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Waterfront 'buzz' for Punggol in revamped plans
Also in the works: expanded upgrading programme for HDB and private estates
By Nande Khin

Today Online 20 Aug 07
'The whole country will be transformed'
Jasmine Yin

Straits Times 20 Aug 07
Big plus for Punggol residents
Lynn Lee

Straits Times 20 Aug 07
Punggol 21 reborn - and jazzed up as well
By Lynn Lee

Channel NewsAsia 19 Aug 07
HDB to revamp housing estates with series of upgrading initiatives

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong outlined a series of plans to make public housing more attractive, appealing and affordable in his National Day Rally speech on Sunday.

These plans include giving a new shine to old estates and developing first-class living environment. Mr Lee said the Punggol 21+ estate would give residents plenty to do and talk about after its makeover.

There are plans to dam the river mouths of Sungei Punggol and Sungei Serangoon, creating two reservoirs for water activities.

Apart from lush greenery, the area will also have lots of entertainment options like shopping malls and waterfront dining.

While it will take some years to develop the area, Mr Lee said facilities would be coming on stream by the end of the year, including the new Anchorvale Community Club in Sengkang, sports centre and a floating island.

"Even with the fun and buzz, (we are) retaining our image (as a) clean, green, safe island. This is Singapore. And it's quite important that we keep that brand recognition even as we acquire new attributes and new lifestyles," said Mr Lee.

Older estates will also be given a new lease of life, starting with the Dawson area in Queenstown. Mr Lee said there is enough space to develop 10,000 HDB and private flats there, which are likely to be designed by award-winning local architects.

A new park will also be built above the Alexandra Canal.

But amidst the re-development, some old landmarks will be preserved.

A new Neighbourhood Renewal Programme will combine upgrading works between two or more precincts, resulting in economies of scale and better facilities.

The HDB will also roll out a new Home Improvement Programme aimed at upgrading features within a flat, starting with the flats in Tampines and Yishun.

Private home owners are also included in the larger scheme of things as a new committee will explore ways to give them more funds to enhance their living environment. - CNA/so

Today Online 20 Aug 07
'The whole country will be transformed'
Jasmine Yin jasmine@mediacorp.com.sg

HUNDREDS of thousands of homes — from ageing and middle-aged flats, to private homes and even the sluggish Punggol 21 development — are up for a fresh lease of life, as the Prime Minister unveiled a slew of upgrading initiatives aimed at boosting Singaporeans' asset values.

Reiterating the Government's promise to upgrade flats and estates when it has the surpluses to, Mr Lee Hsien Loong said: "We will remake the whole country. It will take us 20 or 30 years but eventually, the whole country will be transformed."

One old neighbourhood getting a completely new face is Dawson Estate in Queenstown. The mammoth plan is to build some 10,000 HDB and private units — designed by award-winning architects — in an area that includes three HDB precincts and the Alexandra Canal, which will be turned into a linear park.

At the same time, landmarks like the old town centre square and the old Commonwealth Avenue wet market will be preserved, for "a sense of history and place" as well as character, Mr Lee said.

At the other end of the scale, the Punggol 21 development — which saw a slow-down due to the financial crisis upon its launch in 1998 — will be brought back on track, with bonus features.

The upgraded Punggol 21+ plan will include a big water feature created by damming Sungei Punggol and Sungei Serangoon, providing river views and water activities.

A town centre will also be developed by the waterfront, as will rooftop gardens, al-fresco dining and even a floating island.

Punggol 21+, an enclave of some 18,000 units, will be "the face of the new Singapore" — with fun and buzz, said Mr Lee.

Meanwhile, private estates, which have professed to feeling "neglected", will come under a "big bang" upgrading programme, and be allowed to dip into Community Improvement Projects Committee funds — now limited to HDB precincts — for upgrading works.

Mr Lee summed up: "No other city in the world can do this: Public housing that is attractive, affordable, appealing, that gives a quality home for every citizen and … an asset which will appreciate in value and help to provide for your old age. In Singapore, we can do it."

Straits Times 20 Aug 07
Big plus for Punggol residents
Lynn Lee

HOUSING Board (HDB) blocks rise up along the banks of a pristine waterway, amidst greenery, jogging tracks and al-fresco restaurants.

Welcome to Punggol 21+, which will turn the coastal suburb of Punggol into the inspiration for future HDB towns.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's interactive visuals had his audience of around 3,000 responding with cheers and applause. They ooh-ed and aah-ed at the vision of new water features, promenades and HDB homes with terrific views.

'I'm not selling them yet,' Mr Lee said with a laugh.

Along with the new, something from the past may return too - Punggol chilli crab, on the menu of the open-air eateries to come.

Wowed by all he saw, civil servant and Punggol resident Melvin Yong, 35, said: 'I could really see the 'plus' in the plan.'

Mr Lee also highlighted plans for ongoing improvements to revitalise several other towns and estates. 'No other city in the world can do this,' he said. 'Public housing that's attractive, that's affordable, that's appealing, that gives a quality home for every citizen and gives you an asset which will appreciate in value and also help to provide for your old age.'

But Singapore will do it systematically. 'We will remake the whole city. It will take us 20, 30 years but eventually, the whole country will be transformed. And this is what Singaporeans will call home.'

Straits Times 20 Aug 07
Punggol 21 reborn - and jazzed up as well
By Lynn Lee

AN ELABORATE plan to turn Punggol into a vibrant residential town is finally taking off, some years after shrinking demand for new homes stalled the project.

The plan, first launched as the Punggol 21 vision in the late 1990s, has also been jazzed up, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last night.

'So this is Punggol 21-plus,' said Mr Lee to chuckles from the audience.

Among other things, the north-eastern coastal suburb will have water sports facilities for kayaking and canoeing, gardens and parks with jogging and cycling tracks, and al-fresco dining.

The sprucing up of Punggol is part of the Housing Board's bid to keep public housing estates relevant to new generations of Singaporeans, said Mr Lee.

'Most Singaporeans live in public housing... so we are continually finding ways to improve our public housing and meet new needs and expectations.

'Each new estate has been an improvement on the previous one,' he said.

The transformation of Punggol, once known for pig farms and seafood restaurants serving chilli crab, was derailed by the Asian economic crisis of 1997.

Plans for around 80,000 private and HDB homes with parks and seaside villages housing shops and food stalls, had been announced a year earlier. Construction began in 1998 but the brakes were jammed when demand for new flats nosedived.

As a result, only some 16,000 flats, home to around 42,000 residents, dot the landscape there now.

But with Singapore's sparkling economy of the past few years, demand for new homes is on the rise.

Punggol will be the site of many of these. Zooming in on high-resolution images on a screen, Mr Lee gave a blow-by-blow account of the area's transformation.

For a start, the Punggol and Serangoon rivers will be dammed up to create a freshwater lake. A waterway will run through the estate, linking both rivers. Blocks of flats will dot its banks, starting from the town centre, which will have malls, retail outlets and outdoor dining.

'If you look outside, it'll be blue and green in lots of places. We'll have trees, plants, shrubbery by the water... make it cool, make it eco-friendly. A good place to live,' said Mr Lee, as the crowd ooh-ed and ah-ed.

The project will take some time to be completed, he said, as it involves some 18,000 HDB and private flats. Logistics executive Chen Hui Zhen, 28, said she cannot wait to try out water sports.

She has lived in the Punggol area for six years and recently bought a new flat there with her fiance. 'It's good news for us. All this development means the value of our flat will go up if we do think of selling it,' she said.

Mr Lee also took the opportunity to highlight a development upstream of Punggol - in Sengkang. There, a new community club with four swimming pools, an indoor sports hall and a football field is being built. There will also be a waterway for people to enjoy water sports and activities.

Going back to the Punggol 21-plus vision, Mr Lee said it will add to Singapore's reputation as a city with 'fun and buzz'.

But even as Singapore reinvents itself, it will need to retain the qualities the country is known for: being clean, green and safe, said Mr Lee. 'It's quite important that we keep that brand recognition, even as we acquire new attributes and new lifestyles.'

Business Times
Waterfront 'buzz' for Punggol in revamped plans
Also in the works: expanded upgrading programme for HDB and private estates
By Nande Khin

PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday unveiled the new face of heartland living in Singapore which will be represented by Punggol 21+ - the revamped vision of Punggol 21.

This will be a modern waterfront lifestyle with lots of greenery, said Mr Lee during his National Day Rally speech.

To accomplish this, the river mouths of Sungei Punggol and Sungei Serangoon will be dammed up and a waterway will be built to link the two freshwater lakes that would be created.

New housing will be built along both sides of the waterway, and a town centre will be built on the waterfront. There will be malls, retail outlets, and even al fresco dining by the water, said Mr Lee.

This will offer heartlanders a Marina Bay-type of waterfront living. A view from one of the proposed flats facing the waterway will be 'blue and green in lots of places because we will have trees, plants, shrubbery by the water, on top of carparks, on top of buildings, make it cool, make it eco-friendly, green', said Mr Lee.

The coastline in Punggol 21+ will also be developed to allow water activities such as canoeing and kayaking. The new coastal promenade will offer residents a scenic route to jog or cycle.

The earlier blueprint for Punggol estate - Punggol 21 - was started in 1998 but work on it slowed as a result of the financial crisis. But now is the time to get things back on track - and on a new track at that, said Mr Lee.

Punggol 21+ will represent the 'face of the new Singapore - a city with fun and buzz'. 'But even with the fun and buzz, we retain our present image - clean, green, safe island. This is Singapore. And it's quite important that we keep that brand recognition even as we acquire new attributes and new lifestyles,' said Mr Lee.

Older estates will not be forgotten and several enhancements to various housing upgrading programmes were announced by Mr Lee yesterday.

These will benefit not only HDB dwellers, but those who live in private estates as well. Currently, private estates are eligible for grants under the Estate Upgrading Programme (EUP) for major upgrading purposes.

'But even then private estates sometimes still feel like they are step-children - neglected,' noted Mr Lee. He said that the government has accepted the recommendations made by a committee formed to look into this.

The committee was chaired by Minister of State for Finance and Transport Lim Hwee Hua. The recommendations include a revamp of the EUP to bring together and coordinate all the works done under the programme and an extension of the Community Improvement Project Committee (CIPC) funds to private estates to carry out smaller scale - but more timely - enhancements. The CIPC funds are currently only available to HDB housing estates.

As for HDB estates, selected sites within old estates are being redeveloped. But in estates where a large piece of land can be cleared, HDB will do more to transform the whole area, said Mr Lee.

This has already started in Dawson estate in Queenstown where a Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers) project - Forfar Heights - has been completed. About 10,000 new HDB and private flats will be built in three HDB precincts and the precincts will be integrated with a new linear park to be built on top of the Alexandra Canal.

Middle-aged estates will also be given a new boost with new upgrading programmes to replace existing ones. The Interim Upgrading Programme (IUP) - which was for individual precincts - will be replaced by the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme (NRP) which will combine two or more precincts so that more and better facilities can be built.

This means that in addition to standard items such as BBQ pits and community gardens, non-standard items like street soccer courts and skating parks can be introduced as well, said Mr Lee.

For individual flats, the existing Main Upgrading Programme (MUP) will be replaced by the new Home Improvement Programme (HIP) which will make possible practical improvements within the flat such as the fixing of spalling concrete on ceilings and the upgrading of toilets.

These new programmes are being introduced in response to feedback from residents, said Mr Lee.

About 100,000 flats - half of those built up till 1980 - have benefitted under the MUP. The HIP will benefit the remaining half. In addition, the HIP will be extended to flats built between 1981 and 1986, which will cover another 200,000 flats, one quarter of the total flats here.

All these flats will also be eligible for the NRP. In fact, the NRP will be extended to even younger flats - those built between 1987 and 1989, which means another 60,000 flats will enjoy improvements.

The effects of all these, will be that nearly all the estates in Singapore will enjoy some form of upgrading or enhancement, said Mr Lee.

The new look of public housing will be one of a first-class living environment with greenery and water, where communities are brought closer together.

'No other city in the world can do this - public housing that is attractive, that is affordable, that's appealing, that gives a quality home for every citizen and gives you an asset that can appreciate in value and also help to provide for your old age. But in Singapore we can do it, provided we make the effort and work hard together,' said Mr Lee.
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