Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Government Generosity

First, the good news: the much maligned Housing & Development Board (HDB) is finally pricing one of its public housing flats at $16,000. Needless to say, there are hoops you have to jump through to land one.

The first batch of two-room flats (in non-matured estates only) are reserved for eligible singles. As in earning $5,000 or less, aged 35 years or older, and applying under Joint Singles Scheme (JSS) to qualify for the $40,000 Additional CPF Housing Grant (AHG). The AHG for Single Singapore Citizen Scheme (SSC) is only $20,000.

That's how the 2-room flats, normally priced at $76,000 (35 sq m) to $133,000 (45 sq m), can be knocked down to $16,000. Okay, okay, two full grown adults will have to share 35 sq m to avail themselves of the Government's generosity. You can't exactly throw a big house warming party, but do note the standard size of a jail cell is usually 5.5 sq m.

The important thing to remember is that what HDB used to sell for $76,000 can actually be let go at $16,000. Without raiding the reserves, or risk HDB going bankrupt. The sour taste in your mouth comes about when you start thinking of the fat profit margins they have been raking in all these years.

Here's another bit of good news that they have been keeping for themselves. The young men serving two years of National Service can have their wisdom tooth removed for free. If it's a matter of simple extraction, the savings may not be much, private dental clinics charge a maximum of $150 per pesky wisdom tooth. But if the wisdom tooth is impacted, and oral surgery is required, we are talking about $1,200 to $1,600 per tooth. If your son or brother was not informed of the dental benefits, and had to go to the government clinic after ORD, the subsidised charges could be $600 to $800 per wisdom tooth removed under local anesthesia. You would think the doting parents are told about this during BMT, right? Wrong! You want freebies from this bunch of Scrooges, you need to learn to squeeze blood out of stone.

18 comments:

  1. Shoebox of 45sqm for a single and it costs $133k ! Wow, I can but a condo downtown in Bangkok and still have chum change for retirement.

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  2. Just in time for PM Lee to tout "better home" in his ndp message. 48 years and we are still dreaming about affordable home, when will we get to the healthcare cost.

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  3. Yah.. why they keep emphasizing on a pipe dream? $16,000? Dream on guys. Be realistic, pay $100,000 if u want a 40sqm space. No free lunch in Singapore unless u are a minister.

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  4. Talking about healthcare - when are they extending $8 heart surgery to ALL citizens?

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    1. I am inclined to believe $8 heart surgery is only meant for those without a heart but with the brain of a cow. How many will qualify ?

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    2. It's actually an insult for a cow to pay $8 for heart surgery. Shouldn't it be free in the first place ?

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  5. How can two full grown adult singles share 35 sq m? Is this the government's way of encouraging same sex sharing a bed?

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    1. hummmm,,, very suspicious

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    2. Can you imagine the 35 year old holding a party at his home and introducing his roommate to his guests?

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    3. Come to think of it, several species in Mandai zoo have more than 35 sq m of space. I will gladly pay to see KhawBW and MahBT living together in a flat of similar size.

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  6. Just like the eligibility criteria to be President of Singapore.
    Maybe only 400 Singaporeans can qualify to be a Presidential candidate.

    So likewise for the $16k 2 room HDB flat.
    Unlikely to be more than 400 people who can qualify.

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    1. Of course, mah! Must tell only the good news.We are rich,only 3000 poor people( qualify for social welfare payout of $400 pm) in Singapore based on their standard.

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  7. How foolish of you to think that these handouts by the PAP are real - the PAP will increase some tax or tariff (like the ERP recently) and then they will take it all back and more. LOL

    PAP - the left hand giveth a little, the right hand taketh much.

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  8. They built 519 flats, one third reserved for singles, and all in the boondocks. Hardly earth shattering. Must be to garnish Ah Loong's national day speech, for which he is spending 10 days to compose, the same old empty rhetoric. Generous my foot!

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    1. Ah Loong has to spend 10 days composing his speech because he has run out of lies to tell and it is definitely getting harder to fool some people all the time.

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    2. I say, what happened to all those smart oxbridge scholars? Times certainly have changed, I know some old farts' speeches used to be written by some of them. here's another sign though: none of those who wrote some of those speeches are among your $-0 m condo buying PS and DS, and the head of civil service certainly never had that "privilege".

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    3. Maybe Janadas Devan, Chief of Government Communications at the MCI, is writing the speech, or helping. Or even Warren Fernandez of the Shit Times. They know how to spin things around, and make everyone feel GOOD.

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  9. one always has to be eternally grateful for the goodness from the richer and more powerful, coz if you are not, they have more to get you with

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