Singaporean woman slams BTO system because she can’t get a flat while dating a non-PR foreigner
Photo for illustrative purposes only - Photo taken on December 28, 2010 shows computer engineer Wan Jon Yew with his wife, Tan Hsiou Ling and their baby girl, Wan Vee Ann posing in front of their housing apartment in Singapore. When computer engineer Wan Jon Yew left Malaysia in 2005 for Singapore, all he wanted was to work there for a few years before coming home. Now he says he will never return. (Photo by ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)Follow us on Instagram and Telegram
March 30, 2023
By Obbana Rajah
"Is dating a non-sg/PR person really some sort of unforgivable sin that we're subjected to all these extra hoops to jump through?" she asked.
SINGAPORE: A local woman who wanted to get a BTO flat with her partner could not do so because he was a foreigner who was not a Permanent Resident (PR) in Singapore.
“They say you don’t choose who you love, and I am inclined to believe that is partially true because if I really can choose, I rather date a singaporean bc things would be so much easier”, the woman wrote an anonymous post to popular confessions page SGWhispers. She added that she wanted to settle in Singapore, support her family and start her own family here. However, she added that the conditions that came with housing were a big problem for her.
“My partner and I can’t apply for BTO bc they aren’t PR (and they are unlikely to get it, to be very real). Please don’t tell me to get a stupid 2-room flexi, how tf are we gonna start a family in a pigeon hole?” the woman ranted. She added that she and her partner were also out-priced in the market, where they could not afford anything above the BTO price ceiling.
“I understand why we need this system in place, especially with the amount of marriages of convenience and the general rest of the world constantly trying to scam singaporeans. I get it. We need to protect our own people from love scams. But I never grew up thinking that with two freaking incomes we can’t afford housing in SG”, she wrote.
“Is dating a non-sg/PR person really some sort of unforgivable sin that we’re subjected to all these extra hoops to jump through? I’m not saying things must be fair but at this point everything is unfair in sg. I’ve come to the point where I don’t wanna take it anymore”, the woman added in her post.
Netizens in the comments sympathised with her, they said that she should consider getting a resale flat in a non-mature estate. Others also chimed in with suggestions for her. Here’s what they said:
Earlier this year, a Singaporean man took to social media to talk about how he felt like he did not belong here because of a multitude of reasons and had to move overseas.
In an anonymous post to popular confessions page SGWhispers, the man wrote that he was thankful for the opportunities given here, “I am fully aware how privileged we are to be given good education in a politically stable environment. But my mind can’t help but to remember all the negatives”.
He wrote that he was not academically inclined and was passed over in what he considered an “academic-focused country”. He added that he was bullied and often did not get to see his parents as they worked hard to battle the high cost of living.
“All the times I got bullied at work as a local by foreigners and expats as an adult. It’s not that I hate Singapore or anything. I just feel like I don’t belong, even if I try my hardest”, he wrote.
“I can’t come home. I can’t BTO with my non-SGrean partner. I can’t afford housing in SG. I can’t start building a life or family here and stick to my roots. And I feel like a complete failure as a Singaporean not being able to integrate myself into my own country. It’s really weird to be a foreigner overseas and feel more accepted and normal than I was back home”, the man added in his post.
