I REFER to yesterday’s letter by Mr Dennis Lee, ‘Distressed by divisions’, and agree it is unhealthy to create an artificial divide between those who rent and those who buy an HDB flat.
The image of HDB rental flat dwellers has been created by the application criteria and the design of the flats, typically the one-bedroom type sharing a long common corridor. Apart from the HDB application criterion of a household income of $1,500, other factors can better describe the fabric of this close-knit group of citizens, which Mr Lee aptly describes: ‘We knew our neighbours well and even exchanged gifts on festive occasions.’
These include their past contribution to nation building, residents’ knowledge of one another in the community, their fluency in dying dialects, their participation in activities that promote social cohesion, their culinary skills in disappearing local dishes, the success of their children like Mr Lee, and their performance in the town council maintenance assessment.
Perhaps HDB can consider building bigger units among rental flats to change the image of HDB tenants from that of low-income families to occupants of choice housing.
Patrick Sio
Source : Straits Times – 18 Feb 2010
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment