PAP MP doing the right thing: sack the expensive town council mayors

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Put HDB in charge of maintenance for housing estates instead of town councils: Murali Pillai​

The HDB had taken on the role of estate manager before the Town Councils Act was passed in 1989. PHOTO: ST FILE

Ng Keng Gene

May 10, 20222



SINGAPORE - An MP has proposed that the Housing Board handle maintenance for public housing estates, to manage the rising costs of such services and address other challenges that town councils have faced in providing them.
In his adjournment motion on Monday (May 9), Mr Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok) made the case for the re-centralisation of estate maintenance resources under HDB.
He cited how new Build-To-Order (BTO) projects would have "significantly higher" maintenance costs compared with older blocks as they are high-rise and have extra "green" features. Town councils also will not enjoy any economies of scale for such costs, he added.
The HDB had taken on the role of estate manager before the Town Councils Act was passed in 1989 to give elected MPs autonomy to run towns by decentralising the management and maintenance of HDB estates.
In response, Senior Minister of State for National Development Sim Ann said: "We would think very carefully before re-centralising township maintenance... because devolution is at the heart of the town council concept."
She noted that it will not be feasible for the Government to fully fund cost increases, as inflationary pressures are affecting all sectors - not just estate maintenance.
In his speech, Mr Murali had highlighted a misalignment of incentives between the HDB and town councils, which could lead to increased maintenance costs.

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HDB - as the developer - may not adequately consider maintenance costs in its building designs, he said, noting it has different motivations from a maintenance contractor.
Newer high-rise BTO projects, for example, have pressure reducing valves installed to ensure the water supply is working well, he added. Some green areas require specialists to maintain them, instead of general landscaping contractors.
Having these BTO projects in mature estates also raises the issue of equity, said Mr Murali.


He said residents of older flats could potentially be helping to bear the higher maintenance costs of newer BTO flats. This is because town councils do not differentiate between residents of newer and older flats when collecting service and conservancy charges, which go towards funding such works.
On the lifespan of common properties in older estates, Mr Murali argued that service and conservancy charges should be used to maintain such infrastructure, but not to replace them when they have exceeded their lifespan.
He thus urged the Government to review the current system of estate management, and consider having HDB take charge of maintenance services.
If this is not feasible, the authorities could alternatively ensure service and conservancy charges are not used for renewal of infrastructure or to address design issues in BTO developments, he added.


In her response, Ms Sim said long-term cost increases will have to be borne by all parties.
Town councils play an important role in managing cost increases, she said, adding this is why they have full autonomy to set rates for service and conservancy charges.
On possible misaligned incentives of developers and maintenance contractors, Ms Sim said HDB considers sustainability and maintainability in its design of new BTO projects. The Government will review its processes to ensure that ease of maintenance is given priority, she added.
Addressing Mr Murali's call for the Government to fund replacements of infrastructure beyond its life cycle, Ms Sim said the Government is already co-funding such works.
Town councils are required to allocate at least 40 per cent of their income to funds which go towards cyclical works, she said, adding that a similar percentage of Government grants are channelled towards these funds.
The Government will pay attention to maintenance costs in designing HDB towns and track how the costs of running public housing estates should be managed, she said.

 

[shittypore]

Many Cronies tan boh chiak.

 

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Forum: Let MPs focus on other roles besides estate maintenance​

May 13, 2022

I support Bukit Batok MP Murali Pillai's suggestion that the Housing Board should bear the responsibility of maintaining housing estates instead of the town councils (Let HDB maintain housing estates to manage rising costs: MP, May 11).
Town councils were established 33 years ago and it is now time to relook and rethink the role of town councils and MPs.
Mr Murali's assertion that residents of older flats could potentially be helping to bear the higher maintenance costs of newer flats is also spot on. Since newer blocks of flats have features such as green areas, maintenance costs will inevitably increase.
HDB should look into lowering the costs of daily maintenance.
As it is, MPs have their hands full helping their constituents with their problems and representing constituents' concerns in Parliament, among other things.
Let MPs perform their many roles and leave the running of the housing estates to HDB to keep maintenance costs as low as possible.

Heng Cho Choon


Join ST's Telegram channel an

 

[bobby]

As though the fucking PAP MPs are so busy doing their rounds the estates. In fact most of the MPs are the Town Council mayors themselves.

Instead of making that statement...the fact should be that the $500K Town Council mayors are not doing their jobs.

 

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How about cutting the salaries of the town mayors to keep costs down?

Service and conservancy charges for HDB residents likely to go up​

Singapore's town councils are currently evaluating their finances to determine an appropriate increase in S&CC. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
Amelia Teng

Apr 30, 2023

SINGAPORE – Service and conservancy charges (S&CC) are likely to go up soon for Housing Board residents, but the Government will provide temporary support to cushion the impact on households.
Town councils here are currently evaluating their finances to determine an appropriate increase in S&CC, and more details will be provided after these deliberations are completed, coordinating chairman for PAP town councils Lim Biow Chuan told The Straits Times.
S&CC was last raised in 2017, with the hike of between $1 and $17 per month phased over two years. Such fees go towards estate cleaning, landscaping, refuse collection, pest control and maintenance of mechanical and electrical fixtures such as lifts and lights.
When the rates are adjusted, “time-limited, special funding support” will be given to help residents deal with the higher fees, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee said in a written reply to a parliamentary question by Bukit Batok MP Murali Pillai on April 21.
Responding to queries from ST, Mr Lim said town councils have been facing increasing cost pressures over energy prices, maintenance costs and manpower costs. Some of these increases have been particularly sharp, such as for energy prices, which have risen by 23 per cent between 2018 and 2023, he said.
Lift maintenance costs have also increased due to higher labour costs for lift technicians and higher materials costs.
“With the implementation of the Progressive Wage Model to uplift low-wage workers, the town councils’ operational costs have also gone up due to increase in tender prices for conservancy cleaning contracts and horticulture contracts,” Mr Lim said.

“This increase in costs cannot be avoided if we want to support the lower-wage workers.”
Mr Lim, who is also MP for Mountbatten, stressed that PAP town councils have been careful in managing expenditure and constantly seek productivity improvements and cost savings.
“Town councils are grateful to the Ministry of National Development (MND) for providing regular grants for our operations, which help us maintain S&CC at a lower level than we otherwise would need to,” he added. Some $240 million in grants are provided to town councils each year to offset maintenance costs so that they do not fully fall on residents.
Mr Murali said a key concern is that maintenance costs for mature HDB estates will rise faster than for newer estates.
Based on the latest financial statements, he told ST that town councils that manage a substantial number of mature flats tend to “run operational deficits before accounting for government grants, which are admittedly quite substantial”.
“In mature estates, there are simply more things to maintain,” he said. “For example, it is not uncommon to see perimeter drains that have become misaligned or damaged due to soil subsidence or natural deterioration.”

ST contacted nearly all 17 town councils, run by either the People’s Action Party or the Workers’ Party, but they declined to comment or did not respond.
Observers such as National University of Singapore (NUS) business school professor Lawrence Loh said the confluence of global factors such as inflation and geopolitical tensions having raised the cost of materials and services meant a price alignment is necessary.
But it is critical to ensure that lower-income households are not hit hard by the fee adjustments, he said.
“Financial support and rebates should remain a mainstay of assistance schemes. Yet, we have to consider carefully if any changes should be locked in permanently so as not to affect long-term financial sustainability,” said Prof Loh, who is director of the Centre for Governance and Sustainability at NUS.
“It may be prudent to introduce time-bound or one-off additional measures initially while the picture of overall economic recovery and cost stabilisation becomes clearer.”
Manpower costs are likely to be a strong driver behind the impending hike, said Singapore Management University’s associate professor of law Eugene Tan. He noted that wages have been rising after little to no wage adjustment during the pandemic years of 2020 to 2022.
Even so, there is always a question over whether S&CC hikes can be deferred or be smaller, given that town councils have operational surpluses, he said. “Furthermore, some residents are of the view that standards of estate maintenance have not improved, and so the hike in charges is less acceptable.”
Given additional funding from MND, some residents may also find the higher charges puzzling, Prof Tan added.
In its April parliamentary reply, MND said the Government had provided additional funding to town councils in May 2022 to help them manage steep cost increases caused by factors such as the pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the global supply crunch.
The money would go towards projects under the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme and the Community Improvement Projects Committee (CIPC). CIPC funds are typically used for facilities such as covered walkways, footpaths, cycling tracks and playgrounds.
The Government gives out rebates in its annual Budget to offset the S&CC. Depending on flat type, Singaporean households will receive between 1½ and 3½ months of rebates in 2023.

 

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GE2025: PAP’s Denise Phua defends relevance of mayors amid criticism of the role​

PAP Jalan Besar candidates Shawn Loh. ;Josephine Teo, Denise Phua and Wan Rizal taking a wefie with Ms Tan Leng Hong, 60 during the Walkabout at Upper Boon Keng Market on April 27, 2025 . ST Photo : Desmond Wee.The Straits Times

Judith Tan
Apr 27, 2025

SINGAPORE - PAP candidate for Jalan Besar GRC Denise Phua said the roles of mayors and the Community Development Councils (CDCs) continue to be important as they serve regional roles that are separate from those of MPs or grassroot advisors.

While most people know the CDC as the lead agency to come up with the CDC vouchers, the CDCs actually do a lot more than that, said Ms Phua, noting that many of the programmes are also led by the five mayors in charge of the five districts.

“We operate as a regional office that does not take over the role of the MP or the grassroot advisors, but really looking at the entire district so that CDCs and the mayors are able to aggregate the needs of the district, find some common areas,” she told reporters during a media doorstop interview at Upper Boon Keng Market and Food Centre on April 27.

For example, in her district, the CDC runs more than 50 programmes to address the needs of residents.

Ms Phua has served as the Mayor of Central Singapore District since 2014. She was responding to questions about the role of mayors, which was raised by opposition parties like the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and the People’s Alliance for Reform (PAR).

In rallies on April 26, both parties had called for the abolishing of such mayor positions should they be elected.

Referring to the CDCs as an “ideas bank”, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo, who is helming the PAP’s Jalan Besar GRC team, said that many programmes in her constituency that are targeted at vulnerable families, mid-career workers and the youth have benefited from the support of the CDC.


“The profiles of our residents have changed from time to time, and when you have new resident groups moving in, it takes time to learn about their needs, understand their aspirations, and then design programmes that they will find useful,” she said.

“The CDCs have often stepped in to share best practices in other constituencies, so that shortens the learning curve, and allows us to learn from others what works, what does not work, and how we can actually innovate in a way that serves the residents,” added Mrs Teo.

Fellow Jalan Besar candidates Dr Wan Rizal Wan Zakariah and Mr Shawn Loh also joined Mrs Teo and Ms Phua at the April 27 media doorstop. The incumbent PAP team will go head-to-head with the PAR in a battle for Jalan Besar GRC in the May 3 polls.

Dr Wan Rizal also told the media that racial and religious harmony in Singapore has come a long way, and its related challenges cannot be taken lightly.

PAP Jalan Besar candidate Wan Rizal said his approach had always been to serve both the Malay/Muslim community and the broader community.The Straits Times
The Singapore government had, on April 25, moved to block Singapore users’ access to several instances of online election advertising (OEA) posted on Facebook by foreigners.

These posts were made by two Malaysian politicians and a former Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee who is now an Australian citizen, who criticised the Singapore government’s handling of sensitive religious issues, and urged Singaporeans to vote along religious lines.

They, along with a Singaporean self-styled religious teacher based in Malaysia known as Mr Noor Deros, had spotlighted several opposition politicians in social media posts, including incumbent Aljunied MP Faisal Manap, who is contesting Tampines GRC this year under the WP banner.

When asked for his views on recent reports over attempted foreign interference in Singapore’s general election, Dr Wan Rizal emphasised that the party “outrightly rejects such interferences”.

“I think it’s our responsibility, as good politicians, to make sure that this does not affect our politics here in Singapore. We truly believe that at the end of the day … Singaporeans must be our focus and attention as we go forward,” he said.

As a former mosque leader for 10 years, Dr Wan Rizal also said that his approach has always been to serve both the Malay/Muslim community and the broader community.

“I think that is how we should view religion in Singapore, it is actually a way to uplift and help one another in Singapore, and we should see it in that context rather than just a very myopic way of just focusing on one community over the other,” he added.

Building on that, Ms Phua said that the five-year Jalan Besar Masterplan that they hope to implement is a plan “for all”, and includes both public and private residents.

“When we say we have plans for Jalan Besar GRC, we are looking at a Jalan Besar for all, regardless of age, abilities, home - whether in public or private estates - and backgrounds. We are excited about being given a chance to build an even more vibrant, sustainable town, and definitely a more caring community for all,” she said.

Political newcomer Mr Loh also shared his experience on the ground, saying that “every single handshake, every smile, every word of encouragement, every word of support” is important.

“I think it’s a reflection of the good work that the team has done in the past, and it’s a reflection of the good work that we will continue to do if we get elected into Parliament,” he said.