ON A RAINY Sunday morning, Chong Boon market is buzzing. This is “heartlands” Singapore, a housing estate in the district of Ang Mo Kio, row upon row of 12-storey blocks of flats with the usual playgrounds, shops and a market with a food court, where stalls serve local favourites at S$3-4 a meal. One stand serving char kway teow (stir-fried rice noodles) is so popular it gives people a queue number.
This is the group constituency of the prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, though some in the food court say they were not aware of that. Many, however, feel the government has done well by them through two linked policies, on housing and retirement security. Since the 1960s, when the new country inherited a housing crisis, the government’s Housing Development Board has built over 1m flats. Now some 80% of Singaporeans live in HDB estates like these, overwhelmingly as owner-occupiers. The estates tend to look alike and they certainly pack people in. But Singapore has no slums and virtually no homelessness, the estates are generally clean and well-maintained, and property values have soared over the years....
from The Economist: Special report http://ift.tt/1Jk9LMR
No comments:
Post a Comment