17 Feb 2011,
Son and parents settle dispute over house
THE son said he was not angry that his parents had sued him over the ownership of a terrace house in Langsat Road in Joo Chiat.
But speaking to reporters after both sides had reached an out-of-court settlement yesterday, the parents - Mr Ang Kim Sai and Madam Ang Gim Yen, both 86 - said they were disappointed with their younger son Ang Kok Beng, 57.
The terms of the settlement are confidential.
The parents had bought the double- storey corner house in 1974 for about $100,000. Their older son and daughter were initially registered as the owners because Housing Board regulations prohibited the couple, who already had a flat, from owning the property.
In 1983, the ownership of the house was transferred to their younger son, who is a sub-contractor.
In their suit, the couple contended that they are the owners and that he was holding the house - valued at $2.5 million in 2009 - in trust for them. But the younger Mr Ang said it was a gift.
The hearing started on Monday but ended on Tuesday after Madam Ang, diagnosed with dementia in 2009, took the stand and seemed to have trouble recalling details.
Yesterday, both sides reached a settlement. Speaking to reporters, the younger Mr Ang said he felt 'not bad' about the settlement. He last saw his parents more than a year ago and hoped to see them soon.
'If we continue to fight, both sides lose,' he said.
Madam Ang told reporters their son was 'unfilial' while the father said he had 'no face' in having brought up such a son.
SELINA LUM
Thursday, February 17, 2011
ST : Living under one roof: The more the merrier
17 Feb 2011,
Living under one roof: The more the merrier
Some families are bucking the trend of smaller households
By Cheryl Ong & Ng Kai Ling
LAST year's population census found that the average household size here has shrunk to a new low of 3.5, but some families - a declining minority - are bucking this trend.
These are large families who live together and look out for and help one another.
The four-room flat of the Yeos in Pasir Ris, for example, is home to 11 people: restaurant owner Nicholas Yeo, 32, his wife, 33, their three young children - aged five years to one month old - his sister, parents, grandparents and the family's maid.
Mr Yeo said he chose this living arrangement to teach his children about family values as well as to take care of his parents.
When they visited their relatives and friends during the Chinese New Year, organising the outing was a logistical challenge.
With Mr Yeo's two other sisters, who live elsewhere, and his brother-in-law joining in, they needed three cars, including a borrowed sedan with enough space in the boot for his grandparents' wheelchairs.
At home, having guests over is out of the question, said Mr Yeo, who takes up a bedroom with his wife and children.
'There's no more room,' he said emphatically, adding: 'There're only two bathrooms in the house, so we have to learn to be patient and take turns. I don't want to imagine the day we all get food poisoning!'
He said the best part about the living arrangement is having the family bond over dinner every night: 'The kids get to learn about traditions and the importance of family.'
His parents and grandparents keep an eye on the children while he and his wife are at work.
The census found that the average Chinese household size last year was 3.4 people, down from 3.6 in 2000. The average Indian household size also fell over the period from 3.7 to 3.6, while the number in Malay households held steady at 4.2.
Families like the Yeos, with more than six people under one roof, made up 11.1 per cent of the total number of households last year, down from 12 per cent in 2000.
The number of households with five or more people fell from 29.9 per cent in 2000 to 26.8 per cent last year, while one-person households rose from 8.2 per cent to 12.2 per cent over the same period.
Sociologists said the main reasons household sizes have shrunk are that attitudes towards the composition of a family have changed and parents no longer see children as a safety net of support for when they are old.
Sociologist Paulin Straughan said: 'The notion of filial piety has also been redefined. It no longer means that you have to be living in the same household - just visiting your parents regularly is enough.'
This was what primary school teacher Marion Chew, 35, had planned on doing when she got married in late 2002. She and her husband moved into their matrimonial home, a four-room HDB flat in Woodlands, and for about a year, they visited her parents and in-laws regularly.
Then she became pregnant with twins and her mother wanted to take care of her during the pregnancy, so the couple moved into her parents' landed property in Sembawang - and they have not moved out in the seven years since, even after the birth of their third child, now aged five.
Ms Chew said: 'My parents help to take care of the children while my husband and I are at work. It's the kind of care you can't get anywhere else.'
Their Woodlands flat is being rented out, while her parents' house is now also home to her sister and two maids.
Like Ms Chew, many who live with their parents do so for pragmatic reasons, especially when husband and wife work and have young children.
Take Madam Neo Geok Kuan, a 73-year-old retiree, who gladly plays the role of grandmother-cum-chauffeur.
Her eldest son, tour agency chief John Lew, his wife and two teenage daughters moved in with her and her husband in their semi-detached house in Hong Leong Garden in the West Coast.
She spends her weekdays picking up her two younger sons' children from school, cooking lunch for them and taking them to tuition classes.
In the evenings, her sons gather at her home for dinner.
She said: 'I like being around to help my children, so I don't mind being like the family driver.'
Mr Lew, 49, said the living arrangement is mutually beneficial: 'I feel more at ease knowing my mum is home to oversee the household, and my wife helps to care for my parents when I'm not around.'
kailing@sph.com.sg
ongyiern@sph.com.sg
Living under one roof: The more the merrier
Some families are bucking the trend of smaller households
By Cheryl Ong & Ng Kai Ling
LAST year's population census found that the average household size here has shrunk to a new low of 3.5, but some families - a declining minority - are bucking this trend.
These are large families who live together and look out for and help one another.
The four-room flat of the Yeos in Pasir Ris, for example, is home to 11 people: restaurant owner Nicholas Yeo, 32, his wife, 33, their three young children - aged five years to one month old - his sister, parents, grandparents and the family's maid.
Mr Yeo said he chose this living arrangement to teach his children about family values as well as to take care of his parents.
When they visited their relatives and friends during the Chinese New Year, organising the outing was a logistical challenge.
With Mr Yeo's two other sisters, who live elsewhere, and his brother-in-law joining in, they needed three cars, including a borrowed sedan with enough space in the boot for his grandparents' wheelchairs.
At home, having guests over is out of the question, said Mr Yeo, who takes up a bedroom with his wife and children.
'There's no more room,' he said emphatically, adding: 'There're only two bathrooms in the house, so we have to learn to be patient and take turns. I don't want to imagine the day we all get food poisoning!'
He said the best part about the living arrangement is having the family bond over dinner every night: 'The kids get to learn about traditions and the importance of family.'
His parents and grandparents keep an eye on the children while he and his wife are at work.
The census found that the average Chinese household size last year was 3.4 people, down from 3.6 in 2000. The average Indian household size also fell over the period from 3.7 to 3.6, while the number in Malay households held steady at 4.2.
Families like the Yeos, with more than six people under one roof, made up 11.1 per cent of the total number of households last year, down from 12 per cent in 2000.
The number of households with five or more people fell from 29.9 per cent in 2000 to 26.8 per cent last year, while one-person households rose from 8.2 per cent to 12.2 per cent over the same period.
Sociologists said the main reasons household sizes have shrunk are that attitudes towards the composition of a family have changed and parents no longer see children as a safety net of support for when they are old.
Sociologist Paulin Straughan said: 'The notion of filial piety has also been redefined. It no longer means that you have to be living in the same household - just visiting your parents regularly is enough.'
This was what primary school teacher Marion Chew, 35, had planned on doing when she got married in late 2002. She and her husband moved into their matrimonial home, a four-room HDB flat in Woodlands, and for about a year, they visited her parents and in-laws regularly.
Then she became pregnant with twins and her mother wanted to take care of her during the pregnancy, so the couple moved into her parents' landed property in Sembawang - and they have not moved out in the seven years since, even after the birth of their third child, now aged five.
Ms Chew said: 'My parents help to take care of the children while my husband and I are at work. It's the kind of care you can't get anywhere else.'
Their Woodlands flat is being rented out, while her parents' house is now also home to her sister and two maids.
Like Ms Chew, many who live with their parents do so for pragmatic reasons, especially when husband and wife work and have young children.
Take Madam Neo Geok Kuan, a 73-year-old retiree, who gladly plays the role of grandmother-cum-chauffeur.
Her eldest son, tour agency chief John Lew, his wife and two teenage daughters moved in with her and her husband in their semi-detached house in Hong Leong Garden in the West Coast.
She spends her weekdays picking up her two younger sons' children from school, cooking lunch for them and taking them to tuition classes.
In the evenings, her sons gather at her home for dinner.
She said: 'I like being around to help my children, so I don't mind being like the family driver.'
Mr Lew, 49, said the living arrangement is mutually beneficial: 'I feel more at ease knowing my mum is home to oversee the household, and my wife helps to care for my parents when I'm not around.'
kailing@sph.com.sg
ongyiern@sph.com.sg
ST Forum : Housing woes mar bundles of joy
16 Feb 2011,
Housing woes mar bundles of joy
MY HUSBAND and I welcomed our twin girls last year, and our brood doubled to four children, which forced us to hire a second maid.
Our 75 sq m flat, the smallest four-roomer in our area, could no longer accommodate what was effectively a family of eight, including the domestic help.
So we went through the usual HDB flat-hunting process, applying for build-to-order flats and balance flats, but we could not secure a ballot number.
We then went resale flat hunting, but the high cash-over-valuation and the lower loan amounts offered by the bank because of HDB's new rules meant that we had to fork out at least $80,000.
To meet the requirements of the new rules, we would have had to sell our current flat and move to a rental flat before we could go resale flat hunting. This would entail us moving house twice, with four young children in tow, in order to upgrade to a bigger flat. It proved too hard and we had to abandon the idea.
I then appealed to the HDB to sell us a flat on its list of leftover five-room flats in our vicinity, but it did not reply.
I sought the help of my MP to appeal on my family's behalf. After four letters of appeal, the Housing Board replied that it had only a limited number of returned five-room flats, and our case was not special enough to warrant HDB to look into it.
So while I would love to encourage Singaporeans to have more children, I am forced by my experience to advise them to think twice.
Our parents' generation enjoyed the possibility of upgrading to a bigger HDB flat to accommodate a bigger family.
That avenue does not appear to be available anymore for my husband and me, and our generation.
With limited supply of new flats and competition in the resale market, the HDB's priority is given to first-timers and not upgraders.
If we could have turned back the clock, my husband and I would have stopped at two, because having more children means less space at home.
Lim Yu Hong (Madam)
Housing woes mar bundles of joy
MY HUSBAND and I welcomed our twin girls last year, and our brood doubled to four children, which forced us to hire a second maid.
Our 75 sq m flat, the smallest four-roomer in our area, could no longer accommodate what was effectively a family of eight, including the domestic help.
So we went through the usual HDB flat-hunting process, applying for build-to-order flats and balance flats, but we could not secure a ballot number.
We then went resale flat hunting, but the high cash-over-valuation and the lower loan amounts offered by the bank because of HDB's new rules meant that we had to fork out at least $80,000.
To meet the requirements of the new rules, we would have had to sell our current flat and move to a rental flat before we could go resale flat hunting. This would entail us moving house twice, with four young children in tow, in order to upgrade to a bigger flat. It proved too hard and we had to abandon the idea.
I then appealed to the HDB to sell us a flat on its list of leftover five-room flats in our vicinity, but it did not reply.
I sought the help of my MP to appeal on my family's behalf. After four letters of appeal, the Housing Board replied that it had only a limited number of returned five-room flats, and our case was not special enough to warrant HDB to look into it.
So while I would love to encourage Singaporeans to have more children, I am forced by my experience to advise them to think twice.
Our parents' generation enjoyed the possibility of upgrading to a bigger HDB flat to accommodate a bigger family.
That avenue does not appear to be available anymore for my husband and me, and our generation.
With limited supply of new flats and competition in the resale market, the HDB's priority is given to first-timers and not upgraders.
If we could have turned back the clock, my husband and I would have stopped at two, because having more children means less space at home.
Lim Yu Hong (Madam)
ST Forum : Relook price benchmark for first flats
16 Feb 2011,
Three Budget wishes
Relook price benchmark for first flats
AS THE father of a daughter who will be entering the market for a flat with her fiance for the first time, I wonder if the issue of housing affordability can be addressed if the Housing Board changes the way it sets prices.
Currently, new HDB flat prices are benchmarked against resale transaction prices. This approach worked well in the past because it was aimed at solving a simpler situation reflecting organic population growth and housing upgrading.
Today, while the first-time home market segment remains as robust as it was previously, the resale market has been hammered by a demand shock from a very sizeable segment of permanent residents.
Given that the resale market and first-time segments have different dynamics, and as the prime policy concern is aimed at helping first-time buyers, should we now decouple the benchmarking of new HDB flat prices from resale prices?
There may be alternative ways to set prices that can strongly couple with affordability - for instance, prices can be indexed to a multiple of, say, average starting salaries, or salaries of a percentile of taxpayers in the 25 to 30 age group.
I am not sure if the idea is coloured by my daughter's dilemma, but many of my friends have also confided that they were forced to fork out hefty sums to help their children buy their first flats.
I cannot see how this can be sustainable for future generations when our children's children come knocking.
Chiang Shao Soong
Three Budget wishes
Relook price benchmark for first flats
AS THE father of a daughter who will be entering the market for a flat with her fiance for the first time, I wonder if the issue of housing affordability can be addressed if the Housing Board changes the way it sets prices.
Currently, new HDB flat prices are benchmarked against resale transaction prices. This approach worked well in the past because it was aimed at solving a simpler situation reflecting organic population growth and housing upgrading.
Today, while the first-time home market segment remains as robust as it was previously, the resale market has been hammered by a demand shock from a very sizeable segment of permanent residents.
Given that the resale market and first-time segments have different dynamics, and as the prime policy concern is aimed at helping first-time buyers, should we now decouple the benchmarking of new HDB flat prices from resale prices?
There may be alternative ways to set prices that can strongly couple with affordability - for instance, prices can be indexed to a multiple of, say, average starting salaries, or salaries of a percentile of taxpayers in the 25 to 30 age group.
I am not sure if the idea is coloured by my daughter's dilemma, but many of my friends have also confided that they were forced to fork out hefty sums to help their children buy their first flats.
I cannot see how this can be sustainable for future generations when our children's children come knocking.
Chiang Shao Soong
ST Forum : Make property tax more equitable
16 Feb 2011,
Make property tax more equitable
ACCORDING to Saturday's report ("Housing affordability of key concern"), the general sentiment is that the Government would be dishing out property, utility and service and conservancy rebates, upgrading old estates to increase the supply of HDB flats and providing larger housing grants for lower-income households in this year's Budget.
While these measures would be welcomed, they are just stop-gap measures and do not address the root of the problem: land scarcity in Singapore.
Land scarcity inevitably leads to high property prices as the supply of properties is insufficient to meet demand. Living in landed property is definitely a luxury and to ensure efficient and equitable allocation of resources, luxuries should be priced accordingly to reflect their scarcity. The current property tax policy in Singapore does not adhere to this principle of efficient allocation.
Currently, properties are taxed based on their annual value, which is the estimated amount of rental the properties would fetch if they were to be rented out. At first glance, one might be convinced that the landed property owner is paying a higher property tax and is thus paying a fair price for his luxury. However, the current tax rates fail to separate the concept of property from land.
Take, for example, a bungalow that sits on a 10,000 sq m plot of land could accommodate 40 three-room flats. Thus we can say that for the same size of land, HDB flat dwellers collectively pay a higher amount of tax than a landed property dweller.
Furthermore, the tax places a bigger financial burden on the lower-income group.
A property tax reform where the notions of land and property are separated is due. Property owners should still be taxed based on the estimated rental revenue, but at a lower rate. The balance should come from a land tax, where property owners are taxed based on the size of the plot they occupy and also the share of the plot which they occupy. Thus, the landed property owner would pay tax for the whole of his bungalow, while an HDB flat dweller living in a 20-storey block would pay 1/20 of the land tax. This new tax regime would be more equitable.
Goh Ching Soon
Make property tax more equitable
ACCORDING to Saturday's report ("Housing affordability of key concern"), the general sentiment is that the Government would be dishing out property, utility and service and conservancy rebates, upgrading old estates to increase the supply of HDB flats and providing larger housing grants for lower-income households in this year's Budget.
While these measures would be welcomed, they are just stop-gap measures and do not address the root of the problem: land scarcity in Singapore.
Land scarcity inevitably leads to high property prices as the supply of properties is insufficient to meet demand. Living in landed property is definitely a luxury and to ensure efficient and equitable allocation of resources, luxuries should be priced accordingly to reflect their scarcity. The current property tax policy in Singapore does not adhere to this principle of efficient allocation.
Currently, properties are taxed based on their annual value, which is the estimated amount of rental the properties would fetch if they were to be rented out. At first glance, one might be convinced that the landed property owner is paying a higher property tax and is thus paying a fair price for his luxury. However, the current tax rates fail to separate the concept of property from land.
Take, for example, a bungalow that sits on a 10,000 sq m plot of land could accommodate 40 three-room flats. Thus we can say that for the same size of land, HDB flat dwellers collectively pay a higher amount of tax than a landed property dweller.
Furthermore, the tax places a bigger financial burden on the lower-income group.
A property tax reform where the notions of land and property are separated is due. Property owners should still be taxed based on the estimated rental revenue, but at a lower rate. The balance should come from a land tax, where property owners are taxed based on the size of the plot they occupy and also the share of the plot which they occupy. Thus, the landed property owner would pay tax for the whole of his bungalow, while an HDB flat dweller living in a 20-storey block would pay 1/20 of the land tax. This new tax regime would be more equitable.
Goh Ching Soon
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Pre-development Land Investing
In business for over 30 years, success in providing real estate investment opportunities to clients around the world is a simple, yet effective separation of roles and responsibilites. The four pillars of strength guide the land from the research and acquisition, through to the exit, including the distribution of proceeds to our clients ......
To know more how this is really work for you and your clients....
Please contact me Terence Tay @ (+65) 9387-5896 or email : terencetay.kh@gmail.com
To know more how this is really work for you and your clients....
Please contact me Terence Tay @ (+65) 9387-5896 or email : terencetay.kh@gmail.com
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