[h=2]Chan: Families earning $1K a mth can afford HDB flat[/h]
January 16th, 2015 |
Author: Editorial
Minister Chan Chun Sing
Minister Chan Chun Sing wrote to ST Forum today (‘Chee sacrifices S’pore to win points overseas: Chan Chun Sing’, 16 Jan) accusing Dr Chee of “sacrifice Singaporeans and Singapore” to “win points” overseas (‘Minister Chan accuses Dr Chee of ‘sacrificing’ S’poreans‘).
In his letter, Mr Chan again touched on the issue about Singaporeans earning $1,000 a month can really afford their own flats.
He was trying to rebut Dr Chee’s earlier article that Singaporeans can’t actually live in Singapore on $1,000 a month.
Mr Chan wrote:
A family with no flat will also die with $1K a month
Last month, Mr Jacky Foo, rebutted Dr Chee’s article (“A New Vision for Singapore”, Nov. 28) in a letter to the Wall Street Journal (‘Singapore’s consulate-general to HK rebuts Dr Chee‘).
In his letter, Mr Foo said, “Families earning just 1,000 Singapore dollars a month can afford to own a two-room apartment.”
TRE then set out to determine how a Singaporean family earning just $1,000 a month can afford a 2-room HDB flat (‘Jacky, a family with no flat will also die with $1K hor!‘).
TRE did the following calculations after taking into account the bare living expenses of a family consisting of a couple and a toddler. This is what we have determined by pushing to the limits:
With a salary of $1,000, the take-home pay is actually only $800. The monthly CPF is $370, made up of $200 employee’s contribution and $170 employer’s contribution. Hence, the total monthly CPF contributions are, indeed, enough to pay the mortgage installments for their 2-room flat.
Nevertheless, the take-home pay is clearly not enough for the family to pay for the above monthly living expenses of $1,053. It is short of $253 every month. Either the family will have to cut down the above expenses further or they will have to make up the shortfall somewhere else.
One of the ways would be for the mother to breastfeed. That would help to save $100 milk powder expenses in the above calculation. But the family will still be short of $153 every month.
On a side note, according to pediatricians, if a mother chooses to breastfeed, she must make sure that she takes in enough proteins like fish and meat so that she can have the necessary nutrients to pass on to her baby. That being the case, the marketing cost for fish and meat in the above calculation will increase too, possibly negating some of the savings in not buying baby milk powder.
It’s not known how Mr Foo and Mr Chan expect a family earning just $1,000 a month can afford to get married and have children, living and surviving in a 2-room flat together.
While trying to determine grocery costs, TRE talked to a provision shop owner. When TRE told him what Mr Foo had said about surviving on $1,000 for a family living in a 2-room flat, he was visibly angered, “Don’t say 2-room flat, even with no-room flat the family will also die with $1,000 a month!”
Both Mr Foo and Mr Chan seem to be arguing for the sake of arguing. What’s the use of saying low income group can afford to buy a flat but can’t survive living from month to month? It’s like arguing that low income group can also afford to pay the $150 monthly subscription fee of the Singapore Island Country Club [Link].
Unless, of course, the government wants the low income group to keep coming back to the government to get handouts to make-up for the monthly shortfalls so as to feel grateful to the PAP government?
What do you think?
Note: TRE has made quite a number of generous assumptions in calculating the living expenses above. Many things have been excluded. For example:
Minister Chan Chun Sing wrote to ST Forum today (‘Chee sacrifices S’pore to win points overseas: Chan Chun Sing’, 16 Jan) accusing Dr Chee of “sacrifice Singaporeans and Singapore” to “win points” overseas (‘Minister Chan accuses Dr Chee of ‘sacrificing’ S’poreans‘).
In his letter, Mr Chan again touched on the issue about Singaporeans earning $1,000 a month can really afford their own flats.
He was trying to rebut Dr Chee’s earlier article that Singaporeans can’t actually live in Singapore on $1,000 a month.
Mr Chan wrote:
Dr Chee Soon Juan is disingenuous (“Not possible for poor S’poreans to live on $1,000 a month”; Dec 18).
Singaporean families earning $1,000 a month can indeed afford their own flats because of various housing grants. As a result, the lowest 20th percentile of households have an average net home equity of $200,000. That is an achievement no other nation in the world can boast of.
And that is not all. In recent years, we have enhanced our social safety nets. Lower-income households have benefited from, among other things, Workfare and various assistance schemes for medical, transport, utilities and education.
Again, just like Consulate-General of Singapore to Hong Kong, Jacky Foo, Mr Chan also seems to think that low-income Singaporeans can survive by living on air, after purchasing their HDB flat.Singaporean families earning $1,000 a month can indeed afford their own flats because of various housing grants. As a result, the lowest 20th percentile of households have an average net home equity of $200,000. That is an achievement no other nation in the world can boast of.
And that is not all. In recent years, we have enhanced our social safety nets. Lower-income households have benefited from, among other things, Workfare and various assistance schemes for medical, transport, utilities and education.
A family with no flat will also die with $1K a month
Last month, Mr Jacky Foo, rebutted Dr Chee’s article (“A New Vision for Singapore”, Nov. 28) in a letter to the Wall Street Journal (‘Singapore’s consulate-general to HK rebuts Dr Chee‘).
In his letter, Mr Foo said, “Families earning just 1,000 Singapore dollars a month can afford to own a two-room apartment.”
TRE then set out to determine how a Singaporean family earning just $1,000 a month can afford a 2-room HDB flat (‘Jacky, a family with no flat will also die with $1K hor!‘).
TRE did the following calculations after taking into account the bare living expenses of a family consisting of a couple and a toddler. This is what we have determined by pushing to the limits:
| Details | Monthly | Remarks |
| 2-room monthly instalment | 159 | Sengkang 2-room |
| Electricity, water, gas (no telephone) | 120 | with a child, water consumption will be higher, e.g. need to boil water to sterilize milk bottle etc |
| S&CC for 2-room flat | 28 | AMKTC charges $28 monthly for 2-room flat |
| Toilet paper, toothpaste, laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, floor detergent, soya sauce, black sauce, oil, rice, canned food, maggi mee, flour, salt, sugar, soap, margarine, tea, condensed milk etc | 200 | shop at NTUC once a month (average of $50 a week) |
| Fish, meat, vegetable, fruit, bread (for breakfast) etc | 300 | $10 a day (take note of current wet market prices – lean meat $15/kg, 1 egg $0.22, fish average $10/kg, 1 duck $18, 1 piece of chicken breast $4 etc) |
| Personal | ||
| Husband’s lunch at work | 60 | $2 mixed veg rice, $1 kopi ‘O’ for 20 working days |
| Husband & wife’s bus/MRT fares | 150 | husband $120 (working), wife $30 (moving around) |
| Husband’s hair cut | 10 | assuming wife keeps long hair and doesn’t go to salon |
| Husband & wife’s medical fees | 10 | assuming a person sees a doctor 3 times a year, each time paying $20 (polyclinic $11 for consultation only, medicine extra) – this works out to $120 a year. This is for common ailments like cough, cold, diarrhea etc. |
| Husband & wife’s clothing, slippers, shoes, socks, undergarments etc | 20 | assuming each person spends $120 per year – total $240 per year. |
| Child | ||
| Milk powder | 100 | 2 tins ($50 per tin) |
| Diapers | 35 | $17.50 per pack with 48 pieces inside – 2 packs 96 pieces, assuming 3 pieces per day |
| Child’s medical fees | 10 | Double that of adult – 6 times a year – 6 x $20 = $120 (polyclinic $11 for consultation only, medicine extra). |
| Child’s clothing | 10 | $120 a year |
| Total excluding HDB mortgage | 1053 | |
| Total including HDB mortgage | 1212 |
Nevertheless, the take-home pay is clearly not enough for the family to pay for the above monthly living expenses of $1,053. It is short of $253 every month. Either the family will have to cut down the above expenses further or they will have to make up the shortfall somewhere else.
One of the ways would be for the mother to breastfeed. That would help to save $100 milk powder expenses in the above calculation. But the family will still be short of $153 every month.
On a side note, according to pediatricians, if a mother chooses to breastfeed, she must make sure that she takes in enough proteins like fish and meat so that she can have the necessary nutrients to pass on to her baby. That being the case, the marketing cost for fish and meat in the above calculation will increase too, possibly negating some of the savings in not buying baby milk powder.
It’s not known how Mr Foo and Mr Chan expect a family earning just $1,000 a month can afford to get married and have children, living and surviving in a 2-room flat together.
While trying to determine grocery costs, TRE talked to a provision shop owner. When TRE told him what Mr Foo had said about surviving on $1,000 for a family living in a 2-room flat, he was visibly angered, “Don’t say 2-room flat, even with no-room flat the family will also die with $1,000 a month!”
Both Mr Foo and Mr Chan seem to be arguing for the sake of arguing. What’s the use of saying low income group can afford to buy a flat but can’t survive living from month to month? It’s like arguing that low income group can also afford to pay the $150 monthly subscription fee of the Singapore Island Country Club [Link].
Unless, of course, the government wants the low income group to keep coming back to the government to get handouts to make-up for the monthly shortfalls so as to feel grateful to the PAP government?
What do you think?
Note: TRE has made quite a number of generous assumptions in calculating the living expenses above. Many things have been excluded. For example:
- None of the family members has chronic illnesses like high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, etc.
- No hospitalizations for anyone
- No entertainment – can only go to free venues like parks, museums, window shopping at malls etc.
- No overseas holiday – perhaps walk to Sentosa to see the big merlion from outside
- No Milo, no soft drinks, no liquor, no beer
- No newspaper
- Assets have not been taken into account (e.g. milk bottles, fridge, TV, fan, table, chairs, bed, mattress, bed sheets, pillows, blankets, mop, pails, cooking utensils, etc) – let’s assume all these were given by relatives when the couple were married
- We assume assets like TV/fridge/light bulbs/fan etc, won’t breakdown – any breakdowns will need money to either repair or buy replacements
- Etc (do help to fill in)
