Rental flats here to stay

I remember my Chinese New Year visits to my grandma, who lived for some years in a one-room rental flat in Chinatown.

She chose to live on her own till she was nearly 90, holding back the day when she could not care for herself any longer.

It was her pristine little flat that I’m sure gave her that extra independence she so prized. We cherish self-determination and so do the elderly.

This diminutive woman from our pioneer days had survived tuberculosis, a world war and widowhood with such a sweet spirit.

I thought of the way she lived her later years with dignity, when some Pasir Ris and Tampines residents expressed great shock that rental flats will soon rise in their midst.

The Housing Board will begin to build blocks of one- and two-room rental flats on the green field between two Pasir Ris blocks.

In Tampines, a new 14-storey block of rental flats will go up.

There was a strong current of fear and anger in the comments of 20 residents reported by The Straits Times:

The new neighbours will look into our living rooms and bedrooms.

Foreign workers will sublet the flats. Smokers and drinkers will loiter in the void decks and lead the young astray.

Our view will be blocked and we will miss the breeze.

Property prices will dive.

The fears should not be laughed off. But we can start to confront them as more rental flats will be spread across the island.

Singapore has 42,000 rental flats now. Another 8,000 will be ready for the needy by 2012.

There has been a cry for affordable flats for the needy. There are also the divorcees and ever-rising silver population. To its credit, the HDB is delivering new rental flats in a hurry. It is housing the nation, not just young couples.

It simply has to use all its ingenuity and technology to create liveable places.

Build beautifully within budget, put in lush greenery or sky gardens, let community bonds spring up, even create an illusion of space. Also communicate with savvy and sincerity so there’s less surprise.

But when does some of that cross from smart strategy to endless pandering?

Because we’re a hyper-dense city, we’re running into what may be the world’s biggest Nimby syndrome – Not In My Backyard.

In principle, we care for the needy, but please let them live somewhere else.

What about me? What’s in my backyard? I’ve lived in HDB flats and now live in cluster housing on the East Coast.

There are no needy dwellers close by. But while a condo was being built across the road, foreign workers were housed on site. We could hear them showering – yes, they work in hot, dusty conditions – when we walked out. They congregated in our pocket park and on pavements at night.

We lived with explosive populations of mosquitoes for a couple of years as well.

I can tell you our place is very dense, and neighbours can look into each other’s homes. I have some view of sky and gorgeous greenery, but not a whole lot. In fact, private developers squeeze much into little, and I feel a greater sense of open space when I pop into HDB estates.

Where I live, there is also a temple along the boundary of our little estate. I hear chants sometimes, and navigate around the cars of temple visitors.

But on my walks, I may also pass a friendly free-range rabbit in a neighbour’s garden. I spy wild flowers, a forgotten toy in the sandpit and colourful songbirds. The best breeze and unblocked view is actually from a hillock next to a HDB estate.

Sometimes it’s a question of perception, what I choose to see. I know I have to do this a lot, because Singapore is such a high-density speck and getting more so.

Maybe we can turn the Nimby syndrome: What if it was me – or grandma?

One day, if we ever need a smaller apartment, will our new neighbours despise our presence?

Surely I don’t want to live in the future Underground Singapore?

I do not like the thought at all of the elderly retreating prematurely into nursing homes when they can age in a place with dignity and inner strength intact, possibly in a rental flat.

My dad remembers that my grandma had neighbours of steady character. They were not the voyeurs and desperados and child corrupters that we imagine will be housed in new rental flats.

I did not really see much of my grandma. But she was still the epitome of an affectionate grandparent who looked on me with love, and travelled independently on buses to see us, often bearing tiny toys that I wish I’d kept.

She died in her mid-90s after living a full life, some of it in her no-frills flat, before she had dementia and entered a nursing home.

As we celebrate family life this Chinese New Year, I hope Singapore will always have room in our hearts and estates for people like her.

Source : Sunday Times – 14 Feb 2010