All this en bloc angst has made me value my HDB flat
THIS probably isn’t going to win me any popularity contest but I am so glad the Government passed new laws to regulate en bloc sales. It’s about time someone cooled the fever.
Those two words are enough to send shivers down my spine. For one, it means some of the buildings I’ve loved since childhood are fast disappearing.
Every time I pass by Marine Parade, I have to shut my eyes to the ugly crane-filled sand dunes where once charming low-rise condos and pre-war bungalows used to stand.
Yes, they are only buildings and Singapore needs space — same old argument. But what about the communities living in those old places — neighbours who have looked out for each other for decades and watched each other’s children grow?
Singaporeans are always complaining about the come-home-and-shut-door condo lifestyle but don’t seem to treasure closeness when they find it. Or is the lure of money too overpowering?
I used to love peeking into this lovely ’70s estate off Orchard Road. Whatever the time of the day, it would be full of children running around and residents chatting in the leafy green spaces.
Even from the road, I could see open doors, children at the playground and neighbours popping in and out of each other’s homes. It had an air of upmarket kampung.
But not anymore. The last time I passed by this estate, there was an Everitt Roadlike chill in the air. People scurried from their cars to the lifts, avoiding each other’s eyes, and all the doors were shut.
As I was curious, I walked up to a man handing out leaflets at the main gate to find out what was going on. “En bloc sale,” he whispered. “Some want to sell, others don’t and it’s causing a lot of tension.” The leaflets he was handing out was to urge those who were still undecided to sell.
The money would come in handy, he admitted, but it also came at a cost. No one was talking to each other anymore. His neighbour has stopped coming over to play mahjong with his wife because they are now on opposite sides of the fence.
Overnight, the dreaded e-word has killed a community that took 30 years to grow. “Might as well sell now,” my new pal said sadly, “because it doesn’t feel like
home anymore.”
But at least the split was among neighbours and not within his family. A friend’s childhood home has gone en bloc and now, she and her brother are not talking to each other. Both are single and live with their parents.
She wants her parents to downgrade to a HDB flat and keep the rest of the money for their retirement but her brother wants them to splurge on a big condo so he can have his own room. As their parents don’t dare to decide either way, the family may be homeless in a month.
In Parliament a few weeks ago, Member of Parliament Irene Ng observed that the en bloc trend “seems to bring out the worst in some people”. Sad, but how true.
En bloc sales have the dubious distinction of pushing two hot buttons at once —money and property. And in kiasu, land-scarce Singapore, nothing can pit brother against brother (or, in my friend’s case, sister against brother) better than those two issues.
It is bad enough that the en bloc madness is affecting us locally, but it is also giving Singapore a bad reputation among the foreign talent we are trying to entice away from competitors such as Hong Kong and Tokyo.
An expat friend has had to move three times in six months, despite signing oneyear contracts. Every place he rented went en bloc and he was told to leave with one month’s notice.
He is so fed up he’s thinking of moving his family — and his money — back to Hong Kong. “There, I know I won’t be chased out of my home every month or so,” he said. And he is urging his friends to do the same.
All this angst, however, has taught me to treasure my HDB flat. It may not be fancy and has a resident madman. But I have been here for four years and there’s not a single sign of the place going en bloc. That’s a pretty good track record in this en bloc-crazy world.
Tabitha Wang is feeling smug that she bought a tiny studio in a conservation area. Surely that will never go en bloc?
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