Last Sunday, 23rd April I went to Bedok South market to run some errands, and I was so pleasantly surprised that the neighbourhood is thriving what with the wet market at one end, the cooked food hawker centre, 1 clinic, 1 dentist, the 2 Chinese medicine halls, and lots of convenience stalls (3 bakeries, 3 fruit and vegetable stalls, 2 hairdressers, clothing stalls, snacks, 3 banks ATMs, several coffee shops and the Prime Supermarket - all within the 800 x 1000 m rectangular district centre.
There is even a Neighbourhood Police Post to ensure law and orderliness.
What convenience ! All within a short walking distance (5 to 10 minutes) from at least 20 blocks of HDB flats This scene is replicated in multiple satellite towns all over the island.
This is the one thing I truly miss, as I have not lived or managed to stay in a Government managed estate in all of my (X0) years.
Singapore with its emphasis on productivity, convenience, safety and ease of connectivity has it all.
The not quite 'village' lifestyle is apparent when you step out from your flat and into the common corridor. Take the lift downstairs your block and within minutes, you have everything you could possibly want.
Singaporeans have arguably the best (managed and highly developed) housing program in the world. 80% of all citizens live in public housing and the reasons apart from affordability, are what I just described in the paragraphs above.
Each flat which you and your spouse purchases (one party must be Singaporean) is heavily subsidised but you need to have a minimum occupancy of 5 years before you can rent it out or sell it completely. It is called MOP. Many SIngaporeans have benefitted from this asset appreciation hugely, but there are many differing points of view about the profiteering of an asset class which is not owned by the individual citizen.
As a result, the ever spiralling costs of resale flats in the last 10 - 15 years have made living and retiring in Singapore an expensive 'dream'.
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