singapore is the living proof that if the goverments did what they are supposed to do they can turn a country from homeless and poor to rich and apartment comfy for everyone
Asians have a better sense of the importance of a social order than does a lot of the West. The US in particular will never achieve this kind of stability, too many people of various groups who don't give a damn about the wider society and their place in it. It's not a government problem primarily, all problems start with the cultures present that the governance acts upon.
Americans would hate this. From what I've seen of their politics many would rather live in squalor - because "freedom" - than live happy and healthy lives by abiding by rules and regulations that benefit them.
Master Debater yea we do, it doesn’t take a genius to see socialism never works. Eventually you run out of others money that pays for all this bs. Government forcefully taking money to give to others is wrong and theft. If you disagree then please feel free to pay 100% of your income
The real genius behind fixing the housing issue is the 99 years lease imposed. It means majority of Singapore’s land cannot be hoarded by a landlord class which hinders social mobility of later generations. 👍 while people do complain, I think a unique brand of socialism + capitalism does work.(Despite its failings)
Hardline laissez-faire capitalists want to deregulate and privatize everything (including subscription based fire departments). A healthy society requires that governments equitably step in at times. Otherwise, society experiences severe exploitation at the expense of long-term wellbeing.
Yes rentiers are worse than capitalist in a way because they don't face competition and demand for urban land is always growing. what makes it worse is how important housing is to be able to function is a society.
Seb TY but isn’t that a good thing though I mean housing is such in important part of. Society that it’s worth doing it this way. I wish more developed nation would take a look at the affordable housing situation and do something about it
@@nameless592 agree. Left me wondering how Hong Kong ended up with such a precarious housing market. Both wealthy city states (🇭🇰 semi-autonmous)│low taxes│high population density │land predominantly owned by the state. Though the most baffling try at public housing is the _US mortgage interest deduction._ Original intend was to boost home ownership rates (it didn't). Keep in mind from an accounting balance perspective a tax deduction = government handout. It's the most expensive public housing effort the world has ever seen. Since it is one of the more generous tax deduction (up to $1million) people are taking full advantage of it (twice if possible); meaning the largest mortgage the Bank is willing to grant, resulting in the largest floorspace per capita worldwide. It's the rational thing to do, it's called incentive not for nothing. Essentially every year one is not paying a mortgage off, your tax dollar helps paying someone else's house. You paid off your mortgage and now you help someone else to become homeowner right? Finish that thought; A taxpayer that can't afford to become a homeowner is subsidizing those who do. Redistribution of wealth and income; Ladies and Gentlemen my prophecy, trickle down can't work without some altitude. _If the Prophet won't come to the mountain, then bring the mountain to Prophet!_
Social control in this case seems actually super smart. People belonging to one ethnic group usually socialize amongst each other more strongly than with other groups since it provides more familiarity and safety. But that can easily lead to the development of neighbourhoods that end up being unattractive to investors and thus often are also forgotten by the government. That leads to neighbourhoods that are in bad condition, bc no ones fixing the potholes, the streets are dirty, schools don't get the funding they need, less job opportunities or at least less well paying jobs, leading to poverty which in turn makes illegal activities more attractive due to the desparation of the people etc etc. Of course there are exceptions, but tbh this is the kind of social control that seems perfectly fine. No reason to demonize the word control. You have people of all ethnicities and social status well integrated into society and can easier prevent the development of slums etc etc. How is that negative?
Living in public housing is better than private condominiums. Neighbours in public housing are much friendlier. And I love the diverse racial mix. I'm Malay and I truly love my Chinese neighbours. And I know they care about us too. Sometimes they hanged on our doors fresh fruits they gotten from their friends. It's a blessing.
My face is the antidote they are so rare, I've never met a black dude living in Singapore. White people are mostly immigrants living in the richer parts, they don't use public housing
Jordan Dossou Public housing is mostly reserved for citizens or PR and since very few white or blacks are citizens, most of them live in private housing
Jordan Dossou .... ummmm please dont spill the American racial rhetoric out of context into South East Asian politics... haters gotta hate and its fine that that hate radius between Americans is kept in the Americas. Not in South East Asia. Ur getting out of context.
@@invinciblemode There's a white family in my HDB block. Thai, Phillipino , mainlanders along with the majority races (Chinese, Malay, Indian & Eurasian).
So Singapore Government fixed the housing problem by becoming the largest developer in the country, who provides various types of public houses to residents for 99 years at a Fair & Cheap Price (actually a 99 year long-term lease contract), instead of selling the limited land to greedy developers who normally sell apartments at a premium.
The opposition to things like this comes from people who buy/build to let. All the landlords who are making a profit would protest. And politicians are often heavily invested in the property market.
It’s funny because Singapore actually has the most economic freedom and has far lower tax rates than countries like the US. They just don’t waste their money
Thank you. We are proud of him and grateful to him. People can say what they want about him, but true Singaporeans know that he did everything for the love of Singapore.
When I visited Singapore, my uber driver proudly told me that their government had enough savings to live through five(5!!) recessions. Probably one of the smartest most people-focused governments out there. We could all learn from Singapore. 👏👏
Singapore has a fiscal rule that any government must have a balanced budget over its term of office. This will not happen in UK and so we are deeply in debt! People here demand more and more benefits and successive governments get into deficits in order to please the electorate. There is no concept of saving for the rainy days in UK.
@@hoifeikwok7457 If you think those deficits benefit the people on benefits you truly are a brainwashed moron. You know where most of the UK's spending has gone in the last decade? Bailing out banks. But hey, I assume you're the CEO of a bank so by all means keep voting for Tories since they keep handing you all that cash. (and if you're not the CEO of a bank than you really must be a moron.)
I recently visited Singapore and have been in awe of it. How come such a small place has progressed so much. It's truly inspiring and I wish to see most of the Indian cities to be like Singapore. Cheers !
Amitesh Pramanik That's is true. And seeing at the population of our country even a small percentage of corrupt people exponentially damage India's development
@felixoscar as a Singaporean Chinese, I will just kindly ask you to leave our country. It's a country for the Chinese, Indians and Malays. We don't want white migrants like you who just know how to be racist against people. Our small city is already overflowing with people, we can't carry the burden of your racism with us.
Evan Pc really didn’t want to argue so excuse me if i sound rude, but i hope you keep in mind that that was a squatter development and people back then were so poor they burned candles for light. additionally, poor air ventilation from the crowded buildings and the people cooking in their small crowded homes probably led to the fire somehow. the houses were made of flammable material too so we have all the factors for a fire to start simply from someone accidentally spilling their candle over. one would think our people would know if the government actually set a fire to their own people (and for the record, they didn’t. the PAP were too busy with their own problems)
I noticed how they said that as well, but all it really means is that how it started isn't actually known. In that kind of shanty with the conditions involved, fires happen and go out of control very rapidly. That's not even surprising. Some may find it suspicious that the government immediately stepped up and did something with the land, but it would be far more suspicious if it was sold off or private developers were allowed to do whatever they wanted with it. It's just that this time the government was looking to do a project, the land was no longer in (illegal) use, and it had an even greater level of pressure to provide housing. What I find amazing is that only 4 people died in the fire.
Still doesn't it seem coincidental they were trying to get the peoples trust, and then a fire on their target demographic pressured them to rely on the government and gave the government an opportunity to step up to the plate to serve it's citizens thus establishing a base relationship?
@@thepope2412 then what a country will be? A business, where everything is controlled by your higher management until you died, or just get fired from one, very minor inconvenience?
Whilst the British government still hasn't rehomed the Grenfell tower victims over a year on in one of the richest boroughs in the richest cities in the world...
Doenst it get tire when the press, government and business people keep spouting the non-sense of "we are the richest country/city in the world" while a huge portion of the population living there are poor and cant afford modern, decent housing? This is so typical of the US where millions of people dont have access to basic healthcare or go bankrupt due to medical expenses, have a infrastructures in disrepair, yet we ALWAYS hear how rich and powerful the US is. I congratulate Singapore for this successful social housing program.
Eric Johnson Totally understand but my point was more towards a multi lingual, multi racial, multi cultural country that had set their national language to English shows how progressive the country is. Unifying the people and tourism. I could care what language they speak but as a native english speaker I was surprised when I first visited. Look also towards the botanical gardens. Singapore spent billions reclaiming land and one could be forgiven for thinking it was all about housing and population growth. But no, they built an amazing botanical garden for tourists and locals to share and teach about the environment, global warming etc. Very progressive and one of my favourite holiday destinations.
@@Caswell19 It means everyone is literate in a common instructional language that allows for communication. There are more languages too, 2nd langs which are compulsory to take up to Sec 4/ Grade 10.
I loved everything about Singapore it's a truly great, safe, friendly, and peaceful place to live. It was just too expensive for me to live there for a longer amount of time.
San Francisco has so much to learn from Singapore when it comes to dealing with its housing crisis. People don't need to live on the streets or struggle to afford rent, and Singapore shows the efficacy of smart government policy.
Steve S depends on how much control north korea? Perhaps? Russia perhaps? China? Myanmar? Oh Jesus... The UK, oh sorry I can’t make that joke because that’s bad apparently.
Correction: our carefully planned social control is better than zero social control. It's not a "take this poison government overlord or be homeless" give or take situation.
Contrast this with Indian housing - where a nexus of builders and politicians swindled away Indian middle class life savings - without providing any housing.
As an Indian, I feel we are not collectively genuinely empathetic and socially conscious of everyone's well being regardless of our differences. We did not face the same crisis as Singapore to completely change our systems (even if we did, we did not learn or change enough) for the better.
@@mohdfaizal6773 I admire Singapore strict car control. Look at HK in contrast, amazing public transport system, but terrible traffic because of high car ownership. Being a slave to government? Oh please, infinitely better than being slave to a private real estate agency here in Hong Kong. Much worse. Singapore is way better.
We have public housing in Syria and it's cheaper than the special market by 40-45% and same way in Singapore that you need to sign up for it and pay a small mount every month
Irony is that, Singapore was built by looking at Hong Kong.. now, Hong Kong's biggest problem is its housing and Singapore's biggest strength is it's housing
Here in Israel, the government did the same thing to solve the same problem. But with one huge mistake. They thought that investors were the problem (which was true, but...). They fought the investors and drove them out of the market. But with less investors there was less competition. Prices of rent increased. The government did not rent their apartments, instead: they sold them. And that was a huge mistake. Some of those who bought these apartments became investors themselves and started to rent these homes instead of living in them. 5 years later, they will sell these homes for a much higher price - leading to increase in prices all over again. The government banished the investors just to create new investors. Prices never fell down.
So, the problem wasn´t that investors were excluded, but that the houses were sold instead of being leased by the goverment to the people . Cause selling them is the same as NOT-excluding investors, and, excuse me, no politician can be so dumb, I see corruption in the whole process of this israeli goverment initiative... Everything else would be naive...
@@klausbrinck2137 True. But the investors are still a second problem because they are the ones responsible for the increase in prices. They should stay, but only invest in larger, more expensive homes. This way the rich and the upper-middle class will compete with each other and not effect the poor because the poor will rely on government leased houses.
@@GhostNameless I wanted to underline, that the investors are indeed the first problem, cause without them corrupting the politicians in the first place, the goverment would have chosen the Singapure-model right away, and far earlier!!!
I live in Australia, homes are criminally expensive here :/ for a tiny 1 bedroom you’re looking at $400,000 and our government does everything possible to make housing prices go up constantly. Singapore ppl should be very grateful they have such a just government, rental system sucks your life and blood away
One comment and a response to some comments. First, it is disappointing that there was no mention whatsoever of the removal of the constitutional right to property upon independence in the video. This allowed the government to compulsorily acquire large tracts of land at below cost to build the public housing. One of the reasons no one else has been able to replicate the HDB's success is most liberal democracies' commitment to a constitutional right to property, which makes public housing of the scale seen in Singapore unaffordable to the government. That said, even if a government could grab land at an undervalue, it does not translate to large scale public housing (see, eg, China) so kudos still to the HDB. Secondly, although public housing is only technically a 99 year lease, this is still property ownership. Technically speaking, all privately held property, including freehold in Singapore, is a tenancy. They are just different forms of tenancies. The duration of freehold tenancies (or estates, if you prefer the technical term) are uncertain ranging from almost forever (fee simple) to a life interest. The duration of leasehold tenancies on the other hand are fixed and can range in theory from a minute or less to 9,999 years (which actually exists in Singapore). There is a widespread misconception that just because it is a lease, it is not property ownership and should be compared to short term rentals. This is unfair for a number of reasons, not least because even short term tenancies are not just contracts, but also property. They are merely less secure because of their shorter duration.
Can I purchase your textbook or have a read? I'm interested in the angle to which you analyse tenancies (putting a spectrum on this notion of tenancy, from fee simple to leases). Though I know how they operate I just understood those concepts in a binary manner , not so much as a fluid one that dictates the strength of the rentier states. :)
No they didn't lol. I was just there a few weeks ago.. in an Airbnb in a public apartment building.. EDIT: I guess it was illegal, and we just weren't caught. lol
Toby Fenner, I'm Singaporean, and yes they did. Airbnb is illegal in Singapore, as a recent law implemented requires tenants to stay for a minimum of 3 consecutive months for private property, and 6 consecutive months for HDB. One case has already been brought to court this year, with the property agents involved fined SGD60,000 each. Just because you or the homeowner you booked the place from didn't get caught, doesn't make it any less illegal. Word of advice: if you plan on doing so again in my country, probably best you don't mention it at immigration.
We protested against Trump -- that led to nothing? There's also legal protesting in Venezuela everyday -- how is that turning out? At the end of the day, a well ran government that puts its people first trumps everything. Freedom is useless if one doesn't even have a job or a roof over his/her head.
sammy50001 but don't forget about the times it actually works. Worker protests of businesses for wanting improved working conditions often don't make the news because they end so quickly, same case with many other protests, you don't hear the majority of them as action is generally taken quite quickly. Anyway, another freedom we have that they don't have is the right to fully own property, along with the right of not receiving cruel and unusual punishments, in Singapore I've heard that Caning is still the justice dealt for certain crimes, a punishment seen as cruel here stateside.
Especially as a Singaporean friend of mine just bought a new BTO (Build To Order) HDB late last year (2017) and moves in next week (Sept 2018). "Several years" eh?
There are many people in Singapore who wait 3-4 years, some wait less than a year. It depends on which stage of the project you make an application. If you make one very in advance on an upcoming development, you have more choice of apartments but wait longer. But you also have the option of buying a balance flat from previous cycles, which limits your choices to the 'leftovers' but means you wait much lesser.
Which is exactly the same situation for any type of new housing. The point being there is nothing stopping you from buying a 2nd hand existing unit as well.
This is absolutely true. I went to visit my aunt last December in Singapore. They bought an apartment-condo type from the former tenant and the apartment is one of their government's project. It doesn't look cheap at all, in fact, it looks like a high-end condo in Manila. Utilities and maintenance are easy to contact because they're working under the government. Only except, you cannot hammer down or majorly modify the home until five years of tenure. The apartment buildings also include fully functioning elevators, lots of CCTV cameras, bike park area beside car park, outdoor gym, park and playground, and a nearby fishpond and restaurants. Clean and one with nature without breaking the bank. As far as I can remember, my aunt pays SGD 1500 monthly for the housing and they already own it.
About fire. I'm from BR and I can assure that fire can be pretty normal in slums(SP city has a lot of history with this). So please understand, everyone that think that this level of social control(it's basically irrelevant) can be dangerous to the nation clearly don't know nothing about life. Singapore deserves the peace nobel by but their citizens in first place!
I've realized that smaller countries are better than bigger countries😒. The more populated it is , the more problems you'll have to face. Small countries that solves problems with cool ideas (like this) just won't work in America filled with 300,000,000 people...sometimes I wish I lived somewhere else.
Easy , ABSOLUTELY , 100% , NO CHURNING PROPERTY. Singapore has thousands of rules against property churning. If you don't have real demand of living , there will be no HDB houses for you. If you play to cheat government , you WILL PAY THE PRICE. Fine +jail + ultimately confiscation of your house. You dare to cheat the government ? They will nail you down . So the result is everyone obeys the law so everyone can own his own house at an affordable price. & most important of all , money can not buy the intergrity of Singapore's government . Don't expect the government to change its policies under conglomerates' lobbying pressure. Even though lobbying works extremely well in other countries, it doesn't work in Singapore.
Social control occurs in every country. Pick your master, big banks, big business, corporations or government. Singapore is clean, orderly and well planned. Something is working there that many cities are failing at. No tent cities.
I'm sorry but this is just ridiculous and I have so much to say as a born and raised Singaporean. Firstly, we don't own the houses. We lease them for 99 years. Houses cost at least 6 digit figures. In most parts of the world, u could get a big house with a lovely backyard with that kind of money. Now there's this new law where we aren't even allowed to smoke in our own houses and officers can storm into our houses without a warrent to "enforce this law". So, please. Essentially we rent these houses for a ridiculous price then can't do nuts in there. Secondly, the cost of living is so high that many middle-class people live paycheck to paycheck. Visit a MacDonalds or a food centre take a look around and see how many elderly, who are weak and frail, are serving and cleaning tables. Notice how many of our pioneers are gathering empty soda cans or selling tissue packets to try and earn a little money to just get by. Singapore thrives on tourism, so for the many comments that say that we are a great place to visit? Well of course! Sure, I'll give it to Singapore that we are a safe country and a clean one too. So many laws that a flick of a cigerette bud could cost you an immediate $300 fine. Almost half of the country wants to migrate -including myself. An incompetent, complete joke of a government where when faced with the question as to why Singaporeans don't have more babies that was answered with "the high cost of living", one of our dear ministers stated how "you don't need much space to conceive a baby". Ministers are so disgustingly overpaid. Prices continue to increase whilst everything is failing. Our trains, the main commute for most of us, are constantly breaking down but yet they are charging higher fares. Water and electricity bills increasing by 30% and our tax is being raised too. And hey, while we're at it; I would also like to sprinkle in the factor of silent racism and discrimination. Oh and the lack of freedom and how LGBTQ+ is still illegal and frowned upon like some backward ass society. I could go on and on but I'm sure y'all get the point. I will admit that the country is safe compared to America or others. Sure, we have a roof over our heads but at what price? Staying forever in debt to the government? And homelessness is still a thing here, fyi. Singaporeans are famous for complaining but you know. I digress.
Other than the point that S’pore government leaders are grossly overpaid and have debatable calibre which I agree with you on, I disagree on these points: - Complaining over high cost of property. You say in most parts of the world you can get a big house with lovely backyard? Sure, it’s economics. You are comparing property prices in countries with vast land to S’pore, a tiny island country that’s one-tenth the size of Seoul? Anyone knows that land in big countries is cheaper. Like what you say, you can always migrate elsewhere and get your dream property at low prices i.e. USA and find that you live in fear for your life because some gun-toting madman can appear any time, anywhere. And racism abounds everywhere, also in America where the whites look down on Asians and the blacks. Next, if you compare the housing situation in S’pore to Hong Kong (as both countries face land scarcity issues), then you’ll see that the housing situation in S’pore is better. For the apartment price you pay in S’pore, in HKG they live in much smaller spaces, and most HKers with average income can’t even afford to buy an apartment, even if it’s on 99 year lease condition. Check out RUclips videos - HKers have migrated elsewhere and to S'pore because HDB flats' conditions are like heaven compared to HK housing conditions. - New law on not smoking in homes? Oh I’m not affected as my family doesn’t have a smoker. Oh and please tell me how many cases there are of officers storming into homes to arrest someone smoking in their home. I haven’t seen one case at all. I suppose you think the police are omni-present or have installed a surveillance camera outside all the windows of your flat so that they can catch you smoking? Please - this is just like the anti-chewing gum law, and many people still smuggle gum in. The police won’t be enforcing minor things, unless your neighbour hates you so much as to provide video evidence of you breaking this “non smoking in home” law. - The issue of poor elderly people doing cleaning jobs etc with very low income is a problem faced by many countries, whether developed, developing or 3rd world countries. It is not just a Singapore issue. - "An incompetent, complete joke of a government". I think if you migrate elsewhere, you’ll find their governments are worse than S’pore. Many Western countries and their economy are in decline, public infrastructure, transport and facilities are in decline, dirty etc. And many governments do nothing in the interest of their people. Please tell me which country govt is the best. I’m not a PAP supporter, I think the PAP govt has their flaws, but I do acknowledge that they are efficient in many areas.
@@riennekoh3901 I definitely don't disagree w your points as they are incredibly valid. I think it is just a matter of opinion & perspective. I'm sure that there are loads of Singaporeans that are happy and appreciative of their situation - unfortunately I'm just not one of them. But hey, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and I think what is important is that us, as Singaporeans, are able to have conversations about it.
I guess no where is perfect. 😂 I also noticed the people of Singapore work very hard but they seem to have a sense that it's worth it. About the housing, in other developped countries, properties are bought, stay empty and resold by foreign investors. Our property markets make no sense and benefits only the rich investors forever.
HK might be deliberately doing that. They are building more high speed transport links with the mainland. They might be wanting to dilute HKers with more migrants and drive people out further. They failed with trying to re-educate them so they're probably going for dilution now.
Well I think Hongkongers brought it upon themselves. The government prefer to sell lands to real estate cartel than building more public housing as they are afraid this might bring the housing price down. Hongkongers take pride in the price appreciation of their home and socially think of it as a sign of affluent and prosperity.
It's not ownership over public housing units; it's Title for a lease. Bloomberg maybe you should look into affordability, Income to Housing Debt Servicing ratios etc.
Every country in the world should follow Singapore's footsteps. Even Western countries with huge housing and economic problem have a lot learn from it. Singapore is now one of the biggest economy in the world.
I don't have many people I look up to, but Lee Kwan Yew is one of my heroes, with the single other person I look up to being Elon Musk. The 2 times I visited SG, I was astounded by the culture, openness, and cleanliness, not to mention how everyone is super strict about rules and regulations. I have lived in 8 different countries and visited more than 25, but SG is the only place I'd choose to live in over any others.
typeh and Hong Kong failed to keep on the right track since the 90s. Real estate tycoons hold lands in their hands, refused to build more houses, killed the government’s affordable housing plan, and there you go, houses for Hong Kong people are as expensive as hell and as small as a bird crate.
@@aerec9421 sure, HK real estate developers got greedy and monopolizes the market, government hands off approach doesn't help, then it becomes casino capitalism, speculative investment is a must for ordinary people just to beat inflation & survive the Ponzi scheme.
@@moosesandmeese969 Well, can do spirit! Those who had a harsh start get ahead of me to become billionaires. I don't live in a coffin, just comfortably poor to comfortably off.
Amazing policies. I hope in India too our government learn from such housing development models from Singapore. Can u make a detailed case study on it. It's a request 🙏. Thank you for all the information
you missed main point here, which is, you have to limit rich people buying houses/apt/condos for investment purposes. Like Singapore, the people actually have to live in the apt in order to qualify and this simply eliminated the rich folks
@@willyjoerockhead yeah, yeah and they built new apartments atop the burned area. A beautiful coincidence indeed, this government has a lot of rabbit feet I tell ya
Extremely Nice video and beautiful cities,vacations and going on tours seems to be a kind of relaxation to me,I find meeting new people from different race as fun and educating,each year I find out time to travel to at least 3 countries I have never been to,nevertheless comfort or would I say living the way I do is too expensive,as long as you can afford it,it’s fun
Ive been in singapore. Loved the place. Got to stay there for a while but I couldnt imagine myself living in those apartments. It looked really different although really livable, it's much different living here near the fields, winds, and nature in my country.
thr aint such thing as nature when you're living in HDB all you see is buildings. :> i wish i could see mountains and nature when i peak out of my window 😭😭
as a singaporean; no matter how rich i get, i think i’d never want to live anywhere else other than in a HDB. the government hires people to maintain the estates such as repainting the buildings every few years & clearing the trash. some residents still have the audacity to look down upon these workers just because they’re foreigners & do manual labour, but that’s a whole other story. source: i grew up living in the same HDB all my life. i’m 20 now so i know i’ll have to move away in a couple of years because estates that are too old will have to go through en bloc 🥲
WOW. A 5 year minimum occupancy requirement? Nice. So you have to treat housing like... AN ACTUAL PLACE TO LIVE AND NOT JUST A BOX TO PARK INVESTMENT CAPITAL IN? WHO WOULD'VE THOUGHT.
Iquey yeah. They don’t want ppl to artificially push up the price for rental income. Therefore it helps to keep the price affordable and accessible for people who really needs it.
I just wish the leaders in my country, Nigeria would take a cue from Singapore. The idea of creating a fund based off a percentage of salaries and using it to provide housing is so brilliant. We have billionaires here in Lagos, living right next to people that make less than $5 in a day, right here on the Island (the most exotic part of the city). We desperately need this thing that Singapore has done.
First time I hear government intervention actually boosts productivity. The key must be it's racial quota per building to avoid racial groups to form gangs
Gangs are one thing, but the real point is equality. There is a quota for every HDB flat so that there's social balance and basically every race can get along together.
see the thing with Singapore is that these public housing projects weren't created to isolate the poor and black and quickly abandoned but they actually keep them clean and i assume the residents aren't mostly destructive hoodlums
singapore is the living proof that if the goverments did what they are supposed to do they can turn a country from homeless and poor to rich and apartment comfy for everyone
My theory is
"Government is fucking run by people " Not any alien
They are voted by people
so I dont balme government but ourselves
@@SedateGaming123 do you know about corruption? Sometimes I think people just don't have common sense
KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK,
Asians have a better sense of the importance of a social order than does a lot of the West. The US in particular will never achieve this kind of stability, too many people of various groups who don't give a damn about the wider society and their place in it. It's not a government problem primarily, all problems start with the cultures present that the governance acts upon.
@@joeking5679 ever heard of dictatorships?
Who cares if it is social control, people have roofs above their head, a job and food on the table. Well done to Singapore
Americans would hate this. From what I've seen of their politics many would rather live in squalor - because "freedom" - than live happy and healthy lives by abiding by rules and regulations that benefit them.
westerners prefer the streets. BECAUSE MUH FREEDOM!!!!
The irony of the US is that the counter culture is still the culture. They do have the myth of individualism in them though.
Most singaporeans I know own a house in malaysia & just commute.
Master Debater yea we do, it doesn’t take a genius to see socialism never works. Eventually you run out of others money that pays for all this bs. Government forcefully taking money to give to others is wrong and theft. If you disagree then please feel free to pay 100% of your income
The real genius behind fixing the housing issue is the 99 years lease imposed. It means majority of Singapore’s land cannot be hoarded by a landlord class which hinders social mobility of later generations. 👍 while people do complain, I think a unique brand of socialism + capitalism does work.(Despite its failings)
Hardline laissez-faire capitalists want to deregulate and privatize everything (including subscription based fire departments). A healthy society requires that governments equitably step in at times. Otherwise, society experiences severe exploitation at the expense of long-term wellbeing.
exactly, just strike a good balance between both ideologies.
Yes rentiers are worse than capitalist in a way because they don't face competition and demand for urban land is always growing. what makes it worse is how important housing is to be able to function is a society.
Seb TY but isn’t that a good thing though I mean housing is such in important part of. Society that it’s worth doing it this way. I wish more developed nation would take a look at the affordable housing situation and do something about it
@@nameless592 agree. Left me wondering how Hong Kong ended up with such a precarious housing market.
Both wealthy city states (🇭🇰 semi-autonmous)│low taxes│high population density │land predominantly owned by the state.
Though the most baffling try at public housing is the _US mortgage interest deduction._ Original intend was to boost home ownership rates (it didn't).
Keep in mind from an accounting balance perspective a tax deduction = government handout.
It's the most expensive public housing effort the world has ever seen. Since it is one of the more generous tax deduction (up to $1million) people are taking full advantage of it (twice if possible); meaning the largest mortgage the Bank is willing to grant, resulting in the largest floorspace per capita worldwide. It's the rational thing to do, it's called incentive not for nothing.
Essentially every year one is not paying a mortgage off, your tax dollar helps paying someone else's house. You paid off your mortgage and now you help someone else to become homeowner right? Finish that thought;
A taxpayer that can't afford to become a homeowner is subsidizing those who do.
Redistribution of wealth and income; Ladies and Gentlemen my prophecy, trickle down can't work without some altitude. _If the Prophet won't come to the mountain, then bring the mountain to Prophet!_
Social control in this case seems actually super smart. People belonging to one ethnic group usually socialize amongst each other more strongly than with other groups since it provides more familiarity and safety. But that can easily lead to the development of neighbourhoods that end up being unattractive to investors and thus often are also forgotten by the government. That leads to neighbourhoods that are in bad condition, bc no ones fixing the potholes, the streets are dirty, schools don't get the funding they need, less job opportunities or at least less well paying jobs, leading to poverty which in turn makes illegal activities more attractive due to the desparation of the people etc etc. Of course there are exceptions, but tbh this is the kind of social control that seems perfectly fine. No reason to demonize the word control. You have people of all ethnicities and social status well integrated into society and can easier prevent the development of slums etc etc. How is that negative?
You pinned it perfectly
Also, thanks to this, there are no ghettos.
It is negative to those who favours Social caste and the idea of Elitism and that they deserve the best thing ever.
Yep hate how they framed that as a negative and were like “but still...”
Agreed. Effective social control of diversity.
Living in public housing is better than private condominiums. Neighbours in public housing are much friendlier. And I love the diverse racial mix. I'm Malay and I truly love my Chinese neighbours. And I know they care about us too. Sometimes they hanged on our doors fresh fruits they gotten from their friends. It's a blessing.
My face is the antidote they are so rare, I've never met a black dude living in Singapore. White people are mostly immigrants living in the richer parts, they don't use public housing
Jordan Dossou Public housing is mostly reserved for citizens or PR and since very few white or blacks are citizens, most of them live in private housing
🤣 oh man...talk about all that racial mix of east Asians.
Jordan Dossou .... ummmm please dont spill the American racial rhetoric out of context into South East Asian politics... haters gotta hate and its fine that that hate radius between Americans is kept in the Americas. Not in South East Asia. Ur getting out of context.
@@invinciblemode There's a white family in my HDB block. Thai, Phillipino , mainlanders along with the majority races (Chinese, Malay, Indian & Eurasian).
We don't own the houses - we just lease them from the government for 99 years.
So you can't legally sell the house ? Or do you sell your rights to the house for the remainder of the 99 years ?
Expats can only own property for 99 years in the UAE as well. You have to understand that size of a country is a major factor in this decision.
Just like Cuba
Sounds like the "as good as forever" Hong-Kong deal
Now you are in a hamster wheel.. every month trying to pay for the apartment you don't own :D
So Singapore Government fixed the housing problem by becoming the largest developer in the country, who provides various types of public houses to residents for 99 years at a Fair & Cheap Price (actually a 99 year long-term lease contract), instead of selling the limited land to greedy developers who normally sell apartments at a premium.
Paul Yu Hong Kong?
Phap Hong Kong is totally destroyed by greedy developers. The opposite.
Brant Liu I meant Hong Kong as an example
"Fair and cheap price" hahah 300k usd for a 4 room flat.
But it is overpriced now. At least 300k for a 3 bedroom. We r on our way to becoming hongkong.
Hong Kong Government has left the chat
Mexico's government has also left the Chat
Indian govt ws never in chat🤣🤣
Quite ironic that Bloomberg is a former mayor of New York.
Kawloon Walled City has been banned from the chat
Ussr joined the chat
This is what happens when governments finally want to accomplish things
The opposition to things like this comes from people who buy/build to let. All the landlords who are making a profit would protest. And politicians are often heavily invested in the property market.
It’s funny because Singapore actually has the most economic freedom and has far lower tax rates than countries like the US. They just don’t waste their money
@Karl Marx And the employer has to top up 17% of their income. They have a central (CPF) savings of 37% of each employee's income monthly.
Lee Kuan Yew is literally one of, if not the best leader of all time. And I'm not even from or live in Singapore.
Thank you. We are proud of him and grateful to him. People can say what they want about him, but true Singaporeans know that he did everything for the love of Singapore.
When I visited Singapore, my uber driver proudly told me that their government had enough savings to live through five(5!!) recessions. Probably one of the smartest most people-focused governments out there. We could all learn from Singapore. 👏👏
Singapore has a fiscal rule that any government must have a balanced budget over its term of office. This will not happen in UK and so we are deeply in debt! People here demand more and more benefits and successive governments get into deficits in order to please the electorate. There is no concept of saving for the rainy days in UK.
@@hoifeikwok7457 If you think those deficits benefit the people on benefits you truly are a brainwashed moron. You know where most of the UK's spending has gone in the last decade? Bailing out banks. But hey, I assume you're the CEO of a bank so by all means keep voting for Tories since they keep handing you all that cash. (and if you're not the CEO of a bank than you really must be a moron.)
Also one of the most capitalist:)
@@camerondye6108 not wrong tho
@@Noises He said he is against deficit, what are you on?
I recently visited Singapore and have been in awe of it. How come such a small place has progressed so much. It's truly inspiring and I wish to see most of the Indian cities to be like Singapore. Cheers !
Maximum govt. officials are indifferent and greedy.
Amitesh Pramanik That's is true. And seeing at the population of our country even a small percentage of corrupt people exponentially damage India's development
Anubhav i hope singapore conquer all the world. so that we all can live in prosperity. no sarcasm intended.
its precisely because its so small that it has progressed.
@felixoscar as a Singaporean Chinese, I will just kindly ask you to leave our country. It's a country for the Chinese, Indians and Malays. We don't want white migrants like you who just know how to be racist against people. Our small city is already overflowing with people, we can't carry the burden of your racism with us.
“Mysteriously a random fire solved all the governments poblems”
Evan Pc really didn’t want to argue so excuse me if i sound rude, but i hope you keep in mind that that was a squatter development and people back then were so poor they burned candles for light. additionally, poor air ventilation from the crowded buildings and the people cooking in their small crowded homes probably led to the fire somehow. the houses were made of flammable material too so we have all the factors for a fire to start simply from someone accidentally spilling their candle over. one would think our people would know if the government actually set a fire to their own people (and for the record, they didn’t. the PAP were too busy with their own problems)
I noticed how they said that as well, but all it really means is that how it started isn't actually known. In that kind of shanty with the conditions involved, fires happen and go out of control very rapidly. That's not even surprising. Some may find it suspicious that the government immediately stepped up and did something with the land, but it would be far more suspicious if it was sold off or private developers were allowed to do whatever they wanted with it. It's just that this time the government was looking to do a project, the land was no longer in (illegal) use, and it had an even greater level of pressure to provide housing. What I find amazing is that only 4 people died in the fire.
Still doesn't it seem coincidental they were trying to get the peoples trust, and then a fire on their target demographic pressured them to rely on the government and gave the government an opportunity to step up to the plate to serve it's citizens thus establishing a base relationship?
How the hell did this become a conspiracy theory?
cue x-files music
Now that's how tax money should be used, not on aircraft carriers and missile.
Im looking at you USA 👀
Tax money shouldn’t be used period.
@@thepope2412 then what a country will be? A business, where everything is controlled by your higher management until you died, or just get fired from one, very minor inconvenience?
Niko Chevinson one where tax money is used responsibly, which means having as little government as possible.
@@thepope2412 anarchism woot woot
This explains how demand from foreign money is kept out of the housing market. This idea is genius.
This is like my geography class but not boring and actually the kind of applicable stuff we can learn from today. Great inspo for my own channel!
Stay in SKooL n learN from text books, the ugly truth is out there
Awesome! Thanks for watching. And you've earned a new subscriber!
hmmmmmmmm
I bet it is.
I learnt all of the content of this video in geography class ironically... And it was boring
Whilst the British government still hasn't rehomed the Grenfell tower victims over a year on in one of the richest boroughs in the richest cities in the world...
J Mulc You see the competence of London
richest also makes for most expensive probably so difficult to manage
because British Government are Colonialist. They only colonial that’s all. Nothing else
J Mulc they dont let anyone to move and settle in Singapour.
Doenst it get tire when the press, government and business people keep spouting the non-sense of "we are the richest country/city in the world" while a huge portion of the population living there are poor and cant afford modern, decent housing? This is so typical of the US where millions of people dont have access to basic healthcare or go bankrupt due to medical expenses, have a infrastructures in disrepair, yet we ALWAYS hear how rich and powerful the US is. I congratulate Singapore for this successful social housing program.
Love Singapore and the people. Great city to visit, very clean, very safe, everyone speaks English and have a sense of pride for their country.
“Everyone speaks English” should not be a reason a country is great.
Eric Johnson Totally understand but my point was more towards a multi lingual, multi racial, multi cultural country that had set their national language to English shows how progressive the country is. Unifying the people and tourism. I could care what language they speak but as a native english speaker I was surprised when I first visited. Look also towards the botanical gardens. Singapore spent billions reclaiming land and one could be forgiven for thinking it was all about housing and population growth. But no, they built an amazing botanical garden for tourists and locals to share and teach about the environment, global warming etc. Very progressive and one of my favourite holiday destinations.
@@Caswell19 It means everyone is literate in a common instructional language that allows for communication. There are more languages too, 2nd langs which are compulsory to take up to Sec 4/ Grade 10.
Not me lol. 2 years tore away at any shred of love or patriotism.
and you can be randomly drug tested and caned if you smoked marijuana in the last 60 days, even in another country where it's legal....
I loved everything about Singapore it's a truly great, safe, friendly, and peaceful place to live. It was just too expensive for me to live there for a longer amount of time.
Singapore is a wonderful country I remember my mum has been there on her honeymoon and she loved it so much, all the love from Egypt
The Greeks were right, City-states are the best
They were right about a lot of stuff
You have to have outside resources to support a city state. The Greek city states relied a lot on slave labor for mining..farming...building things
San Francisco has so much to learn from Singapore when it comes to dealing with its housing crisis. People don't need to live on the streets or struggle to afford rent, and Singapore shows the efficacy of smart government policy.
social control is better than living under a bridge snorting heroin
Steve S depends on how much control
north korea? Perhaps?
Russia perhaps?
China?
Myanmar? Oh Jesus...
The UK, oh sorry I can’t make that joke because that’s bad apparently.
@@tony_5156 No, try Singapore
@@tony_5156 or scandinavian
Not if you ask an American who lives in a cozy home and has nothing to worry for himself, even less if that American is letting his appartments.
Correction: our carefully planned social control is better than zero social control. It's not a "take this poison government overlord or be homeless" give or take situation.
I've always loved Singapore! Can't wait to return. Kudos!!
"Unexplained fire"
xD
Who did it?
Oskar von Reuenthal the Fire Nation
@@FRISHR DUN-DUN-DUNNNNNNN
It worked for Crasss
Contrast this with Indian housing - where a nexus of builders and politicians swindled away Indian middle class life savings - without providing any housing.
Singapore system can't be scaled to country of 1.25 billion
@@sumedhbhagwat, but it can most certainly be applied locally
Sacchi
Yeah but most Indian STATES don’t have the income of Singapore and more populated
What's worse some buildings could be illegal, all your hard earned money gone just like that
As an Indian, I feel we are not collectively genuinely empathetic and socially conscious of everyone's well being regardless of our differences. We did not face the same crisis as Singapore to completely change our systems (even if we did, we did not learn or change enough) for the better.
5 year wait to sell helps to stop those flippers / investors that have turned America's housing into a way to get rich off the poor.
Singapore may be tiny but the world can learn a ton of lessons from Singapore
I visited Singapore in 206 and it was so beautiful. After this video I’m loving Singapore more and more. If you get a chance to visit please go!
A government agency that is "mighty" and strict yet benevolent and effective is something to applaud.
I truly admire the way the Singapore Government resolved the housing issue.
Look how they control the cars, maximise Profits model to their pockets
As for housing, HDB. U are a slaves to the system. Slog all your life to pay off the debt
Mohd Faizal I agree lmao, average salary is like $5k(not everyone earns tht much furthermore), average housing price is like $500k and thats only HDB
Cars have to be controlled in a small rich place like Singapore - please visit Manila or Mumbai to see what would happen otherwise.....
@@mohdfaizal6773 I admire Singapore strict car control. Look at HK in contrast, amazing public transport system, but terrible traffic because of high car ownership.
Being a slave to government? Oh please, infinitely better than being slave to a private real estate agency here in Hong Kong. Much worse.
Singapore is way better.
If only the useless government in HK was half as competent.
There is a big housing crisis in HK. Houses are unaffordable by the masses, because of the crazy high land and house prices.
@@grievuspwn4g3 nobody wants those street pissing dipshits speaking putonghua on the street
well if only we could start reclaiming land like singapore
true, if the environmentalists can move out the way and stop bitching about it.
Shame the HK government is a PRC puppet :(
We have public housing in Syria and it's cheaper than the special market by 40-45% and same way in Singapore that you need to sign up for it and pay a small mount every month
Are people returning to Syria yet? Has the feeling of peace begun to flow again?
Irony is that, Singapore was built by looking at Hong Kong.. now, Hong Kong's biggest problem is its housing and Singapore's biggest strength is it's housing
Rent is the best way to squeeze blood. Well done Singapore by saving your citizens
Can I have my kidneys and heart bacK? Mommy.
Squeeze blood?
+eye I pay rent, and in return I get certain benefits.
my fucking property tax alone in seattle is higher than most people's rent... so who is squeezing who?
LoOoL wtf.u you are the country who prints all the monehhhh. stfu and live in denial alrdy
Here in Israel, the government did the same thing to solve the same problem. But with one huge mistake.
They thought that investors were the problem (which was true, but...). They fought the investors and drove them out of the market. But with less investors there was less competition. Prices of rent increased.
The government did not rent their apartments, instead: they sold them. And that was a huge mistake. Some of those who bought these apartments became investors themselves and started to rent these homes instead of living in them. 5 years later, they will sell these homes for a much higher price - leading to increase in prices all over again.
The government banished the investors just to create new investors. Prices never fell down.
The Israeli government also helped solve the housing crisis by murdering and imprisoning Palestinians and stealing their land.
@@psammiad go cry some more
So, the problem wasn´t that investors were excluded, but that the houses were sold instead of being leased by the goverment to the people . Cause selling them is the same as NOT-excluding investors, and, excuse me, no politician can be so dumb, I see corruption in the whole process of this israeli goverment initiative... Everything else would be naive...
@@klausbrinck2137 True. But the investors are still a second problem because they are the ones responsible for the increase in prices. They should stay, but only invest in larger, more expensive homes. This way the rich and the upper-middle class will compete with each other and not effect the poor because the poor will rely on government leased houses.
@@GhostNameless I wanted to underline, that the investors are indeed the first problem, cause without them corrupting the politicians in the first place, the goverment would have chosen the Singapure-model right away, and far earlier!!!
Singapore sounds like some kind of magical dream country and even looks like it.
What an excellent idea!! Also a great side benefit for ethnic integration, which is a huge issue all around the world, especially in Europe.
@Jordan Dossou yh the Whites feel threatened but they were immigrants too. Same for blacks , they hating on other immigrants by they are too
Please don't force me to live with brown immigrants. I'd rather you kicked them back to where they come from.
I live in Australia, homes are criminally expensive here :/ for a tiny 1 bedroom you’re looking at $400,000 and our government does everything possible to make housing prices go up constantly. Singapore ppl should be very grateful they have such a just government, rental system sucks your life and blood away
One comment and a response to some comments.
First, it is disappointing that there was no mention whatsoever of the removal of the constitutional right to property upon independence in the video. This allowed the government to compulsorily acquire large tracts of land at below cost to build the public housing. One of the reasons no one else has been able to replicate the HDB's success is most liberal democracies' commitment to a constitutional right to property, which makes public housing of the scale seen in Singapore unaffordable to the government. That said, even if a government could grab land at an undervalue, it does not translate to large scale public housing (see, eg, China) so kudos still to the HDB.
Secondly, although public housing is only technically a 99 year lease, this is still property ownership. Technically speaking, all privately held property, including freehold in Singapore, is a tenancy. They are just different forms of tenancies. The duration of freehold tenancies (or estates, if you prefer the technical term) are uncertain ranging from almost forever (fee simple) to a life interest. The duration of leasehold tenancies on the other hand are fixed and can range in theory from a minute or less to 9,999 years (which actually exists in Singapore). There is a widespread misconception that just because it is a lease, it is not property ownership and should be compared to short term rentals. This is unfair for a number of reasons, not least because even short term tenancies are not just contracts, but also property. They are merely less secure because of their shorter duration.
i see someone went to law school :O
@@blee4664 Actually, I write the textbook on the subject.
OMG🙄 headache
Can you sell it if you own it? To who do you then sell it to? The government? And at what price?
Can I purchase your textbook or have a read? I'm interested in the angle to which you analyse tenancies (putting a spectrum on this notion of tenancy, from fee simple to leases). Though I know how they operate I just understood those concepts in a binary manner , not so much as a fluid one that dictates the strength of the rentier states. :)
This Singapore's concept should be the inspiration of other nation ❤
That so-called social control actually makes a whole lot of sense. We could learn a whole lot from that here in Canada the United States!
They also banned Airbnb.
Well lets be fair, airbnb is fishy as hell.
No they didn't lol. I was just there a few weeks ago.. in an Airbnb in a public apartment building..
EDIT: I guess it was illegal, and we just weren't caught. lol
Toby Fenner, I'm Singaporean, and yes they did. Airbnb is illegal in Singapore, as a recent law implemented requires tenants to stay for a minimum of 3 consecutive months for private property, and 6 consecutive months for HDB. One case has already been brought to court this year, with the property agents involved fined SGD60,000 each.
Just because you or the homeowner you booked the place from didn't get caught, doesn't make it any less illegal. Word of advice: if you plan on doing so again in my country, probably best you don't mention it at immigration.
@@lilpeanutish I wasn't aware at all. That's really interesting thanks
Whats AirBnB. So thats why i dont know about them.
Got this recommendation after watching few videos on housing conditions in Hong Kong. How contrasting!!!
Thank you. I think we all need more coverage on the few success stories around the world. We can learn from them.
We could learn from them, but we don't because of the corrupt assholes in charge on both sides of governments everywhere.
I'm proud of my country
Singapore policies make so much sense. In fact they make so much sense that they will never happen in the US.
sammy50001 maybe because in Singapore it makes sense to them since they gave up Personal Freedom decades ago, while it's still highly valued in the US
And exactly what act of "freedom" can you do here in the US that you can't do in Singapore?
you are not allowed to protest in singapore without a permit... you are allowed to protest and demonstrate on the streets in the US
We protested against Trump -- that led to nothing? There's also legal protesting in Venezuela everyday -- how is that turning out? At the end of the day, a well ran government that puts its people first trumps everything. Freedom is useless if one doesn't even have a job or a roof over his/her head.
sammy50001 but don't forget about the times it actually works. Worker protests of businesses for wanting improved working conditions often don't make the news because they end so quickly, same case with many other protests, you don't hear the majority of them as action is generally taken quite quickly.
Anyway, another freedom we have that they don't have is the right to fully own property, along with the right of not receiving cruel and unusual punishments, in Singapore I've heard that Caning is still the justice dealt for certain crimes, a punishment seen as cruel here stateside.
Grateful Singaporean here.
Hats off to singapore and other asian countries that defeated the west in terms of quality of life.
I feel like you should've expanded a little bit more on the ''apply first, then wait several years to be build'' part.
Especially as a Singaporean friend of mine just bought a new BTO (Build To Order) HDB late last year (2017) and moves in next week (Sept 2018). "Several years" eh?
There are many people in Singapore who wait 3-4 years, some wait less than a year. It depends on which stage of the project you make an application. If you make one very in advance on an upcoming development, you have more choice of apartments but wait longer. But you also have the option of buying a balance flat from previous cycles, which limits your choices to the 'leftovers' but means you wait much lesser.
Which is exactly the same situation for any type of new housing. The point being there is nothing stopping you from buying a 2nd hand existing unit as well.
Average 2 years. You can also ballot for leftover units when available and get them instantly
Thank the founding father Lee Kuan Yew for this. Singapore is the reason why it is today.
This is absolutely true. I went to visit my aunt last December in Singapore. They bought an apartment-condo type from the former tenant and the apartment is one of their government's project. It doesn't look cheap at all, in fact, it looks like a high-end condo in Manila. Utilities and maintenance are easy to contact because they're working under the government. Only except, you cannot hammer down or majorly modify the home until five years of tenure. The apartment buildings also include fully functioning elevators, lots of CCTV cameras, bike park area beside car park, outdoor gym, park and playground, and a nearby fishpond and restaurants. Clean and one with nature without breaking the bank. As far as I can remember, my aunt pays SGD 1500 monthly for the housing and they already own it.
About fire. I'm from BR and I can assure that fire can be pretty normal in slums(SP city has a lot of history with this). So please understand, everyone that think that this level of social control(it's basically irrelevant) can be dangerous to the nation clearly don't know nothing about life. Singapore deserves the peace nobel by but their citizens in first place!
There is a reason why Singapore is considered the finest country in the world.
It's 99 year lease for 80% of the population. The model of retirement in SG is the investment into the flat, and then renting out spare rooms.
I've realized that smaller countries are better than bigger countries😒. The more populated it is , the more problems you'll have to face. Small countries that solves problems with cool ideas (like this) just won't work in America filled with 300,000,000 people...sometimes I wish I lived somewhere else.
Singapore has has higher population density than most Western worlds.. don't get your point. It all comes down to political will
Easy , ABSOLUTELY , 100% , NO CHURNING PROPERTY. Singapore has thousands of rules against property churning.
If you don't have real demand of living , there will be no HDB houses for you. If you play to cheat government , you WILL PAY THE PRICE. Fine +jail + ultimately confiscation of your house. You dare to cheat the government ? They will nail you down . So the result is everyone obeys the law so everyone can own his own house at an affordable price.
& most important of all , money can not buy the intergrity of Singapore's government . Don't expect the government to change its policies under conglomerates' lobbying pressure. Even though lobbying works extremely well in other countries, it doesn't work in Singapore.
I have been trying to figure out why this doesn't work in other places. Thank you. I'll have to look up what makes lobbying in Singapore so different.
Social control occurs in every country. Pick your master, big banks, big business, corporations or government. Singapore is clean, orderly and well planned. Something is working there that many cities are failing at. No tent cities.
I'm sorry but this is just ridiculous and I have so much to say as a born and raised Singaporean.
Firstly, we don't own the houses. We lease them for 99 years. Houses cost at least 6 digit figures. In most parts of the world, u could get a big house with a lovely backyard with that kind of money. Now there's this new law where we aren't even allowed to smoke in our own houses and officers can storm into our houses without a warrent to "enforce this law". So, please. Essentially we rent these houses for a ridiculous price then can't do nuts in there.
Secondly, the cost of living is so high that many middle-class people live paycheck to paycheck. Visit a MacDonalds or a food centre take a look around and see how many elderly, who are weak and frail, are serving and cleaning tables. Notice how many of our pioneers are gathering empty soda cans or selling tissue packets to try and earn a little money to just get by.
Singapore thrives on tourism, so for the many comments that say that we are a great place to visit? Well of course!
Sure, I'll give it to Singapore that we are a safe country and a clean one too. So many laws that a flick of a cigerette bud could cost you an immediate $300 fine.
Almost half of the country wants to migrate -including myself. An incompetent, complete joke of a government where when faced with the question as to why Singaporeans don't have more babies that was answered with "the high cost of living", one of our dear ministers stated how "you don't need much space to conceive a baby". Ministers are so disgustingly overpaid.
Prices continue to increase whilst everything is failing. Our trains, the main commute for most of us, are constantly breaking down but yet they are charging higher fares. Water and electricity bills increasing by 30% and our tax is being raised too.
And hey, while we're at it; I would also like to sprinkle in the factor of silent racism and discrimination. Oh and the lack of freedom and how LGBTQ+ is still illegal and frowned upon like some backward ass society.
I could go on and on but I'm sure y'all get the point. I will admit that the country is safe compared to America or others. Sure, we have a roof over our heads but at what price? Staying forever in debt to the government? And homelessness is still a thing here, fyi. Singaporeans are famous for complaining but you know. I digress.
damn...
Other than the point that S’pore government leaders are grossly overpaid and have debatable calibre which I agree with you on, I disagree on these points:
- Complaining over high cost of property. You say in most parts of the world you can get a big house with lovely backyard? Sure, it’s economics. You are comparing property prices in countries with vast land to S’pore, a tiny island country that’s one-tenth the size of Seoul? Anyone knows that land in big countries is cheaper. Like what you say, you can always migrate elsewhere and get your dream property at low prices i.e. USA and find that you live in fear for your life because some gun-toting madman can appear any time, anywhere. And racism abounds everywhere, also in America where the whites look down on Asians and the blacks. Next, if you compare the housing situation in S’pore to Hong Kong (as both countries face land scarcity issues), then you’ll see that the housing situation in S’pore is better. For the apartment price you pay in S’pore, in HKG they live in much smaller spaces, and most HKers with average income can’t even afford to buy an apartment, even if it’s on 99 year lease condition. Check out RUclips videos - HKers have migrated elsewhere and to S'pore because HDB flats' conditions are like heaven compared to HK housing conditions.
- New law on not smoking in homes? Oh I’m not affected as my family doesn’t have a smoker. Oh and please tell me how many cases there are of officers storming into homes to arrest someone smoking in their home. I haven’t seen one case at all. I suppose you think the police are omni-present or have installed a surveillance camera outside all the windows of your flat so that they can catch you smoking? Please - this is just like the anti-chewing gum law, and many people still smuggle gum in. The police won’t be enforcing minor things, unless your neighbour hates you so much as to provide video evidence of you breaking this “non smoking in home” law.
- The issue of poor elderly people doing cleaning jobs etc with very low income is a problem faced by many countries, whether developed, developing or 3rd world countries. It is not just a Singapore issue.
- "An incompetent, complete joke of a government". I think if you migrate elsewhere, you’ll find their governments are worse than S’pore. Many Western countries and their economy are in decline, public infrastructure, transport and facilities are in decline, dirty etc. And many governments do nothing in the interest of their people. Please tell me which country govt is the best. I’m not a PAP supporter, I think the PAP govt has their flaws, but I do acknowledge that they are efficient in many areas.
@@riennekoh3901 I definitely don't disagree w your points as they are incredibly valid. I think it is just a matter of opinion & perspective. I'm sure that there are loads of Singaporeans that are happy and appreciative of their situation - unfortunately I'm just not one of them. But hey, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and I think what is important is that us, as Singaporeans, are able to have conversations about it.
I guess no where is perfect. 😂 I also noticed the people of Singapore work very hard but they seem to have a sense that it's worth it. About the housing, in other developped countries, properties are bought, stay empty and resold by foreign investors. Our property markets make no sense and benefits only the rich investors forever.
you do have a roof on your head do you?
Singapore actually modelled Hong Kong's housing model during the colonial era, yet now Hong Kong's housing market is severely doomed...
strategy can evolve supposed
HK might be deliberately doing that. They are building more high speed transport links with the mainland. They might be wanting to dilute HKers with more migrants and drive people out further. They failed with trying to re-educate them so they're probably going for dilution now.
@@awilduser895 They're not modelling it. They studied and evolved from it. HK public housing did not allow ownership back then.
Well I think Hongkongers brought it upon themselves. The government prefer to sell lands to real estate cartel than building more public housing as they are afraid this might bring the housing price down. Hongkongers take pride in the price appreciation of their home and socially think of it as a sign of affluent and prosperity.
The US couldn’t do this because it would involve the government being disciplined in not spending the money in another stupid program.
It's not ownership over public housing units; it's Title for a lease. Bloomberg maybe you should look into affordability, Income to Housing Debt Servicing ratios etc.
Every country in the world should follow Singapore's footsteps. Even Western countries with huge housing and economic problem have a lot learn from it. Singapore is now one of the biggest economy in the world.
I don't have many people I look up to, but Lee Kwan Yew is one of my heroes, with the single other person I look up to being Elon Musk. The 2 times I visited SG, I was astounded by the culture, openness, and cleanliness, not to mention how everyone is super strict about rules and regulations. I have lived in 8 different countries and visited more than 25, but SG is the only place I'd choose to live in over any others.
Is there anything that Singapore does wrong?
Not towing the line?
Off to jailed u go
Prices
so many things.
no....chewing...gum!!!!
Singlish accent also ;)
Calling for a video “how Hong Kong failed to solve its housing problems”
Actually Singapore studied HK successful public house scheme in the 70s to solve their own problem.
typeh and Hong Kong failed to keep on the right track since the 90s. Real estate tycoons hold lands in their hands, refused to build more houses, killed the government’s affordable housing plan, and there you go, houses for Hong Kong people are as expensive as hell and as small as a bird crate.
@@aerec9421 sure, HK real estate developers got greedy and monopolizes the market, government hands off approach doesn't help, then it becomes casino capitalism, speculative investment is a must for ordinary people just to beat inflation & survive the Ponzi scheme.
@@typeh2904 Hard to invest when you're spending half of your income on a "home" literally the size of a coffin
@@moosesandmeese969 Well, can do spirit! Those who had a harsh start get ahead of me to become billionaires. I don't live in a coffin, just comfortably poor to comfortably off.
Well done Singapore
Lots of country’s should take some notes from Singapore
Singapore is the best country in the world!
Who wants ethnostates when you can have city states?
Singapore: "do it"
john doe: "ight gimme a month"
Singapore: "tomorrow"
john doe: "yo that's a big juuu..."
Sinapore: *cracks the belt.
Singapore also has some of the toughest drug laws anywhere. This makes the apartment blocks a lot... Friendlier.
Sure lol tough drug laws mean more crime not less
Unless you were sarcastic which by the .. is possible
@@BrockJamesStory You can go look up our crime rate.
Im proud of my country ~singapore btw thanks mr lee kuan yew for everything!
Amazing policies. I hope in India too our government learn from such housing development models from Singapore. Can u make a detailed case study on it. It's a request 🙏. Thank you for all the information
It seem like the Singapore government actually studied the mistakes and achievement in other parts of the world to implement their system.
We need this here in Papua New Guinea. Especially Port Moresby....
Well done Lee Kuan Yew, well done Singapore :)
you missed main point here, which is, you have to limit rich people buying houses/apt/condos for investment purposes. Like Singapore, the people actually have to live in the apt in order to qualify and this simply eliminated the rich folks
You can also buy HDB apartments from the resale market. You don't necessarily have to apply for a brand new one.
Finally, an effective government on housing, well done:)
Unexplained fire after trying to force people to rent apartments without success 🤔🤔
Hmm...very suspicious timing.
I think it was just a coincidence...ya...that's it...just a coincidence...that's the ticket!
@@willyjoerockhead yeah, yeah and they built new apartments atop the burned area. A beautiful coincidence indeed, this government has a lot of rabbit feet I tell ya
I was thinking the same thing, surprised there aren't more comments about that very suspicious coincidence.
Auctually the fire was started by an unattended stove or some cooking equipment by someone at the edge of the area.Dont know if she was conspiring tho
Extremely Nice video and beautiful cities,vacations and going on tours seems to be a kind of relaxation to me,I find meeting new people from different race as fun and educating,each year I find out time to travel to at least 3 countries I have never been to,nevertheless comfort or would I say living the way I do is too expensive,as long as you can afford it,it’s fun
Ive been in singapore. Loved the place. Got to stay there for a while but I couldnt imagine myself living in those apartments. It looked really different although really livable, it's much different living here near the fields, winds, and nature in my country.
thr aint such thing as nature when you're living in HDB all you see is buildings. :> i wish i could see mountains and nature when i peak out of my window 😭😭
You guys have made world news interesting for me. Thank you
Really love well-explained Architectural content like this and would love to have more. Thanks a lot Bloomberg ❤
as a singaporean; no matter how rich i get, i think i’d never want to live anywhere else other than in a HDB. the government hires people to maintain the estates such as repainting the buildings every few years & clearing the trash.
some residents still have the audacity to look down upon these workers just because they’re foreigners & do manual labour, but that’s a whole other story.
source: i grew up living in the same HDB all my life. i’m 20 now so i know i’ll have to move away in a couple of years because estates that are too old will have to go through en bloc 🥲
i forgot i even made this comment 😂
edit: thanks for the likes!
WOW. A 5 year minimum occupancy requirement? Nice. So you have to treat housing like... AN ACTUAL PLACE TO LIVE AND NOT JUST A BOX TO PARK INVESTMENT CAPITAL IN? WHO WOULD'VE THOUGHT.
Iquey yeah. They don’t want ppl to artificially push up the price for rental income. Therefore it helps to keep the price affordable and accessible for people who really needs it.
Ayyy watching this from Singapore
Amazing!! The rest of the world should take note and do the same.
I just wish the leaders in my country, Nigeria would take a cue from Singapore. The idea of creating a fund based off a percentage of salaries and using it to provide housing is so brilliant.
We have billionaires here in Lagos, living right next to people that make less than $5 in a day, right here on the Island (the most exotic part of the city).
We desperately need this thing that Singapore has done.
Britain could never build such a masterpiece! Bravo to Singapore.
We could if we had decent prime minister which weren't out their for themselves only
First time I hear government intervention actually boosts productivity. The key must be it's racial quota per building to avoid racial groups to form gangs
@@yougotta2505 You don't have to be racist man
form gangs? what
Ariel Hunter Fan Page Not all whites are like that.
@@yougotta2505 There you see, an ethnic rift. Its not your fault though
Gangs are one thing, but the real point is equality. There is a quota for every HDB flat so that there's social balance and basically every race can get along together.
I like that HDB has a quota on having a diverse ethnic group to prevent racial enclaves. (cough) (Sharia Law neighborhood)
see the thing with Singapore is that these public housing projects weren't created to isolate the poor and black and quickly abandoned but they actually keep them clean and i assume the residents aren't mostly destructive hoodlums
appreciated the research done to create this well covered video in just 4 minutes!
"where a statutory board satisfactorily completed everything it set out to do in its first 5 years" lmfao
Squatters refuse to move into apartments ----> "unexplained fire" -----> Squatters are now living in apartments.
Getting the job done Singapore style!
16,000 homeless, 4 dead. Not exactly how China, America, Russia or the UK would do it, is it?
This sort of social control should be supported!
a video about my country that is not full of cynics.
very nice, thanks everyone
Universal LAND TAX was the key platform that made this & low taxes possible. Bloomburg didn’t mention that.