Incompatible Polices

Artwork by Ward Jenkins , Portland, Oregon, United States

(http://wardomatic.blogspot.com)

As I read about 2 recent newspaper articles about Singapore having her own World Heritage Site and about how Singapore progressed rapidly from slums to a world class city, I cannot help but feel that the demographics of the Tiong Bahru Estate will be changed within the next 5 years due to some incompatible policies.

Demographics – Then and Now
Before MAS relaxed the rules in July 2005 to allow banks to increase their loan quantum to 90% as well as allow CPF members to use their funds for financing properties with short leases, Tiong Bahru was a rather forgotten place.

The only thing worth coming for a visit is probably Seng Poh Market (now known as Tiong Bahru Market).

It was tough to offload or acquire properties here. You either have to sell it very cheaply or you have a find a very CASH RICH buyer.

So what was the scenario at that time?

While waiting for that elusive buyer to appear, most landlords either left their properties to rot or they rent it out to just about anyone and in whatever numbers. As long as they get to collect their rent promptly every month, no one really cares about how many people are living within the premise.

So within a span of about 30 years, Tiong Bahru Estate degenerated from a middle class population to a place where you could only find elderly people, migrant workers and bar hostesses etc.

This is the reason why some people still associate Tiong Bahru Estate as a place for the old and forgotten as well as a cheap and convenient place for transient worker to take refuge.

It just wasn’t a place to be loved and treasured at all.

(That may be the reason why some Singaporeans put their noses high up in the air when Tiong Bahru was proposed as a possible candidate for a UNESCO World Heritage Site status.)

I think it was a miracle that Tiong Bahru managed to reinvent itself and slowly transformed its image from an elderly and grimy estate to a hip and happening estate during the last few years.

Was it the conservation status that was awarded by URA in December 2003 that spurred that transformation? I have my doubts.

In this En-Bloc crazed and Get Rich Quickly society that we live in, having a conservation status actually gets in the way!

But I will be the first to admit that it was the En-Bloc phenomenon that helped accelerate the gentrification of this neighbourhood over the last 3 years.

Almost every old building in the city-centre was being en-bloced and sleepy places like River Valley became a huge construction site. Many residents and tenants who loved the convenience of River Valley started looking for an alternative location.

Some of them unwittingly stumbled into Tiong Bahru and decided to settle down here.

Very quickly, this sleepy and grimy place soon became a great place to live in and the neighbourhood began to change as more and more brave “EXPATS” moved in.

Even the shops around this estate became trendier as a result.

Suddenly no one was shy to tell people that they live in Tiong Bahru!

As the newer residents began to outdo each other in their renovations, Magazines took notice and began to allocate more space to this “COOL” estate.

Very soon, demand surged as it was fashionable to own a hip and happening Pre-War Art Deco Conserved Apartment.

The neighbourhood is still evolving as people are still discovering it. However, I fear that the gentrification has plateaued and we are retarding back to those pre en-bloc days again!

Half Hearted Loans & Policies
Most of the people who want to live in these apartments nowadays are mainly the 30 something age group.

This group of people tend to have high disposable income and have very strong opinions. They are also willing to try out something that is different unlike the usual condominiums that most people strive to own.

But that willingness is often stopped dead in the tracks when it comes to financing.

Despite their high disposable income, banks do not give out long tenure loans.

At the moment, it is between 10 – 15 years and they may only grant the buyers a 60% - 70% loan.

To make this cash intensive acquisition even more painful, CPF has a rule that limits how much these buyers can withdraw the money from their CPF to service the loans. Buyers usually have to use cash to service the loans within 5 to 10 years into their loan tenure.

Nevermind the fact that these buyers still has a lot of spare CPF money lying in their account, they simply just cannot touch it.

The reason why CPF has this rule is to allow older CPF members to have a wider choice of housing during their twilight years. While the rule is to protect the supposedly helpless and defenceless elderly, it penalises the residents of Tiong Bahru!

These flats within the Tiong Bahru Estate are not exactly ELDERLY friendly as they are not fitted with modern facilities like lifts. I have my doubts that I will be enthusiastic about living on level 4 when I’m 69 years old.

The best bet for this place is to get the younger people to buy it right?

But the CPF rule is doing the exact opposite right now. It has made this place favourable for the elderly to buy instead.

So let’s just assume that despite all these challenges, the young buyer still insist on buying a unit now, I can bet with you, they will be leasing the place out when CPF ask them to pay their housing loans with cash instead of paying with CPF money. So the rules effectively evacuate all the residents, leaving behind only tenants.

Most tenants here are nice people but when you cram too many people into a small apartment, the sense of responsibility toward the apartment and the neighbourhood disappears.

(Articles on the impact of Overcrowding : Article 1; Article 2; Article 3; Article 4; Article 5; Article 6)

Increasingly I am getting more and more request from enterprising people who want to rent apartment with the ultimate intention of subletting them out.

I’m extremely upset when these people blatantly tell me they are going to sublet out the apartment to 12 – 20 people.

When I point out to them that it wasn’t the right thing to do, they will say it has always been like this here at Tiong Bahru!

And these people sure know how to press the price down. They bad mouth the entire estate and give you a low ball offer at $1.8k per month!

I’m certainly not worried about those renovated units as those units will usually be rented out to responsible tenants.

It is those units that haven’t been renovated since the owner’s grandfather lived in it that I worry most.

These landlords will grab the $1.8k and probably do not give two hoots about how the place will be thrashed by these people.

Frankly, I’ve got no problem with these migrant workers so long they share the same love and care we have for this estate.

But since most of they are transient workers, they may not care enough to ensure that this is a great place to live in for everyone.

Just walk around in the morning before the cleaners come by, you can find a lot of disgusting stuff.

I never once understood how people could toss used condoms and soiled sanitary pads onto the five foot ways! It is such a disgrace and not a neighbourly thing to do!

I’m ranting about this today because I know that the whole of Tiong Bahru has the potential to become another Golden Mile Complex if no one cares. (I actually wanted to reference Geylang but people here will protest about that association)

Golden Mile Complex was once described as a vertical slum, terrible eyesore & a national disgrace by NMP Ivan Png.

The essence of his comments was about the resident’s blatant disregard for fellow residents and national welfare.

I fear the comments may be applicable here in time to come.

So why was Tiong Bahru Estate conserved with such a short lease left in 2003?

How would the residents be able to off load their property to unlock the value of their home when they grow old?

Why would people want to invest or renovate their homes if they do not see any future here?

The relevant authorities should urgently come up with alternative financing or CPF rules for conserved buildings so that these flats or estate could continue to be made relevant for the present and future generation.

Otherwise, these present rules may unwittingly turn these beautiful apartments into slums!

I certainly hoped that this place was not conserved to showcase slum living.