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Tag: MND

  • MND Not Evicting Cat Museum Founder, Enforcement Only to Revert Back To Residential Use

    MND Not Evicting Cat Museum Founder, Enforcement Only to Revert Back To Residential Use

    The founder of a volunteer-run cat museum is not being forced out of her premises, the Ministry of National Development (MND) said in a statement on Facebook last night.

    A number of online sites had suggested that Ms Jessica Seet, founder of The Lion City Kitty – The Cat Museum, Muses & Mansion, located on the second storey of 8 Purvis Street, and the cats she kept were being evicted by the MND after an inspection by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

    “MND did not evict Ms Seet from her premises. In an inspection of the premises in early 2017, URA officers found that the third-storey residential unit had been illegally converted into a cat shelter and adoption centre. Visitors entering the third-storey unit had to first purchase a ticket at the Cat Museum,” MND said.

    Ms Seet, 51, is a tenant of the second to fourth storeys of the building, with the third and fourth storeys registered as her residences.

    MND said URA had issued an enforcement notice to stop the unauthorised use of the third- storey unit and have it reverted back to residential use.

    “The notice does not affect the Cat Museum on the second storey. It also does not restrict Ms Seet from keeping and fostering her cats in her own residential premises,” the statement added.

    The museum has been operating for about 21/2 years.

    Ms Seet told The Straits Times that she had appealed against the enforcement action in June, but was told by MND last month that her appeal had been rejected.

    Meanwhile, the building’s landlord has also decided not to renew Ms Seet’s lease for the third- and fourth-storey units after its expiry at the end of this month.

    MND said: “This is a contractual matter between the landlord and Ms Seet. It is a decision made by the landlord and has nothing to do with the URA enforcement.”

    Ms Seet, who also runs a training company, said she is looking for new homes for the cats and has started a fund-raising campaign to raise $25,000 to rent a new space for the felines, and for equipment to care for neonatal kittens. As of 7.30pm yesterday, $11,500 had been raised.

    “We appreciate the good work being done by Ms Seet in caring for the stray cats,” said MND. “But this should not be done through illegal usage of residential space.”

    It added that it will do its best to assist if Ms Seet needs help looking for an alternative space for a cat shelter and adoption centre.

     

    Source: http://www.straitstimes.com

  • Singapore’s Cat Museum Might Be Closing Due To MND’s Decision And Its Kittens Need A Home

    Singapore’s Cat Museum Might Be Closing Due To MND’s Decision And Its Kittens Need A Home

    As we move to develop as a nation, we must not forget to help those without a voice.

    By the end of September, the orphan kittens and cats up for adoption and living at Singapore’s beloved Cat Museum on Purvis Street will be without a home. This comes after a decision made by the Minister of National Development, Mr. Lawrence Wong, that would prevent visitors (located on the 2nd floor of the same shop house), to meet and adopt the orphaned cats.

    Sounds a bit unfair? Well, it is. Unlike cat cafes where cats are constantly stressed from being handled by strangers, the Cat Museum ensures that the cats and visitors are always being supervised. There’s also a strict no food and drinks rule in the museum to avoid any contamination or spreading of germs.

    This is also Singapore’s only ‘Mama & Munchkins Nursery’, a programme to care for newborn kittens that no other animal welfare organisation in Singapore has. On top of that, the Cat Museum has held workshops like the Kiddie Cat Camp, which teaches children about proper handling of cats and their welfare.

    For now, the Museum will continue to operate from only one floor, while volunteers are working hard to get the orphans re-homed or relocated. There’s not much time left in September, so the next few weekends are crucial fundraising periods for the future of the Cat Museum where a part of the entrance fee to the museum will be set aside for the funds needed or you could always contribute to the cause via their online fundraising page. Time to help out some fur-riends!

    Or better yet, have a serious think about giving a kitten a forever home.

    Save the Orphan Baby Kittens

    We are innocent babies. What have we done to deserve this? Please Save Us…It is a very dark day for us as we announce that we, the Cats & Kittens fostered by the founder in her residence on the 3rd floor of the shop house will soon be homeless. We did our best to meow softly & not be smelly so we passed all National Environment Agency (NEA) inspections & we are healthy so we passed all Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) inspections too! Why?We have been sent an enforcement notice by Ministry of National Development Lawrence Wong, so we will be evicted. Visitors to the Museum will no longer be allowed to meet & adopt us, the orphan cats & kittens.This notice has angered our landlord who will not renew Meowmy’s lease, so even the Supurrstars have to go by the end of September.The saddest news of all is that this marks the end of Singapore’s only Mama & Munchkins Nursery, set-up to save us, the neo-natal babies that no other animal welfare organization in Singapore takes in, as we have to be bottle fed every 3 hours. It also helps save Mamas who were often dumped back on the streets while their babies taken away & re-homed.**Help us! Contribute to the new “Mamas & Munchkins nursery” https://give.asia/story/save_the_orphan_baby_kittens or a fund transfer to OCBC 686362385001 **Adopt Us! Volunteers are scrambling to rehome & relocate us, orphans.**3 FUND RAISING weekends for the Nursery. • The last 3 weekends of us living on the upper 2 floors will be from Thursday 7- Sunday 24 September. • There will be a premium price for these 3 weeks. $20 for 13 years & above $10 for ALL children 12 years & below. • Sessions will now be 1.5 hour blocks: Thu/Fri: 4-5.30pm or 5.30-7pm. Sat/Sun: 1-2.30pm or 2.30-4pm or 4-5.30pm or 5.30-7pm**Spread the word. Like and share us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Blog about us! Tell your friends & family!An iconic landmark of the civic district, The Cat Museum is an entirely volunteer run project, undertaken with the founder’s personal savings & was launched officially by K Shanmugam Sc Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law on 9 January 2015.For full Press Release: http://thecatmuseum.com.sg/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/5th-Sep-Press-Release-The-Cat-Museum.pdf

    Posted by The Cat Museum, Muses & Mansion of Singapore on Tuesday, 5 September 2017

     

    Source: http://thehoneycombers.com

  • 4 Farms, 80,500 Graves In CCK Cemetery To Make Way For Expanded Tengah Air Base

    4 Farms, 80,500 Graves In CCK Cemetery To Make Way For Expanded Tengah Air Base

    Three fish farms, one nursery and 80,500 graves in Choa Chu Kang cemetery will have to make way for an expanded Tengah Air Base, as part of plans to relocate the Paya Lebar Air Base from 2030.

    Occupants of the affected farms at Murai Farmway — Koon Lee Nursery Garden Centre, Goh Swee Hoon, Fisco Aquarium, Rigoh Fishery — received their notices of acquisition from Singapore Land Authority officers on Tuesday morning (July 18).

    These businesses, which are on 20-year leases originally slated to expire between 2027 and 2030, will now have to relocate by Jan 31, 2019. Compensation will be based on market value for the land on the date it is acquired, said the authorities.

    Apart from these four plots on 2, 17, 19 and 21 Murai Farmway, Chew’s Agriculture had announced last year that it is selling its farm premises and assets at 20 Murai Farmway to the Government for S$38.7 million. It is moving to a site 6.5 km away, to be purchased from the Government for close to S$4 million.

    Williton Orchids at 35 Murai Farmway will also not have its tendency renewed after it expires in June 2019.

    A total of 45,500 Chinese graves and 35,000 Muslim graves will also be affected.

    These will be progressively exhumed as they meet the minimum burial period of 15 years, with the first 5,000 Muslim graves slated for exhumation from the fourth quarter of 2018. This will be followed by 45,000 Chinese graves to be exhumed from fourth quarter 2019.

    Claims and registration for these graves — dated between 1955 and 1999 — will begin this September.

    Notices for the remaining 500 Chinese graves and 30,000 Muslim graves will be issued at a later date, after they have met the 15-year burial period.

    Costs of exhumation and cremation at the Choa Chu Kang crematorium (for Chinese graves) will be borne by the Government, but claimants will bear additional costs for performing additional rituals or placing the remains in private cemeteries.

    The exhumed Muslim graves will be reinterred into another part of the cemetery, said the authorities.

    These graves currently occupy about 100ha of land, while the farm plots gazetted for acquisition take up about 6.3ha.

    Part of the 1.8km Lim Chu Kang Road, including a portion of the Heritage Road at its northern segment, will be re-aligned to facilitate the air base’s expansion.

    “Agencies are studying the exact impact on the road, and possible mitigation strategies, which includes transplanting the trees to the new road,” said the Ministry of National Development, National Environment Agency and SLA in a joint press release on Tuesday.

    The Defence Ministry’s military training premises in the area will also be affected, but the actual boundaries of the expanded air base are still being worked out, said the authorities.

    Apart from Tengah Air Base, the Changi Airbase East will also be expanded to accommodate various assets and facilities to replace Paya Lebar Air Base.

    The relocation of Paya Lebar Air Base was first announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day Rally in 2013.

    The move will free up a large 800ha area in Paya Lebar — an area bigger than Bishan or Ang Mo Kio — for new homes, offices, factories and parks, and also remove height restrictions on a large area around Paya Lebar, Mr Lee had said, adding that the full changes will take place 20 to 30 years later.

    Owners of the affected farms and nursery told TODAY the news was unexpected and that they “needed time to process things”.

    Mr Mac Teo, who manages his family’s business at Koon Lee, is concerned about the “uncertainty as to whether (they) can find a place to relocate (to)”. He has recently added new shelving and storage fixtures as part of a 10-year improvement plan for the nursery.

    “We had felt secure because we thought there are 10 more years before our lease expires … The National Parks Board has not been able to share more information about new land available for tender. It is the uncertainty that is worrying,” said the 41-year-old.

    The Teo family had sold their former residence to lease this plot for the 2ha nursery, and have been living in the nursery’s premises since 1987.

    Over at Fisco Aquarium, which sells and exports ornamental fish, the elderly owner who declined to be named said the notice came “suddenly” and that they still “need time to process” the news and consider their next steps.

    “Why did they inform us when there are only 18 months to the deadline,” asked the man who is in his 70s. The farm has been on this 1.2 ha premise since 1988.

    The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said it will tender new farm plots for food fish farming in October, while details on tenders for spaces for ornamental fish farms and nursery land will be shared by relevant authorities “once available”.

     

    Source: http://www.todayonline.com

  • 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

  • Koh Eng Khoon – A Man Undeterred

    Koh Eng Khoon – A Man Undeterred

    While the police raid on Mr Koh Eng Khoon’s one-room rental flat on 29 April leaves some questions to be answered, Mr Koh himself is unperturbed, as he told The Independent (TISG).

    The police action came after letters were sent to the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, with hell notes attached, expressing disappointment with the upcoming closure of the Sungei Road flea market.

    The letters had been signed off with Mr Koh’s name.

    “Don’t forget the 200 people and supporters. We only ask for this place. That’s not much,” wrote the letter which was signed off by “Koh Eng Khoon (Friend)”.

    The raid, which reportedly took place around midnight, caught Mr Koh by surprise. When asked by the police if he had sent the letters, Mr Koh denied having done so. He has also since made a police report about the use of his name.

    “The police took photos, searched my things and opened my cupboards,” he told the media. “They asked if I knew how to write in English but I don’t. I didn’t even know about the existence of such a letter.”

    Mr Koh, who heads the Association for the Recycling of Second Hand Goods, said he is “not  at all” deterred by the incident.

    “I am doing the right thing,” he told TISG. “I am speaking for the voices of 200 old people. Nobody would speak out if I am intimidated. As long as there is room for further negotiations, I would not call it quits.”

    He said that the process of trying to engage the authorities has been a bitter and hopeless one for him. He is disappointed that during the planning process for Sungei Road, for example, the 200 vendors’ views were never sought. He has, to date, sent many letters to the authorities, including to PM Lee, the NEA and other ministers, only to be met with silence, he said.

    Mr Koh, 76, along with some friends and supporters, has been campaigning for an alternative site from the government for the vendors to continue their trade. His effort so far, however, has been met with rejection from the authorities.

    “The government is suggesting that we go through further education,” Mr Koh said. “How is that even possible for uneducated old people? I feel cheated by their proposed solutions. We have worked for employers enough. It’s time to work for our interests within our limited capability and resources.”

    Mr Koh tells TISG that his Member of Parliament, Tin Pei Ling, had paid him a visit and offered him help with his necessities. Mr Koh said he declined the offer as he does not require such help.

    The authorities, including the NEA and the Ministry of Social Development and Family, have also extended assistance to the stall owners in Sungei Road, including offering to help them obtain hawker stalls.

    Out of those who play their trade at the flea market, however, only 5 have taken up hawker stalls, Mr Koh said.

    He explained that setting up and running a hawker stall is not cheap, and that they would not be selling secondhand goods if they could afford the rents of hawker stalls.

    The Sungei Road flea market, on the other hand, is a rent-free place to cater to the elderly who even have difficulty to finance their household utilities bills.

    Supporters have taken to petition campaigns to try and change the fate of the flea market, but it is unlikely to move the authorities’ position on the matter.

    As for the letters sent to the PM and the DPM, the police have arrested two persons suspected to be involved in the incident.

    Some have questioned the police action against Mr Koh, and asked if it was appropriate for the authorities to raid his home and seize his handphone simply based, apparently, on a letter with his name on it.

    The police visit, Mr Koh said, had startled his wife, who had been sleeping in the room.

    Since there was apparently no evidence to link Mr Koh to the letters, could the police have instead requested that he went down to the police station the next day to help with investigations, instead of raiding his home at midnight?

    Was there a need to pay him a visit so late in the night, especially considering that Mr Koh and his wife are both senior citizens?

    Could anyone be put through the same situation if his or her name was used by others for nefarious purposes?

    Mr Koh, when asked if he is upset that his name was used in such a way, said he is not.

    “In a way, I am glad because it brought publicity to the issue we have been campaigning on,” he said. “Until this incident, not much publicity was given to our cause.”

     

    Source: www.theindependent.sg