as well as redeveloping Ophir/Rochor corridor into a vibrant office cluster. So the existing CBD will not be forgotten. However, Marina Bay will remain the centrepiece of our new development efforts. It will be a seamless extension of Raffles Place, offer high-quality office spaces along a lively waterfront.

Let me just give Members of its scale eventually, ie, the amount of space that will be generated within the area located immediately adjacent to the existing financial district at Raffles Place and Shenton Way. This new area will be equivalent to two Canary Wharfs. I think many of you are familiar with the Canary Wharf development in London. So in this new area, there is enough land set aside for two Canary Wharfs. It will provide as much Grade A office space as the whole of Hong Kong's Central. We are beginning to see the new financial district taking shape. We have the new development at One Raffles Quay (ORQ) and the Marina Bay Financial Centre, and we recently sold two new pieces of land at Marina View. These developments are beginning to reshape that particular area of Marina Bay. And URA will make available more sites for development in this area over the next five to six years, in line with market demand. When completed, these new developments will provide more than 1.1 million square metres of office space, in other words, as much office space as there is in total at Raffles Place today. The new financial district is expected to take more than 15 years to materialise,

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depending on market demand. The Government will continue to release land in a calibrated manner to meet such demand.

Mr Zainudin Nordin asked about having more underground connectivity between buildings in the Orchard Road and downtown business area. I would like to inform him that the Marina Bay has been master planned as a pedestrian-friendly district. In other words, there will be extensive underground pedestrian networks, covered walkways at ground level, and all these will link all the developments in the area to the MRT stations in Marina Bay, at-grade as well as underground. For Orchard Road, URA plans to work with the private sector to achieve a comprehensive and seamless pedestrian network, including not only underground links, walkways at street level, but also second-storey links between buildings. This will require incentives and a lot of effort and persuasion on the part of the Government, but I believe it will be done.

I think all of us agree that it is not sustainable for all economic activities to be focused in just the city centre alone. Mr Ang Mong Seng specifically asked whether we can intensify land around MRT stations. The answer is yes. Indeed, this has been a key planning policy of the Government. However, I hope Members will appreciate that not all MRT stations can be developed all at once. But land has been set aside for redevelopment into offices, commercial buildings and residential buildings. For example, there is already a vibrant cluster of office and commercial buildings that is coming up around the Novena and Tampines MRT stations.

In the new Master Plan 2008 (MP08), we will be developing new commercial centres in three areas:

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(1) Around the Jurong Lake area and the MRT station;

(2) In Paya Lebar; and

(3) In the Kallang/Bugis area.

All these three areas will help to complement the activities that are currently being undertaken in the city centre and will help to support our economic growth. These centres are all near existing developed areas, well-supported by road and rail infrastructure, and new industrial estates will also be created near these areas as well as other different regions. All these efforts, when completed, will make getting to work more convenient and cut down on commuting time.

The third objective, out of the three objectives that I mentioned just now for the MP08, is to ensure a quality living environment. The MP08 will reflect improvements to our living environment. Members would have heard the Prime Minister in his National Day Rally Address talk about rejuvenation of our HDB estates through the remaking of Punggol 21 and the Dawson Road area. We will also be doing SERS in many of the other estates. We will be doing upgrading programmes, such as the Home Improvement Programme, Neighbourhood Renewal Programme, and of course the Lift Upgrading Programmes.

The Minister for National Development (Mr Mah Bow Tan): 4.28 pm

Dr Fatimah Lateef suggested that we look into providing for retirement villages. As the Member may know, the Government provides elderly housing today in the form of Studio Apartments (SAs). Unlike retirement villages in other countries which are stand-alone retire

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ment villages, SAs are located within HDB estates. In fact, some of them are located in blocks that also contain other flat types. Why? Because we want to allow the elderly to be integrated within the community. We want them to enjoy access to all the facilities that are available in the HDB estate, eg, the markets, shops, transportation, senior citizens corners, RC centres, etc. But at the same time, I just want to add that we have also set aside land for the private sector to develop private residences that can be purpose-built for the elderly. There is one such site at Jalan Jurong Kechil. The site comes with a shorter lease of 30 years. Why 30 years? It is because we have received feedback that a normal lease would be too expensive and will make it financially unattractive to build such retirement housing development. So we are trying out a 30-year short lease for this site and we will see whether the private sector is interested.

Lastly, the MP08 will include more recreational choices and destinations to improve the quality of life. There will be more water-based recreation, new sports facilities and lifestyle destinations. There will be new parks and enhancement to existing ones.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak talked about park connectors. I would like to assure him that our park connectors will not lead to nowhere. In fact, we have stepped up our development of park connectors. We are going to develop 200 kilometres of these green corridors all over the island by 2015. This is double what we originally envisaged under the earlier Parks and Waterbodies Plan. These park connectors, as Dr Lim has alluded to, is really to connect up all the different parks all over the island in a network so that all parks eventually will be accessible to everybody, no matter where we are staying. So Pasir Ris Park can be accessible not just to residents of Pasir Ris, Tampines or Bedok but also to those in Marine Parade

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and even further beyond. Those living in the east will know that, in fact, the Eastern Park Connector has already been completed. The total length of that park connector is equivalent to the length of a marathon, ie, about 42 kilometres. In fact, in a few months' time, we are going to hold an ultra-marathon on this park connector. An ultra-marathon apparently is two marathons, so you run twice around the park connector. I think some of the Members here may be interested in an ultra-marathon on the Eastern Park Connector. But I would like to assure Dr Lim and everybody else that we are very serious about developing the park connector network because this is really one way to leverage on the parks and green spaces that we have and to create more accessibility for all.

But infrastructure, park connectors, etc, are not enough. We also need to have more programming. We need to create interest and bring people into the parks. We need to cater to their lifestyle interests. That is the reason why another programme that NParks has been actively promoting, which has started to gain traction and is becoming popular, is what they call the "Community-in-Bloom" programme. This programme is basically for the heartlands and has succeeded in promoting appreciation of gardening and greenery, developing a strong gardening culture and, in the process, also bonding people together in the heartlands. For those Members who have not started the "Community-in-Bloom" programme, I would heartily recommend it to you.

4.30 pm

We will also continue to safeguard our natural biodiversity and heritage. We have four natural reserves and 18 nature areas will be reflected in the Masterplan. Mr Sam Tan talked about mature trees. Yes, we have in place legislation, supported by development control measures, to protect

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trees within designated tree conservation areas along heritage roads and the roadside planting verges, and also in gazetted national parks and reserves. By doing this, by designating them as heritage trees, by prioritising developments, we hope that areas, which are not needed for development, will be kept undeveloped for as long as possible. But let me say that we cannot place trees and biodiversity above housing and other needs of our people. But through judicious planning and through sensitive development, we can share this limited space of ours with the birds and the trees, including our Albizia trees.

Sir, let me now turn to the other short-term challenges that we face. One immediate challenge is supply of office space and private residential property. Demand in these property sectors was very robust in 2007. There is a short-term office crunch, partly as a result of low office development activity in the 2002 to 2004 period when the market was down and when the private sector was hesitant in taking up sites that were actually made available by the Government and some of them were even converting office space to other uses. Then, in 2005 and 2006, there was a faster than expected rise in office demand. These two factors together contributed to the current shortage in office space.

In 2008 and 2009, the office market is expected to remain tight due to a continuing shortage of new office supply. However, in 2010 and beyond, some 1.4 million square metres of office space will be completed. 1.4 million square metres of office space is equivalent to about five years of supply on average based on the average demand in the last few years. So this is a longer term development - 2010 and beyond. In the shorter term, the Government has released land for transitional office sites as well as vacant

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State properties. This will yield about 150,000 square metres of office space. This transitional office space will be available within a year or so. The Government has also temporarily disallowed the conversion of office space in the central area to curb any further depreciation of the stock.

These measures are going to take some time to filter through to the market. I would suggest that, in the meantime, tenants can look outside the Central Area if they can. They can look at alternative locations. Office rentals vary very widely depending on location and development. We read about record office rentals in the headlines but this reflects the rentals for selected prime locations and Grade A developments. The median office rent in locations outside of the city centre, which accounts for 80% of office space in Singapore, is less than half that within the city centre. With more supply coming on-stream, increase in office rentals will be moderated over the next few years, and that is before taking into account any unforeseen circumstances arising from the sub-prime problems in the financial sector.

As for private residential properties, the Government has responded to the price and rental increases by releasing more sites for residential development, more market information and withdrawn the deferred payment scheme to pre-empt speculative activities. The increase in prices and rentals have moderated towards the end of last year. And like office space, the prices and rentals for private residential properties also vary across market segments and geographical locations. So, by the end of 2007, fourth quarter last year, the median rent for non-landed private housing outside the Central Area was about half that for non-landed private housing in the Core Central Area, meaning districts 9, 10, 11, Sentosa and Downtown Core. I would like to inform Members that more supply is coming into the pipeline and this will moderate the

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price and rental increase over the next few years. As at fourth quarter 2007, there was a total supply of 65,000 uncompleted units of private housing. These are projects in the pipeline, out of which 56,000 units are expected to be completed between now and 2011, ie, in the next three years. To put that into perspective, the average demand for uncompleted units over the last few years was 11,000 units per annum. So, 56,000 units over the next three years is equivalent to five years' supply, if we took the last three years average. But I think the latest figures seem to suggest that the take-up rate is slowing down.

The Government will continue to monitor the property market closely and we will calibrate the office and private residential supply to be made available via the Government Land Sales programme. We will continue to take market-led approach, meaning, we will have the Confirmed List as well as the Reserve List.

Let me now take one last point that was made by Mr Ong Ah Heng. He asked about supply of dormitory facilities for foreign workers. The demand for dormitory facilities has indeed increased very sharply and that comes on the back of big increase in the number of foreign workers needed for our economy. To take some of the heat out of the construction sector, the Government has deferred something like $3 billion worth of projects. So this will result in lesser demand for foreign workers which will also, of course, result in less pressure on dormitories. But there is a shortage of foreign worker dormitory housing at the moment. We have several options that we hope the industry will take up. We have got the dormitories within factory premises, we have purpose-built dormitories and we also have quarters which are provided within construction sites.

We are going to release more sites for operators to build worker dormitories and

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this will require the successful tenderers to provide a range of amenities within the dormitory sites. Last year, BCA and JTC launched seven new dormitory sites which will provide close to 50,000 additional bed spaces. Here, I would like to appeal for Members' cooperation because you may find that one of the sites that we are going to release will be in your constituency and I hope you will understand why we have to release more sites for foreign worker housing.

Sir, let me conclude by assuring Members that my Ministry will take concrete action to address these short-term challenges. At the same time, we have to stay on course. We have to persist with our efforts to develop Singapore into a vibrant and distinctive city in a sustainable way.

The Chairman: Mr Charles Chong is not here. Mdm Cynthia Phua.

Affordable Public Housing

Mdm Cynthia Phua: Sir, as a young girl, I always came across the story of the Matchbox Girl. And many a time, after reading, I would shed a tear. And recently, I read it in my son's Chinese textbook and the heart is still able to relate.

There are two versions of the story - one with the child dying peacefully in the image of the warmth of her mother and the other dying in the cold, despite her persistent struggle for survival.

You may ask: what has the story got to do with HDB affordable housing? I would relate the girl as the family in need, the state of mind she died with the roles of HDB which it chooses.

Who are the people who need affordable HDB housing? Divorced single parents with children, families who could

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not afford to maintain the present flat, newly-wed couples and upgraders. What are their choices? Only three - HDB sold flats, resale flats in market and rental flats. I would just go into the first two categories of families in need. What kind of role HDB is playing? Going back to the Matchbox story and relating to the family in need, the image of the family warmth or the harshness of the cold world?

For families in need, resale flats are out of the question in the current market as the cash value asked by the seller is at least $10,000 for a three-room resale flat. I have a divorcee who comes and sees me three times already, with a young child about eight years old and an aged mother. She rented a flat and has shifted twice along Lorong Ah Soo. Her latest HDB landlord has increased rents three times, from $800 to $1,000 and the latest increase is to $1,300. Her concern is her son who goes to the nearby school and she has to stick around that area. Her pay is only $1,600 and her take-home pay would just slightly be above $1,300 and she would have nothing left after paying the rental. She is presently digging into her savings. But how long can she last? She told me she cannot afford the $10,000 cash value for the resale flat. Hence, she has to come and see me to appeal for rental flats persistently. The other alternative - purchase from HDB direct. She cannot afford to wait for the long queue and then the construction period of at least two years.

Rental flats - HDB informed us that there is high demand now. There is a need to control the demand, hence, to determine who is more deserving. This approach is like the cold wind which blows out the light of the last match stick the little girl holds. Let me ask the Ministry: who deserves the rental flats? What are the criteria? What is the demand for rental flats now? What is the current

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supply? What is MND's assessment of the demand for rental flats in 5-10 years' time? What are its planning parameters on the quantum of rental flats versus sold flats for the HDB in the next five years and in the long term? Is there a need to change the planning parameters? As the needs are now more varied, many cannot go into the flat queue as many have transacted at least twice, or have taken HDB loans twice, partly their mistake and partly MND's, as there was no control until much later. Can HDB have more rental flats at market value for them to choose the range of their rental pricing in the market, not at subsidised rate of $30 and $50 rental flats? Can HDB provide staggered subsidies and provide rental flats in the price range of $300, $500 and $800?

HDB can set the criteria. At least, many more families can be basically housed and properly housed. Alternatively, provide these families in need, especially the divorcee with family and the downgraders, the assistance to buy the smaller ready flats or the HDB's buy-back three-room flats. I understand HDB has a very low stock now. Are they going to continue? We have been calling for many years for HDB to provide downgraders the necessary HDB loan to buy the three-room flats. HDB is simply forcing this group of downgraders to go to the rental flats.

This brings to mind the supply and demand of HDB sold flats. HDB has 40 years of providing flats.

The Chairman: Order.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak: Sir, I have the privilege of staying in an HDB flat for about 17 years of my life. I think many of the Members in this House also have the privilege of staying in an HDB flat. Unfortunately, some of the Members may not have the privilege of staying in HDB flats because their parents' incomes were too high.

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HDB living is a way of life for many Singaporeans. And HDB living actually, in a way, represents Singapore. It is a melting pot where all races come together. It is a melting pot where the socio-economic groups meet as well. There are three rooms, four rooms, five rooms, rented units as well as Executive flats. But one group is totally excluded because they are too rich, they cannot stay in HDB flats. You may argue that they can buy resale flats if they want to.

One of the things is this: why do we not take a look at how we allocate flats so that we do not discriminate those who are earning above $8,000, in terms of applying for HDB flats? For example, in healthcare, yes, no matter how rich you are, if you choose to go to a C class ward, you may. Of course, currently now, there is going to be means testing. When means testing comes in, you have less subsidy. Perhaps MND can follow a similar formula.

`Currently, the Government has been advocating that we should price everything at market rate. Yes, HDB housing is subsidised. May I ask: it is subsidised by how much? The reply probably from the Minister will be, it is subsidised by the amount that is different from the market rate. Why does the HDB not sell flats at market rate? For the poor, just add in the additional housing grant. For those people who can afford it, make sure that they buy at market rate. If we are afraid that too many rich people suddenly rush to buy HDB flats, we could even put a quota. Up to 5% can be sold to those whose household income is above $8,000. On the other hand, the Ministry may want to examine why people with household income below $8,000 choose to queue up for brand new HDB flats? Why are they not buying resale flats? Maybe it is because of the cash over valuation system that currently we are having. They will say that they do not have the cash to buy. Is there any way that we can help them?

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4.45 pm

I hope the HDB can re-examine the cash over valuation system. It can also re-examine or review the current ceiling. Is the $8,000 ceiling really a ceiling to prevent those that are privileged from staying in HDB flats? Why deprive them a chance?

Next, on our finite island, how many HDB flats can we build, in the first place? What is our current population? What is the number of HDB flats? How many people to HDB units is the correct ratio or correct mix? Because we cannot be building forever. Including the private properties that the Minister mentioned, the number of units is going to be huge. There is going to be an over-supply. Can we encourage newly-weds now to look at resale flats too?

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan): Sir, in a nation where popping the question, "Darling, shall we go and apply for a flat now?" is taken as a default marriage proposal, housing affordability was and continues to be an issue of great public interest to Singaporeans. Over the past few months, the issue of middle income squeeze has reared itself once again. The media reported a DBSS project known as "City View" with its eye-popping $750,000 for its most expensive units. While the developer clarified that only a few units command such a price, it does the raise the question: to what extent are such examples of "public housing" truly public?

But this is hardly an isolated instance. The newspapers are also replete with examples of HDB resale flats hitting new records - at Queensway, Marine Parade and elsewhere. The sky-rocketing public housing flat prices together with the long

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queues and over subscriptions that result each time a new batch of flats is released for sale further heightens the anxiety of potential flat buyers. The basic problem is the mismatch between demand and supply. While such dislocations may be short term and temporary, the frustrations felt, especially by newly-weds, is palpable. Besides the BTO programme and the walk-in selection exercise, I would like to urge the Minister to consider other measures to ensure smoother adjustments to the market, as well as ensure that HDB flat prices remain affordable for the low and middle income segments of the population that it is to serve. For instance, making the HDB market more transparent by releasing information about the potential supply of HDB flats, their locations and numbers, say, on an annual basis, could relieve the anxiety of potential flat buyers about inadequate supply as well as to help them to plan ahead. There could even be some kind of reserve list for some of these BTO projects, so that a project may be triggered when it receives the requisite percentage of applications. This would be more responsive to demand than the current practice of announcing the project just before it is launched.

I would also like to urge the HDB to be judicious in launching DBSS projects, so as not to detract from its key mission of providing affordable housing to the vast majority of low and middle income earners.

Finally, I would like to ask the Ministry if the HDB takes into account the prices achieved for DBSS flats, like it takes into account resale flat prices in determining the prices of its new flats, and how regularly the HDB reviews the prices of its new flats for sale.

The Chairman: Mr Chiam See Tong is not present. Mr Mah.

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Mr Mah Bow Tan: Sir, as Dr Lim Wee Kiak said just now, HDB is a way of life for many Singaporeans. In fact, our home ownership programme has enabled many Singaporeans, including many Members in this House, to partake or be part of the HDB way of life, and to share in the nation's economic progress. In fact, it is a safety net for many HDB flat owners who are largely unaffected by the rising rentals in the property market. They are actually able to benefit from being able to sell or to sublet their flats at higher prices, and HDB flat prices have been going up in tandem with economic growth as a result of Government's extensive efforts in upgrading and rejuvenating the older estates.

But I realise that while rising flat prices may be a comfort to the vast majority of HDB flat owners, it is a source of concern for many Singaporeans, especially the younger Singaporeans who are looking forward to joining the ranks of home owners. Last year, HDB flat prices rose by about 17%. I do not expect that the HDB resale flat prices are going to continue with this heavy growth this year. It is not realistic, neither is it healthy. 2007 was an exceptional year for the Singapore economy which grew by 7.7%. In fact, HDB flat prices were playing catch up with the rest of the market. And in the preceding three years, HDB flat prices had hardly moved at all.

Looking ahead, economic uncertainty is likely to moderate the growth in property prices, including resale prices. The HDB Resale Price Index grew by 1% in January, and I expect prices to grow at a more moderate pace for the whole of 2008.

I would like to assure all Singaporeans, especially young couples who are seeking to buy their first homes, that the Government remains committed to ensuring that HDB flats remain affordable. This is not an empty promise. It is a

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commitment that has cost the Government, on average, $1.4 billion per year over the last five years. And in the FY 2008 Budget, a sum of $1.6 billion has been allocated for the public housing budget.

We keep HDB flats affordable by giving first-time buyers a generous housing subsidy. Either they choose to buy a new flat, in which case they are sold a flat which is below the market price, which they can then resell five years later and make a profit. If they choose to buy a resale flat, they can enjoy a CPF housing grant of $30,000-$40,000. Again, after five years, they can choose to sell it and make a profit. If their monthly income is below $4,000, they can get an additional CPF housing grant of up to $30,000 to buy a new or resale flat. So, if we take the CPF housing grant of $30,000-$40,000 plus the additional housing grant of $30,000, we are talking about a subsidy of $60,000 to $70,000 to buy a flat. That is the extent of the subsidy that a first-time buyer is getting.

For new flats, there is always this question: how are we pricing new flats, and this was what Dr Amy Khor asked? There is a very basic principle involved. The pricing of new flats is pegged to the market values of equivalent resale flats, ie, flats that are in the same locality, taking into account differences in the design, storey height, remaining lease, etc. So, when we are pricing a new flat in, say, Punggol or Sengkang, we will look at the transactions of equivalent flats in Punggol and Sengkang. We do not look at prices elsewhere.

This is the same methodology that is adopted by professional valuers that is used for the valuation of other properties in the market. I do not need to tell Dr Amy Khor this, because she is more qualified than I am in this area. After setting the market price, HDB then sets the selling price below the equivalent

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market value. So, the gap between the market value and the HDB selling price is the subsidy that the person enjoys.

To allay her concerns, when the valuers look at the valuation of the equivalent flats in the area, they take out what they call the "outliers", the very high prices and the very low prices. For example, if HDB is selling new flats in Boon Keng it does not take into account the flat prices that are set, say, under DBSS, because that is a different kind of flats which I will go into detail later.

On top of the upfront subsidy, HDB also offers subsidised mortgage loans at concessionary interest rates. I think Members may not realise how much subsidy is captured in the concessionary loan. Just to give Members an idea, if a buyer takes a $200,000 loan over 30 years, the amount of subsidy built into this loan is about $20,000 at current market interest rates. So, a first-timer buying, say, a resale flat with below $4,000 monthly household income, would be getting $30,000-$40,000 upfront CPF housing grant, up to $30,000 in additional housing grant and another $20,000 in the subsidy grant. And if we take all these together, first-time flat buyers can enjoy as much as $88,000 in housing subsidies from the Government. As a result of all these subsidies, first-timers who purchase new flats from HDB - and I am talking about real numbers here as I am looking at data from last year - on average, around 20% of their monthly household income was used to service their housing loans. So we took all the samples of all the first-timers who bought flats last year, and we checked their mortgage payments against their household income. On average, they used 20% of their monthly household income to service their housing loans. What does this mean? This means that those flat buyers, at least 70% of them, could service their housing loans entirely from their CPF contributions. In

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other words, they would not need to come out with any cash at all. It can all come from the household’s monthly contribution to the CPF Board.

The 20% figure is significant because a 30% debt service ratio is generally considered acceptable for affordability. In other words, if the debt service ratio is below 30%, then that is considered affordable. So, here we are talking about, on average, a debt service ratio of 20% for the whole of 2007 when prices were considered to be on the high side.

What about the resale flat market? While flat prices have been rising, affordability has also been within acceptable levels. Let me talk of specific numbers again. A 4-room flat was selling for about $270,000 in the last quarter of 2007. Again, I am taking the peak. I am not taking the earlier part of the year when prices were lower. I am looking at peak prices. A household earning $4,000 a month would have enjoyed housing subsidies of up to $45,000 - CPF housing grant $40,000, additional housing grant $5,000. To service his HDB concessionary loan, he would need to pay $800 a month. $800 over $4,000 is 20%. And, again, like the other example I cited, he can do so through his CPF with zero cash outlay every month. This is a resale flat.

Our public housing subsidies are generous by any standard. Recently, a journalist, Christine Lee Min Wen, who works in Wobao , wrote about her experience in purchasing a flat. Min Wen had interviewed me last year. In the interview, she gave me an earful about the concerns of her readers who could not get a new flat of their choice. So I took the opportunity of the interview to advise her readers - widen your options, look for resale flats instead or look for flats outside the mature areas. Little did I know

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that she was one of those who was affected by this. She herself was actually looking for a flat. So I was very pleasantly surprised to read that she had indeed followed my advice and she had managed to buy herself a flat in Toa Payoh within her budget, no COV.

This is the article, and allow me to quote her, it says bu yao mang yu jie jue fang shi . Those who understand Mandarin, it is not that kind of fang shi , it is fang wu de shi qing, bu shi fang jian de shi qing . So she said in this article, "actually if we compare ourselves with other densely populated cities like Hong Kong, like London, Singaporeans are already very lucky to be able to own their own homes. In many of these places, the people have to rent a place for a few years and sometimes for more than a decade before they can save enough money to buy their own place."

Since our housing subsidies are so generous, should we now allow more people to benefit from it? Several Members, Dr Lim Wee Kiak just now and Mr Christopher de Souza, I believe, during the Budget debate, suggested that HDB raised the income ceiling for housing subsidies to help those earning above $8,000 per month. Mr de Souza, for example, said that buyers who are beyond the $8,000 income ceiling are denied access to affordable housing.

Sir, the current income ceiling of $8,000 - what does this mean? It means that about eight in ten Singaporean families are eligible to buy subsidised public housing. In other words, public housing subsidies are benefiting not just the low income, not even, I submit, the middle income but have reached the upper middle income, the 80th percentile of Singaporeans.

So I hope Members will agree with me that this is more than generous and will not be surprised if I tell them that HDB

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has no plans to revise the household income ceiling. However, as Members are aware, HDB does exercise flexibility and it does consider appeals that merit special consideration. For example, if somebody just exceeds that household income ceiling, has special financial difficulties or medical problems, etc, such cases are looked at favourably.

For households exceeding the income ceiling, there are many other housing options, including the purchase of resale HDB flats that I talked about just now. And, in fact, if your income is up to $10,000, you can still get a CPF housing grant if you buy a new Executive Condominium (EC). There are many examples I can give but this is just one of them.

I asked my staff to show me some examples of what they meant by affordable housing options. So somebody with $8,500 per month, what can he afford? They worked the sums out. He could buy a resale executive flat and his debt service ratio would work out to something like 20%, to be exact, 21%. Again, that is well within the debt service ratio that one would consider to be reasonable or affordable.

"Subsidies", by definition, are to help those in need and I think the principle that we give more help to those who need it more is generally well accepted by everybody and that is the reason why the Government introduced the Additional CPF Housing Grant a few years ago and enhanced it last year, to help the lower income households to step up into home ownership. I believe this targeted approach to disbursing housing subsidies will bring more benefits to more people and it will achieve the objective that we set out for ourselves for the public housing programme.

Let me now turn to some other concerns that have been raised - for a

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start, the Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS). Why did we introduce the DBSS in 2005? Public housing caters to a whole range of people, from those earning up to $1,500 for which we have one- and two-room rental flats. We also have home ownership flats - two-room flats or three-room flats for those earning up to $2,000 to $3,000, and bigger flats all the way up to the $8,000 household. Within the vast group earning up to $8,000, there is a whole range of households with different aspirations who want different finishes, different features. There are those willing to pay more for public housing units and so we decided to experiment with a new type of housing that is not built by HDB but by the private sector. But we made it very clear that this new type of flats will continue to be for those who are eligible for public housing. That is how the DBSS experiment started.

We started off with one project in Tampines that was overwhelmingly successful. We tried another project in Boon Keng, again the same thing. Because of the response, we think that there is room for more of such DBSS developments but not to the extent of normal HDB flats. So there is a niche demand. This is a niche product that will cater to the needs of a small group of people. But it is important in the whole range, in the whole gamut of options, that we do provide such an option to make the public housing programme in Singapore not just about basic housing, but something that will fulfil the aspirations of young Singaporeans. So three more DBSS sites will be released this year and altogether we will have seven DBSS sites with a total yield 4,000 units. To put the numbers in perspective, less than 1% of the over 800,000 public housing units will be DBSS. I would like to reassure Members that HDB-built flats will continue to be the mainstay of new flat supply. This is similar to the ECs that we built. DBSS flats will become another niche

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market for buyers that can afford to pay higher prices for public housing, with different designs and different features.

So there is this whole range of options, and I would like to suggest to Members that if there are people who complained to you about not being able to afford DBSS, please tell them that there are many other options available. But at the same time, there are some of your residents who welcome such public housing, as seen by the responses to the last two projects.

Dr Amy Khor also asked about the high prices of the DBSS flats. These prices are set by the private sector but the control that we have is that we will limit the type of people who will buy these DBSS flats. We will limit them by household income ceiling. And that is the reason why in response to a question earlier when somebody asked, "Why don't you lift the income ceiling from $8,000 to $10,000 for DBSS?" I said, no, because that is only going to make the prices go up even further. Why? Because it will simply mean that there will be a bigger catchment of buyers for those flats.

So by limiting the catchment, by imposing certain conditions like ethnic integration, ethnic quotas, by requiring a minimum five-year occupation period and so forth, we specifically target the HDB flat buyer but at the same time we give him a higher featured option. In this way, we roll out different types of flats for different buyers. We have flats for the lower income, we are building new 2-room flats. We have restarted that programme. We are building new 3-room flats, and we will build 4-room flats and 5-room flats, and now DBSS flats.

There has been a lot of concern by Members about mismatch of supply and demand. Why are we short of flats now?

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Why do we not build more? Why did HDB wait so long to roll out more new flats and so on? Let me address these by first of all taking us back a few years ago to the nineties. At that time HDB flats were sold through the Registration for Flats System or the RFS system. Under this RFS system, flat buyers would queue up and, based on the number in the queue, we would then start to build those flats. The key assumption then was that the queue represented real demand. Unfortunately, this was not the case. When the property market took a dive in 1997, many of those who were in the queue, who said that "yes, we want the flat", changed their minds and the queue disappeared overnight. As a result, 20,000 flats - some newly completed, others under construction - were left without takers. HDB was criticised both in and out of this House for over-estimating the demand and for wasting public resources.

HDB took several years to clear the stock of unsold flats. Even now, we still have some of that stock. Learning from this experience, HDB replaced the RFS with the current Build-To-Order (BTO) system in 2001 so that it can better respond to the changing demand patterns for new flats. The BTO system means that you build flats only when there is real demand for it. Real demand means that you actually come, not only indicate that you want to buy a flat but also put your deposit down.

We are once again witnessing strong housing demand in the midst, another uptrend in the property cycle. It is not clear how long this cycle will last - two to three years - nobody knows. But the Government remains committed to providing affordable quality housing for Singaporeans. We must however understand that there are different housing needs and we have to try to satisfy them in different ways. Some needs are more urgent than others; some needs are more

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basic than others, and we must not repeat the mistake of trying to build a new flat for everybody who comes to HDB for a flat.

The perception that there is a housing shortage arises from the large overwhelming number of applications received in the last few sales exercises. But these exercises are for a very small number of very highly prized flats in established new towns like Bukit Merah. Two hundred and seventy-eight flats were offered last month, most of them ready, in good locations and at good prices. Ten thousand people applied. And why not? Because these are very, very attractive flats. The fact of the matter is that HDB is not able to offer 10,000 new flats in established new towns. There is simply not enough land for new public housing developments in this area.

What HDB can do is to rejuvenate old estates, intensify use of land in certain areas and introduce as a result new flats for sale, but there is a limit to how many units HDB can develop in these established towns. The good news is that while the supply of new flats in established towns is small, there is no shortage of new flats in the new towns like Punggol and Sengkang.

HDB has been stepping up its Build-To-Order (BTO) launches last year and this year - 6,000 BTO flats last year, 4,500 BTO flats in the first half of 2008. In fact, a few days ago HDB launched its latest BTO project, almost 500 flats in Punggol. We will launch more BTO projects in the new estates with the requirement that a good majority of flats are booked before HDB proceeds to build. HDB is mindful of not overbuilding new flats over the long term. If you over-build now, you may make the people who are buying the flats happy today. But those who have bought the new flats today will want to sell those flats one day, they will find themselves unable to sell their flats on the resale

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market if there is an over-supply of flats in the market.

I would like to highlight that for the BTO projects in Punggol and Sengkang that we launched last year, there are still 700 units that are not booked and are available. So while applicants are saying that there is a shortage of flats, there are still 700 units available in Punggol and Sengkang. So let me assure Members that there are sufficient flats available. These are available in well-built estates, well-located estates, with good amenities like Punggol, like Sengkang.

5.15 pm

I can understand the concerns of young couples in buying the first flats as they want to settle down and they want to start a family, like Dr Amy Khor and Mdm Cynthia Phua mentioned. But I would like to advise them, please either look for a new flat, if they can wait, in the non-mature estates, in the new estates, or look for a flat in a resale market and make use of the CPF housing grant.

If they choose to opt to purchase a new flat under HDB BTO exercise, we will give them priority over other applicants. But when I talk about priority here, I am not talking about them at the head of the queue because we do not have the queue anymore, but by giving them more chances in the ballot. So if you are a first-timer, you will get two tickets. If you apply for flats near your parents, you will get another two tickets. So you will get four tickets. And this will increase your chances. Of course, it will not guarantee that you will get a flat. But it will increase your chances. And 90% of new HDB flats will be reserved for first timers.

Dr Amy Khor suggested that HDB be more transparent about the timing and location of its sale programmes. This is to allow buyers to plan ahead. Yes, that is a good idea. In fact, HDB has over the years

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made public its sale programmes but in broad terms. Specifically, HDB has announced that it will offer 4,500 BTO flats in the first half of this year and that BTO flats will be launched in Sengkang and Punggol to build up the critical mass in these two new towns. So while we cannot pinpoint the exact timing and the location of which BTO launch, flat buyers can expect to see at least one project per quarter in these new towns - Punggol and Sengkang - in the next two years.

Another piece of advice in case young couples are not aware is that if they really want to minimise their waiting time, they can also apply under the Fiance-Fiancee Scheme. Again, this will help to cut down on the waiting time.

Sir, in conclusion, I would like to reiterate that public housing in Singapore remains affordable to the vast majority of Singaporeans. We have the figures. We have looked at the situation on the ground and we know that this is possible. Our focus on home ownership has served us well and we remain committed to keeping HDB flats within the reach of most Singaporeans. And we will provide a range of options, a range of flats, to cater to buyers with different aspirations. But the Government cannot ensure that flat buyers will get their ideal flat at the specific location and at the time that they prefer, preferably as soon as they get married, they will move into the new flat. That is not possible. Flat buyers need to be realistic in their expectations. But wherever they live, they can be assured that they will enjoy access to amenities and facilities that are characteristic of our HDB towns.

We will build up our own towns even more. We will put in place the public housing system that will cater to the needs of Singaporeans, and not just look at them as buyers of flats and forget

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about them, but treat them as people whom we will have as customers for a long time, over their life time, in fact. So young couples will be assisted to start their families with a roof over their head. Those who wish to upgrade, we will facilitate when their families grow. Those who wish to monetise their flat when they grow old, we will help. And this is the way that we will strengthen the public housing programme as one of the key social security pillars of Singapore.

I will, Sir, elaborate on this a little bit more in my next speech.

Housing Needs of the Elderly

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education (Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M): ( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Sir, some of our elderly have become vulnerable to housing problems. Whatever they have built when they were young, that is a family and a house, becomes a tragedy for them when they are old.

A few times, I have met many elderly people who have sold their flats to live with their children. This is their aspiration to have a happy life with their favourite child. The money they received from the sale is usually distributed to their children, and a large proportion goes into renovating their children’s flat where they will stay, or to pay part of that child’s flat arrears.

However, the house that they sold is the only asset that they will ever have and they disburse it to their children as proof of their love. However, love often runs out after their money runs out, until they cannot live with each other.

They want to move, but the other children have hidden resentment because most of their parents’ money was used to renovate their sibling’s house. So, these

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children would not accept them. Or these other homes are already congested with other grandchildren or relatives who are lodging. So they usually complain to the MPs to get rental homes that are usually for the needy, but not for the elderly. I feel sad thinking of their fate.

It is good for the elderly to live with their children during old age. But, they should not have sold their house, so that they can depend on this asset when such a situation occurs. Usually, this group of people does not know how to use the money that they received from selling their flat for the long term.
I think HDB’s Lease Buy-Back Scheme, that was announced last year, is good. I ask the Minister whether he can further explain this scheme and how it can be disseminated to those who need it most.

*Cols. 1349-1350.

Mdm Ho Geok Choo: Sir, I am glad that MND sustainable development plan for our infrastructure will also include sustaining our software, especially our elderly, in their sunset years.

Sir, on the Scheme of Buy Back, the tail-end of the lease of a flat was mentioned by the Minister. I would like to ask the Minister to kindly provide an update on this scheme with regard to its implementation plan, the profile of eligible households and how is the equity value to be unlocked from the flat calculated in a volatile property market. Will inflation which is becoming an increasing concern be incorporated in the monthly payback under the Lease Buy Back Scheme?

Mdm Halimah Yacob (Jurong): Sir, only 10% or 25,000 of elderly households living in 2-room

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and 3-room sold flats qualify for the Lease Buy-Back Scheme. This number is small because only those who have taken one housing subsidy is eligible for the Lease Buy-Back Scheme. I would like to urge the Minister to review this restriction and allow all elderly 2-room and 3-room flat dwellers to benefit from the Lease Buy-Back Scheme, regardless of the number of subsidies that they have enjoyed. If the objective of the scheme is to help needy elderly Singaporeans unlock the value of their flat so that they can have a retirement income, then this should not be limited only to those who have enjoyed only one subsidy. Imagine a situation where there are two financially strapped elderly couples, both living in 3-room flats, but one couple can enjoy a retirement income under the Lease Buy-Back Scheme, but the other cannot do so because of the restriction, and both are equally needy.

The other point I would like to ask the Minister is to do more to promote the scheme of elderly households as many are still ignorant of its benefits and some also worry that this scheme would deprive them of a home. So I urge the Ministry to step up efforts in its outreach and education.

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong: Sir, for the elderly, HDB flat is their only asset. An increasing number in 4- and 5-room flats, especially those who struggle to service their HDB loans, want to sell their flats so that they do not have to depend on the Government for handouts or on others for their daily needs and medical care. Many are retired or working on odd jobs and they tell us they cannot rely on their adult children who themselves are facing economic problems. I have seen an increasing number of them at my MPS. Some elderly couples live in 4- and 5-room flats and now no longer need to live in such large flats because their adult children have moved out. They are asset rich but cash poor.

But they have come across all sorts of obstacles if they want to downgrade to cash out. For one, they cannot get a second concessionary HDB loan. The irony is that they can only get a second HDB concessionary loan if they upgrade it

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to a bigger flat that they do not need and do not want. Instead of making it easier for them to downgrade and live within their means, HDB would rather send them letters of demand with threat to repossess their flat but without giving them any realistic housing options. Older residents tell me that banks will not give them housing loans because of their age. HDB will also not give them a housing loan if they have taken two previously and they cannot rent a flat from the HDB because of the 30-month debarment period. If they make any profit from the sale, even if most of the profit will go into paying off their own debts, the HDB will disqualify them from the rental queue. If they rent a room or flat in the open market, it will mean even more money out of their pocket as rentals are rising, adding to their financial burden and troubled minds, rather than easing it.

I would urge the Minister to make it easier for those above 62 to monetise their flats by downgrading to a small 3- or 2-room flat by relaxing the rules for the elderly and building more smaller flats and elderly studios for them to downgrade to. At the same time, this would also make available more larger flats for younger families to upgrade to. The Minister has previously explained the general philosophy for subsidies which is to encourage family formation and personal responsibility. But the Government has been reluctant to allow the elderly to live off the profit from the subsidised flat by downgrading, fearing that they might be taking more than two bites of the cherry. There is one bite for those starting a family, another bite for upgraders. But those who need to downgrade get no bite, but instead will get bitten. Why not the HDB consider giving a small bite for those above 62 to downgrade? Give a financial incentive for the elderly to downgrade to a smaller flat, the way HDB

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gives financial incentives for young families to upgrade to a larger flat. Yes, a one-off downgrading subsidy for the elderly. I am not saying for all downgraders, just for the elderly. This is to help provide for their retirement needs, especially as many are living longer.

HDB can spread out their housing subsidies over the cost of the lifetime of different groups: one, when you get married; one, when you upgrade and one, when you want to downgrade, instead of stacking it up at the beginning. The Minister knows that not all are able to find work, especially the lower educated women.

The Chairman: Order. Mr Teo Ser Luck.

HDB Downgrading

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (Mr Teo Ser Luck): Some years ago, many families who bought their flats at a high price may now face a challenge of servicing their loans and they also face a situation of negative equity. Some are in greater danger because they have committed themselves to a loan from the banks and they look at the possibility of downgrading. But they have a hard time getting approval for HDB loan because they are getting a downgrade. So they do not qualify for rental flats. The banks do not lend them. HDB turns them down. And we could be talking about a family who is willing to go to a smaller place. They know that they could not afford a larger flat. So does not this approach of willing to live within their means align with our policy of self-reliance? And in our society today it is an aspiration to own a larger flat, and the majority who chose to downgrade would not have chosen to do so. So it takes courage to tell your family that you are moving to a smaller house. If this family generally needs help, could we then

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consider making the policy for downgrading a bit more easier and flexible?

Housing Needs of the Low Income

Mr Ang Mong Seng: ( In Mandarin ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Sir, the "Home Ownership Scheme" policy of the HDB aims to encourage Singaporeans to own their own home, big or small, so that they can have a property they can call their own, and serve as a form of security for the people. However, with the escalating prices of HDB flats, I wonder if every Singaporean can really afford to purchase a flat sold by HDB and whether this "Home Ownership Scheme" will still be able to attract the response and support of young Singaporeans.

5.30 pm

Twenty years ago, a three-room flat was sold at about $30,000. A fresh university graduate would earn a monthly salary of about $1,000 to $1,200, and with a 15-year repayment period, he would pay about $150 to $160 per month, and that was about 15% of his monthly salary. Today, a three-room flat is sold at about $150,000. A university graduate is now paid about $3,000 a month. With the same 15-year repayment period, he will have to pay more than $800 per month, or 28% of his monthly salary. The burden is very heavy, resulting in “money not enough”. Although the quality of our HDB flats has gone up, it is very good, but the standard of living seems to have gone down. People may have the means to buy the flat. But do they have the means to maintain and service the very high monthly instalments? This is something that Singaporeans are worried about.

I would like to ask the Minister whether there is any package to slow down the escalation of the HDB flat prices and, at the same time, help those who are unable to service the loan instalments.

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Some of the HDB flat owners who are in financial difficulties have no choice but to sell their four-room flat and buy a three-room flat instead. But after selling their four-room flat and buying a three-room flat, there is not much money left. So would HDB consider building some smaller flats, like one-room or two-room flats, and the lease may not be so long as 99 years? The flats may perhaps be sold with a lease of 50 years so that the prices could be lower, and hence more affordable to the people.

Sir, two years ago, I also suggested that HDB convert some of the vacant flats in Jurong West into smaller flats for rental to the lower income. I wonder if any of these flats have been converted and rented out to the needy people.

*Cols. 1351-1352

HDB Rental Flats

Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Marine Parade): Sir, every month, during MPS, I receive several requests from residents asking to rent one-room or two-room HDB flats at the subsidised rates. For a number of these residents, they had just recently sold their flats and were not allowed to rent a flat from HDB for a period of 30 months. Nevertheless, many of them pleaded with me to make an appeal on their behalf because they have either sold their flat at a loss or had used the sale proceeds to pay off debts incurred previously or they had to pay their medical bills. The standard reply from HDB is that an ex-lessee who had sold his flat in the open market is unable to apply for a rental flat for 30 months so as to discourage these ex-lessees from competing with the poor and needy who really need a flat. I am sure many Members of this House are familiar with such a reply.

Sir, I understand the rationale for this policy. However, I would urge HDB to

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reconsider this policy and to implement a policy to assess every application on a needs basis rather than a blanket debarment. Just to cite an example. Last month, I had a resident who came to see me to ask for a rental flat. He had just sold his flat and would have made a small profit - $5,000, $10,000. Under the existing rules, he is definitely not eligible to rent a flat. However, this resident is old. He has numerous medical ailments. He and his wife are unable to work due to their medical condition. They have no children or relatives who could look after them in the future. The small profit he made from the sale of the flat would be used to pay for their medical bills or for some daily expenses. It would last them maybe one to two years. How would they manage the rest of their lives without any more savings? The couple was understandably worried about their future, as both could not work and their funds could only last them one to two years. After that, would they become destitute or would they have to apply for public assistance?

Sir, my point is that not every person who sells his flat at a slight profit could rent a flat in the open market at non-subsidised rates. I have come across several cases where the resident tells me that he had incurred debts and had used the sale proceeds to repay the debt. Hence, he needed to rent a subsidised flat. What do I do? Tell him that, too bad, he had already consumed his subsidies previously and, hence, is no longer entitled to a rental flat? I believe the Government can do more for such people. We should consider how we can stretch out a hand to such residents and help them when they are down and out on their luck. They are asking for a roof over their heads and to live in a more dignified manner. I believe we can help them instead of asking them to stay with relatives whom they do not get along well

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with. The Government's focus is really building an inclusive society which leaves no one behind. Let us try to reach out to and help every Singaporean in need because every Singaporean counts.

Sir, another matter is that I do meet well-dressed people during my walkabouts who do not look poor and needy staying in rental flats. I call on HDB to conduct periodic checks to ensure that their tenants do not illegally rent out these flats and earn some income on the side. Those who do not have a real need for a rental flat from HDB should not deprive other genuine cases of having their rental flat.

Mdm Ho Geok Choo: Sir, public rental housing is needed by the poor and needy, but is it adequate? There are 3,000 households waiting and this number is growing. Waiting time ranges between five and 11 months, with 400 applications but only 170 allocations monthly. This is unsustainable in the long run as a backlog is slowly building up. What plans does the Ministry have to increase the percentage of allocations in a shorter time frame? Would the plan for more public rental flats be adequate to address the truly needy? What would happen if more households begin to fall into the truly needy classification, in view of the current inflation and generally stationary salaries for the lower-paid?

What are the plans for the less deserving, especially the elderly who cannot get along with their family members and are left alone? Are there plans to help the sandwiched middle class of Singaporeans in view of the increasing numbers of applications growing from these two groups?

The current criteria for public flat rentals are very stringent - a household income cap of $1,500, for instance. I would like to suggest using a per capita cap instead of a household income cap as a more accurate representation of the

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extent to which the household needs the rental flat. Can the Minister also elaborate on how the truly needy are differentiated from the less deserving and those in the middle ground?

Mr Teo Ser Luck: ( In Mandarin ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Every week, at my meet-the-people session, at least one-third of the people who come to see me would ask me to help them to apply for rental flats from the HDB. These families got into financial hardship due to all sorts of reasons. Even when they have lost the roof over their heads, the authorities would still turn down their request for rental flats. As such, they have only three choices: camp at the seaside, sleep at the void deck of HDB flats, or squat at their friend’s place. It is not as though the matter cannot be resolved. I think it may be time for HDB to review its rental flat policy.

I hope that HDB would build more rental flats or exercise more flexibility in its rental flat policy, so that these families in need would have better chances of getting these much needed rental flats.

*Col.1353-1354.

Housing for Divorcees

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong: The number of divorces has been rising every year. I see an increasing number of women, either undergoing divorce or divorced, who are desperate for a place to stay after their matrimonial flat is sold. They cannot afford to buy another flat. The most heart-rending cases involve low-income divorced women with several children under their custody. They cannot wait eight to nine months for a rental flat from the HDB and so they are forced to look for rented rooms in the open market. They cannot afford to rent an entire flat in the open market.

Many landlords will not rent out rooms to them together with their children, so

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they have to split up - the mother in one rented room in one flat, and the children in another rented room in another flat. The family is kept apart. How is this pro-family? Imagine the insecurity felt by the children - the father had left them, now they have to be separated from their mother.

There was one divorcee who managed to find a room to rent together with her two children but then came crying to me after a few months because the landlord wanted to raise the rent and asked them to move out by the following month.

For many recently-divorced women, especially those who had been abused by their husbands, it is a traumatic stage in their lives. Some are housewives or have low-paid jobs and it will take them some time to find a stable job. They find it hard to be strong for themselves, their children and to make ends meet. Some have no other family members to help them. When they appeal to the HDB for a rental flat, they get the usual replies. They have to wait for eight to nine months, or they are permanently debarred from a rental flat because they have sold their matrimonial flat and have, in the process, enjoyed two housing subsidies.

Can the HDB be more flexible towards low-income divorcees with children, to allow them to rent a flat within three months after the sale of their matrimonial flat until they find their feet?

If I may give an example of what happens when they are left to fend for themselves. One divorcee who came to see me was aged 51, earns about $1,500 as an airport trainee. She has two children. After she was told that she had to vacate her matrimonial flat by a certain date, she came to see me to find a place to stay. I wrote to the HDB for a housing loan to buy a three-room flat as no bank would give her one. HDB replied that, at

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her age, it will be unwise for her to buy a flat. And since she has enjoyed two housing subsidies, she is not eligible for a rental flat. As a result of that, she had to rent two rooms in two separate flats at $1,000 a month for herself and her two children. That leaves her precious little for her daily needs. Why should we reduce her to a welfare case?

HDB has to adjust and be relevant to the changing social trends or else we will see a rising number of single-parent households separated with the mother renting a room in one flat and her children in another flat, and living in poverty. I would also like to call for a review of the policy towards rental flats. This Government takes pride in full home ownership. But this appears to be unrealistic and difficult to sustain, given the widening income gap and the changing social trends.

Presently, HDB sets aside about 5% of its total housing stock to rental flats. Is this sufficient? Should we review our policy towards full home ownership? From the cases coming to us, it is clear that, for an increasing number, owning a flat is an albatross around their necks, rather than a life buoy. We give generous housing subsidies to help lower-income people to buy a flat but we should recognise that, sometimes, circumstances change, eg, the couple get divorced, they lose their jobs, they have to sell their flat, and then what?

I recognise that HDB has done a great job of providing roofs over the heads of most Singaporeans. We do not have the homeless slumming on the streets, as in other cities, such as London, Paris and New York. But this is sometimes not because all is well here but because vagrants are diligently picked up and sent to welfare homes. There is a lot of difference between living in welfare

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homes and in a rental flat. You have your self-respect and your space and freedom.

I would urge the Minister to look more closely into how we can liberalise the rental sector with subsidised flats so that Singaporeans have more access to them, including HDB subsidised rental flats.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Sir, I would like to thank Members for raising the issues of the elderly and the low-income and their housing needs. It gives me the opportunity to explain how we cater to the housing needs of these two groups.

The first starting point is that most Singaporeans do have a house that they own as a result of the Home Ownership Programme and the house that they own appreciates in value as Singapore prospers. We had a survey done in 2005. The Department of Statistics did this study. It showed that HDB households, on average, had a net equity of $154,000. By "net equity", I mean assets minus the outstanding loans. This net equity of $154,000 was the 2005 figure, and I suspect the figure may be higher today.

When these households retire, their flat will be an asset that is of significant economic value. They have paid for this house over the years with their hard-earned savings. Now, when they retire, it is a roof over their heads as well as a shield against economic uncertainty. Another statistic - most of the elderly HDB households above 65 years old have no outstanding HDB or bank loan. By "most", I am talking about 90% of HDB households above 65 years old who have fully paid up for their flats.

The main issue now is how do we unlock the value that is within the HDB flat so that it can contribute to their retirement income. I do recognise that different households and different families have different ways to unlock or monetise their flat equity, depending on their

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different preferences, needs, etc. In recognition of this, HDB has put in place a whole array of monetisation options. Let me very quickly just run through them.

First of all, very obviously, is subletting. You can monetise by subletting your flat and then moving in with the family. This is an ideal arrangement. It not only gives you a steady stream of income but it also helps you to be closer to the family. HDB has been gradually relaxing the subletting policy so that more households can sublet their flats. So far, close to 18,000 households have taken up the option to sublet the whole flat. One quarter of them are elderly households above 55 years old.

I would like to highlight a case that was published in Zaobao recently. 57-year-old Mr Wong sublet his Ang Mo Kio three-room flat for $1,700 a month. He and his wife and son, then went to stay with their daughter and son-in-law in their executive apartment in Jurong West. When Zaobao interviewed him, he said, yes, he has more cash in hand now but, more importantly, staying under one roof has brought the family closer. I wanted to highlight this case because it is important for such examples to be highlighted and I hope more elderly Singaporeans, like Mr Wong, will benefit from the subletting policy. If you do not want to sublet your whole flat, you can also sublet one or two rooms. If you have a five-room flat, you can very easily get $300, $400 or $500 per room for your flat. That is not a bad option either.

If you do not want to sublet either the whole flat or the rooms and want something more permanent, you can move to a smaller flat or you can buy a short-lease 30-year studio apartment. Our studio apartments have been very popular with the elderly. We have close to 100% take-up rate for 1,700 units that we have to date. Members have asked for more of such units to be built. I am happy to

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inform them that, yes, we will do so. In fact, this year, we intend to launch another 400 more studio apartments. We will build them in different estates so that the elderly can choose a studio apartment in a familiar neighbourhood or, better still, where their children are staying. Not only studio apartments, we are also going to build more of the small two-room flats which are suitable for the low-income as well as the elderly.

5.45 pm

Sir, the options that I have described meet the needs of most elderly home owners. But some elderly low-income home owners - these are the ones in smaller flats - may need a little bit more help to unlock their flat equity to meet retirement needs. Last year, at the National Day Rally, the Prime Minister announced that HDB is going to introduce a new scheme, what is known as a Lease Buy-Back Scheme, or LBS for short, to help such households. Let me now give an update of the Lease Buy-Back Scheme as requested by Members.

First, the Lease Buy-Back Scheme will be launched in 2009. We need the time to work out some of the technical details. I will explain a few of these later on. The Lease Buy-Back scheme will supplement CPF LIFE, which is a lifelong annuity scheme that was announced by the Ministry of Manpower recently. It will supplement CPF LIFE to help the elderly with their retirement adequacy. Under the LBS, HDB will purchase the tail-end of the flat lease from the elderly household. And in addition to the housing equity that is unlocked by this purchase at the tail-end of the lease, HDB will provide a $10,000 subsidy. So the money from the buy-back of the lease plus the $10,000 will form the capital for the Lease Buy-Back Scheme.

Out of the housing equity unlocked and the $10,000 subsidy, $5,000 will be

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given to the household as an upfront lump sum payment. The remainder will then be used to purchase a CPF LIFE plan to provide the owner with a monthly stream of income for life. The family will continue to stay in their flat which will be left with the 30-year lease. Let me give specific examples to illustrate this. For example, a couple jointly owns a three-room flat and the three-room flat is worth, say, $200,000, with a 70-year lease remaining. They are both 62 years old. If they sign on to the Lease Buy-Back Scheme, they will get a 30-year flat lease because HDB will buy back the 40 years, giving them 30 years left. They will get a $5,000 upfront lump sum and they will get a combined payout for life at about $490 per month. So, they will be able to stay in their flat for the next 30 years. They will have $5,000 cash upfront and $490 for life from age 62. This monthly payout, together with their CPF savings or their monthly lifelong income from CPF LIFE will then help them to enjoy a more financially secure retirement. Do not forget that this is only one part of their financial retirement income. If they have CPF savings and CPF retirement amount, they will then get the income from the CPF LIFE. And on top of that, they will get this amount arising from the LBS.

So who can qualify for the LBS? It is a subsidised scheme. The $10,000 upfront is an additional subsidy over and above the purchase price of the lease. So there will be some eligibility criteria. First, beneficiaries must not have enjoyed more than one housing subsidy. Second, it will be restricted to two and three-room HDB lessees. Why? Because owners of larger flats are able to take advantage of other monetisation options, such as downgrading. So these are the two main eligibility criteria for the LBS. How many households will qualify? Our estimate is about 25,000 households will qualify for the LBS and this is something like 70% of

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elderly households in two-room and three-room flats.

Mdm Halimah has asked that some of these eligibility criteria be relaxed. For example, why restrict it only for those who have not enjoyed more than one housing subsidy? The answer is very simple. Because, with a second subsidy inherent in the LBS, we need to make sure that it is only applicable to those who have not enjoyed the second subsidy as the LBS is tantamount to a second housing subsidy. Why not for the four-roomers? This is something that we will look into. We can examine, and perhaps after implementing the scheme for a while, depending on the reaction to the scheme, it is possible for us to consider, perhaps extending it to the four-roomers.

I believe that the LBS, together with CPF LIFE, will substantially improve the financial situation of lower income elderly households. In particular, many of today's elderly do not have much in their retirement accounts. And I agree that we should make a concerted effort to try and promote this scheme to make the eligible households aware of the benefits of the scheme, allay some of their fears, actively promote the scheme. One of their concerns may well be: what happens after 30 years? What happens if they outlive the 30 years? Here, I would like to assure them that they will continue to have a roof over their heads even if they outlive the LBS lease. We will look into housing options for them if they are fortunate enough to outlive the 30-year lease. This is a similar situation to, say, for example, the studio apartment lessees, some of whom may outlive their 30-year lease. We will look into the circumstance of each case to determine the appropriate housing arrangement for them.

What I have said about the LBS may sound rather complicated so I have asked my staff to see how we can make it simpler, how we can promote the

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scheme, because some of the scheme details can be quite technical. They have come up with this slogan, LBS, L for live, ie, live in your flat; B for bonus, ie, bonus of $10,000; and S for steady income for life. I hope that works. If not, I will ask Minister Lim Swee Say for another option.

That is for the elderly. Let me now turn to the lower income. Many have spoken about housing for the low income. There were many suggestions on how we can provide more help to this group - subsidies, concessionary loans for downgrading, subsidies to rent from the open market, and so on. As I explained at length in my first speech on housing, the Government provides very heavy subsidies to keep our flats affordable, as much as $88,000 throughout the lifetime. I hope Members appreciate that no matter how generous the Government is or would like to be, there is a limit, a finite limit, on the amount of money that is set aside for housing subsidies and, therefore, a limit to the amount of housing subsidies that each household can receive. That is why, for instance, we generally limit households to one concessionary loan. We do provide a second concessionary rate loan to support upgrading because, as families grow, we see them wanting to upgrade themselves. That is a good thing. That is something that we want to promote.

HDB generally does not offer a second concessionary loan to downgraders as most of the downgraders - and I say most, not all - will have benefited from housing subsidies. They would have substantial proceeds from selling their larger flat. So it really does not make sense to provide all of them with a further subsidy in the form of another concessionary loan. But I think Members are also aware that those households who need to downgrade because of genuine financial difficulty, do get special treatment from HDB. HDB has exercised flexibility. And I want to assure Dr Teo

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and other Members that HDB will continue to exercise flexibility.

On their part, households must help themselves by exercising financial prudence and taking a longer term view. They must be ultimately responsible for their own actions. I do not think it is wise for all Members here to just look at the picture from the MPS cases that they receive. Many of them are deserving, but not all of them are. This is where we have to make a difficult distinction between those who are in genuine need and those who are not.

Home buyers will have to exercise prudence by choosing the flat that they can afford. We have imposed credit assessment to make sure that they do not buy beyond their means. Those who are already in financial difficulty with their existing loan, before they accumulate even more arrears, they should think of their options seriously. If they can spare a room, rent out a room. If not, downgrade to a more affordable flat. As I said, we have given second, third - I have even seen cases of a fourth - non-subsidised HDB loans to those who are in serious financial difficulty. HDB's Financial Assistance Measures are only given to the family to tide them over temporary financial difficulties. They are not meant as a long-term solution.

In the Budget debate, Mr Ong Kian Min mentioned the case of one of his constituents and he was talking about compulsory acquisition. He said that compulsory acquisition is not the long-term answer. I want to assure Mr Ong and other Members that for HDB, compulsory acquisition is absolutely the last resort. It is a serious decision not taken lightly, carried out only after many other measures have been taken, ie, many options have been exhausted and only if the lessees themselves do not make any effort to resolve their financial situation. In fact, the purpose of this action is to

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prevent the family getting into more serious financial difficulty.

Take the case of Mdm Judy Mitchell that Mr Ong mentioned. Let me give this House the full picture. She lives in a five-room flat with an adult daughter and mother. This is her third flat. She bought and sold two previous flats. She made profits of about $190,000. She has enjoyed three concessionary loans. She started having difficulties paying her housing loan for her current flat soon after she bought it. Four occasions, six months each occasion, over two years, she was allowed to defer her mortgage payments, or pay only 50%. She did not make any attempt to find a long-term solution and the arrears kept mounting. She was not receptive to HDB's suggestions to downgrade or include her working daughter to service the loan. As a result, the loan outstanding today is higher than the original loan she took. They have to downgrade while they still have enough sale proceeds to afford a small flat. I would like to urge Mr Ong to persuade the family - please do the right thing quickly. If they cannot get a bank loan, I will ask HDB to consider providing a non-concessionary HDB loan for them.

This case illustrates many of the challenges that HDB faces in helping HDB lessees in mortgage arrears. Unfortunately, not all lessees in need are receptive to helpful suggestions. Worse, they are reluctant to make any effort to help themselves. They expect HDB and the Government to help them indefinitely. I think it is most unwise of HDB to do so. It will be most unfair to the many residents who live within their means, who work hard to pay off their loans, albeit with a bit of help and forbearance from HDB from time to time.

Let me now talk about the public rental system. I think many Members here

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have expressed their concerns about the public rental scheme. I agree, even while we have the home ownership scheme, there will always be a group for whom home ownership is not a viable option. This is what Ms Irene Ng said and it is perfectly true. We do have to provide for the low income who cannot afford a flat even with the most generous of housing subsidies. So the public rental scheme is really the final safety net to help families who are truly in need, who have no other options to turn to. Each rental flat is very heavily subsidised. A one-room rental flat receives an equivalent of $6,000 per year in rental subsidy. If a family stays in the flat for 20 years, they would have consumed $125,000 in rental subsidy, or even more than if we had given them a home ownership flat. That is the reason why we have such stringent criteria in place, to make sure that the rental subsidies are only for the very needy. They are not for existing flat owners who decide that they want to cash out, and then now they want to have a rental flat. Yes, we encourage the elderly to monetise, but they can choose from many other monetisation options - that I have explained earlier. Mr Lim Biow Chuan asked why the 30-month debarment. The reason is that we do not want to have people who already own flats joining the queue for rental flats.

6.00 pm

What about the supply and demand of rental flats? There is a cause for concern. There is a shortage of rental flats. I have asked HDB to resolve this issue in three ways. First, we will increase the supply of rental flats; second, we will review the eligibility criteria for rental flats; and, third, we will step up enforcement to weed out those who abuse the privilege of rental flats. Today, we have about 42,000 rental flats. We will build more rental flats over the next few years. We will increase our stock by 20% in the first instance, to 50,000.

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In 2006, I announced that we will resume the rental flat building programme and, since then, we have built some 2,200 new units. We have converted some old flats into rental flats. So 900 over flats will be ready by this quarter. These are the rental units that are converted from vacant blocks, that was suggested by Mr Ang Mong Seng. We are going to build another 2,000 rental flats this year (2008), and these will be located all over Singapore. They will be ready for allocation from 2011 onwards.

But building more flats on its own will not be an adequate or sustainable solution. We have to target our rental flats so that they are reserved for the genuinely needy. We will embark on a comprehensive review of the rental scheme, and we will put in place more holistic assessment criteria of rental flat applicants.

Who are the people in the rental queue at the moment? Ex-HDB lessees, those who either have a flat now or who had a flat in the past, make up two-thirds of the total rental applicants. The majority of the applicants have enjoyed housing subsidies in the past. Did these applicants fall on hard times? Yes, some of them. But those who already had their HDB flats in the past, more than half of them were not affected by mortgage arrears. They had no mortgage problems. They were not affected by divorces. 20% of them had enough money to buy themselves another smaller flat. Many of them have relatives, siblings, families, whom they could stay with.

So, I hope Members will agree with me that those who can afford home ownership and those who have family support should not join the rental queue. Otherwise, they are going to crowd out the more needy cases. Mr Masagos, for example, spoke about the elderly who sell their flats, give the proceeds to their children, the children turf them out, and

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then they come to HDB for a rental flat, when their relationship sours. I appreciate his understanding that HDB rental flats cannot be used to encourage such irresponsible behaviour of their children.

So, the question is: are there other ways to help these families, rather than provide a heavily subsidised rental flat? Ms Irene Ng suggested short-term housing for low-income divorcee families. We can look into this idea. But I submit that the issue of dysfunctional families, divorces and so on, is not just a housing issue. What was the cause of the problem, in the first place? More than 20% of those applying for rental flats are divorcee families, and the numbers are increasing. We will have to look at the overall issue of low-income dysfunctional families from a wider perspective, together with MCYS and other Ministries, and not just from the housing perspective.

So this review of rental housing criteria will also examine how we can encourage existing tenants to move into home ownership when their financial situation improves. There are many instances of families who have successfully improved themselves and they have moved up, and they are moving into home ownership flats. And I would like to hear more of these success stories.

The third thing that we will do to try to correct this imbalance is to carry out enforcement, to weed out those who do not need or who have abused the privilege of rental flats. One Member recently told me that one of her rental flat tenants had just installed a split unit airconditioner in her flat, courtesy of her children. Another has just asked for a season car parking ticket. Other Members, like Mr Lim Biow Chuan just now, have told me about rental flats being sublet. HDB will not hesitate to terminate the flat tenancy of those who abuse or violate the conditions of the lease, and redistribute these flats to the deserving cases in the queue.

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Sir, in summary, let me say that our home ownership programme will enable the elderly to monetise their flats to meet retirement needs. Those who are less well off and where monetisation options are not so readily available, we will offer the new Lease Buy-Back Scheme to them, to help them unlock that flat equity. For low-income families, we will build more rental flats, even while we review the scheme to ensure that the rental flat subsidies are reserved for the genuinely needy. We will continue to be flexible to help families in financial hardship, but the individual has to exercise prudence, financial responsibility and do something to help himself even as he seeks help from HDB. And in this way, we can continue to provide housing subsidies to Singaporeans who really need help.

HDB Upgrading Programme

Er Lee Bee Wah: Sir, to the many residents in my Nee Soon South division, the HDB Lift Upgrading Programme does not seem to pick up the momentum to keep pace with the needs of the population. This is the feedback given in almost every one of my house visits. In Nee Soon South, there are a total of 111 blocks of flats that need to be upgraded. Out of that total, 59 blocks or 53% have not been upgraded. I urge the Ministry to consider accelerating the LUP programme so that more of our elderly folks, pregnant women and handicapped residents can have a better quality of life. The delays may even result in higher construction cost, and this may result in higher cost to the residents.

The Chairman: Mr Chiam See Tong is not present. Mr Low Thia Khiang.

HDB Estate Upgrading

Mr Low Thia Khiang (Hougang): Sir, the HDB Main Upgrading Programme started

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full swing after the 1991 general election. Its objectives are to renew older HDB estates and to share the wealth of the nation with Singaporeans under the asset enhancement scheme. The programme became a political tool for the PAP in 1997 general election under a blatant abuse of power by the PAP Government to alter voting behaviour. Politics aside, the upgrading programme is funded by the national budget, and the money belongs to all Singaporeans. Denying Singaporeans living in opposition wards, this publicly funded programme is highly discriminatory in nature. Does the Government need to be reminded that residents of opposition wards perform national service duties, and pay the same rate of income tax and GST as any other Singaporeans?

When I took up the issue in Parliament, the Minister's answer was that the criteria for HDB upgrading are based on the age of the flats, geographical spread and support for the programme. When I asked about Hougang's turn for upgrading, the Minister's reply was that Hougang was not due for upgrading for many, many years. Twelve years have passed since the Minister made that statement in 1996. Now I am asking again. Is the wait long enough now for the MUP to come to Hougang? Or is Hougang constituency denied MUP? Are the so-called criteria for the HDB upgrading programme a convenient excuse for the PAP Government to abuse its position in power to discriminate against Singaporeans along the line of political affiliation?

I understand that in 1991, the projected average upgrading cost per flat was $30,000-$38,000. I would like to know how much the Government had spent, on average, for each HDB flat type under MUP by individual precinct completed so far? Taking an average cost of $30,000 for a basic upgrading package and factoring in the co-payment formula,

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this Government owes every eligible flat owner in Hougang constituency $22,000 to $27,000 for the long overdue upgrading. In 1995, the Minister for National Development said that the upgrading programme is a long-term programme. It will take 15-20 years to upgrade all the old estates.

Since the MUP was started in 1990, I take it that by 2010, all MUPs would have been completed. However, I am surprised to learn from the MND budget that MUP and IUP will be replaced by the Home Improvement Programme (HIP) and the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme (NRP). The MUP aims for precinct level upgrade and enhancement whereas the HIP deals more with building defect rectification works. The NRP, on the other hand, is more like the IUP or improvement works undertaken by the Town Councils. So where is the MUP equivalent in scale and level of estate upgrading, as promised to Singaporeans under the asset enhancement scheme? Since the HIP's criteria are similar to MUP, with the level of political support as a factor, would that put the opposition wards last in the queue again? In other words, will opposition wards need to start all over again and wait many, many years for HIP to happen?

Last year, I visited a resident who was injured by falling concrete slabs due to spalling in the kitchen of his flat. As the flat continues to age, spalling concrete can become an issue of safety. Unless the Minister thinks that the safety of residents living in HDB flats in Hougang is of lesser concern than those in the PAP wards, it is only right for the Minister to shorten the waiting time required for HIP to be implemented in the opposition wards. To expedite the HIP, the Minister may want to consider delegating HIP to Town Councils to speed up the implementation of the programme. Alternatively, he can also consider allocating the funds to HDB branch offices to better target essential

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repairs to deserving flats under their charge.

The Chairman: Mr Wee Siew Kim is not present. Ms Grace Fu.

The Minister of State for National Development (Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien): Sir, several Members of the House have asked about HDB's upgrading programmes. I would first like to put the upgrading programmes in perspective.

Upgrading programmes complement our home ownership programme by sustaining the value of flats many years after they have been built. They breathe new life into HDB estates by improving the living environment of residents so that they are comparable to newer estates.

To meet these objectives, we have different upgrading programmes.

In preparation for an ageing society, lift upgrading has been identified as a major priority. The Government has committed to providing lifts that stop on every floor for all eligible blocks by 2014.

I can understand Members' requests to speed up the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP). However, the pace of lift upgrading depends on the available budget and the capacity of the construction industry. It is a massive programme. The cost of bringing lift upgrading to all the remaining eligible blocks is about $3 billion. The construction industry is experiencing a significant upswing now and we should not exacerbate the situation. Indeed, in our review of public projects to be deferred, we have decided not to postpone the LUP, as we have made a commitment to complete by 2014.

I would like to clarify that the Government has already accelerated the LUP from the previous target of 2019 to 2014. There remains about 1,500 blocks to be selected under the LUP. This is a

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large number and we have to prioritise, but we are on track. HDB will continue to explore new methods and technologies to keep LUP both affordable and available to more blocks.

In reply to Mr Low Thia Khiang's question, he is correct that we have introduced two new upgrading programmes, the Home Improvement Programme (HIP) and Neighbourhood Renewal Programme (NRP). They will replace the Main Upgrading Programme (MUP) and Interim Upgrading Programme (IUP Plus). The MUP and IUP Plus have served us well. To-date, over 130,000 flats have been selected for MUP and over 220,000 flats selected for the IUP Plus.

The HIP and NRP were introduced in response to feedback to the Forum on HDB Heartware that several MPs and myself led last year. We held many public dialogues to solicit ideas on ways to build more cohesive communities in HDB towns. Residents said they would like more flexibility and consultation in upgrading. They also wanted upgrading to remain affordable. And, therefore, HIP is designed to focus on improvements for the flat. It is composed of essential improvements as well as optional improvements, while NRP focuses on block-level and precinct-level improvements.

The HIP and NRP will benefit blocks built before 1986 and 1989 respectively. It is estimated that about 300,000 and 200,000 flats will benefit from the HIP and NRP respectively. Surveys have shown that there's strong support for the HIP and NRP.

Altogether, about 590 blocks across 58 sites will be offered the various upgrading programmes in FY2007. We will continue to review and monitor

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feedback on these new programmes to cater to residents’ needs.

Repairs within HDB Flats

Er Lee Bee Wah: ( In Malay ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Sir, the leakage in HDB homes is a hot topic when I visit my constituents’ homes. Usually these leakages will occur after repair works. This is usually due to inappropriate repair methods or because the leakages are so bad that it cannot be repaired. I hope HDB can investigate thoroughly on how the contractors do their repair works and give instructions and share good practices based on their experience. HDB should also speed up the HIP programme in order to investigate leakage problems in old blocks, such as in Nee Soon South. The leakages have to be identified and repaired quickly because the absorption problem can spread quickly, and repair costs will increase and cause inconvenience to the occupant.

*Cols. 1355-1356.

Neighbourliness in HDB Estates

Mr Liang Eng Hwa: Sir, neighbourliness, or rather the lack of it, is one of the most frequent issues raised by HDB residents during my house visits. Among others, you hear complaints from residents about their upstairs neighbours causing noise nuisance during the sleeping hours or misgivings about their upper floor neighbours hanging wet dripping clothes in the afternoon or, in the case of the next door neighbours, obstructing the corridors with their shoe racks, bicycles or plants. Some even complained about their neighbours having noisy weekends playing mahjong or the smell of chilli " balachan " coming into their house and so on. Others complained about irresponsible pet owners or their neighbours being insensitive to them by hanging brooms near their doors. The list goes on.

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As their MP, I must admit sometimes I find myself quite helpless as to how I could help solve their problems or disputes. My grassroots leaders, the town council officers or the HDB officers can spend a disproportionate amount of time on the cases and still sometimes some remain unresolved. Each party will always have their side of the story to tell and, in some cases, it can come in a few pages of email.

Some of these disputes have dragged on for many years and once in a while you will have some "incidents" or outbursts where, in some cases, the Police are called in. Often, by the time the matter is referred to the Community Mediation Centre (CMC), the relationship between the neighbours would already have become irreparable.

A number of factors lead to some of these un-neighbourliness situation at our HDB communities. It is often the case of a few individuals being inconsiderate or showing total disregard for their neighbours. Another is the lack of communication between the neighbours. Many of our residents are not talking to their neighbours even though they may be just staying metres apart. A recent survey by Straits Times published last month also suggested that Singaporeans just do not know their neighbours well, if at all.

Many of these neighbourliness disputes could have been prevented if residents already know their neighbours and some goodwill or friendship has been built up. I would like to ask the Minister whether the Ministry is satisfied with the state of neighbourliness in our HDB communities and whether there are plans to strengthen community ownership at the heartlands.

Currently, the RCs play an important role in promoting neighbourliness within the estate through the activities they organised. Being a more visible resident-centric grassroots organisation, often

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interfacing with the residents, RCs can also play a mediating and reconciling role. However, as RC members are essentially volunteers and not everyone has the temperament to manage neighbourhood dispute, they would need some dedicated resource and support from HDB and the other agencies. Hence, I would hope that HDB or its regional office can work with the grassroots organisations to play a more active role to promote neighbourliness. And in situations of neighbours' complaints or disputes, HDB should have trained officers at the Branch Office dedicated to support the RCs in this regard.

Having received numerous complaints from residents over the years and knowing many of the errant behaviours, perhaps HDB could compile a handy guidebook to tell residents how to be good neighbours and publicise them. It would help promote acceptable norms of good neighbourliness behaviour. RCs can also use this guide as a persuasive tool to help resolve some of the neighbourliness differences. In some cases, HDB needs to be given more resources to investigate serious cases as well as the teeth to take errant neighours to task.

Sir, I believe we can do more to promote neighbourliness in heartlands.

Duties of Landlords in HDB Estates and Heartland Commercial Spaces

Mdm Ho Geok Choo: Sir, during my house visits, I have discovered that many of the rented flats are not just in a mess on the inside but the mess is also spilling out into the corridors. Strings and strings of clothes blocking the corridors, piles of shoes are strewn all over the floor and flats that seem overpacked with occupants.

I also get complaints of merrymaking late into the night and drunkards loitering around the premises, instilling fears in

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parents for their young children, even adult daughters. The above posed several risks - modesty risk, safety risk, health risk and fire risk as well. How is the Government planning to improve this situation?

Also, some of the sold HDB retail outlets are in a dilapidated condition. To what extent do conservancy charges and property taxes collected go towards upgrading and maintenance of these retail outlets? What happens when tenants and owners are not receptive to upgrading and improvement plans that will help to uplift image and safety, and what incentives or financial assistance are there to motivate owners who have become landlords or tenants to upgrade and upkeep their retail outlets?

The Chairman: Order. The Leader of the House wishes to move a motion.

Thereupon Mr Deputy Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House.