PUBLISHED ON MAY 12, 2015 6:23 PM

BY JOANNA SEOW & JALELAH ABU BAKER

Extracted from Straits Times 

SINGAPORE- Just a week before a young family was due to move into their new home in Punggol, they were shocked to hear from the Housing Board on Monday that there had been flooding in their unit.

When they arrived, they found it was not just water that covered the floor of the flat, but faeces as well.

Cement had choked the common sewage pipe shared by their seventh floor unit and those above it in Block 313C Sumang Link, causing a backflow into their home.

The owner, who gave her name as Ms Fadilah, 31, said she and her husband are "upset, stressed and angry".

"The dream house we have long waited to move into, which was complete with new furniture, was damaged just like that," she said. The renovations had been completed just a few months ago.

Photographs circulating online show faeces and murky water covering the floor of a toilet, hallway and living room.

It had even seeped into the children's bedroom and out of the front door. This was how a neighbour noticed something was amiss and called HDB last Friday, said another neighbour, Ms Fadhilah, 29.

A Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council spokesman said it was alerted by HDB on Monday morning. Town council and HDB staff went to the flat to help the family to clean up.

Confirming it was renovation debris that had caused the choke, he said: "We will be working with the HDB to find the culprit."

Ms Fadilah told evening daily Shin Min that when her husband turned up at their flat in Sumang Link, he was confronted with what she described as a "giant toilet bowl".

"My husband was so shocked that he just stood at the doorway crying. He couldn't believe what he was seeing," she said.

The family had spent some $50,000 on renovations alone, and intends to redo the whole house, including all the flooring which had stains between the tiles. A stench still lingered.

...............

joseow@sph.com.sg

- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/couples-sewage-disaster-new-punggol-bto-flat-explodes-on#sthash.cFRbEwGZ.dpuf

A Singaporean couple have renovated the interior of of their four-room HDB flat in Punggol to look exactly like Lee Kuan Yew’s 38 Oxley Road home, complete with 1940s wooden furniture, tiled flooring and a clay urn that holds water to be used for bathing with a plastic scoop. The couple said this is the ultimate tribute they can pay to Lee Kuan Yew in honour of his legacy. To further pay their respects to the first prime minister of Singapore, they declared their intention to raise their one-year-old son to be the next prime minister of the country to follow in Lee Kuan Yew’s footsteps: “We feel that most Singaporeans are not going far enough with their words and deeds for Lee Kuan Yew.” “To show that we are not like that, we even named our son Lee Zhong Li in honour of our founding father. We are going to put him through the paces with multiple language classes and make sure he goes to Cambridge to study law.” Interior designers and home renovators said there have been no shortage of such queries these past few weeks to customise Singapore homes with Lee Kuan Yew’s favourite spartan look. One interior designer, Pai Mah Pi, said: “In our current climate, there is no such thing as going too far to show your respect and gratitude to Lee Kuan Yew.”

Nonetheless, I seek to digress; my sibling is certainly a better cleaner than his Wifey. Hence ultimately, it boils down to Family culture (I have seen quite a fair share of non-performing wives too), personal hygiene and work habits.

Doesn't this is reflective of life? Be in Work, Relationship? How many of us have planned and worked so hard and in the end, something which is totally unexpected derailed all the plans and rendered all the efforts void?

Some observations :
1. The average HDB renovation  amount is around $60k. HDB homeowners who are willing to spurgea whopping $220k on home renovation!
2. Condo dwellers spend an average of $80k for their renovation while the more generous homeowners are willing to spend an eye popping $500k!!
3. Landed owners spend an average of $254k and some are willing to pay a price tag of $1.5 million!

$18k to $25k for a 5 room BTO
$17k for a 4 room BTO
$8k for a 2 bedder new Condo
$15k for a 3 bedder new Condo

"Pinnacle@Duxton 5-room flat sold for $1.03 millionPublished on Jan 23, 2015 12:56 PM
By Janice Heng
SINGAPORE - A five-room unit at the premium Pinnacle@Duxton public housing project has broken the $1 million mark in the resale market, according to SRX Property. The unit located above the 40th floor went for $1,028,000 this week, the most that any Pinnacle unit has been resold for thus far. At least nine other Pinnacle@Duxton flats have been resold since this became possible in December, when owners began meeting the five-year minimum occupation period. Their prices ranged from $835,000 for a four-roomer to $980,000 for a five-roomer. 
 straitstimes 
Pinnacle@Duxton 4-room flat sold for $1.03 million
By Janice Heng
SINGAPORE - A four-room unit at the premium Pinnacle@Duxton public housing project has broken the $1 million mark in the resale market.
The 48th-floor unit went for $1,028,000 this week, the most that any Pinnacle unit has been resold for thus far.
At least nine other Pinnacle@Duxton flats have been resold since this became possible in December, when owners began meeting the five-year minimum occupation period. 
Their prices ranged from $835,000 for a four-roomer to $980,000 for a five-roomer
 straitstimes

"Although prices of resale HDB flats have come down significantly, falling by 6.2 percent in 2014 due to the government’s slew of tightening measures to stabilise the public housing market, this hasn’t stopped some eager buyers from snapping up units at sky-high prices.This afternoon, it was reported that a 5-room flat located on a high floor at The Pinnacle@Duxton in Tanjong Pagar recorded a $1.028 million sale recently, the highest resale price achieved so far at the iconic HDB project.
Experts had previously warned that 5-room flats at Pinnacle could fetch a resale price tag of more than $1 million.
Since the five-year Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) for most owners at Pinnacle ended in December 2014, roughly 10 flats have been sold on the resale market.
PropertyGuru had earlier reported on the sale of a 4-room corner unit between the development’s 34th to 36th floors for $900,000, while a 5-room below the sixth floor found a buyer for $918,000.
Completed in 2009, there are a total of 1,848 flats at Pinnacle spread across seven connected towers of 50-storeys, making it the world’s tallest public housing project.
from propertyguru"

Buyers of 5-room unit on low floor  paid fully in cash
A SECOND unit at the Pinnacle@Duxton has changed hands on the resale market, barely a week after the first was sold for $900,000.
The five-room, 106 sq m flat, located below the sixth floor, went for $918,000 on Monday.
Although some industry observers expect five-room units at the unique Housing Board project in Tanjong Pagar to fetch over $1 million, the agent who handled the transaction said the sellers were more "realistic" with their pricing as their flat is on a "very low floor". "They bought the flat for under $400,000, so they are quite happy with the selling price," said the 43-year-old agent from real estate firm DWG, who declined to be named.
He said the sellers are a couple in their mid-40s with two young children. They started looking for buyers early last month, with an initial asking price of $960,000.
There were seven to eight viewings. The Straits Times understands that the buyers, who paid fully in cash, are a couple in their 60s who are downgrading from a private property.
On Dec 29, a four-room flat in the development, located somewhere on the 34th to 36th floor, was sold for $900,000. ......

"The first Pinnacle@Duxton flat to be sold on the resale market has gone for a princely price, less than a month after most home owners of the iconic Housing Board project were allowed to put their units up for sale. The four-room flat, located somewhere from the 34th to 36th floors, was sold on Monday for a hefty $900,000. Savills property agent Ron Chong, who handled the transaction, said the corner unit's price was not surprising, given its central location, high floor and well-designed interior. "It has superb views. You can see Sentosa from the balcony, and Orchard from the corner bedroom," he said. "A lot of potential buyers said it looks like a show-flat." Older, same-size HDB units in the area, such as those on lower floors in neighbouring Cantonment Close, are already fetching about $750,000, he added. The Pinnacle@Duxton unit's original owners, a Singaporean couple who wanted to be known only as Mr and Mrs Ng, bought the 95 sq m flat for about $340,000 at its launch in 2004. Their five-year minimum occupation period ended on Dec 16 last year, meaning they were finally able to sell the flat. "Of course, it's a pity to let this flat go, but my wife and I are very happy with the price. We were expecting only about $850,000 to $880,000," said Mr Ng, 38, a health-care professional. They are looking for a new place in the west to be closer to work. The buyers are a married couple in their mid-30s who live in Aljunied. The husband, who gave his name only as Mr Lee, said they chose the flat for its unblocked views and convenient location near the Central Business District, where he works. This $900,000 deal sets a precedent for the Pinnacle@Duxton's other four-room units, and paves the way for its five-roomers to fetch over $1 million, said experts...."

Sim Lian Group, a contractor turned private developer, has priced up to a whopping $880.000 for a 5 room for their Centrale 8 project in Tampines back in 2011. When HDB stepped in and asked the developer to review their prices, they only reduced to $778,000. 

High Court sides with couple in renovation tussle

"Despite the government’s cooling measures, a Bishan executive maisonette has been sold for a whooping sum of $1,088,888, reported the media. The 27-year-old two-storey unit is located at Block 194 in Bishan Street 13, near a 24-hour food centre and a supermarket. The deal was sealed in October...." 

Image from challenge.gov.sg

1. See the actual workmanship and quality of the material provided by the Interior Company;
2. Mingle and talk to different Interior Designers at the same time;
3. Be inspired by the various different design themes;
4. Find out more on the prices, especially on the special Packages are usually offered.*

1. Spread the number of people attending the Open House in different batches; this is mainly for crowd control as the flat is usually too small to fit in so many people!
2. Brief and detail what was done to the homeowners upfront instead of waiting to be asked; this helps to cut down the time spent in the flat;
3. Some Interior Designers in their haste to get the Open House ready simply forgot to prepare the unit properly; examples include leaving behind ugly stickers, unfinished silicons and this will affect the homeowners impression of their workmanship. Hummm....This really defects the purpose of "putting their best foot forward" isn't it?

Selamat Hari Raya