Tag Archives: ura

After writing “Public parking rates increase = more profits?” (Jun 22), I looked at the HDB’s financial statements and found that its income from car parks for the year ended 31 March 2015, was $595.2 million. The combined income from car parks of the HDB and URA may be well over $600 million a year. Given this large sum – what is the justification for wanting to increase public car parking rates?

Singapore must start planning for a population that could possibly hit 10 million, Liu Thai Ker, the man often credited as the architect of modern Singapore, told CNBC. The bold number suggested by Liu, who served as the chief executive of the Housing Board from 1979-1989 and then as CEO and chief planner of the Urban Development Authority from 1989-1992, is nearly double the current 5.3 million population and significantly higher than the 6.9 million figure proposed by the Singapore government in its 2013 Population White Paper.

The latest BTO launch in May 2015 is selling Sembawang EastLink I & II @ Canberra 4-room flats from $238,000. In the May 2013 BTO launch – Sembawang Eastbank, Eastbrook and Eastwave@Canberra were selling 4-room flats from $225,000. This is an increase in the lowest priced 4-room flat by 5.8 per cent. But, the URA resale price index fell by about 5.5 per cent during the similar period. So, have BTO prices really been delinked from resale prices?

In Parliament today (29 Jan), National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan revealed that until the recent case in Sengkang, the Government had never awarded a place-of-worship site to a company that was not affiliated to a religious organisation. “We now understand that the winning tenderer for this site, Eternal Pure Land, is actually a private company without any religious affiliation,” he said.

We are delighted and glad that Minister Khaw has the moral courage to admit that HDB and URA have made a mistake in awarding the tender to a commercial entity to run the Chinese Temple. We thank Minister Khaw for setting this for the record so that in future tender for land slated for religious use will have a clearer directive to prevent commercialization of religions.

The nearby Jalan Kayu area has also been identified as an identity node in the Urban Redevelopment Authority's master plan, he added. This means that the Government will improve access and visitor experience to the area. "Imagine living near a place like Holland Village in the future. The area has potential. You cannot allow one bad point to cover all the good points," he added.

THE company that is planning to build a columbarium in Fernvale Link has affirmed its commitment to running a Chinese temple at the site to serve the community, the authorities said yesterday. In a statement yesterday, the Housing Board and Urban Redevelopment Authority said that the company must adhere strictly to the tender conditions and preserve the intent of the site as a Chinese temple.

A group of gamblers has submitted a petition to URA and Minister of National Development Mr Khaw Boon Wan, ST has learned. The petition urged the authorities to build columbariums beside the two integrated resorts which houses Singapore's casinos.

I tried out some of the benches at the URA Centre in January. The bench we’re sitting on was designed by Donovan Soon. It is named “Aesop Unbreakable”, after the fable about sticks which cannot be broken if they are bundled together. It is a story about strength from unity.

Mun San Fook Tuck Chee 萬山福德祠 is one of the few Cantonese temples left and could well be one of the oldest in Singapore. Bro Yik Han, our tour leader had been researching into this temple and written a book on this temple together with his friend. Many thanks to Takako-san who brought along the book, members of the group today were able to view the pictures, especially of the statues that were a little too difficult to view inside the temple under the dim lighting condition.