ST : Mah's own upgrading story

Mar 6, 2010

budget debate

Mah's own upgrading story

'When I was young, I lived in various places with my mother, who was a domestic servant. I lost my father when I was three years old, so we moved around a lot.

We stayed in a kampung in Lorong Ah Soo, which today has HDB flats and is in Cynthia Phua's (MP for Aljunied GRC) constituency. Every time I visit the flats there, I still remember where the kampung house was.

Then we moved to a shophouse in High Street. My mum was working for a High Street merchant at that time. Today, that is where the MTI (Ministry of Trade and Industry) and MOF (Ministry of Finance) are (in The Treasury building).

Then we moved to a room in Bugis Street. Today, it is Bugis Junction. There were 10 of us living in that room. We had one bed which slept five. It was raised so that another five could sleep underneath.

Then, I moved to Kim Keat Avenue with my aunt - eight of us in a three-room flat, sharing one toilet and bathroom, while my mother stayed in a one-room rental flat in Whampoa Road.

Later, we upgraded to a four-room flat in Toa Payoh.

That is a typical Singapore story for my generation. Start in a modest flat, work hard, accumulate savings, and upgrade over time. Then, if you need to, rightsize to a smaller flat.'

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan recounting his childhood years growing up in various housing types.