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  The New Paper 18 Nov 06
Why there will never be another Marine Parade

THERE will never be another Marine Parade as public housing estates will not be built on areas entirely reclaimed from the sea.

'Too expensive. Reclamation will be a continuing fact of life for Singapore, but it will not be for public housing,' said Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.

What people want these days has also changed. In the early days, Marine Parade residents wanted basketball courts. Today, they want foot reflexology paths and elderly-friendly exercise equipment.

Thirty years on, one in six residents in Marine Parade is over 65, against the national average of one in 12. The voter population has shrunk from 18,000 to just over 16,000.

When the residents first got their chance to buy their flats, these had been priced uniformly, whatever the floor and whichever way they faced. Only the type of flat mattered.

'Very socialist in thinking, but no sense of commercial value,' recalled SM Goh. 'Whether you face the rubbish dump or you face the sea, same price.'

Today, the flats with sea views are among the priciest public housing units in Singapore. A three-room unit can fetch $200,000.

Tomorrow, SM Goh and 500 grassroots leaders will be celebrating the ward's 30th anniversary with a gala dinner bash at Raffles City Convention Centre's Stamford Ballroom.
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