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Tag: Lawrence Wong

  • Zaqy Disambut Baik Penduduk Marsiling

    Zaqy Disambut Baik Penduduk Marsiling

    PENASIHAT akar umbi baru di GRC Marsiling-Yew Tee Encik Zaqy Mohamad melawat beberapa penduduk di rumah mereka semalam, kali pertama beliau berbuat demikian, sejak diumumkan sebagai pengganti Cik Halimah Yacob di sana. Encik Zaqy menghadiahkan beg berisi makanan kepada beberapa penduduk rumah sewa di Blok 3 Marsiling Road. Ia sebahagian program kebajikan tahunan Bringing Cheer @ Marsiling yang dianjurkan oleh kesatuan pekerja Lembaga Pembangunan dan Perumahan (HDB).

    Encik Zaqy, yang juga Anggota Parlimen GRC Chua Chu Kang, dilantik sebagai penasihat Pertubuhan Akar Umbi (GRO) di sana bagi menggantikan Cik Halimah yang mengundur diri dari semua jawatan politik selepas  mengumumkan hasratnya bertanding di Pilihan Raya Presiden bulan depan. Bercakap kepada penduduk Marsiling di acara yang diadakan sempena Hari Kebangsaan baru-baru ini, Encik Zaqy berkata beliau bertekad meneruskan beberapa projek yang telah dimulakan Cik Halimah, seperti pembinaan pusat penjaja makanan baru, pusat dialisis dan memperkukuh khidmat bas awam di kawasan itu.

    Dalam pada itu, Encik Zaqy, yang berpengalaman 11 tahun menjadi AP akan terus berkhidmat sebagai penasihat akar umbi di GRC Chua Chu Kang. Sebelum ini, Menteri Pembangunan Negara (MND) EnciK Lawrence Wong, yang juga mewakili penduduk Marsiling-Yew Tee, berkata penduduk tidak  harus bimbang bahawa perhatian AP di kawasan undi itu akan berubah, kerana pasukan AP di sana, termasuk Encik Ong Teng Koon dan Encik Alex Yam, akan bekerjasama untuk memastikan program kawasan undi dan Sesi Bertemu Penduduk (MPS) akan dijalankan seperti biasa.

     

    Source: Berita Harian

  • SDP: Here’s How You Resolve The HDB 99-Year Lease Problem

    SDP: Here’s How You Resolve The HDB 99-Year Lease Problem

    Singaporeans have been concerned about the recent announcement by Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong that the value of older HDB flats will decline and, eventually, be worth nothing at the end of their 99-year lease.

    HDB owners go into heavy debt and spend their retirement savings paying off this debt only to find that their flats decrease in value and have to be returned to the government at the end of the lease.

    This doesn’t make sense.

    To overcome this problem, the SDP has proposed the Non-Open Market (NOM) scheme for flats. Under this scheme, HDB will base flat prices solely on labour, materials and administrative costs. They will not contain a land cost component as State land does not cost the government any money.

    Currently, the HDB factors in the cost of land which jacks up the prices of the flats making them unaffordable for Singaporeans.

    Excluding the cost of State land will substantially reduce prices for HDB flats. We estimate that the prices for NOM flats will be effectively halved or more, ranging from $70,000 for 2-room flats to $240,000 for 5-room ones.

    But as the name suggests, NOM flats may not be sold on the open market. Owners wanting to sell their flats will have to sell them back to the HDB at a price that will be the original purchase price less the consumed lease.

    Current HDB owners will have the option of converting their flats to NOM ones. When they do this, the government will refund the amount of money based on the original purchase price from the HDB and the price of the same type of NOM flat, subject to a cap.

    The difference between the current system and the SDP’s NOM scheme is that Singaporeans won’t have to spend so much of their CPF savings and income to buy their homes. This will leave them enough funds for retirement and other pursuits.

    Buyers who choose to stay with the current system can continue to buy and sell their flats on the open market. They are, however, subject to the vagaries of the market and face the prospect of depleting their retirement funds by buying hugely over-priced flats.

    Experts have reacted positively to the SDP’s proposal (see here, here, and here).

    The current system ties up the people’s wealth in government property which, ultimately, becomes zero in value. It increases debt while reducing consumer spending and investment. This is not good for the overall economy.

    The SDP believes that housing, in particular public housing, should not be a tradeable commodity. Our flats are our homes where our loved ones live in security and comfort, not profit-making ventures. The NOM scheme is consistent with this principle.

    More important, it frees Singaporeans from the crushing debt burden and overcomes the unthinkable problem that our expensive flats for which we spend a lifetime paying become worthless at the end of 99 years.

    For more information on this subject, please read our alternative housing policy Housing A Nation: Holistic Policies for Affordable Homes here.

     

    Source: http://yoursdp.org

  • Jufrie Mahmood: Millionaire PAP Ministers Have Lost Touch, Don’t Understand Anxieties Of Common Singaporeans

    Jufrie Mahmood: Millionaire PAP Ministers Have Lost Touch, Don’t Understand Anxieties Of Common Singaporeans

    Minister Lawrence Wong and his cabinet colleagues don’t live in 99-year lease HDB flats.

    With their millions, chances are, they would be living in landed free-hold properties in choice areas. Their properties are for keeps which they can pass on to their succeeding generations.

    They therefore don’t have the anxieties that we ordinary mortals have.

    That is the difference.

    Unlike your COE for motor vehicles the HDB and most other private properties’ COE is for 99 years.

     

    Source: Mohamed Jufrie Bin Mahmood

     

  • Halimah Yacob To Co-Anchor PAP Team In Marsiling-Yew Tew GRC

    Halimah Yacob To Co-Anchor PAP Team In Marsiling-Yew Tew GRC

    The People’s Action Party announced today (Aug 21) that first-term Members of Parliament Alex Yam and Ong Teng Koon will be contesting in new Marsiling-Yew Tee Group Representation Constituency, alongside team co-anchors Lawrence Wong and Mdm Halimah Yacob.

    Mr Yam’s ward was carved out from Chua Chu Kang GRC into Marsiling-Yew Tee in the recent electoral boundaries review exercise, as was Mr Ong’s Woodgrove ward from Sembawang GRC.

    Earlier last week, Mr Wong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, announced that he would co-anchor the team with three-term MP Halimah Yacob, who will be moving to Marsiling-Yew Tee from Jurong GRC.

    Mr Wong also said the division of boundaries and finding a place for him to operate within the entire GRC may be sorted out after the election. Mr Wong himself will be new to the constituency, having moved over from West Coast GRC.

    Mr Yam and Mr Ong are expected to continue helming their respective wards while Mdm Halimah is expected to take over Marsiling from Mr Hawazi Daipi, who is retiring from politics.

    At a press conference held at a void deck in Marsiling to confirm the PAP’s slate of candidates, Mr Wong said his team, with two incumbent MPs and two new MPs, brings together continuity and change, and youth and experience.

    Ahead of the PAP press conference, the candidates mingled with residents and served up food as musicians entertained the crowd that had gathered at the void deck of Blk 3, Marsiling Drive.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Lawrence Wong And Halimah Yacob To Co-Anchor Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC

    Lawrence Wong And Halimah Yacob To Co-Anchor Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC

    The new Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC will be anchored by two MPs – Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Mr Lawrence Wong and Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob.

    This was announced by Mr Wong during a visit to the constituency on Thursday with Madam Halimah.

    The minister, who is a first term MP, and Madam Halimah are slated to move from West Coast GRC and Jurong GRC respectively to the new constituency for the upcoming general election.

    Mr Wong said he had asked Madam Halimah to join him in leading the new GRC because of her strong track record as an MP. “So I know how effective she is and I’ve much to learn from her,” he added.

    Madam Halimah said they would be able to complement each other, adding that Mr Wong would bring with him his strengths and capabilities.

    Although Mr Wong said the full line-up of MPs that the People’s Action Party (PAP) will be fielding in the four-member Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC will only be revealed later, he hinted that it will likely comprise Madam Halimah and himself, as well as MPs Alex Yam and Ong Teng Koon.

    “So the only new faces are Madam Halimah and myself,” he said. “And there are two existing incumbent MPs, Alex Yam and Ong Teng Koon, so we hope this is likely to be the team for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC.”

    Both Mr Yam and Mr Ong have expressed interest in continuing to serve in their respective wards which have since been redrawn into the new GRC.

    Over the past weeks, Mr Wong and Madam Halimah have been walking the ground, attending constituency events and making house visits in the area.

    Madam Halimah said she has done “a fair amount of groundwork in Marsiling”, having visited about 20 blocks of flats.

    The PAP team, added Mr Wong, will build on the work done by the incumbent MPs in their wards, which are currently part of Sembawang GRC and Chua Chu Kang GRC. “We will put forward our manifesto when it’s ready,” he said.

    The GRC is now made up of three divisions – Marsiling, Yew Tee and Woodgrove – but it will have four MPs. This is because wards in the GRC have grown over the years, “so a fourth MP will help better serve residents there,” added Madam Halimah.

    Resident Philip Ong welcomed the two new MPs to the constituency. “It looks like a good mix,” said the 48-year-old technician. “Madam Halimah can bring her wisdom and experience to help and Mr Wong is a minister who is in charge of youth issues.”

    Housewife Normah Ahmad, 50, said: “It’s nice to see a Malay woman in the role of a leader too.”

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com