Despite the rain, former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew planted a tree in his Tanjong Pagar GRC on Sunday, continuing a tradition he began in 1963. Recalling the start of his tree-planting push almost 50 years ago, Mr Lee said it was Hong Kong that inspired him to try and make Singapore green.
He said: "I decided we would not be like that. Now we have trees everywhere, open spaces, playgrounds. Hong Kong sees us, they want to plant trees, but they do not have enough space...
"We have planned it from the very beginning, to give you an environment with space, greenery and most importantly a feeling of security and safety."
And that greenery now makes Singapore stand out among many other cities that are just "skyscrapers and smog", he told a packed crowd at a grassroots event. Also present were other MPs from Tanjong Pagar GRC.
Trees aside, Mr Lee said in a speech in Mandarin and English that Singapore's housing policy also differentiates it from other cities. "There is no homelessness, everybody owns their own homes and the value of their homes goes up."
Some have been unwise in selling their flats and thinking they can get another, he said, but those who have held on have seen their property appreciate - "five times, 10 times, 15 times, 20 times".
"This was the plan we had from the very beginning," he added. For everyone to have homes at "cost or below cost". HDB estates are also constantly being renewed through upgrading programmes. "We do not allow any block to become decrepit or an eyesore."
Sunay's event was held at the new Havelock View estate, which was finished in December last year as part of the Selective En bloc Re-development Scheme. It is in the area where the Bukit Ho Swee fire swept away 2,000 attap huts in 1961, leaving thousands homeless.
The grassroots leaders paid homage to this history with a video that flashed back to the crisis, and then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew's promise to build flats for every affected family in nine months.
"There are a lot of complaints about housing issues now," said Mr Low Whee Khee, 43, who was behind the video. "We hope that people can actually look back and appreciate how far we have come."
By Rachel Chang
The Straits Times Published on Nov 05, 2012
