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Policymakers need to understand why some S'poreans are afraid to start a family

STOMPer Lancergt felt that policymakers should do more to find out why singles in Singapore are hesitant to get married and become parents, as these are the first steps to boosting the low birth rates in Singapore.

This was in response to a Straits Times article which the STOMPer read, in which the writer suggests a few policies to help younger families cope with parenthood. The writer felt that these steps would go a long way in helping to boost the birth rates in Singapore.

Said the STOMPer:

"Besides engaging young families, the policymakers could also engage singles and find out what are the issues they face which deter them from setting up a family and becoming a parent.

"I myself face problems in getting married.

"My girlfriend wants us to own a house, but my name is already listed under my parents' house.

"The reason was because my parents could not service the HDB loan two years ago, when I was still single.

"The government always encourages people to take care of their parents.

"I definitely want to take care of my parents, which made me decide to put in my name in the deed to help my parents pay off the housing loan.

"Now that I am no longer single and want to set up my own family (marriage), I face a problem when applying for my own house.

"HDB requires me to take my name out from my parents' house deed.

"Thereafter, CPF board requires my parents to return me the amount of CPF I have used so far (with interest).

"In addition, HDB also requires my parents to pay off the outstanding loans with HDB.

"Two years ago, they could not afford to pay the loans.

"How can they pay off all these outstanding loans to HDB and CPF now?"

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29 comments
mingkorkor said   on 5 Jul, 2012   Report as offensive  
Actually life in every parts of the world is way too challenging to many. It is not exclusive to Singapore.
priscillajfwong said   on 5 Jul, 2012   Report as offensive  
The government always preach one thing and do the others , all of them is born with silver spoon , what do they know about hardship ? Your issue here is only about the roof over your head now , when you start a family by having children , you will find that life in Singapore is way too challenging for many .
nasnauf77 said   on 5 Jul, 2012   Report as offensive  
When u get married of coz u wanna place of ur own with no in-laws in the way. It's not easy to stay in in-laws esp when they are fussy. No privacy at all. However it's so expensive to buy a flat now plus we hv to compete wif PRs in the HDB list...it's no wonder low birth rate coz everything is so darn expensive including having a child :(









are not

mingkorkor said   on 4 Jul, 2012   Report as offensive  
Based on what the Stomper posted that by downgrading, his parents can afford a 3-4 room resale flat. Which mean that the current flat is at least a 5-room flat.

In this case, why doesn't the Stomper live together with his parents after marriage. Problem solved. No?
aa11bb22 said   on 4 Jul, 2012   Report as offensive  
Hence, the birth rate will never improve and Singapore will forever need inflow of foreign talent.
stomperlancergt said   on 4 Jul, 2012   Report as offensive  
I don't need the extra cash. I am not treating my parents and my own home as an investment. In actual fact, I know that by downgrading, my parents can afford a resale flat of 3-4 rooms, after returning my CPF (CPF requirement) and outstanding loan from HDB (HDB requirement), they still have profits for their own retirement fund. If I am heartless, I can jolly well just apply a new flat. When I get the key of the new flat, just withdraw my name out and leave my parents hanging in the air. The problem is I am my parents’ son. They love the current place after staying for 17+ years and do not consider selling it for that cash they can have. My duty as a son is to provide a roof for them (which I can afford by continuing to pay via CPF or even cash). The problem is HDB do not allow continuing monthly payments once my name is withdrawn in order to apply for new flat. I spoke to HDB, CPF, banks and property agents so many times. What I keep hearing from them is 1 word "SELL".
terrible 99 said   on 4 Jul, 2012   Report as offensive  
Suika, the problem is there are people who take advantage of the system.
By relaxing the rules many Singaporens will buy a flat with their parents first n than another one wif their spouse. This will cause huge surge in demand n than huge surge in hdb prices.
As of now our hdb flats are already very expensive, we don't want that.
suika said   on 4 Jul, 2012   Report as offensive  
actually I feels that in such cases, government should do something on this area. I personally feels that government should just let the kids withdraw out without making the parents to pay back. that not just able ti help the y-gen setup their own family but to minimize parents being homeless if ever the child really turns heartless forcing their parents to sell off the hse.
some may says, what if later they sells off the hse and churn out the profit? actually government can attached a clause that the parent hse cannot be sold off and if downgrade, they have to pay off in full for the smaller flat and the remaining to gives into the retirement fund instead.
in that case, the parents will not have to worry that their own kids will not look after them