1. A very good evening to one and all! First, let me wish everyone a very Happy Chinese New Year and all the best in the coming year. I am happy to be here to celebrate this Spring Festival with so many of our senior citizens tonight.

2. The Year of the Pig was an active year for our senior citizens. The Tampines East Community Club (TECC) Senior Citizens’ Executive Committee organised many activities, including guided tours, karaoke sessions and community gardening. The Year of the Rat would be just as exciting. We will continue to organise more activities and encourage residents, both young and old, to take part in these community events.

3. Tonight, I have some more good news for you. I am pleased to announce that the HDB flats in Blocks 257 to 262 of Tampines Street 21 have been selected for the Home Improvement Programme (HIP). The HIP is a new upgrading programme announced by the Prime Minister at the National Day Rally last year.

4. The HIP will deal with some common maintenance problems in the older flats. These include the repair of spalling concrete, and replacement of waste pipes and pipe sockets (“bamboo pole holders”). These items will be fully funded by the Government if the residents collectively vote in favour of the upgrading programme.

5. Residents can also choose other repair items that are good to have but not be essential. These include items such as toilet upgrading and new entrance door and refuse chute hopper. The Government will subsidise these items at a higher rate – 90% to 95% of the cost of these items, depending on flat-type.

6. I am also pleased to inform you that Blocks 501-503, 505, 508, 509 at Tampines Central 1 have been selected for the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP). Many of the residents in these blocks have been asking for lift upgrading. The cost of the LUP will be heavily subsidised by the Government for the eligible households. The Government will pay the bulk of the cost. Residents will only need to contribute 7.5% and 10% of the cost depending on your flat type.

7. I will form working committees to gather your feedback and work out the details of HIP and LUP in these precincts. When the details are finalised, we will conduct polls. Seventy-five per cent of the eligible households in the block must vote in favour of the upgrading programmes before we can proceed with the HIP and LUP. I look forward to your strong support for these programmes.

8. As these HDB blocks were completed more than 20 years ago, HIP and LUP will improve the residents’ living environment and enhance the value of the HDB flat. Even as we build new HDB estates, we will continue to provide affordable upgrading and improvements to the older flats to bring the benefits of newer designs and improvements to these estates.

9. Indeed, the Government is committed to provide attractive and affordable HDB flats to house the majority of Singaporeans. Some of you may have heard that HDB resale prices increased by about 17.5% in 2007, and may wonder how the Government will make sure the public housing in Singapore remains affordable.

10. For the vast majority of Singapore families who already own HDB flats, the recent rise in HDB flat prices means that the value of your property has also increased correspondingly. This is good news for you. Your HDB flats would now be worth more should you decide to sell them on the resale market.

11. But I know that the recent increases have also sparked concern amongst younger Singaporeans, especially those who are planning to settle down in the near future, that HDB flats are now less affordable.

12. I would like to assure you that the Government remains committed to providing affordable public housing to Singaporean families. This is achieved through the disbursement of significant housing subsidies to help newly-weds buy their first HDB flat, and the provision of mortgage financing at a concessionary interest rate.

13. In recent years, we have focused more subsidies to help lower income first-timers to step-up into the ranks of homeownership. The Additional CPF Housing Grant (AHG) was introduced in Mar 2006, and in August last year, the income ceiling for the AHG was raised from $3,000 to $4,000, and the grant quantum increased by $10,000 such that the highest tier grant is now worth $30,000. A recent Ministry of Finance (MOF) simulation estimated that the typical young low-income household could enjoy housing subsidies worth about $88,000.

14. As a result of the generous housing subsidies given to eligible citizen households, HDB flats have continued to remain affordable. I want to emphasize how affordable HDB flats are. HDB’s records show that recent buyers of new HDB flats use only about 20% of their monthly household income to service their housing loans. This means that families can service their housing loan entirely from their CPF Ordinary Account contribution, without any cash outlay. This is also significantly lower than the 40% Debt Servicing Ratio (DSR) which the industry uses to gauge affordability.

15. Resale HDB flats remain generally affordable to buyers. The market appears to be stabilizing, so there is no reason for buyers to rush in at this point. The HDB Resale Price Index grew by only 1% last month, and we expect prices to grow at a more moderate pace in 2008. The proportion of resale transactions with positive Cash-Over-Valuation (COV) has also dropped to 84% in January, from a high of 86% in 4Q07. The median COV has also decreased from $22,000 in 4Q07 to $21,000 in January. HDB will continue to monitor the situation closely.

16. Another matter that is close to our heart is the cost of food. Even before Chinese New Year, the prices of food items have been rising. However, the spike in prices is not unique to Singapore. Other countries, like China, USA, Malaysia also face similar situations. This is a global phenomenon, caused by several factors such as bad weather; rising fuel prices; rising living standards and increased food consumption in countries like China and India.

17. The best way to manage this it is to keep our market open, so that we can buy food from many sources at the most competitive prices. Of course, we will ensure that the food we import is safe to eat.

18. For example, our rice is imported from Thailand, Myanmar and India. Our poultry supply come from as far away as Brazil and USA. Our pork comes from Australia, Brazil and Indonesia, and our vegetables from Malaysia, China and Australia.

19. However, consumers can also play an important part in managing their cost of living. They can shop around and compare prices for available offers. They can consider house brands offered by supermarkets, which are generally (10-15%) cheaper. They can also consider frozen meat, which can be at least 15-20% cheaper than chilled meat - some cuts are even 50% cheaper.

20. I know many housewives feel that frozen meat may not taste as good as chilled or fresh meat. But do you know for a fact that most of the restaurants and hawkers use frozen meat to cook? Even sashimi comes from frozen fish.

21. AVA will soon introduce a series of education activities to show consumers how they can handle and cook frozen meat, to promote greater consumption of frozen meat.

22. As a small country with an open economy, Singapore will be affected by world economy and global trends. But, I am confident that we can weather any storms that lie ahead. The Government will help those Singaporeans in need, for example through public housing grants and subsidies working hard to keep prices down. But, you must also play your part, by being cautious in your expenditure, whether in buying a flat or in your daily marketing.

23. On this note, I would like to wish everyone good fortune and good health in the Year of Rat. Thank you and have a pleasant evening!

>>back to top