Speech by Minister Chee Hong Tat at The HDB Awards Ceremony 2025
Sep 23, 2025
Opening
Distinguished guests,
Colleagues,
Partners and friends from the Built Environment sector
Good evening. I am happy to join you at tonight’s awards ceremony.
Let me begin by congratulating all the award recipients this evening. Earlier, I had the chance to speak with some of you when my colleagues showed me around the exhibition panels, and am heartened by the pride and passion you bring to your projects; the innovation, the human-centric focus on how to deliver good projects for residents, and for some of you, to do so especially during the difficult COVID period. Building quality homes is very important. But beyond that, you continue to push boundaries – experimenting with new designs, embracing innovative technologies, and finding fresh ways to make our living environment even better. It is this spirit of constant improvement that keeps our public housing world-class, and ensures that each generation of Singaporeans can look forward to homes that are not only liveable, but also sustainable and future-ready.
As Meng Dui shared earlier, this year is a significant milestone for HDB as it celebrates its 65th anniversary. HDB’s story began even before Singapore’s independence, when in 1960, it took over the mission of housing a nation from the Singapore Improvement Trust. Since then, HDB, together with all our industry partners, has been central to shaping the Singapore we know today.
Close collaboration with industry partners
This close partnership has helped us to overcome even the toughest challenges. For example, HDB’s building programme was earlier impacted by disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. But HDB worked very hard with the industry to catch up with the delays, putting in place extensive measures, such as sourcing for workers overseas to overcome manpower shortages and streamlining processes to expedite approvals. Thanks to their efforts, all the pandemic-delayed projects were delivered in February this year.
With the upcoming BTO sales exercise this October, HDB would have launched 102,300 flats since 2021, exceeding the ambitious target of 100,000 that we set out to achieve by this year. This achievement was possible only because of your close collaboration, dedication and hard work by all my HDB colleagues and our industry partners. Well done, and thank you once again.
Building on this momentum, we will continue to ensure a stable and sufficient housing supply. HDB will launch another 55,000 BTO flats from now to 2027, which is a 10% increase from the 50,000 that we earlier committed to launch in this period. This will help us better meet the housing aspirations of Singaporeans in the years ahead.
Berlayar masterplan
Tonight, let me share about one of these projects in the pipeline. I am excited to unveil the Masterplan for Berlayar, a new estate within the Greater Southern Waterfront, which will be built on the site of the former Keppel Club.
The name “Berlayar” is linked to the area’s history. ‘Batu Berlayar’, which means “Sailing Rock”. It was once a prominent granite outcrop that formed a gateway with another rock outcrop on Sentosa’s shore, to guide sailors passing through Keppel Harbour. Today, we honour this heritage as we create a new gateway for urban living in the Greater Southern Waterfront.
Berlayar will be more than just a housing estate – it will be a vibrant waterfront community where nature, heritage and modern living come together. When completed, the estate will provide about 10,000 new homes, of which, about 7,000 will be public housing. The first BTO project – Berlayar Residences, will offer 870 flats for sale, when we launch it in October, next month.
Let me highlight four key features of Berlayar that make it an attractive estate.
Distinctive waterfront homes amidst lush greenery
First, residents will enjoy “Harbourfront Living Close to Nature”. Drawing inspiration from the sloping hills of Bukit Merah, the BTO projects in Berlayar will feature staggered heights that step down towards green spaces, enabling residents to enjoy scenic views of the Southern Ridges and the coast from their homes.
A wide range of green spaces and amenities
Second, we have planned for up to 10 hectares of lush green spaces within the estate – about one fifth of the estate’s total area. A 60m-wide central corridor will form part of a new park that will anchor the estate, complemented by three other green corridors linking the Southern Ridges and Labrador Nature Reserve. Together, they will provide recreational spaces for residents as well as serve as ecological corridors.
This is a result of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that we carried out to better understand the existing biodiversity and guide sensitive development, as well as engagements to gather feedback on our proposed plans from various stakeholders, including nature groups.
Beyond the park and green corridors, there will also be green spaces within the development such as roof gardens and skyrise greenery, providing residents with visual relief from urban surroundings while offering habitats for urban biodiversity. In fact, this biodiversity theme will extend to the design of the playgrounds at Berlayar Residences, which draws inspiration from the smooth-coated otters and their natural habitats.
Well-connected precincts and convenient amenities
Third, residents will benefit from Berlayar’s central location and connectivity. Most homes will be within a ten-minute walk from an MRT station, and as a car-lite estate, residents will also be able to get around easily by walking and cycling, with trails through parks and open spaces.
This is on top of the vibrant mix of amenities that will be available within the estate – from supermarkets and eating houses to preschools, clinics and community spaces.
Smart and sustainable features within the estate
Fourth, residents can look forward to smart and sustainable living in Berlayar. Homes will be designed to maximise natural ventilation and minimise heat gain. Smart initiatives will also be introduced to help manage energy, waste and water more efficiently, to enhance comfort while reducing our environmental impact.
Berlayar marks an exciting first step towards realising our vision for urban living along the Greater Southern Waterfront. It reflects our vision for the future of public housing – to provide not just roofs over our heads, but also liveable spaces where our communities can thrive.
Meeting housing aspirations of Singaporeans at all stages of life
Berlayar is just one of many new developments to come. There are many more to come. As we build more quality homes, including homes in attractive locations, we will keep these flats affordable and accessible, so that Singaporeans at every life stage can find a home that meet their needs.
Improve accessibility for homebuyers
First, we remain committed to supporting first-time homebuyers. We have enhanced priority access for first-timer families by introducing the First-Timer (Parents and Married Couples) category, and enhanced singles’ access to 2-room Flexi BTO flats across the island. For second-timer families, we have increased the allocation quota of 3-room and larger BTO flats for these families by 5%-points since the July 2025 BTO sales exercise. This will support their upgrading aspirations and right-sizing plans.
We are also building more, faster, and in different parts of Singapore, to meet Singaporeans’ housing needs. Besides the Greater Southern Waterfront, we will also be building homes in new areas like Mount Pleasant, Woodlands North Coast and Sembawang North.
We are also building more Shorter Waiting Time (SWT) flats. These flats have waiting times of less than three years. This year, we will launch 4,500 SWT flats, exceeding our target of 3,800 by almost 20%. And over the next two years, we will launch about 4,000 of such flats yearly. This is more than one-third higher than the annual target of 2,000 to 3,000 SWT flats which we committed to earlier. This will benefit our buyers, especially those with more urgent housing needs. To be able to meet all these targets to build more, build in more places, and build faster, we need to work closely with all of you. Thank you to HDB colleagues for the hard work that they have put in, and to our industry partners for the strong collaboration. It is only with your help and support that we can deliver all these flats to meet the housing aspirations of our people.
Experiment with white-flat layout for greater flexibility across life stages
Second, we will continue to give buyers greater flexibility to design and personalise their flat based on their needs and preferences. We launched our pilot White Flat project at Crawford Heights last year, where homeowners were given an open-concept design with seamless living and bedroom spaces, to adapt their space as their needs change. Next month, we will be offering more White Flats at the first BTO project to be launched at Mount Pleasant.
Support housing needs of seniors
Finally, as our population ages, we will support the housing needs of seniors. We will provide more Community Care Apartments, which combine senior-friendly housing with care arrangements. This complements our efforts to build Age Well Neighbourhoods, which will support seniors who prefer to age in their existing homes. These initiatives will allow seniors to age independently and with dignity, within their communities.
Conclusion
Tonight’s awards are not just about celebrating excellence in design, engineering, and construction. They are about celebrating people – all of you here who care deeply about creating homes, shaping communities, and building a Singapore that future generations will be proud to call home.
Together, we are not only building flats, but also nurturing communities where children can grow, families can flourish, and seniors can age with dignity.
With your continued partnership, I am confident that we will keep raising the standard of housing and community living in Singapore.
Congratulations once again to all our award recipients. I wish everyone a wonderful evening ahead. Thank you.