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The Straits Times
Nov 11, 2011
'More space per person despite smaller HDB flats'

IF RESIDENTS use good interior design and arrange their furniture to create better storage options and a feeling of space, smaller flats do not have to mean a lower quality of living, said Housing Board chief executive Cheong Koon Hean yesterday.

She was speaking at the HDB Professional Forum at the HDB Hub Auditorium, where architects, engineers and contractors met to exchange ideas. She was responding to a question from reporters about how HDB flats have become smaller over the years.

'You see this in many cities,' she said. 'In big cities, people do pay attention to how they do up the inside of the flat and it can be a very comfortable living environment.'

Mrs Cheong added that the amount of space an occupant gets has actually increased over the years, even though the flat sizes are smaller, as Singapore's household size has also decreased. She said that while big families were common in the past, families might now have only two to four members.

The average size of households went from 4.9 in 1989 to 3.5 last year. Calculations made with figures taken from the HDB website show that in 1989, with an average household size of five, a 103 sq m, four-room flat in Toa Payoh would have given each occupant about 21 sq m of space. In 2006, with an average household size of 3.5, a 91 sq m flat would have given each occupant 26 sq m.

The HDB-organised forum, with the theme Quality And Design In Construction, included presentations by architects of public housing projects who won the HDB Awards 2011 last week.

The HDB also launched a book titled Green Living By The Waters, a compilation of all 108 entries received for the Punggol Waterfront Housing Design competition started in December 2008. It was HDB's first-ever Housing Design competition.

All 108 entries are also on exhibition until Sunday at the HDB Hub Atrium in Toa Payoh, including the winning entry by Swiss architectural firm Group8asia, which partnered local firm Aedas.

The public housing project of 1,200 units is due to be launched by the middle of next year. Three blocks of flats, descending in height towards the waterway, will occupy the 4.9ha plot.

SHULI SUDDERUDDIN

Quote:IF RESIDENTS use good interior design and arrange their furniture to create better storage options and a feeling of space, smaller flats do not have to mean a lower quality of living, said Housing Board chief executive Cheong Koon Hean yesterday.

So... can we use the same analogy...

If Singaporeans use good judgments and allocate their votes to send better oppositions in to parliament, lesser PAP MPs do not have to mean a lower quality of governance.

Sometimes, you just wonder how much EQ is in the brain.
This explanation has been mocked and ridiculed by citizens and she actually repeated it again.

(11-11-2011, 08:53 AM)yeokiwi Wrote: [ -> ]This explanation has been mocked and ridiculed by citizens and she actually repeated it again.

Sounds like she came from the same camp as the SMRT CEO, who said that crowded trains don't matter as it is a choice as to whether the commuter wants to board such trains.

People in their Ivory Towers can never imagine what it is like to be poor, desperate or destitute.

(11-11-2011, 08:53 AM)yeokiwi Wrote: [ -> ]

Quote:IF RESIDENTS use good interior design and arrange their furniture to create better storage options and a feeling of space, smaller flats do not have to mean a lower quality of living, said Housing Board chief executive Cheong Koon Hean yesterday.

So... can we use the same analogy...

If Singaporeans use good judgments and allocate their votes to send better oppositions in to parliament, lesser PAP MPs do not have to mean a lower quality of governance.

Sometimes, you just wonder how much EQ is in the brain.
This explanation has been mocked and ridiculed by citizens and she actually repeated it again.

In that case, we should pay them a lot lesser and then tell them,

"More $$ to spend despite lower salary"

The reasoning will be the same ie. use good financial management so that you get value for $$ and cut down on unnecesary spending.

Why are there so many “brainy” people occupying top positions in statutory board drawing top dollars but behaving “brainlessly”?? How many can afford to spend money on interior design? It is especially challenging to create space within such a small area and the interior designing company will sure charge a premium for that. She might as well says don’t buy any furniture, don’t buy sofa, just leave the hall empty and you have more space and save money at the same time.

And the example of space occupied by each occupant is really childish. Does she ever wonder why household is getting smaller and smaller? With housing price keep increasing and available space keep reducing, how do you expect people to have bigger families? And yet she says each occupant have more space now than before, amazing!!! Yes, it is force by circumstance that we have more space now than before.

This is similar to a situation where the taxes for cigarette keep increasing and making smoking more expensive. Those who cannot afford it will switch to a cheaper brand and save some money. And then with the money saved he/she can now afford to smoke more. And yes, it is force by circumstance that smokers smoke more now than before.

It is the same mental model as the "teach less... learn more" camp.

(11-11-2011, 12:03 PM)Ben Wrote: [ -> ]Why are there so many “brainy” people occupying top positions in statutory board drawing top dollars but behaving “brainlessly”??

Why? Because it is no longer meritocracy when you are feeding out of the bowl provided by familee.

(11-11-2011, 12:03 PM)wsreader Wrote: [ -> ]It is the same mental model as the "teach less... learn more" camp.

In theory, the kids are supposed to be motivated to find out more and supposedly become "trained" to be more resourceful and and all the positive effects...

In practice (only my personal observations), kids with parents who are either more involved in their studies and/or have better financial resources end up with a better head-start (tuition, enrichment classes, reference books, internet access,...). At the other spectrum, where the kid is left on their own, their studies inevitably suffers. The text books are so thin with minimal contents and if they were to just rely on that for their studies (for exams), it's no wonder I see kids getting as low as less than 10/100! This is especially true at the lower Primary, where you'd hardly expect the poorer kids to be disciplined enough to utilise free resources at the school (library, computer lab,..).

So, if you have kids about to go to Primary school, better not assume the system is the same as when you were a kid (when you used to have proper text books to study and find answers for your homework).

Me think she is just propagating PAPAYA's social engineering/conditioning of the population, which works beautifully in the 1970s till maybe the 2000s. Don't forget almost all Elites are groomed by the PAPAYA. They tend to forget times have changed. The population are better educated and even the not so educated (like me), with the internet i know what is going on. Papaya cannot always "brainwashed" the main population to accept their policies.

LOL! I think her colleagues at other ministries trying to encourage more babies and multi-generation living will gently poke her... Want to cover ass can; but don't kick their rice bowls!

Imagine married couples telling their parents:

1) Sorry mom and dad, we can't stay with you. We will make your house "smaller".

2) Sorry mom and dad, we are not into grandchildren... They will cramp out our "space".

Why can't just tell the truth!? Build smaller flats so we can give the "illusion" of affordability mah! If the flats are same size as your parents' old flats, you all cannot afford one lah! Opps! That is also not politically correct...

I hope we don't sell shoe-box HDB flats in the future and say look! Japanese live like that also can mah! Just follow the Zen minimalistic look. So much space can be "created"!

Hello! I flunked my science subjects, but I still know some basic laws of physics... LOL!