Very Sweet of You!

It is heart-warming reading your birthday greetings. Thank you!

I am now 59 and it has been an eventful year, with GE followed by a change of portfolio.

7 months in MND have been hectic but meaningful. Plans to build many new HDB flats have been launched. BTO prices have been stabilised. Newlywed first-timers’ backlog has been largely cleared. Additional 2,000 families have got their HDB rental flats.

All these efforts have culminated in the new measure (Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty) taking effect from today. It will further strengthen, stabilise and sustain our property market.

Over Christmas, I will have some time to think about how to help second-timers get their flats earlier, not forgetting those still on the waiting queue for a HDB rental flat. I am sure 2012 will be another hectic and eventful year.

I thank Singaporeans for their advice, suggestions, feedback and at times, sharp criticism. I know like me, you have the interest of Singapore and all Singaporeans at heart. We are different but we share a common dream, to make Singapore a successful place so that our families can live in peace and happiness. We have not done too badly, but we can always be better.

The Euro crisis is worrisome. Let’s hope the political leaders there will have the courage and wisdom to do what is right and prevent another global depression.

Merry Christmas in advance and a Happy New Year ahead.

 

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A Green Opportunity

I love greenery.  In Sembawang, we did a lot to green up the place.  In the new hospital in Yishun, we set out to build a “hospital in a garden” and we succeeded.

Seven weeks into MND, I have been flooded with emails and FB comments, 99% of them on housing, quite understandably.

But there were a few non-housing comments.

I got one from a medical school student, interested in the “preservation and continued development of Singapore’s urban culture”.  She referred me to the Green Corridor Project being proposed by the Nature Society, suggesting the possibilities that we could create after Malayan Railway moved its station from Tj Pagar to Woodlands.  She referred me to the New York’s High Line project which was quite inspirational.

I too see a green opportunity in this development.

Indeed, URA and NParks had been working on this idea.  They are studying creative ways to plan our urban development along the Railway track to keep a green spine for nature and leisure, without compromising the developmental potential of the railway lands.  The latter is important as ours is a tiny island.

I would love to lead this project myself.  But housing now takes up almost all my time.

Fortunately, I have a green-minded MOS Tan Chuan-jin with me.  He readily volunteered to work on this project and saw several useful angles: the green aspect, heritage and history, and innovative land use marrying development and conservation that is so characteristic of our city.

He took on this assignment with gusto.  He is trekking the track today with several like-minded Singaporeans from several NGOs, including the Nature Society.  I told him to consult widely, discuss with experts, volunteers, students and residents.

Let’s work with all interested Singaporeans to co-develop the idea into a practical and workable scheme.

MOS Tan saw this as a positive uplifting opportunity to capture the imagination of Singaporeans. Or as the medical student put it, it “presents a unique juxtaposition of nature, industry and recreation that few other cities in the world can offer”.

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Solving Daily Problems

Regular house visits bring us close to our residents and their concerns.  In HDB estates, most are happy with their estates.  But there are some common daily irritations. Examples are:

• Putting laundry out to dry can be dangerous, requiring strong arms
• Strong winds bring rain right into the flats from under the front doors

Many of the problems faced by us are quite unique to the tropics. Few first-world cities have our hot and humid conditions.  The solutions we need are unlikely to be found in the west.

If we can solve these problems and remove the irritations, many residents will have a better quality of life.  Moreover, such solutions would have wide application in other cities in the tropics. If our SMEs can develop effective solutions, there will be business opportunities around the region.

The question is how. The solutions for these common irritations must be effective, sustainable, scalable and preferably low-cost.

HDB has a research unit, the Building Research Institute, looking at these problems and coming up with innovative solutions ranging from pre-fab technology, energy-saving solutions such as LED lighting, to water saving devices and waste recycling chutes.

But we can also tap on the expertise and creativity of the public out there: polytechnics, ITEs, universities, teachers, students, hobbyists, handy-men and women with practical ideas. Last week, media reported on many new ideas from NTU’s Engineering students. I am sure our DesignSingapore Council and Science Centre can also play a role to generate the buzz.

In MOH, we have used this approach of tapping on the people out there to solve some of the daily problems in our hospitals.  Khoo Teck Puat Hospital for example, has had good experience working with the polytechnic teachers and students on many low-cost innovations, with real benefits for the patients.

I have asked MOS Lee Yi Shyan to help me lead this initiative.  We will set aside a sum of money, to call for ideas from both the public and market players, fund the promising ideas, pilot them in some flats, get them assessed by the users themselves (e.g. RCs can assemble residents and maids to test out the ideas and evaluate them), and if found practical, replicate them in other estates.  Where relevant, the ideas can also be included in new housing codes and tender specifications for new building projects.

I told MOS Lee that this is a marathon, a long-term process of public engagement and a continuous search for better ideas to enhance our lives.  It is not a sprint.

To be useful, ideas must be buildable and maintainable.  Done well, we can bring so much benefit to so many people.  MOS Lee is excited by this and will go out to invite volunteers, inventors, academics and practical people, to contribute to this cause.  He hopes to have some early wins.

Roller screens to prevent light rain from wetting the floors of flats

For example, a common problem is strong wind wetting the floors for some apartments.  HDB has come out with a solution to put up roller screens in strategic places.

But who knows, there may be better, cheaper solutions?  Anyone with ideas, please contact MOS Lee at http://www.facebook.com/leeyishyan.

If you have already come across best practices, solutions that already exist, we may be able to shorten the learning curve. As pictures tell a thousand words, do email them to MOS Lee at yishyan@mnd.gov.sg.

It is my wish that this platform can help to encourage community interaction by us jointly working on everyday activities.  We are one big community.  Let’s help one another to make everyone’s life better.

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More But Not All

My earlier comment that I have asked HDB to consider putting up some BTOs in mature estates next year was well received, judging by media reports.

However, ST reported a young couple living in Tanjong Pagar saying that they welcomed the news and were looking forward to a BTO in Tanjong Pagar.  I must add that while I have asked HDB to put up more BTOs in mature estates, it will not be possible for many mature estates to benefit from this development, certainly not in the short term.

This is because most of the matured estates are substantially built up, and there is limited land for public housing.

HDB is still studying the details, but preliminarily, they told me that a couple of mature estates such as Kallang/Whampoa and Tampines could benefit from BTO launches next year.  We will do our best to meet young couples’ aspiration to be able to continue to live near their parents.  But unfortunately, we will not be able to do so in every mature estate.

Tanjong Pagar is fully built up and a BTO there is unlikely.  I hope the young couple would seriously consider other options, especially those in the non-mature estates.

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Trepidation and Expectation

I am not a masochist.  Housing is hot politically and there are genuine problems on the ground.  At my MPS, 70% of appeal cases are on housing.  I don’t think I am the only MP who harasses MND/HDB regularly.

I will be very comfortable staying back in MOH and I still have meaningful programmes to launch or complete.  But I thought in my next five years I can be more useful in MND than in MOH.

Many have emailed, written, and facebooked me, offering advice, suggestions, feedback. There were hundreds of them and many more will come, I am sure.  I thank them all.  They have given me a feel of the nature and the scale of the unhappiness and concerns.

Several wisely advised me “not to try to please all, as that will surely fail”.  Indeed, this is also not possible, as the demands are often contradictory.  For example, many want me to bring property prices down.  Many also warn me NOT to bring prices down.

I am therefore realistic about what is doable.  The key is to prioritise and set realistic goals, for short term, medium term and long term.  In the immediate, I will focus on the housing needs of some groups like the young couples, divorcees with children, and low income families as I appreciate the anxieties they are currently experiencing.

As in MOH, I will consult widely, with experts, customers, industry players and Singaporeans.  I will use all communications platforms available, on-line, off-line, closed door forums, open forums, big groups, small groups.  It will be time-consuming but I am sure will be enriching and educational.

In MOH, I started a “Health Minister Says” blog.  In MND, I am happy to launch this “Housing matters”, on which I will share regularly my thoughts, reflections, trade-offs, and possible ideas.  It is meant to be interactive as I will particularly value your comments, reactions and views, via emails or my Facebook or Kampung Sembawang Facebook, or the MND Facebook.

Indeed, many useful comments have already been posted on these platforms.  More will come, I am sure.

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