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Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Quotas
http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10321p.nsf/w/BuyResaleFlatEthnicIntegrationPolicy_EIP?OpenDocument
I was just wondering what was the idea behind all these HDB quotas stuff and decided to find out more. In short, there are two types of quotas and they work independently, i.e you have to satisfy BOTH. The basic idea behind all these quotas are said to prevent enclaves and improve integration.
Firstly, there is ethnic quota. We cannot have too many of a race in a block. Singapore is a mosaic and we have to maintain the harmony.
Secondly, there is the citizen versus PR quota. There cannot be too many non-Malaysian PRs in a block, so that the PRs will be integrated into the culture of Singapore (lets not question what's the culture). Foreigners are NOT allowed to purchase HDB property.
These quotas take place when anyone wants to secure a HDB flat, i.e. BUY one, be it resale or first hand.
However, there still seems to be quite significant enclaves in certain areas in Singapore, such as the areas near certain schools. One question that popped up to me would be, "are these guys owners of the flats?" The answer is almost certainly "NO!" For one, they probably aren't PR yet (if they become one eventually), secondly they are probably renting the flat and staying together!
This thought is in fact pretty worrying for me. Assume that I know that the location of my flat is highly sought after due to its great location, i.e. proximity to train stations and "institutions of education" etc, and I have stayed in the flat for quite some years, I can very well rent out my flat to the foreigners since there is a demand. Very soon, the estate will be full of these foreigners! Will these foreigners ever integrate into the society?
Perhaps a question posed would be where would I stay then? Well, that could be worked out quite easily. I am not good with such maths but I believe that if I am to secure another property, take a bank loan, the amount of money milked from the rental can cover the repayment of loans. Otherwise, just move in with your parents!! Be a filial child.
It puzzles me sometimes why is there no QUOTA for rental (I tried searching online but didn't find any restrictions). I believe that when there is eventually sufficiently high concentration of foreigners in some areas, the locals (I define locals as Pink ICs) would slowly shun those areas. There are two methods to shun the area. Firstly, they can find another flat elsewhere, treat it as an upgrade. Secondly, they can rent their flat out!! If either fails, they would just complain and swear at their four walls everyday (probably). I call this some avalanche effect. In chemistry terms, rate of diffusion OUT of estate is inversely proportional to concentration of locals.
Perhaps there is a need to limit how many flats can be rented out in a block. Maybe there is a need to put a check on how many foreigners are staying within a block. Note that we are talking about HDB here, which is public housing for locals and PRs. I feel that the statistics of us having a well balanced ratio of house ownership which promotes integration is total bullshit for this reason. It is not reflecting what is on the ground for the simple reason that the Singaporean-Chinese-owned-flat in the block actually houses (maybe) 4 foreigners! Speak about enclaves.
Another thought that came to me would be foreigners that rent flats would always choose the flats to be somewhere that is "convenient" to them. Flats near train stations and perhaps Woodlands/ Jurong/ central would be high in demand due to various reasons. Would you find foreigners that applies for flats in some hdb heartlands that are "not that near train stations"? Yes, but hardly any. Sometimes as a home-seeker, I feel slightly agitated that these foreigners are able to secure rental flats near such train stations while I have resigned to looking at those far away from such amenities. Ah, this is just a random thought. Heck.
Enough of ramblings. Perhaps I should go to REACH and throw some suggestions. Well, personally I do not see any good solutions off-hand. Due to the large number of foreigners here, of which I do not think many are here to stay, we would need these "rented flats" to house them. Perhaps the quota on the number of flats rented to foreigners per block can be implemented to smash the enclaves. Hmmm, wonders how might that affect market prices for rental...
I hate looking at hdb website. sigh. still full of regret. 不听老人言... Damnit.
http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10321p.nsf/w/BuyResaleFlatEthnicIntegrationPolicy_EIP?OpenDocument
I was just wondering what was the idea behind all these HDB quotas stuff and decided to find out more. In short, there are two types of quotas and they work independently, i.e you have to satisfy BOTH. The basic idea behind all these quotas are said to prevent enclaves and improve integration.
Firstly, there is ethnic quota. We cannot have too many of a race in a block. Singapore is a mosaic and we have to maintain the harmony.
Secondly, there is the citizen versus PR quota. There cannot be too many non-Malaysian PRs in a block, so that the PRs will be integrated into the culture of Singapore (lets not question what's the culture). Foreigners are NOT allowed to purchase HDB property.
These quotas take place when anyone wants to secure a HDB flat, i.e. BUY one, be it resale or first hand.
However, there still seems to be quite significant enclaves in certain areas in Singapore, such as the areas near certain schools. One question that popped up to me would be, "are these guys owners of the flats?" The answer is almost certainly "NO!" For one, they probably aren't PR yet (if they become one eventually), secondly they are probably renting the flat and staying together!
This thought is in fact pretty worrying for me. Assume that I know that the location of my flat is highly sought after due to its great location, i.e. proximity to train stations and "institutions of education" etc, and I have stayed in the flat for quite some years, I can very well rent out my flat to the foreigners since there is a demand. Very soon, the estate will be full of these foreigners! Will these foreigners ever integrate into the society?
Perhaps a question posed would be where would I stay then? Well, that could be worked out quite easily. I am not good with such maths but I believe that if I am to secure another property, take a bank loan, the amount of money milked from the rental can cover the repayment of loans. Otherwise, just move in with your parents!! Be a filial child.
It puzzles me sometimes why is there no QUOTA for rental (I tried searching online but didn't find any restrictions). I believe that when there is eventually sufficiently high concentration of foreigners in some areas, the locals (I define locals as Pink ICs) would slowly shun those areas. There are two methods to shun the area. Firstly, they can find another flat elsewhere, treat it as an upgrade. Secondly, they can rent their flat out!! If either fails, they would just complain and swear at their four walls everyday (probably). I call this some avalanche effect. In chemistry terms, rate of diffusion OUT of estate is inversely proportional to concentration of locals.
Perhaps there is a need to limit how many flats can be rented out in a block. Maybe there is a need to put a check on how many foreigners are staying within a block. Note that we are talking about HDB here, which is public housing for locals and PRs. I feel that the statistics of us having a well balanced ratio of house ownership which promotes integration is total bullshit for this reason. It is not reflecting what is on the ground for the simple reason that the Singaporean-Chinese-owned-flat in the block actually houses (maybe) 4 foreigners! Speak about enclaves.
Another thought that came to me would be foreigners that rent flats would always choose the flats to be somewhere that is "convenient" to them. Flats near train stations and perhaps Woodlands/ Jurong/ central would be high in demand due to various reasons. Would you find foreigners that applies for flats in some hdb heartlands that are "not that near train stations"? Yes, but hardly any. Sometimes as a home-seeker, I feel slightly agitated that these foreigners are able to secure rental flats near such train stations while I have resigned to looking at those far away from such amenities. Ah, this is just a random thought. Heck.
Enough of ramblings. Perhaps I should go to REACH and throw some suggestions. Well, personally I do not see any good solutions off-hand. Due to the large number of foreigners here, of which I do not think many are here to stay, we would need these "rented flats" to house them. Perhaps the quota on the number of flats rented to foreigners per block can be implemented to smash the enclaves. Hmmm, wonders how might that affect market prices for rental...
I hate looking at hdb website. sigh. still full of regret. 不听老人言... Damnit.