How Singapore Solved Housing
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- Опубліковано 30 кві 2020
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This should be a series "How (country) X Solved Y"
How Austria solved the morality of Electricity 🤗
How Germany Solved The Treaty Of Versailles
I concur
How Sweden solved the Coronavirus crisis.
@@KaiWut Germany gets too much attention when "just cause" for war was Austrian/Balkan conflicts were distracting.
1918 politics weren't the most sensible either but had little choice, given the conference of Vienna and Marshall plan were unthinkable.
I love my 4-room flat. We are located next to a school, right across a MRT train station, food courts, shops, market, clinics, fast foods...
Both my husband and I don't even own driving licenses (nor feel the need to) since the MRT station is located just across the road from us.
And yes, I love how safe Singapore is. I'm a female and I used to roam around my neighborhood at like 3am in the middle of the night to catch pokemons. lol.
Is Singapore a welcoming country to tourists/ visitors?
@@DadOfCall yes!
@@DadOfCall of course! 😊
New citizens,nothing to eat go back to where they are from........
@@DadOfCall International tourism is accounted for around 4.1% of Singapore's national GDP, with a direct contribution of $17.7 billion, it is still on the rise. Singapore heavily depends on tourism, which is why many people have lost jobs and are losing jobs in this field of work during the pandemic.
this amazes me two fold:
that their government has to have such low level of corruption to pull that off, and that their leaders had so much foresight.
I was born and raised in sg and yea wow... ive never thought about gov corruption. And in school everytime we do leadership stuff. I feel like almost all of us try our best to lead and find best strategy etc. Mayhe cuz we are all so scared of losing lol
True...but imagine you were one of those people working hard your whole life, not enjoying the luxury to buy some land to live from it and government takes it away and gives you peanuts for it as a compensation.
it surprises me that some of the laws mentioned here can be heavily exploited and yet I don't think that happened and they succeeded greatly
Honestly I think a large reason Singapore can successfully pull things like this off is thanks to their hardline approach to corruption.
when you realize how much our ministers are paid, you will know why there isn't much corruption. Everything in Singapore is institutionalized, from housing to education to financial. Even if there is corruption, it can be easily phrased in a way that it is not. It's an authoritarian country with the illusion of freedom.
Honestly as a singaporean, my biggest blessings (and curses) are that growing up, I never knew what tax and visa was because I’ve never had to apply for a travel visa or pay tax for anything I bought. I never feared staying out late as a women or experienced natural disasters or even thought about government corruption. Of course Singapore isn’t perfect, but I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
Majulah Singapura!
GST: am i a joke to you?
How hard is it to immigrate there as an American? Or anyone else, for that matter? As you can imagine, my faith in my government has been damaged profoundly since 2000
same lol. i didn’t know what a visa was until i was like in secondary school, even though i traveled a decent bit to the US, China, Korea, London, Thailand and Malaysia. I can’t rmb where else, but I would think normally, most countries would need visas to go at least one of those places
Amen, sistah! From the US--your worth-as-a-person is almost totally determined by how much money you have and, therefore, your value to the government and corporations.
Hong Kong: wait you guys are getting houses?
more like barbie doll houses
@@lores996 *China wants to know your location*
@@lores996 You sure don't get the joke don't you... smh
* getting leases on apartments
@Jonathan Williams Yea right as if Hong Kongers were not living in the same coffin rooms for decades during British rules loll
Go back and read some history books will ya?
As a Singaporean, it makes me super proud to know that our government has done something considered impossible to the rest of the world. I am super proud of how far we had come, but where we are going to go still is a huge question.
FYI, every five years, we repaint every single HDB in different colours, which is chosen via poll by that HDB's residents. It's always a fresh look and keeps the community excited about their own home
The painting also coincides near the elections.
@@andresiniesta9955 Yes, sure all 1 million, all painted just before election.
Hi Rosaline ! For me, a European, spent 20 years in California, Singapore is really interesting. I really want to know more about that country ! In my native country, that is Hungary, some of our leaders look at Singapore as an example, we should follow. I like the idea, and yet I am not sure that your wonderful people managed to solve one crucial problem, and that is a stable population, a population that is able to reproduce itself.
as a peruvian it surprises me how efficient the strategy of land ownership by goverment is. Noneless I believe that same strategy couldn't be applied elsewhere if we take into account bigger countries. I still love Singapore I consider it the city of the future and the 2 weeks I've spent there were lovely I fell in love with everything so efficient so clean so neat everything in place. And as a fact Gardens by the Bay is the most futuristic park I've ever been Singaporeans you have a wonderful country take care of it and be proud of your achievements
@@andresiniesta9955 and making Lee Hsien Loong a dictator is what Singaporeans want
I'm 54 and my wife and I are VERY worried about our future, gas and food prices rising daily. We have had our savings dwindle with the cost of living into the stratosphere, and we are finding it impossible to replace them. We can get by, but can't seem to get ahead. My condolences to anyone retiring in this crisis, 30 years nonstop just for a crooked system to take all you worked for.
@August-Felix That's actually quite impressive, I could use some Info on your FA, I am looking to make a change on my finances this year as well
@August-Felix I will give this a look, thanks a bunch for sharing.
Citizens in Stockholm: "Wait? You can build homes on top of each other?"
Same in the entire UK!
Yeah. But also most importantly, probably, "What? No shoving groups of people, refugees, the poor, etc, into the same suburbs and ghettos? It's more beneficial to mingle, grow closer and thus increase your understanding of all people, no matter class, colour or creed?"
Of course it is and nice to see what is a big step towards building empathy and combating racism and bigotry work out.
I've been saying this for 30 years. Regulate, don't just build blocks of concrete and stock people there and forget about it.
Meanwhile "Short Term Solution Greed Feeders" are still the power elite in Sweden. And many other countries for that matter n
Go Singapore.
@@saunah hey, you made a valid argument about solving immigration-related issues without making it 90% racist! Kudos! Maybe we should let Singapore run the world, not China.
@@Onesteve3333 Well, I say, we all already run the world no matter where we're from. But we would be closer to feeling that was true if we continued working as a team. Discarding what does not work for ALL and adopting what clearly does move towards improving life.
Then the next guy improves on that and uses the next idea.
For what IS true and always will be: the human race will spawn new ideas until the day she is gone.
That and learning to work as a team, as ONE pack, is the sole reason we are here now.
But along the way we decided we needed to add money and feudal ownership into the mix.
We also seem to believe we can't remove it and all sources of inequality and greed.
We be crazy.
Did you know that in order to further improve relations between races in Singapore there is a racial quota of sorts for every neighbourhood
This guy knows more about my country than me, who lived in the country for over 20 years
Indeed. He was very insightful. Ex PR here. He skipped how foreigners cant own houses though.
Its just
U stupid
@@TheBooban not quite, it's more like they can't own a public housing apartment. But they can own private property, which can be very pricey, and hence only favour high income earners.
Randi Ang are you sure? that wasn’t how I remember it. I think they can buy a HDB, maybe not as cheap, but houses specifically, they cannot own. Private apartments, yes, definitely. Thats how I remember it. I think many countries are similar. Like in Thailand.
@@TheBooban absolutely. But to be precise, foreigners who are PRs may own a resale HDB flat; or co-own a new BTO flat with a Singaporean spouse. It's on the HDB website: www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/residential/living-in-an-hdb-flat/changing-owners-occupiers/transfer-of-flat-ownership/eligibility
I am honesty surprised how well researched this video is. Most videos I seen about Singapore are way off.
You even capture many of the real social issues that you will probably need local context and talking to actual locals to understand.
Definitely going to hit the bell and subscribed!
Agree, he’s very good.
I'm betting a huge influx of Singapore subscribers. I've been with Polymatter since about a year and a half ago.
IKR
I checked. You did not.
Lolol. Okay you did. =D
Bruh the maps are wrong
One additional information to add, although the lease of an HDB is 99 years, a clause in HDB terms and conditions stated that if the flat owner live beyond the years of the lease, he/she will be able to live in the flat until he/she pass on, even if the lease has expired.
So it's a lifetime lease
@@PunnamarajVinayakTejas No, it can last way longer
So, if u buy a flat with 50 years left in it's lease (built in 1974) when u are 24.
Then u lived till 100, you'd pass the lease period by 25 years, that's acceptable?
@@hengyuhen8603not for resale, otherwise people will be selling leasing with 3 days left to 18 year olds
It is unlikely that a 100 year old building would be left without a re-development, so more likely you'd be moved to a diffirent estate.
NGL, as a Singaporean, I did not realize how brutal HDB was in the 1990s. Like I believe it was an accident that a slum burnt down but immediately moving in to have a policy that lets them scoop up burnt land is incredibly efficient in the most iron fist way.
The guy who ran the country then ran it like an efficient corporation.
@@alexanderphilip1809 Seems more like a well run kingdom.
@@jobansand So a Family-Owned Corporation.
@@alexanderphilip1809 Not really. Corporation is aimed at profits for the owner, not the well being of emploees or anyone but the guy on top.
@ hrpang, I hope you did not imply slums were deliberately set on fire to clear land for HDB's development.
No joke, the HDB is secretly one of the biggest reasons behind Singapore's success as a nation
Secretly not so secret. Just follow Maslow's hierarchy of needs and try not to fuck up the base to keep it stable. ;)
without SIT, EDB, JTC & HUDC there is NO hdb
@@boyan619
EDB - 1961
JTC - 1968
HUDC - 1974
SIT - 2009
HDB - 1960
Bruh
Muhd Sufian lolol. Just got burned bruh.
It’s possibly the biggest, but not the only reason for success. All those things you mentioned came in to address various needs along the way. But making sure people have roofs over their heads, along with availability of job opportunities, and social order back then were the very fundamentals that we built our success on.
@Ummer Farooq oh?
Dang, he even got that proposal “will you buy a house with me?” inside “joke”
In Singapore some people might be in a greater rush to date & marry too, before their salaries rise too much (since household income has to be
@@lzh4950 oooh please elaborate lol how does the datin program work
@@luisam.7552 The government organises various social activities e.g. wine-tasting I think where participants can get to know new people. IIRC they had quite strong outreach efforts to universities too; think it might be related to raising the country's birth rate. 1 possible concern I see with this program is that their participants might be stigmatised as social(ly) inept/rejects/'leftover' (& thus relying on external programmes to find their future date/spouse)
It should be Will buy bto with me? 😂😂
Actually it’s quite true. When I proposed to my girlfriend, I just told her that I am going to apply for a HDB flat.
Ngl, Singapore is what happens when a government actually prioritizes the needs of the residents. Lee Kuan Yew wanted Singapore to succeed. It seems like most governments today just do as they please, while giving their residents just enough so that they don't revolt.
We need to learn from this. I lived in Singapore for 4 years in the eighties. The flats I visited were small, but they were treated with such pride and respect by the residents. Their homes were lovely and their hospitality second to none. I went to ATT Secretarial school, which was in Tanglin then. Let down by the English comprehensive system, it was in Singapore that I learned how to learn! The patience of my tutors was endless. Thank you Singapore. You impacted my life for the good.
PolyMatter: Singapore
China: Phew I get a break
Catch that surgeon yet?
arent you like, you know, dead?
Not really,cuz the majority of Singapore’s population is Chinese
Pyongyang:rusty and old apartments
so you are still a live. BTY you sis is very cute
Singapore's success is very very hard to replicate. It requires a strong authoritarian government yet cares for the benefit of the people, the sheer size of the nation is also a critical issue. Singapore is a city nation which allows the central government to pose very strong control across the country, which is imaginable in other countries.
That is why China did try to learn from Singapore, but failed.
China did not fail, but work-in-progress getting better and better of their own format.
this is literally china's playbook. its financial/economic foundation was literally built based on what deng Xiao ping learnt from lee Kuan yew.
@Stalin Steel China still struggles to contain its housing market with huge volatility and sudden extreme, nearly draconian changes in lending restrictions. While I wouldn't call it a failure, they are still learning many macroeconomic lessons that a smaller, geographically constrained country like Singapore could not possibly have taught them.
@@canto_v12 China mainly learns from HK though. It was not a good choice. Should learn from SG.
@@tianpeixie2314 Nobody should learn housing from HK. LOL
"Will you marry me?" has been replaced with "Can we buy a house together?"
-SINGAPORE
together? women want you to buy it, so she can live in it
@@r.m.5548 In Singapore couple own the house together :) Paying it together as long as both is working.
@@sacul1225
Looks like Singapore achievement is not only affordable housing but also the perfect woman.
@@nicbahtin4774 -woman who actually pays-
@@sacul1225 And when the divorce happens where does the house go??
Singapore is something of a special case in modern history and should not be idealized. However, credit should go where credit is due. This way of organizing a housing system is incredibly admirable and efficient.
And no children, because the average size of lodging is 1000 sq ft with 2 bedrooms. Not surprised in the least that they also have a fertility rate of 1.15. This statistic alone spells doom for the country. Whatever they're doing should not be replicated.
singapore is a city nation.
replicating it on a truly country wide scale would be disastrous.
Learn from it, but don't blindly copy it should be the motto
@@parisgansmuelly1052 You can't expect much for a country with a population density worse than Hong Kong...
As someone with family living in singapore (public housing and detached houses), I can atest that their public housing has the best access to public transit, malls, libraries, hospitals, and some right next to beaches.
uhm as someone currently living in singapore.. best access? fuck no haha but its better than most other countries
@@akiokoh7481 As a Singaporean living overseas, Singapore's accessibility in terms of public amenities/ infrastructure is as close to perfection as you are going to get. I mean, walking from your home to the nearest train (MRT) station, in the pouring tropical rain without an umbrella and not getting drenched because there are sheltered walkways everywhere. Where else in the world are you going to find that?
@@akiokoh7481 accessibility should not be mistaken for reliability. So yes, in terms of urban planning, one could say the common folk staying in public housing in Singapore enjoys one of the best access there is to various transportation and other amenities. Apart from orchard district, Most markets, food centers and malls are all located near housing estates.
@@josogee You can just afford a fucking car overseas . Im a Singaporean living in Melbourne , i just drive wherever i want . I own my home which is near the beach and im just 30
@@XerrosNightscar Well, the the discussion is about accessibility of public housing and not affordability of private properties. You are in an excellent situation, so congratulations, but how many people in Australia can afford to be in the same position as yours truly? The last census revealed that around 8.75 million Australians do not own their own homes and Australia only has a population of 25 million.
Tbh if Singapore just let the market control housing, it would have ended up like HK.
The Government controls land there.
@@cydra-evolution5623 the government sells the land but the buyers determine what to build there
Also, HK has alot of mountains and hills, which make building difficult
@@TESkyrimizer The government mandates price control
Singapore had a good government that know how to deal with housing.
Imagine if those on charged use their advantage to earn their pocket money, it sure will end up like hong kong house pricing.
I think the idea that housing is for living rather than for "investment" is a really good idea. Single people should not be discriminated against, but respecting people's need for accommodation is paramount. Singapore has always been a bit controlling with regards to cleanliness and litter and hair length, but I do think we could take a few lessons from here.
Hair length? Littering yes but no hair length control over there.
@@zyankon8318 it was back in the 70s
Summary: HBD is a government policy that indirectly replaces Singaporean pensions and substitutes it with a real estate asset, the value of which is determined by your ethnicity, family size, and lifestyle. It also prevents the real estate market from being subjected to the free market, therefore making it less volatile and risky and giving a secure future to both the entering and retiring working class.
Simply put, they mastered the art of incentivizing turnover.
Educate me if I’m wrong or missing something. 🙂
i would like to point out that we also get cpf and medishield. both are things that give us cash for later in life after retirement. medishield(i think theres more but i don't remember all the names) covers healthcare specifically, and cpf is a thing that tahes some money from our wages, then locks it up until we stop working. theres more to it than this and this video does mention cpf but im still in education and thus havn't actually experienced it yet.
Don't forget foreigner ownership
In Vienna, most people live in government-owned flats, too.
In Stockholm, apartment leases are given out centrally, but they are owned by private companies.
It might be interesting to do a more in-depth comparison of all these policies!
I have always been into public housing! Would definitely love to see the comparision
I'd be interested in seeing the comparison
In Russia most people live in their own dwelling.
So year by year, decades by decades the government gets wealthier due to housing prices inflation and the people don't get wealthier.
Every flat owner or house owner in Luxembourg, yearly gets 10 to 14% richer on the worth of the home. Never will you make that 100000 to 180000 exponentially yearly value increase by savings.
You got the bad deal in Vienna, Stockholm, Singapore in comparison :-)
@@THEREALZENFORCE The difference is that poor people are priced out in the latter situation so that the oldest and richest from all over the world can profit while the locals are pushed out. "The people" don't get wealthier, foreign investors and local elites do off of the poor classes. If you want a house go outside of the city proper where space isn't as scarce of a resource. Your grandma making bank off of her flat is an outlier scenario that won't be recurring. Her grandchildren will be off in serfdom unless it passes through the family. Whatever your overlords told you to make investors richer :), good slave mentality!
I see Singapore inherited the UK's habit of having 99-year loans
Also they inherited Ricardian Economics too.
99 years LEASES, not loans. Nobody gonna let you pay over 99 years, you'd be dead before you coughed up the principal and interest.
@@ReizePrimus Whoops didnt notice I used the wrong term
Nathan R. You can edit it, you know
@@ZeroRelevance Nah, I'd prefer to leave the mistake so his aint out of place
This video makes me cry. In my country (NZ), homelessness is up over 300% since 2017. Per capita, you have to go back to 1948 for when there was less public homes in the country. House prices and rent inflation is out of control and people are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet.
I wish we were as smart as Singapore where they've perfectly mixed the private and public sector.
There is still homelessness in Singapore!! And the sad thing is there isn't much data about it to track in Singapore bc they go under the radar so much. Considering we have a whole govt board tracking population data (singstat) it's very frustrating that they are unable to track homelessness. I think in recent years, a couple of groups manually do walk-arounds to track the numbers, but that may not be the most accurate.
Usually a lot of single parents or low-wage workers end up homeless bc housing has honestly gotten very expensive and their situations just don't meet the criteria for subsidies. Also, similar to many parts of the world, anti-homeless architecture is pretty prevalent.
HDB type housing is not really acceptable to many kiwis.
@@fawziefuxia yeah but homelessness I feel is way more visible in New Zealand. I was born in New Zealand and I lived in Singapore for 4 years. While i lived in sg I don’t think I ever saw someone sleeping on the streets like here in New Zealand.
@@winstonz true I feel like kiwis an outdated view on housing. We all expect to buy homes like our parents did but in today’s world we honestly can’t afford it.
@@emmascrivener8109 if you are deemed "destitute" in Sg, you will be picked up and housed in centres for homeless.
I sold a couple properties in 2020 and I'm waiting for a house crash to happen so I buy cheap. In the meantime, I've been looking at stocks as an alt., any idea if it's a good time to buy? I hear people say it's a madhouse and a dead cat bounce right now but on the other hand, I still see and read articles of people pulling over $225k by the weeks in trades, how come?
True, the US-Stock Market had been on it’s longest bull-run in history, so the mass hysteria and panic is relatable, considering we’re not accustomed to such troubled markets, but as you mentioned there are avenues lurking around if you know where to look, I’ve netted over $850k in the past 10months and it wasn't some rocket-science start. I applied , I just knew I needed a firm and reliable technique to navigate better in these times, so I hired a portfolio advisor.
@@marcelrobert9569 Would you mind recommending a specialist with a variety of investment options? This is extremely rare, and I eagerly await your response.
@@charlotteflair1043 She is Julie Anne Hoover my consultant. Since then, she has devoted section and leave attention to safeguards that I have been keeping an eye out for. You can locate information about the chief online, on the off chance that you're interested. I made no regrets about substantially adhering to their exchange strategy
As a Singaporean, I approve.
except when he put the LRTs as LTR...
i mean what the F is that? LTR? budget MTR?
@@PrograError The colours for the MRT lines the first time round are jumbled too. Like, yeah right, Circle Line is totally a horizontal line. 6:41
@@transitevolution Oh no... the colors are right in my design file but somehow didn't survive the edit. If only UA-cam had an edit feature… :(
I never knew Circle Line was that small
@@PolyMatter Well nevermind. At least we know you know the right thing.
Singaporean here. The hypothetical city mentioned at 1:47 where housing is so prohibitively expensive that adult children are forced to live with their parents IS essentially what has happened here. Applying for HDB housing requires you to be either married, or be 35 years old and have another 35yo roommate to move in with, and private housing/rentals are just too expensive. With many of the societal problems/shifts the youth are facing (marrying early for the sake of housing is a truly depressing thought), it is overwhelmingly common and actually part of the culture to live with your parents well into adulthood. Obviously there are many many more societal problems that aren't covered by the scope of this video, but the line "It's no coincidence that the party that meticulously designed Singapore receives the vast majority of its votes" pretty much sums it up.
How are Singaporeans ashamed of living with their parents when Singapore's entire housing system encourages it?
35 years old can get their own flat. They don't need to share with another person. Just that the flat size is limited to 2 room if they buy from the government directly but there are no size restriction if they buy from the resale market. Also asians usually live with their parents until they're married unlike their western counterparts who leave their homes at age of 18. It's part of the Asian family values.
Well, here in Brazil it's not uncommon to live with your parents well into adulthood, it's culturally accepted. But even married people or people over the age of 35 often times can't buy a home because it's so expensive. It looks pretty good from where I see it.
It’s to encourage ppl to marry bc u can have a house to raise a family in
people living with their parents is much better than half citizen living in villas and the rest in unhygenic slums. And in Asia people always live with their parents even after they have kids. So i dont think its an issue when it is culturally accepted.
Singapore's governance and leadership never ceases to amaze.
It's not perfect, as no human construct is perfect, but it has proven itself monumentally successful in its role of facilitating a good life for its people. I hope it continues, even if its political parties change. The comforts that generations of labor and effort built for the future shouldn't be taken for granted.
Don't worry they use unfair tricks to stay in power.
@@MouldMadeMind but if Singapore is so successful, aren't those tricks justified? It is better that they stay in power rather than letting some other party take power who could potentially ruin the country and undo everything that made it successful.
@@egg-iu3fe and this is how dictators argue.
@@MouldMadeMind except Singapore objectively has one of the highest living standards in the world. That is proof that their dictatorship works.
If Kim Jong Un says the same thing then yeah "tHat Is hOw DiCtatOrS ArGuE". But we're talking about Singapore not some 3rd world back water.
They know more about running a country better than you do, I trust their judgement better than anyone else's since, you know, they're actually all actions not just all talk.
@@egg-iu3fe many dictatoraships worked at the beginning.
The nature of housing is thus a place to live, not an investment.
Mind blowing
As a young, single Singaporean working adult, I appreciate how you pointed out the idea that our housing policy is indeed a social policy and to an extent, a political one as well. I do feel trapped at times by the fact that I can’t buy my own property unless I get married or turn 35. PAP’s policies have served us well for the past 55 years but I feel that as times change, the zeitgeist and values of Singaporeans changes as well. This means that our social policy has to evolve in sync with modern values and aspirations instead of being overly paternalistic.
Yongsheng Soh hi Yongsheng, I’m a Brit living in China, and Singapore seems like such an excellent country, but I appreciate that nothing is perfect and there may be some issues. Can you expand on what you said about SG being overly paternalistic, and how does that effect modern SG society?
@Mr. 8-Bit Doggo I'm a Singaporean and there are couple of reasons. The high living cost is one. Housing here is pretty expensive, though not as bad as other countries. And the biggest thing about being a citizen is the CPF fund. It's something that limits a lot of singaporeans and I assume that is what OP meant by paternalistic.
Basically a CPF is just a mandatory saving fund. When you work, you're forced to put a portion of your salary into an account. You can't touch the money in that account but you can use it to pay for healthcare, housing, and when you retire at 65, you can finally touch it.
The biggest problem with this is that many people feel limited. They don't want to feel like the government is limiting their spending or what they can or can't do. In the 1960s, this policy was put in place mainly because they wanted to make sure people didn't spend all their money on gambling and alcohol and have no money for retirement. It's a kind of babysitting policy that worked well when Singapore was developing but now that Singapore is developed, it feels like policies like this need to adapt and change as well.
Singapore is a very good place to live in, work in, and to visit. I personally feel very happy to live here although I can understand why many people don't.
Many people feel that Singapore is too strict on media restrictions, you can't say whatever you want online, if you offend any religion that's an offense. It's definitely different from Western societies but personally I don't mind. I see it as a necessary sacrifice for societal balance.
@@zeccy337 Adding onto your last point, given the diversity of people in singapore and its history, it is quite necessary to limit this "freedom of speech" or things will get out of hand and riots can occur again, which I think has happened quite recently with the little india riots.
Nothing is more valuable to have the freedom to do what you want with :
-your life
-time
- money
In function of your capacity..
Like Benjamin Franklin said
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”
Yongsheng Soh I am currently in the same position as you and I don't think so. Public policies are present to serve the public, and not individual wants. If they happen to be the same, the it is good. To almost oversimplify our case, scarcity of land and manpower are major issues and the HDB eligibility serves that purpose. You are absolutely allowed to buy private housing if you have sufficient funding. But given that the purpose of the HDB is to house citizens without the external forces of the market driving property prices like crazy (look at HK), the government is basically saying, if you want to consume cheaper public housing, please contribute to the population. I understand where you come from and I feel you deeply, but as a public policy I think it is right. Just like with cars, the public transport system is honestly extremely well-built and not a necessity. If you want luxury beyond public infrastructure, be (economically) productive enough in society to afford it. If not, the basics doesnt really suffocate you so it's not too bad.
It's so funny, I just watched a video by the Economist where they cited that same stat, didn't elaborate on how it was actually measured. It didn't really impact the video's final message, but it's funny to me how an independent creator is more thorough than the Economist 🤟
To be fair, he used The Economist as one of his sources and built upon it.
@** x Can you give some examples? (and please cite your sources)
is the economist elaborated on every single way each stat is taken in his videos his videos would be hours long
Soviet Era blocks actually had a ton of great urban planning. They were walkable, included a lot of greenery, there were shops and playgrounds as well as schools nearby. Yes they aged badly and were not pretty to look at and post transformation they became worse but they are still way better than 90% of modern development in terms of planning.
Yeah, good planning and bad execution is your typical Soviet story
@@somerset006 I think part of it was communism forced people to think about systemic solutions. While modern market economies, especially due to stock market, force short term, often ad hoc solutions.
The thing is a lack of competition and to a probably much larger extent cronyism meant quality was often a problem. While in modern, market driven economies a lack of planning was offset by competing companies (though market consolidation and bariers to entry for busineses like building apartment complexes means those markets arent super competitive)
The problem in soviet countries is that even if you had a company/organization that cared and had great craftsmen it still had resources from other companies that didn't care and the isolation from the west meant often lower quality of the materials.
@@NotADunconI've never heard of a Soviet company that truly cared and had great craftsmen. Maybe there were a handful that produced export?
@@somerset006 It was mostly smaller companies. You could for example find great tailors in Poland since Poland had a big sewing industry. The materials were bad but the tailoring was great. I got gifted communist Era suits from my dead neighbor who was a factory architect (so he did get the better stuff) and while I own expensive suits those ones are made well.
Same for some lower production furniture.
There were also some hi-fi products that were copies of expensive western products just lacked 1-2 key components not available in the eastern block. A good hack is know what they are copying and if possible replace such part. I got a copy of expensive swiss speakers and the work needed to get them "the same" as 5k euro speakers was minimal.
@@somerset006
"bad execution is your typical Soviet story"
Because they have to built millions of houses for millions of people, as cheaply and as quickly as they could, as well as thousands of kindergartens and schools. You are talking about mostly post-war societies with low literacy and high poverty rate.
Also, those blocks still stand, renovated and on high demand, because of comfort of living there.
Wow this is an amazingly nuanced and considered piece of analysis. Great stuff. Usually these videos abt Singapore are woefully biased - either as a cheerleader for current policies or to play up authoritarian tropes. But this has such a fine level of nuance and understanding of local sociopolitical and cultural dynamics. Really great stuff.
"a house is a place to live in not an investment"
meanwhile in my country they are getting a lot of house for investment
In HK, a house is an investment
I believe it can be both
it is also in singapore, but there are heavy penalties. but the government ain't stopping them, just putting a burden by the way of tariffs
A house is only an invstment if you rent or sell it for more than you paid for it. People often ignore inflation whenever they look at house prices. Ive heard some bullshit spun like "houses double their value every 7 years", but minus out the boom, consider inflation, taxes, and maintenace and the prices remain roughly steady.
If you want to VALUE a house consider the mortgage to wage ratio and where houses comapre to it (selling at a high or low)
Bitchute is better than UA-cam if you treat your house like a rental property in which you share the space with other people, it’s definitely an investment. Coz at worst your mortgage gets paid off by other people or the amount you had to pay is significantly less. And at best, you get: your mortgage paid by other people, get a very comfortable passive income from tenants paying rent, and if the house appreciates you gain a profit from the mortgage you didn’t have to pay. So there’re other ways for houses to be investments besides only depending on it appreciating and having all your assets tied up in a house.
PolyMatter: "The nature of housing is thus a place to live..."
Landlords: (clutches chest in pain)
landlords: hOw Do tHeY SuRvIvE witHoUt mY hArD wOrK
The landlords in Singapore might not be able to easily turn property into income from tenants.
But that doesn't stop them from owning rental properties in Canada. And accumulating private wealth outside the reach of Singapore's "shared public benefit" controls.
@@stigmautomata lol landlords are good
@@ILoveYani lol.
@@ILoveYani Landlords should get a job.
Yep , im from malaysia but my grandparents are living there , we have a couple of our relatives residing in singapore and half of them scattered around malaysia , i really love Singapore's housing , and the fact that they repaint their colors every 5 years makes me excited when im going back to visit my relatives .
I'm so Americanized that I can't comprehend a government that wants to raise the quality of living and gets the job done right the first time.
just wanna say as a Singaporean, you really balanced this video on the realities of implementing it. I really admire that, great job
That approach to requiring an even distribution of ethnicity is effing brilliant. I can see why a lot of people would react to that as being a method to subdue races, but truthfully, it forces more integration. Actually getting to know a person does wonders to reduce racism. If people of a given race are actually part of your community and not some distant idea you just see on TV, it becomes much harder to casually dismiss them.
Sure but lets not pretend the proportions were equal. Indians were the only one’s who’s max rate was greater than their actual percentage within the population, why is that?
@@Pharoah2 Isn't that better? Wouldn't that would mean that Indians have more leeway when trying to buy flats since their quota isn't as easily maxed. Also, having this quota would prevent stigmatization via congregating large portions of an entire race into neighborhoods.
@rimacutem of Alsvartrsmiðr its sort of something we don't do, people don't interact for the sake of interacting unless purposefully placed into social situations here.
as long as the ratios change frequently enough to keep up with change you would have less people complaining than you would think. something like a yearly redustrubtion that has a limit of like 0.5% change or if the current ratio is fine then save that percent for if there is a spike of change.
its forced integration , when racism are only for smart people with brain know their rights to choose what to eat , what to drink where to go who to mix and who not to mix .
if other says u are racis , this is a compliment saying you are smart to choose who to mix and who to ignore , you have total absolute right to decide for yourself and not be imposed by others threathening you "" dont be racist "".when u have all the right to choose to be racist if u wish to .
My husband is from Singapore, I visited and all I can say is it is such a well run country! The economists are brillant
Imagine this mindset throughout the whole world. Housing is essential, not a luxury
Look more into Georgism, it's been praised by capitalists and socialists and yet few know about it.
There isn't anything essential. Nobody owes you anything
@@MacMan2152 Look at this rent seeker
Imagine a system where your earnings, property, and freedom/choice in both are controlled by the govt? I mean the video explicitly shows how the govt controls who can live where and how they manipulate society. How extensive of authoritarian manipulation do you tolerate for your life?
@@jacob2359 lol that's just so they don't have racist people. They mix races together so you can grow up around different people. And freedom on choice in singapore would be having a ton of homeless people.
Singapore is fascinating as in every other country a government with such extensive power would just devolve into an autocracy or even dictatorship. The leader would rule for decades and drive Ferrari's around the highways built for that reason only.
Instead we have a technocratic state that prioritised launching Singapore into the future by lifting it's citizens out of poverty.
It really is a fascinating case study.
Same like china too, both are amazing considering how their leaders brought almost all the population out of poverty in just a short amount of time, hopefully have an authoritarian government here one day
It is Singapore's good fortune that Lee Kuan Yew existed. The irony is that he was educated in the UK and thus firmly believed in democracy and was fiercely anti-communist, and also wanted to eradicate corruption because of how corrupt the colonists were in Singapore.
He believed in meritocracy because he saw how badly managed Malaysia was with their race-based politics and affirmative action which handicapped Malaysia economically even up till this day.
And most amazingly, he was firmly opposed to being idolised, as he believed personality politics is not eternal and not good for the country's long-term prospects. Unlike most other political leaders who want to leave their names imprinted everywhere after accomplishing far less, LKY refused to have roads, buildings or ships named after him, have his portrait on currencies, and even repeatedly stated he does not want a memorial to his name when he passed on. When his son, the current PM, wanted a memorial, it caused a huge controversy, and they decided to still have a memorial but dedicated to all the past founders and key contributors of the country.
Given a politician with these qualities are so rare, it is no wonder there are few countries like Singapore, not even China. Hence conversely, if Singapore had a founding leader without any of these qualities, I doubt we will be where we are today.
Two critical ingredients keep Singapore in the lead: 1) a family/dynasty that is aggressive, visionary and philosophically selfless in public service, and 2) a lack of critical mass to challenge or topple said dynasty and its ruling party. It has its strengths and weaknesses, but history has been working in their favour so far.
So, is it matter to you? Is better living in the kennel and no dignity. Pathetic...
@@Yddp3307 Chinese government put them in poverty in the first place. They also simply changed the definition of poverty to make it easier to achieve.
10:56 that’s how my dad proposed to my mum
BTO ai mai?
lol
@@Yadobler Liddat win liao lor!
Hello Manstein
OOF
Thus far the most detailed explanation on Singapore's housing on UA-cam. Thanks for the effort !
Man, this infrastructure is unbelievable! I’m from Canada and we have a housing market crisis
ur complaining lmfao
As a Singaporean, I love that I have a safe roof over my head that i call home. I love that as a woman, i can walk alone at night and still feel safe. I also love that i have equal opportunity like anybody else, as long as i am willing to work hard and improve myself from time to time. These to me, are true freedom. And we are very, very fortunate that we have a government that actually cares about its people and not just for its own personal interests (as compared to many other countries).
PS. I'm truly impressed by the extent of information you have gathered and put into this video. Kudos to the team!
I can only dream of such thing in here India
Well said
So called America with its freedom but ya’ll ladies can’t walk at night without gettting groped
No 1 freedom is freedom from fear.
@Erwin Lii If you are interested to know, Google Dr Liu Thai Ker,, the famous architect who said that Singapore can house 10 million people. But FYI, the citizens have opposed even to increase its population to 6.9 million.
You should say that Singapore also has private housing, or else everyone not from Singapore would think that the only choice and kind of housing is public
He said 80% so..
@Jonathan Williams not really, the siezing was in the early days of Singapore, today private property is planned decades in advance with government permission and approval. Private property tends to be much more expensive, hence people live in HDBs
@Jonathan Williams nope, I mean. That the government has allowed the construction
@@LogggSapling Guy just wants to be edgy man, don't feed him, we know how it is and that's good enough. No need to kill ourselves trying to educate the stubbornly ignorant. lol he can't even @ properly. If he actually had a stake in any of this he would know that the decades thing is completely false...
@@IMADUCKEH agreed, no point dealing with trolls
I lived in Singapore for a year and I wish my home country was like that… I lived in other countries for about 2 years each, and I would say no other country is like Singapore. It’s a model country.
Singapore model proves free market is not the only way to success. If fact free market housing only leads to instabilities.
Exactly.
Looks like after trolling him endlessly on his china vids he actually listened
Hong Kong has an housing problem, sooo
Singapore: A mini China
@@garmenlin5990 an actually good china
@@garmenlin5990 It has the authoritarianism but not the corruption
Technically Singapore is 74.3% China, as mentioned in the vid.
Socialism or Capitalism ?
Singapore: Both
Its called neoliberalism
@@unknownv8462 lol no
@@unknownv8462 It absolutely isn't. The idea of not having a speculative housing market would give a neo liberal a heart attack.
@@unknownv8462 neoliberalism is free market
@Ali G i'm sorry but you're delusional if you think republicans would support the government buying up land en masse
This is especially impressive if you consider how crowded Singapore's population is. It's literally an island smaller than San Diego, yet home to a population 4 times as large. Without the same housing crisis and homelessness problem.
I have visited Singapore many times! this country is really a role model for all nations of the world irrespective of size. The size issue has been used by economists and development specialists to malign some of the most outstanding achievements of PAP Led by Lee Kuan Yew, who in my opinion was a true king philosopher.
Singapore is both small and efficient! But, its small size should not be used to downgrade its phenomenal growth in economic and anthropological terms!!
If it's hard to turn around a large state, it is equally complex and hard to turn a smaller nation such as a City-State like Singapore into a first-world oasis in the 3rd world.
Well Done Late Lee Kuan Yew. RIP KING PHILOSOPHER.
Don't blast there plss
Agree. Some people like to diminish Singapore's achievement by saying it is small. Well, there are many small states that are failed states or failing. On the other hand, if small is really easy to manage, then the solution is simple. Implement the same policies on a smaller scale - like at the state, provincial or city level. In fact this is how China learnt from Singapore. For this huge country, it started experimenting with Singapore's methodology by doing it in the coastal cities. Once successful, it is then copies into other inland cities, and later to the 2nd and 3rd tier cities.
ua-cam.com/video/nNhOZUzrmcw/v-deo.html is quite an important lesson on why Indonesia as Singapore’s neighbour won’t ever be as successful as Singapore. I will readily blame the US for preaching their screwed up version of democracy there. China was piss-poor next to it in 1970-80. I bet contemporary mainland Chinese will find modern day Indonesia development pace average at best.
@@PhiloSurfer it's also depending on the culture of collectivism vs individualism and freedom of people
The small size isn't used to downgrade its accomplishments. It's just much more difficult to implement policies like in singapore to a whole country
Holy shit. He even got the "BTO aimai" joke lol
I see you in reddit before.
@@lemon2524 uwu good night jiak simi meow
"A disproportionate number of charismatic smart leaders"
Accurate.
Manusha G what if I told you that I read this comment the same time PolyMatter read that from the script 👀
@Rohith Hegde you sound like you come from America. I completely agree with you. Singapore should be more explicit and "GRAB THEM BY THE PUSSY!" hahahah!
@Rohith Hegde please elaborate on what you mean by authoritarian racist policies.
@@blender6426 He can't because he's talking out of his ass. Unless ethnic quotas in public housing to force integration between the different races is his idea of what racism is.
@Rohith Hegde Probably because of Singapore's rapid development in the 2nd half from the 20th century, many people here can well remember that "it's even worse in the past" & thus 'populism' is sometimes seen as a dirty word I think, like a sign of being a 'strawberry' or 'ungrateful' or 'uninformed'
My eyebrows were raised the whole video through. Extremely impressive stuff
This is a good way to do it in a small place but where significant development needs to take place it would not work until it was better developed. But eventually many countries will need to adopt the same model. When landlords are not a class and have to force their energy into developing something useful like new products, new services and patents the economy will really improve.
great research! adding another info tidbit --- what happens at 99 years -- what really happens is apartments are bought back by HDB usually less than 50 years old, to rebuild into new ones. homeowners are usually happy and look forward to sell back to HDB at market rates and given priority to pick new flats first.
thanks for the info.
"The Singapore Improvement Trust"
I guess the "The Singapore Housing Improvement Trust" didn't manage to slip through.
Underrated lol
Somebody must have noticed back then how we much we love acronyms.
LOL
Really wish we had something like this in Australia, while we have considerably more land, the housing prices here are out of control.
when 99% of the population is in a small area it will cause land prices to rise.
Too many people in one spot, too less spaces to put them in.
A highly competitive market means prices will spike.
People used to make their own houses, now they have to rely on building projects which are highly regulated and thus expensive.
So you need the government to make them and sell them, but they will most likely build them and rent them out....
Our Australian govt. knows how terribly short of public housing our country is but they are not interested in doing anything about it. They'd rather leave it to the private sector which only supplies those who can afford their product. We used to have good state run housing commissions but they don't build anymore.
Australia has tried public housing it's just that they can never hold on to it for very long, as the next few successive governments will privatise it piecemeal in the name of "efficiency"
Also, they control supply with conditions Australians might not accept. Have to be 35 with a housemate, or married. I can imagine the complaining. That said, I think we could try limited developments aimed at specific demographics with rulesets like this.
But ultimately our government does not care about social cohesion and well being in the same way Singapore does. So it’s doomed before it starts as a public endeavour.
Very well researched video. A nice touch that you picked up the local joke about "will you buy a flat with me" as a form of marriage proposal. Definitely true!
I'm happily living in my parents' 30 year old 5-room flat rent-free. This would be a stigma in other countries where you'd be expected to move out by the time you're an adult, but it's the norm here since most young adults aren't expected to be able to afford a home until marriage.
you're 30 and live with mum and dad? i mean, you have not grown that is a FACT. there's no stigma it's a universal truth. it's only the norm to live with your parents because you can't afford to move out at 30!!
@@imsara_h Are you from Singapore? Pretty common to have 3 generation families here. My parents have technically never lived away from my grandparents.
Legally, if you're unmarried, you can't buy subsidised public housing (which is 80% of all homes) until you're 35. A 2-room private apartment costs nearly $1 mil so it doesn't make financial sense to get one even if you can afford it.
@@starsoffyre USA born and bred. you're living with your mum and dad because you can't afford to move and it stunts your growth as a man and person. no wonder the birth rate in singapore is declining
Hi I would like to point out that the the third “this” is in fact, not public housing and actually a private condominium but the other two are!!
The last one was the most monotonous looking too
The Fantorangster HAHAHHA shade sis shade!!
The third one is what I see every time I drive into bishan smh
1st one is the most expensive housing, 2nd one is demolished. Total wrong info.
@@forfun1458 the houses at rochor were so iconic :(
It feels so surreal seeing one of your favourite UA-camrs mentioning Sengkang LRT when I literally live next to it.
Hold your horses.
sengkang lads
great well rounded video! love the counter arguments present too
Singapore is like a fantasy where the government is effective and has the people's interests at heart
Fact.
It definitely looks like a utopia compared to other countries, but some criticise the government for not being free.
@@Roboman1807 yeah. Being a Singaporean, I can say that on paper it looks like the government doesn't give their people freedom, but in practice it's just like any other democratic government
@@galactose_fructosemonosacc343 yeah that's because people want freedom without consequences which cannot and should not be allowed.
@@TheAvengingknight yep cause that's just chaotic
Singapore is the most awesome place I've ever been to. The people are so friendly whenever I'm asking for help. The food is just incredible and extremely cheap at Hawker Centers ($2-$4). Not to mention Ride Sharing (Like Uber, but it's called Grab) is dirt cheap too
I'm trying to upload more Singapore videos on my channel. Such an amazing country guy!!!
Your videos look good! Except it has all been about Vietnam so far.
0:40 that is not public housing; that is a private condominium complex designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie (look up Sky Habitat Singapore)
I loved that building honestly, but its prices are sky high. I have a friend who lives in it and the space is so small due to the prices.
Dear Polymatter, thank you for this video on my home country. I would like to highlight an error in the video, the building shown at 0:39 is not a government flat, but a private condominium. As much as I like that Singapore's public housing is being shown off, we need to be honest on what is and isn't public housing. Thank you!
Is that ec ?
I knew most of this before from social studies class, but you were able to arrange it so well in a video. good job man, I enjoyed this video a lot
1. Before you generalise this to other countries (and I'm speaking particularly to those that have an apriori infatuation with government handing out aid to every person and their dog), do realise that Singapore is a spectacular economic exception built upon incredibly strategic geography, small size, a conforming society, and highly productive citizens. This is not most countries.
2. That being said, while it is ridiculous to assume that a federal government could possibly ever get something as intricate as this scheme right, it is possible that the municipal government's of larger cities (such as New York, LA, Sydney, London, Toronto, etc.) could embark on these projects and succeed.
These projects require two things - high income government and local government supremacy (the more local the government, the more immedietley accountable it is, and the better it can manage the project).
In other words, only governments large enough to have wealth but small enough to be effective - ie. Medium to large sized municipal governments - can do this. We need to care more about local government.
That makes a lot of sense, I'd have to agree with you. Thanks for the input.
Spot on.
Excellent observation
Good point
Do you think Singapore had that from the beginning? They were poor and had race wars with each other. There was no accountability except for accounting to Lee Kuan Yew. Lee Kuan Yew did as he pleased and answered to no one. These projects only require one thing, a man like Lee Kuan Yew. Do it, and do it right. And oh Singapore does not hand out aid. It is not a socialist country. There is no welfare. Far from it.
Singaporean here! Love that we're getting some love on UA-cam!!
Nice name dude.
Same
Sounds like communism.
ayeeee
WOO! We're finally noticed by the web!
this video is very well-written, arranged, and factually detailed. It's an art is some kind of way. Well doneee
As a somewhat conservative American, I generally do not believe in centralized planning and socialized housing due to it's complete failure here in the U.S. and many other countries. Singapore is a remarkable exception! I first visited Singapore briefly in about 1980. I was there again in about 1998. The transformation was absolutely stunning! I have never been in such a clean, crime-free, well ordered society. I met people who were Chinese, Malay, Indian, as well as mixed race. I did not sense any animosity between ethnic groups. Yes, there were lots of rules, fines, sin taxes, restrictions, and severe penalties for criminals that few Americans would be willing to tolerate. However, when I compare Singapore to America, I think one can make a very strong argument for the many huge advantages of the Singaporean model of society. In America, we 'think' we cherish freedom. But when that freedom includes high crime rates, out-of-control drugs use and homelessness, and constant political bickering that even turns violent, is that really freedom? I think the United States could learn a few lessons from Singapore!
I think there's a vid about Philippines and American architect you like to watch
singapore is super tiny and easy to control. try applying the draconian rules here to just new york state alone and see how thatworks out. it’s not that the government is super competent, it’s just small and easy to control.
You have eno idea what "socialized" housing in America is like. All the hoops and games. People like you are the problem. Singapore gives their citizens homes. No conditions. No income bracket bullshit. Everyone. That's nowhere near an American system. Stop sucking.
I too lived in Singapore like for 8 years, and let me tell you, I stayed in these public houses(named HDB's there) and there are the most spacious rooms ever
very impressive and detailed research, can't imagine the hours spent for research and coming up with this video. Honestly many Singaporeans won't bother knowing how HDB has evolved. There are many penned up frustrations with the overall social system. Seems like a joke to others that younger couples get married to buy a house... But it's true... that said, the housing policies from how it started was indeed a successful model in meeting needs.
good research, but bad narration (speech pattern).
About 20 plus years ago i hated singapore so much so i never wanted to live there so for past 20plus years i never live in singapore it all started bcoz singa pore told me im a muslim so they cant put me in the army. I was a very angry young man then. After living abroad tht many years i realised singapore is not peerfect at all so most muslims like me felt exonerated from singapore progress like as if we are peripheral in importance. Almost 1million of us or about 13% of population are muslims i felt really disappointed n dejected then however slowly but surely i beginning to miss singapore my old friends n family. I miss the smell of singapore i was so use too. Though singapore is not peerfect but ill try to make it best i can. We are getting there hopefully so with all the chaos in the world singapore can n will stay above all tht im sure. Singaporeans can never say outright they are proud of singapore because there many others who have other adjectives to describe singapore but whatever it is im proud of singapore though they marginalised muslims but tht is a changeble options itll change soon
I hated singapore so much back then tht i never admitted im a singaporean. Things change n situation will neccesitate singapore state policy on muslims in singapore. Just wait n see. Then singapore b almost perfect for me
Very thorough and balanced analysis, well done!
Awesome content, thanks mate!!
My VPN: *connected to Singapore marina bay
Me: *watches Singapore video
It's the most reliable🙆♀️
@@silvervixen007 Yep
But are you using N O R D V P N ?
WOAH woah woah what are you doing outside your house in this circuit breaker period? 300$ fine SLAP.
Hyperion Salt Aiyo maybe he/she senior, need to go out and walk around the whole neighbourhood, filming people without masks sksksksk
6:40 let's completely mess up the Singapore MRT/LRT system colours and names
He tried lmao, though not very hard
he really just needed to change the colours
Yea in HK it's called "MTR". Probably got confused
I have a book with rapid transit maps from around the world, and when I saw what he put in his video I was confused.
didn't realise it at first, now I can't unsee it lmaoo
Very good research and presentation.
I seriously LOVE how you actually talk about these things in a truly neutral tone, looking at both pros and cons.
Personally, this whole video was like "authoritarianism, while destructive, can sure be affective sometimes"
After learning alot about he foundation of modern Singapore, and as much as I love the city when I visited it, the only reason I think it works the way it does is because of the fact it is a highly urban city-state with potentially aggressive neighbors and a thriving port economy. This unique situation is, what I believe, gives it so much stability - that and its friendliness with western powers who regularly send their warships there as support.
I lived in Singapore for almost two years when I was a kid, and for the first year or so my family lived in two separate condos and I remember them being really nice and fun. There were restaurants on the bottom floor and a pool.
Ah yes. The swimming pool. I swear, as a kid I couldn’t live for a day without swimming in the condo.
Its nice to note that if you default on your bank loans or go bankrupt the bank cannot seize your house as it is legally protected by the HDB.
Does it causes problems when you want to buy a house like tthe bank whant to be sure to get it's money back so they make it harder to get a loan ?
@@C-ly-de To answer your question directly - Not really. But one thing people not from sg are forgetting is that one the biggest benefits of HDB flats is that people are able to use their retiring funds to help put a downpayment/buy their houses. Since you're forced to contribute 20% of your wages and your employees contribute 17%, you actually end up saving alot of money that you can use to buy a house. Furthermore, since the housing market is controlled; housing is cheap (lets say on average it costs 500,000 sgd). 20% downpayment of 500k is 100 thousand dollars which if you earn the avg pay in sgd, wont take you very long to afford. Finally, ontop of that, there is major incentive to buy a house with your partner - meaning two people's contributions makes it much easier and sustainable to buy.
To be fair though, Soviet era commie blocks are pretty good. They are cheap to build, versatile, easy to implement, a lot easier to plan, and are efficient. The only thing is that they don't look that good, but that can be fixed.
Youve never really lived in one have you. They're cramped, and you can hear your neighbours doing basically everything. Did i mention they're cramped?
@@excitableboy7031 The problem with most commie blocks are that they are old and politicians don't bother renovating them or the people don't have enough to renovate them. The original commie blocks were made to solve a housing crisis as fast as possible and thus were small and didn't have amenities like proper sound-proofing.
Also, most apartments nowadays are small and cramped and still abhorrently expensive. For the price that they cost to build and to rent, I'd still say they're better than alternatives for most people.
The size, soundproofing and insulation are all fixable problems not inherant to the great design ideas.
@@excitableboy7031depends on the style the japanese commie block apartments are very spacious.
Your channel definitely deserves my subs!
6:23 Fun fact: This "new towns" zoning system is used only for urban planning & public housing *construction* . Public housing *maintenance* & social services on the other hand is handled by town & community development councils (TCs & CDCs), which are organised according to the country's electoral map instead, which also changes before every election (so you can end up with geographical paradoxes e.g. the geographically north-eastern town/suburb of Serangoon is under South East CDC, as it's under the Marine Parade constituency, which also covers the namesake south-eastern town). Meanwhile private housing is organised based on a yet _another_ zoning system - the 28 postal districts that also formed the basis for the country's 4-digit postal codes (used from the early 1980s-1995; since then the postal districts have been reformed into 82 postal sectors instead)
Actually there were some 30 years and 60 years leases that have expired and the government took back the properties and shifted the residences elsewhere.
this is one of the resons why i love going to singapore every year
Without reading most of the comments, I can already guess some will be complaining about the 99 year lease on HDBs. And without even going into the intricates, just for a moment, think, with your brain, what will happen in 50 years time if people can own it indefinitely.
And also, use some common sense and start thinking, how safe will buildings be, even if it is build to be the best, after 100 years?
These are things you don't need a phd in economics and civil engineering, to understand
Depends on how well built and maintained the building is. There are perfectly livable buildings in the US that are over 120 years old. In England there are buildings hundreds of years old that are still perfectly fine to use because they were maintained well.
Some of the "public housing" you showed are actually very expensive "public housing" or private condominiums btw
Most vids about Singapore are like that tbh, stock footages are mostly taken there
Actually some of public housing do indeed look better than private condos. Once I was driving pass a condo and a public housing block side by side. I asked my domestic helper, who is a foreigner, which of the two blocks is more expensive. To my surprise she pointed to the public housing.
Removes the stigma that government housing can only be poor.
@@midgetwars1 90% of Singaporeans live in public housing. Unlike in most countries where public housing equates to slums, but in Singapore 95% of those living in public housing are proud owners of their public houses which can be sold up one million dollars. So there isn't any stigma attached to those staying in public housing. Even doctors also live in public housing. In fact it is so much cheaper living in public housing than condo or landed property.
One thing I don't get people making noise about ownership especially regarding home ownership in Singapore. Singapore have limited land and that itself is a challenge. If everyone owns a house, it will be a matter of time the new generation will not about to buy any house at all with a highly inflated price controlled by private. The 99 years lease makes sense and it long enough to have 3 generation to stay in the same flat before things starts to decay and breakdown. By logic, it will be when the Government tearing the house down and rebuilding the new one back up
with better design and better use of the land.
Yes, housing have been slowly becoming more expensive in Singapore and it's expected as raw material price and labor cost increase, so will the housing and in which the same problem comes back to people are unable to buy houses which is why Singapore Government comes out with ways to leverage those burden to lighten the load. The joke on married couple gets priority on house is true and it's a running job in Singapore, rather then "Lets get a wedding ring" it will be "Lets go sign a BTO(Build To Order) flat" but it makes sense as they are people who will grow and groom the next generation of Singapore Citizen.
No system is perfect and in my opinion, absolute political power in Singapore is something I find it very troubling in Singapore as a Singaporean.
This video is quite spot on. Good job!
Well balanced video with views from both side! You guys have clearly done your research, good job guys! (From a singaporean)
Singapore is the only country that began as "dictatorship" and became successful democracy. WOW to Singapore.and its people. You are on my bucket list to visit.
As a HongKonger who now lives in Singapore, I can tell you the 90% satisfaction rate is really true. It’s so good it’s really hard to find fault...
Jeremy Wong I don’t think u understand what they mean by satisfaction rate. You’re not unsatisfied with the quality of HDB flats. You’re unsatisfied with your own socio-economic status.
Can your kids go to public school there?
i remember living in HK for a few months and looking at a cluster of high rises and the uncountable number of tiny condo units. I got a feeling those were more like prison then home to me.
Sorry to hear Poor things i should be greatful living in singapore newer home i keep Complaining about getting small i feel unhappy then i realise Hong kong alot smaller than singapore home
Subcribed.. So many points of view. For sure, I will scan for past episodes in some spare time :)