Deliver On Punggol, Win Over The Young

Source : The Straits Times, 24 Aug 2007

AS PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong was wowing the National Day Rally crowd with his high-resolution picture presentation on Punggol, a friend sent me a text message on Sunday.

He wrote: ‘This is like a real estate sales pitch.’

Indeed. And PM Lee was quite persuasive too.

When he zoomed in on his vision of Punggol, guiding the viewers along the banks of the river, the crowd was visibly and audibly enthralled.

Waterfront homes with kayaking and canoeing along the rivers, decorated with trees, plants and shrubbery.

Eco-friendly blocks of flats by the rivers and alfresco dining giving the new town the old delicious whiff of its famous chilli crab days.

Mr Lee called it Punggol 21-plus, adding to the original plans mooted by his predecessor, Mr Goh Chok Tong, 11 years ago.

But that was at the University Cultural Centre, where the rally was held.

I headed to Punggol this week and and found more shrugs and wry smiles than the gushing heard on Sunday within the Kent Ridge campus hall of the centre.

While residents and shop owners agree PM Lee’s masterplan is exciting, they are not ready to rub their hands in glee yet.

Now, they prefer to wait and see.

After all, they have been burnt once when the promises of Punggol 21 made in 1996 were left unfulfilled.

As provision shop owner Tan Leong Choon, who has been in Punggol for three years, told me: ‘I saw the promise of a new town and thought this would be the next place to be. How would I know it would be this bad?’

Sure, the Government could point to the 1997 Asian financial crisis to explain its inability to deliver.

And indeed, it was true. The crisis reduced demand for new homes among Singaporeans drastically.

Instead of the planned 80,000 private and HDB homes, only about 16,000 flats were built.

As Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said in a seminar earlier this month, the people must be prepared to take ‘painful medicine’ from time to time because there is no one sweet progression up.

The best-laid plans could be torn up quickly by international events that are often out of the Government’s control.

In some ways, the residents of Punggol seemed to understand.

The incumbent People’s Action Party team in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC won comfortably in last year’s general election, taking 68.3 per cent of the valid votes - above the national average of 66.6 per cent.

But can they take another blow?

As their MP, Mr Charles Chong, said: ‘Something had better happen this time.’

All the talk of a hot economy and a bright 10years ahead would count for nothing if the high-resolution 3-D presentation of Punggol remains a high-resolution 3-D presentation.

And Punggol 21 or Punggol 21-plus is not just about Punggol residents.

It has an impact on other Singaporeans too.

In fact, PM Lee’s Sunday presentation was not a pitch to those in Punggol per se, but rather an advertisement, or a statement of intent, to all Singaporeans.

As he said, the new town will bolster the country’s reputation as a city with ‘fun and buzz’, while retaining its traditional qualities of being clean, green and safe.

More than just about the north-eastern town, Punggol 21-plus is a vision and a symbol of the future of public housing here.

It represents a clear and present break from the Housing Board estates Singaporeans are familiar with - simple and functional.

Necessity has given way to luxury, and what some may even see as frivolity, with bay windows and condominium-like facades instead of just a roof over one’s head.

Grubby coffee shops may be a thing of the past, with alfresco restaurants serving local signature delights - chilli crab in Punggol and chwee kueh in Tiong Bahru perhaps - the way to go.

In short, it would prove the Government is still able to deliver public housing that is affordable and alluring at the same time.

What it means is an enticing vision that ties the cosmopolitan ambitions of young Singaporeans to their local roots.

It means progress for young Singaporeans, able to dream of a better life and lifestyle than their parents and grandparents, and knowing those dreams can be achieved here and not in Australia or the United States.

So make Punggol 21-plus come true. Even if there is another unexpected regional financial meltdown, one would hope the Government has already made provisions for Punggol.

Let Punggol down again, and the Government will not only lose the chance to repay residents for their support, but also deny itself the opportunity to show other young Singaporeans a new world they will want to be a part of.