Dreams, there are many. But without a doubt, one ubiquitous Singaporean dream has got to be home ownership. Once hailed as the epitome of any progressive young nation, it has today, or at least in the last two years, become the woe of many. At its worst, netizens slammed a cabinet minister's comment about "buying HDB flat on $1K pay".
Where my parents paid some S$17,000 for a 2-bedroom flat in the late 70s, it is at least 10 times more today. Gone also are the days where mortgages ranged between 10 to 20 years, a 30-year housing loan is the norm today. If truth be told, a non sequitur would be the absence between a citizen and a PR prior to GE2011; there is no price difference, no priority distinction and no loan preference.
Where a family's first HDB flat is their springboard to a better quality of life, where upgrading to a bigger flat or even a private apartment is almost a given, today we are told we should live within our means and buy what our salaries can afford us (this, as well as the soon-to-be defunct theory of meritocracy).
With a five-room HDB flat priced at S$400K or more, it is of little wonder how we made it to become the world's number eight most expensive city to live in...in a country that is only 47 and a half years old.
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