Blog

Fresh Start Housing Scheme To Help Rental Dwellers Own Homes

The Republic’s housing programme has helped more than 90 per cent of HDB dwellers own their flats, but Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong noted that a small group still live in rental units.

In his speech in Malay for the National Day Rally on Sunday (Aug 23), Mr Lee said that within this group, the Malay community is over-represented and many are young families with marital and financial problems – including those who may have bought a flat before, but have since gotten divorced and now live in rental flats.

Elaborating on the issue in his English-language speech, Mr Lee said the Government cannot give these households another grant to buy another flat, as they had already received subsidies on their first flat.

“So they will find it difficult to afford another flat. I am very concerned about the future of this group. Without help, a flat of their own may be permanently out of reach. They will be trapped in poverty and their children will be affected. And you perpetuate the problem into the next generation,” Mr Lee said.

FRESH START HOUSING SCHEME: A new scheme that will aim to help second-timer rental households own a two-room flat. PM Lee Hsien Loong explains the details at #NDRsg. http://bit.ly/1Ed1XR7

Posted by Channel NewsAsia Singapore on Sunday, 23 August 2015

To help such second-timer households own a two-room flat, a Fresh Start Housing Scheme will be introduced. The flats will come with shorter leases and stricter conditions on resale so that they will be more affordable. Support in the form of counselling will also be provided to help the families solve their problems holistically.

But Mr Lee said the families will have to play their part, “show that they are putting their lives in order, determined to get back on their feet, committed to putting their children through school”. If they show that, the Government can justify providing the grant to help them pay for the flat.

It is a major initiative that will take time to work out, he said. Details of the scheme will be announced later.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

August 24, 2015
Kemajuan Besar Masyarakat Melayu/Islam Dialu-Alukan, Namun Isu Sosial Harus Diberi Perhatian

Perdana Menteri Lee Hsien Loong berkata masyarakat Melayu/Islam mencatat kemajuan yang sangat besar dan amat memberangsangkan.

Hari ini, menurut beliau, masyarakat Melayu diwakili dalam setiap lapisan masyarakat. Encik Lee berkata demikian semasa menyampaikan ucapan dalam Bahasa Melayu di Rapat Umum Hari Kebangsaan petang ini.

Encik Lee berkata kini beliau dan rakan-rakan kabinetnya mempunyai banyak pilihan mencari bakal calon-calon pilihan raya Melayu/Islam dari pelbagai sektor – seperti peguam, pegawai bank, pendidik, jurutera dan pegawai Angkatan Bersenjata Singapura (SAF).

Parti Tindakan Rakyat (PAP) baru-baru ini memperkenalkan tiga calon baru Melayu/Islam bagi Pilihan Raya Umum tahun ini – Encik Saktiandi Supaat, 42 tahun, Ketua Kajian Pertukaran Asing di Maybank; Encik Amrin Amin, 36 tahun, peguam korporat di Joseph Tan Jude Benny, dan Cik Rahayu Mahzam, 35 tahun, mantan timbalan pendaftar Mahkamah Syariah.

Amrin Amin (Gambar: Facebook/Amrin Amin)

Rahayu Mahzam. (Gambar: Shushan Lam)

Beliau juga mengambil contoh dua juruterbang muda anak Melayu/Islam di Angkatan Udara Republik Singapura (RSAF), iaitu Kapten Muhammad Azlan Abdul Latiff, juruterbang helikopter Super Puma, dan Kapten Muhammad Iskandar Dzulfadhli Abdul Rahman, juruterbang jet pejuang F5.

Menteri Negara Mohd Maliki Osman bersama juruterbang RSAF, Kapten Muhammad Azlan Abdul Latiff (kiri) dan Kapten Muhammad Iskandar Dzulfadhli Abdul Rahman. (Gambar: MINDEF)

KEJAYAAN MELAYU/ISLAM DICAPAI MENERUSI BUDAYA BERDIKARI

Encik Lee berkata kejayaan masyarakat Melayu/Islam ini dicapai menerusi budaya berdikari, semangat gotong royong dan juga sokongan pemerintah.

“Saudara saudari, masyarakat Melayu/Islam gigih memupuk budaya berdikari tetapi mengekalkan semangat gotong-royong anda.

“Ini dapat dilihat dalam usaha anda membina institusi bantu diri yang penting seperti Yayasan Mendaki dan AMP (Angkatan Karyawan Islam).

“Pemerintah menyokong kuat kemajuan masyarakat Melayu/Islam dengan menyediakan sumber-sumber, nasihat serta kepimpinan oleh para menteri dan Anggota Parlimen Melayu pemerintah.

“Orang Melayu juga mendapat faedah daripada dasar untuk semua kaum secara sama rata seperti perumahan, pendidikan dan penjagaan kesihatan,” ujarnya.

SEBAHAGIAN BESAR YANG TINGGAL DI FLAT SEWA ADALAH MELAYU

Namun Encik Lee berkata di sebalik kemajuan besar itu, masyarakat Melayu/Islam perlu terus memberi perhatian kepada isu-isu sosial yang mencabar, seperti masalah keluarga-keluarga Melayu/Islam yang masih tinggal di flat-flat sewa.

Menurut Encik Lee, program pemilikan rumah Lembaga Perumahan dan Pembangunan (HDB) berjaya membantu lebih 90 peratus penghuni HDB memiliki flat sendiri.

Namun, segolongan kecil masih tinggal di flat sewa, dan sebahagian besar di antara mereka adalah keluarga Melayu, kata beliau.

PM LEE: HARUS BANTU MEREKA MILIKI FLAT SENDIRI

Ramai merupakan keluarga muda dengan masalah rumahtangga dan kewangan – contohnya, mereka mungkin pernah membeli flat sebelum ini, namun selepas bercerai, mereka terpaksa menjual flat dan tinggal di flat sewa.

“Saya sangat bimbang tentang masa depan keluarga-keluarga ini, khususnya anak-anak mereka. Kemungkinan besar mereka akan terus terjerat dalam kemiskinan sepanjang hayat.

“Kita harus membantu mereka memulakan hidup baru, jika mereka bersungguh-sungguh mahu memperbaiki kehidupan mereka dengan menstabilkan keluarga, mendapatkan pekerjaan tetap dan memastikan anak-anak kekal di sekolah.

“Kita mesti membantu mereka memiliki flat sendiri sekali lagi supaya mereka dapat menyediakan sekitaran yang lebih mantap bagi anak-anak mereka,” ujar Encik Lee.

Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg

August 24, 2015
11 Announcements From National Day Rally 2015

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally speech on Sunday was a wide-ranging one that was in equal parts a look back and a look forward.

He also announced policy changes that drew cheers from many in the audience. Here’s a recap of the 11 key ones.

HOUSING

1. The income ceiling of buyers of Build-to-Order (BTO) flats will be raised from $10,000 to $12,000, and that for executive condominiums (ECs) from $12,000 to $14,000. This means more Singaporeans at the higher end of households will be eligible for subsidised housing.

2. To make flats more affordable, the income ceiling for the existing Special Housing Grant (SHG) will be raised from $6,500 to $8,500. The maximum grant amount will also be doubled to $40,000.

With these changes, even those who earn below $1,000, but hold a stable job and contribute to CPF regularly will be able to afford a two-room flat, PM Lee said

3. Parents and married children who want to live near each other will get more help under the new Proximity Housing Grant. Children who buy a resale flat with or near their parents, or those who buy one near their married children, will get the grant. It applies to every Singaporean household, whether first-time buyers or not.

4. A new scheme will be launched called the Fresh Start Housing Scheme. It is targeted at people who have sold their HDB flats and are now living in rental units. These families will get more affordable two-room flats, but they will come with shorter leases and restrictions on resale. To help this group resolve their problems, the Government will also provide “holistic” support for these families through counselling.

FAMILIES AND BABIES

5. The Baby Bonus scheme, which helps parents defray child-raising costs, will be extended to every child instead of just the first four children. The bonus amount will also be increased, PM Lee announced without giving a specific figure.

6. Newborns will get more grants in their Medisave amount so that it’s enough to cover the new MediShield Life premiums for the child till he or she reaches 21. Currently, each newborn receives a $3,000 grant deposited in two trenches.

7. Fathers will get more paternity leave. It will be increased to two weeks from the current one. The Government will pay for the extra week. This will be implemented on a voluntary basis for now, but with the public service launching it “straightaway”.

The enhanced Baby Bonus, Medisave Grant and paternity leave changes will apply retroactively with effect from Jan 1, 2015.

EDUCATION

8. The Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore’s fifth university, will have its campus in Punggol. It currently runs courses at satellite campuses in the five polytechnics. It will be next to a new creative industry cluster that JTC will build. These will be integrated with Punggol Downtown and HDB’s upcoming Northshore District.

9. The Government will work with Muis to strengthen the teaching of secular subjects like mathematics and science in madrasahs, or Islamic religious schools.

LABOUR

10. The re-employment age will be raised from 65 to 67 . This will be implemented by 2017. Currently, firms are required by the Retirement and Re-employment Act to offer re-employment to eligible workers when they turn 62, up to the age of 65.

ELECTION

11. PM Lee said he will call for a general election “soon”, but stopped short of giving a specific date.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

August 24, 2015
Ravi Philemon: Why I Chose To Contest

I was unveiled by the leaders at Singapore People’s Party as their candidate for Hong Kah North today. In introducing me as the candidate, Mrs Lina Chiam said, “the party has fielded a very strong candidate to contest Hong Kah North against the PAP.” I am humbled by the confidence the Party has in me.

The journey here had not been an easy one for me. I come from a disadvantaged family and went to work after completing my GCE ‘O’ Level, at the age of 16, despite qualifying for higher education. I worked as a store-hand making just $300 so that I can help my mother. With an absent father in my life, my mother was my hero, and being the eldest child, my sense of duty compelled and pushed me into the adult world.

Even then, I knew that education was the great leveller. I pushed myself and completed the GCE ‘A’ Level and other diploma courses while working. Today I hold a Bachelor of Arts (Management) from Heriot-Watt University.

The Singapore back then, the political leaders and policies back then, provided various opportunities for me and allowed me to dream. With hard work and perseverance, I rose from being a store-hand to be the Director of a welfare agency.

Our children and their children must not lose this ability to dream. Our leaders today are telling them that they don’t need a degree, that you can be a hawker, or a crane operator – that good qualifications no longer guarantee a good job. While saying all these, they are granting S-Passes, employment passes and permanent residency to foreigners with degrees.

With this being the situation now, what is the kind of a future that awaits our children? Will there be enough opportunities for them in their own country? Or will they be subordinate to better-qualified foreigners?

The late Mr Lee Kuan Yew feared that an incompetent Government will mean that, among other things, our people will become foreign workers and maids in other people’s countries. Today our Government – while acknowledging that working overseas may not be comfortable given that pay or living environment will not be as good as in Singapore – still tells us to go overseas.

Are we losing our ability to dream?

Singapore must continue to be a land of opportunities for our own children. It is this conviction which has made me to step forward to challenge the PAP.

I am not a General who makes hundreds of thousands of dollars every year, and so may have substantial savings to fall back on in case he resigns. But still, I have paid a heavy price by resigning my job to contest in this election.

I face an uphill battle in Hong Kah North, but by taking this little step forward, I hope to inspire Singaporeans.

That together we can dream of a better Singapore.

Mr Philemon is Singapore People’s Party’s candidate for Hong Kah North SMC, he is also a former Chief editor of The Online Citizen in 2011/2.

Source: www.theonlinecitizen.com

August 23, 2015
SDP Opens New Office At Ang Mo Kio

The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) on Saturday (Aug 22) opened its new office at Ang Mo Kio Street 62, saying that it is “good and ready to go” for the election. The political party was previously based in Jalan Gelenggeng.

The election, which is widely expected to be called in the next few weeks, will be the first time Secretary-General Chee Soon Juan will be contesting after being discharged of bankruptcy in 2012. He was barred from contesting in the previous two general elections (2006 and 2011) due to the charge.

“I cannot wait to stand,” he said, “To get up on stage and connect with Singaporeans again.” He said his message to voters was that Singapore “can be much better than we are today”.

Dr Chee said the party will be announcing its line-up “very soon”, saying that the SDP is eyeing five constituencies: Holland-Bukit Timah and Marsiling-Yew Tee, both four-member GRCs, and the single seat wards of Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang and Yuhua. Party leaders said they have continued to walk the ground since after the 2011 election, on top of publishing alternative policy proposals on issues such as housing, healthcare and education.

Referring to the People’s Action Party (PAP) suite of infrastructural plans announced at the unveiling of its Holland-Bukit Timah slate on Saturday morning, Dr Chee said, “It just sounds very much what you would expect them to do before an election … What is lacking in every PAP-run constituency is that it’s very brick-and-mortar, steel. But where is that X-factor where we can involve the people, not just to upgrade their quality of life, their well-being? And I think all that is missing from Holland-Bukit Timah.”

On giving up Sembawang GRC to the National Solidarity Party in order to avoid a multi-party fight with the incumbent People’s Action Party, Dr Chee said it was “the most difficult decision we had to make”, and that Sembawang “is very dear to us”. He added that giving way to the NSP on the matter of Sembawang had “released some pressure” in the horse-trading discussions, and that this did not mean that the party was giving up the GRC. “We look forward to the day when we shall return”, said Dr Chee.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

August 23, 2015