Dim remarks 'Mah' debate on failed lighting in Potong Pasir

last SG · 2006-08-12T14:10:13+00:00

not only the reasoning, now i am also beginning to doubt their character. They call themselves gentlemen or jun zi, my foot! So far i have not seen anythin...

www SG

equally holding the appointment of MP, yet chiam has to write in like a commoner to make himself heard.

charlize SG

If CST has to write to the papers to get his point across to the people at the top, it only goes to show that MPs really don't have much clout or say when they speak in Parliament. Laughing

www SG

Ageing S'poreans, income gap key challenges to public housing: Mah
By Wong Siew Ying, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 17 August 2006 2015 hrs

Public housing in Singapore has come a long way but the road ahead is paved with challenges like an ageing population, the widening income gap and a more cosmopolitan society.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan spoke on these challenges at a lecture at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy to mark its second anniversary.

Making public housing affordable for the needy, accessible for the elderly and attractive for the more affluent Singaporeans.

These responsive housing policies, Mr Mah said, have helped nine in 10 Singaporeans own homes.

Community living also promotes racial harmony and rootedness to Singapore.

Going forward, HDB will offer more options to meet different financial needs, upgrade estates and build flats that are elderly- and wheelchair-friendly.

It will also involve the private sector in public housing programme where possible, like the Design, Build and Sell Scheme development in Tampines.

But it doesn't mean HDB will shy away from its building role, Mr Mah said.

"The quality of flats are known, they have many years of experience in terms of what kind of flats people like to live in, what are the features of HDB flats that are popular. So I think that that experience is still there and useful for HDB to keep. So, no, I don't think HDB will stop building flats," he said.

Mr Mah added that the $900 million or 3 per cent of the government's annual budget allocated to public housing has been sustainable.

The money goes towards providing housing subsidy and town renewal programmes.

Mr Mah also commented on Potong Pasir MP Chiam See Tong's letter to the media saying that Mr Mah, then the Transport Minister, had not supported the opening of an MRT station in the opposition ward.

Mr Mah said that the opposition member is trying to divert attention from the real issue.

Mr Chiam's letter is the latest in a series of exchanges on the ongoing dispute with PAP's Sitoh Yih Pin over damaged solar lights in his ward, which Mr Chiam has since fixed.

Mr Mah said: "I think his (Chiam's) latest comment is still trying to divert attention from the real issue. The real issue is the residents."

On the dispute over the repair of the solar lights, Mr Mah said: "His residents had a problem. At first, he (Chiam) said that this was not his problem, that this was somebody else's problem. As a result of that, I urged him to not to ignore the problem but to do something about it. Finally, he's come around to say that he is going to do something about it. I am happy that it has been resolved.

"As far as I am concerned, that's the end of the matter. But I think he has taken offence, and now come up with new red herrings like the Potong Pasir MRT, which I think he got his facts wrong. But I don't intend to debate with him through the media on this issue. I hope that he raises this in the next parliament sitting, so I can give him a proper response." - CNA/ir

Atobe SG

Originally posted by BillyBong:
Chiam replies to Mah's comment
Aug 16, 2006

I REFER to the report, 'No more passing the buck' (ST, Aug 14), on the solar-lights saga.
National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said that I have finally decided 'to concentrate on serving the needs of the residents'.

Mr Mah has again got the facts all wrong. I have never changed my position on serving the residents, as he claimed.

It was he who practised the opposite in regard to serving the residents of Potong Pasir.

Mr Mah was in charge of transport during the period leading up to the 2001 General Election, yet he never supported the opening of the Potong Pasir MRT station, despite my repeated requests as MP for Potong Pasir.

It was Mr Yeo Cheow Tong, the then newly-appointed Minister for Transport, who, in June 2003, finally gave permission for the Potong Pasir MRT station to be opened.

Chiam See Tong
MP for Potong Pasir

Does anybody have the copy of Mah's comments earlier? This is turning into a pathetic PAP smearing campaign, with 'Dimwit' Mah at the center of it. Looks like a revival of the long-time spat between one-time 'president scholar' Mah against venerable Chiam... Laughing

No facts, no justification and mere empty words...well they speak volumes of his capacity as a minister. Hardly PAP material...

Mr Chiam See Tong's reply was a result of the blustering speech from MBT - published in the Straits Times, Monday 14 August 2006, Page H2:

NO MORE PASSING THE BUCK
"I'm happy to note that Mr Chiam has now decided finally to concentrate on serving the needs of the residents instead of passing the buck to Mr Sitoh (Yih Pin) or to the Housing Board, which was his original position ---- that this was not his problem, that it is Mr Sitoh's problem. I'm glad that he has decided to change his position, that is, concentrating on getting something done there, which is what I urged him to do in the first place. So I think it is a good outcome."

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT MINISTER MAH BOW TAN, responding yesterday to opposition MP Chiam See Tong's recent letter to the Straits Times Forum page, stating that Potong Pasir Town Council had installed floodlights for a footpath and intended to build a covered linkway there

Atobe SG

Originally posted by www:
Ageing S'poreans, income gap key challenges to public housing: Mah
By Wong Siew Ying, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 17 August 2006 2015 hrs

Public housing in Singapore has come a long way but the road ahead is paved with challenges like an ageing population, the widening income gap and a more cosmopolitan society.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan spoke on these challenges at a lecture at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy to mark its second anniversary.

Making public housing affordable for the needy, accessible for the elderly and attractive for the more affluent Singaporeans.

These responsive housing policies, Mr Mah said, have helped nine in 10 Singaporeans own homes.

Community living also promotes racial harmony and rootedness to Singapore.

Going forward, HDB will offer more options to meet different financial needs, upgrade estates and build flats that are elderly- and wheelchair-friendly.

It will also involve the private sector in public housing programme where possible, like the Design, Build and Sell Scheme development in Tampines.

But it doesn't mean HDB will shy away from its building role, Mr Mah said.

"The quality of flats are known, they have many years of experience in terms of what kind of flats people like to live in, what are the features of HDB flats that are popular. So I think that that experience is still there and useful for HDB to keep. So, no, I don't think HDB will stop building flats," he said.

Mr Mah added that the $900 million or 3 per cent of the government's annual budget allocated to public housing has been sustainable.

The money goes towards providing housing subsidy and town renewal programmes.

Mr Mah also commented on Potong Pasir MP Chiam See Tong's letter to the media saying that Mr Mah, then the Transport Minister, had not supported the opening of an MRT station in the opposition ward.

Mr Mah said that the opposition member is trying to divert attention from the real issue.

Mr Chiam's letter is the latest in a series of exchanges on the ongoing dispute with PAP's Sitoh Yih Pin over damaged solar lights in his ward, which Mr Chiam has since fixed.

Mr Mah said: "I think his (Chiam's) latest comment is still trying to divert attention from the real issue. The real issue is the residents."

On the dispute over the repair of the solar lights, Mr Mah said: "His residents had a problem. At first, he (Chiam) said that this was not his problem, that this was somebody else's problem. As a result of that, I urged him to not to ignore the problem but to do something about it. Finally, he's come around to say that he is going to do something about it. I am happy that it has been resolved.

"As far as I am concerned, that's the end of the matter. But I think he has taken offence, and now come up with new red herrings like the Potong Pasir MRT, which I think he got his facts wrong. But I don't intend to debate with him through the media on this issue. I hope that he raises this in the next parliament sitting, so I can give him a proper response." - CNA/ir

Is the Minister telling the truth, or simply being self-indulgent in claiming that the Government is ".... making public housing affordable for the needy, accessible for the elderly and attractive for the more affluent Singaporeans" ?

Are the "public housing affordable to the needy" ?

Can these public housing be purchased by those who are jobless; or even to those with jobs but on short term employment contracts, and with the public housing financed by commercial banks on usual commercial terms ?

Yes, Public Housing is now built for affluent Singaporeans, afterall who else can afford Public Housing that are priced slightly below Private Housing ?

Nine out of 10 Singaporeans will be indebted for at least their entire working lives, clearing their housing debt, enslaved to a public housing that require their continued political subservience.

Yes, the many years of experience with Public Housing have taught us to be wary of the boastful quality of HDB homes that feature leaking walls; choked common sewer pipes that are accessible through our homes; falling cement that expose the reinforcing steel bars in the ceiling - and within five years; leaking ceiling after twenty years.

Is it any wonder that Public Housing now takes up only 3% of the National Budget, when the HDB new policy require the Buyer to spend additional sums on basic finishing and renovations - without reducing the selling price by any significant margins ?

Subsidy and town renewal programs ? What subsidy has the Government provided when land are repossessed below market values, and sold to HDB at market prices, that recover the costs from the home buyers ?

Renewal Programs will eventually be paid by Singaporeans in one devious form or another - does this Government believe in the word subsidy ?

"A LIE spoken often enough, will become the TRUTH, and it will sound more credible if the LIE is propounded by persons of some repute ".

It is simply disingenious for MBT to state that the broken down street light put up by the PAP operated Citizen Consultative Committee - shoud be Chiam See Tong's responsibility to work for the interest of the Potong Pasir Residents ?

It is simply irresponsible for MBT and Seetoh to deny that it is their problem to ensure that what has provided is looked after - at least until the URA lease has expired, as it was afterall given to the PAP operated Citizen's Consultative Committee.

What more brilliant statements can spout from Mah Bow Tan's mouth ?

He had once said that allowing SingTel to charge by the minute will be fairer and cheaper for private Singaporean users, as domestic usage need not subsidise the commercial telecoms usage.

Within 3 months of the change to bye-laws allowing SingTel to charge by the minute - monthly fixed rate - Singaporeans soon learn the awful truth of the higher monthly charges for home telephone lines.

Mah Bow Tan was then moved to the Transport Ministry.

At the Transport Ministry, he implemented the ERP system, and boastfully claimed that when ERP is fully implemented and accepted as a necessity to control traffic conditions, Road Taxes will drop by at least more then half.

ERP is fully accepted as a necessary evil, and along busy Orchard Road to Dhoby Gaut, we now see the introduction of newer gantries inside the ERP zoned center of Singapore. We also see the new legislations that allow evening ERP to be installed along main trunks roads leading Singaporeans home from work.

Mah was moved again to the Ministry of National Development, and the proposed "road tax reduction" was dropped.

ShutterBug SG

I wouldn't bother talking about this.

I treat any comments/remarks from any of them, as ambient noise.

BillyBong SG

Originally posted by www:
[b]Ageing S'poreans, income gap key challenges to public housing: Mah
By Wong Siew Ying, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 17 August 2006 2015 hrs

Public housing in Singapore has come a long way but the road ahead is paved with challenges like an ageing population, the widening income gap and a more cosmopolitan society.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan spoke on these challenges at a lecture at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy to mark its second anniversary.

Making public housing affordable for the needy, accessible for the elderly and attractive for the more affluent Singaporeans.

These responsive housing policies, Mr Mah said, have helped nine in 10 Singaporeans own homes.

Community living also promotes racial harmony and rootedness to Singapore.

Going forward, HDB will offer more options to meet different financial needs, upgrade estates and build flats that are elderly- and wheelchair-friendly.

It will also involve the private sector in public housing programme where possible, like the Design, Build and Sell Scheme development in Tampines.

But it doesn't mean HDB will shy away from its building role, Mr Mah said.

"The quality of flats are known, they have many years of experience in terms of what kind of flats people like to live in, what are the features of HDB flats that are popular. So I think that that experience is still there and useful for HDB to keep. So, no, I don't think HDB will stop building flats," he said.

Mr Mah added that the $900 million or 3 per cent of the government's annual budget allocated to public housing has been sustainable.

The money goes towards providing housing subsidy and town renewal programmes.

Mr Mah also commented on Potong Pasir MP Chiam See Tong's letter to the media saying that Mr Mah, then the Transport Minister, had not supported the opening of an MRT station in the opposition ward.

Mr Mah said that the opposition member is trying to divert attention from the real issue.

Mr Chiam's letter is the latest in a series of exchanges on the ongoing dispute with PAP's Sitoh Yih Pin over damaged solar lights in his ward, which Mr Chiam has since fixed.

Mr Mah said: "I think his (Chiam's) latest comment is still trying to divert attention from the real issue. The real issue is the residents."

On the dispute over the repair of the solar lights, Mr Mah said: "His residents had a problem. At first, he (Chiam) said that this was not his problem, that this was somebody else's problem. As a result of that, I urged him to not to ignore the problem but to do something about it. Finally, he's come around to say that he is going to do something about it. I am happy that it has been resolved.

"As far as I am concerned, that's the end of the matter. But I think he has taken offence, and now come up with new red herrings like the Potong Pasir MRT, which I think he got his facts wrong. But I don't intend to debate with him through the media on this issue. I hope that he raises this in the next parliament sitting, so I can give him a proper response." - CNA/ir
[/b]

The quality of flats are indeed known, with stupendous problems with ceiling, drainage leaks and admin issues between who should foot the bill for such damages - HDB or resident and what ratio it should be split. With the more serious cases being reported in the papers, one can only imagine the number of under-reported cases pending abitration.

Such ridiculous arrangements, especially for new buyers, simply mean that HDB is taking any opportunity to throw the ills back at the resident, a new-age govt trend, only considering serious cases which can be proven that HDB slipped on quality issues.

Is it any wonder why the public's confidence in HDB's 'quality' have fallen significantly? With Mah at the helm, how many new 'ingenious' policies is he prepared to enact (as a typical govt scholar would) during his tenure before he is once against swiftly 'rotated' to a new portfolio within the govt?

As it is, this rotational policy is based on the pretext to expose govt scholars to newer challenges and 'fast track' them to greater things. Funny that no govt body has yet imposed the condition that the challenge needs to be beaten first before one can proceed to the next phase.

With questionable high pay and a somewhat aloof and ineffective style, surely it is perfectly fair to question whether Mah is serving the people or simply self-serving for his own career advancement.

And it seems he has suddenly decided to douse the fire in which he started? Being one of the first, alongside Lee Boon Yang and Seetoh Yih Pin, to openly criticize Chiam See Tong over his 'apparent failure' to address the superfluous solar lights, he has suddenly changed tact after Chiam responded calmly and venomously, rocking his boat and questioning his own integrity.

Suddenly, he prefers to continue this argument in parliament where he, with an army of white shirts behind him, will feel more at ease? Does he think that a parliament setting gives him more of an edge? That instead of Chiam vs Mah, it will favourably become Chiam vs the 'white T-shirt Gang'? Mr. Green

It is more surprising that no one questioned why, in the first place, Seetoh Yih Pin would spend unnecessary money on a 'solar power' lighting system when a much cheaper one would have sufficed?

This is a clear example of how our taxpayer's money is extravagantly indulged by the white T-shirt gang. And how they continue to bully those who would question their motives.

pearlie27 SG

Correct, seemed like a misuse of public funds.

I was told Chiam couldn't repair the lights cos he could be sued for trepassing if he did as the land was leased by someone else.

Wind6 SG

Saw the reply of on the newspaper, cant help but to feel a sense of arrogance in his reply though Neutral . Anybody feel the same?

av98m SG

Marbok Tongue is an idiot. If there is a hell I'm sure he already has a space reserved for him. .

the Bear SG

it would be... leased by someone to become a dog in a manger Laughing

Manager433 SG

Good news. The remaining 2 working street lamps and those faulty lamps all removed liao. Total darkness...... Mr. Green Song Bo???

Atobe SG

Total darkness ? Idea

Did you not read that CST had installed ONE Flood Lamp to light up the entire area ?

CST did it, when Sitoh refused to fulfill his responsibility to repair the supposedly "vandalised" solar powered lamps, which he had put up in the first place; and without any shame, he, NTUC Lim, and Mah tried their best to pass the buck to CST

Why continue to suffer the ignominy of displaying those damaged and the pathetic 2 remaining working lamps that Sitoh refused to repair, and continue to pass the shameful buck to CST ?

It becomes even a bigger blot when one simple flood lamp was able to do the same job for a lesser price, than all those fancy solar powered lamps - which must have cost something to purchase even though it is supposed to save energy and cut operating cost.

For the P.O.O - it is another one of those disastrous work that is best forgotten - and quickly too. Laughing

xxthunder SG

what to do? ,he is voted in.remember this when you are voting next time.

IF NOT, ENJOY HIS PERFORMANCE FOR ANOTHER 5 YEARS.DON BE CONTENTED THAT THEY RUN THE COUNTRY QUITE WELL,THEY SHOULD BE BETTER; NOT SLOW TO PEOPLE'S REACTION WHEN THEY RISE THIS AND THAT.ONLY TO ISSUE A STATEMENT:THEY SHOULD BE MORE TACTFUL.

THE BOTTOMLINE IS WHEN PEOPLE TAKE YOUR SPECIAL QUALITIES AS GRANTED,EXCISE YOUR VOTING RIGHT TO SHOW THEM YOU ARE NOT OK WITH THEIR PERFORMANCE.

may god bless us all for a more understanding and compassionate government.

foomwee88 SG

It will be total darkness in S'pore very soon!!! song bo ,d!!!!

White will soon become black which i will wear during the funera 4 PAP!!!!

Heroboy SG

Don’t worry,they will ask these skill foreign talent(sure or not????) to replace and install new lamp post. After that,they will get the S’pore Passport.

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