通过把组屋所有权转给配偶，以避免购买第二套房地产时缴付额外买家印花税（ABSD），这样的做法今后可能再也行不通。

从上个月起，坊间传出建屋发展局修改组屋转名规定的消息，引起一些买家的热议。一名读者告知《联合早报》，建屋局员工向她证实房地产转名规定确实有改动，联名购有组屋的夫妻无法再像原来那样，随意把房地产的所有权，转到配偶名下。

这名王姓屋主受访时说，她和丈夫联名拥有一个组屋单位，最近想要购买私人公寓。今年初，房地产中介推荐他们考虑把联名屋主关系”脱钩”（decoupling）进行房地产转名，即一人把现有房地产所有权全部转给配偶，那他本身就可以做为首次购屋者，单独购买第二套房地产。

受访房地产分析师指出，这样做的主要好处是买家不必缴付购买第二套房地产的7％额外买家印花税。以一间房价100万元的私宅来说，买家可以省下7万元额外买家印花税。此外，买家可以获得的购屋贷款顶限也从第二套房地产的50％，提高到第一套的80％。

分析师说，根据当局原有规定，组屋屋主可以通过产权赠与的方式，把名下的组屋所有权转让给配偶、父母、子女和兄弟姐妹等直系亲属，这一过程不牵涉金钱交易。据知，这个做法过去两三年流行起来，在坊间是”公开的秘密”，

不过，建屋局网站上的条文近来修改。根据新规定，组屋屋主只有在家庭情况发生特定变化下才能通过产权赠与的方式进行房地产转名，例如家庭成员结婚、离婚、去世，或是陷入经济困境，必须通过转名来保留组屋。

换言之，规定调整后，当局封锁组屋屋主透过房地产转名，免交额外买家印花税的渠道，让第二次购屋者不能再钻原有的政策漏洞。分析师预计，受到直接影响的群体，是现金流不足、又不愿卖组屋买私宅，而是希望同时拥有两套房地产的买家。

受访分析师认为，组屋房地产转名的做法受欢迎，是受到房地产降温措施催化。为了给房市降温，政府在2013年1月调整额外买家印花税规定，新加坡公民在购买第二套房地产时就须缴付额外买家印花税。在此之前，这笔印花税只在本地公民购买第三套房产时征收。

智信研究与咨询总监王伽胜估计，每10户从组屋升级到私宅的本地家庭中，约有一两户会选择房地产转名。

他说：”另一个选择房地产转名的原因，是夫妇还没还清房贷，并且这笔贷款主要是由夫妻一方偿还。这种情况下，另一方就可以通过转名免除背负贷款，在购买第二套房产时获得更高额的贷款。”

也有分析师指出，建屋局过去”没有公开禁止”夫妇通过房地产转名免付额外买家印花税，因此不解当局为何过了这么久才堵上这个漏洞。

坊间也有传闻称，当局选择在此时收紧房产转名政策，是因为额外印花税额即将调整。不过据本报查知，此次调整与额外印花税政策无关。

王伽胜认为，建屋局此时调整政策的一个可能原因，是当下大环境疲软，未来经济发展面对许多未知因素，人力市场和房地产市场可能将受到冲击。”禁止夫妇随意为房地产转名，显然是避免国人过度投资房地产的有效方法。例如，若一方在单独购买私宅后遭解雇，就很难继续供房，但如果两个人联名拥有这套房产，他们还可以在经济危机到来时互相支持。”

欣乐国际（SLP）执行董事麦俊荣认为，当局这次调整政策，能够让组屋回归到为家庭提供栖身之处的初衷。”虽然这样的规定可能影响房地产投资市场的需求，但这类需求原本就不应该被允许。如果一户家庭希望同时拥有两套房产，他们就应该购买两套私宅。”

规定调整后，当局封锁组屋屋主透过房地产转名，免交额外买家印花税的渠道，让第二次购屋者不能再钻原有的政策漏洞。分析师预计，受到直接影响的群体，是现金流不足、又不愿卖组屋买私宅，而是希望同时拥有两套房产的买家。

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Visitors to the Bukit Brown Cemetery will soon be greeted once more by its iconic cast-iron gates.

Removed from their Lorong Halwa posts last year to make way for a major road, the structure now lies in a workshop but will go up in a new access road near its original location, likely next month.

At the workshop in the north of Singapore, workers have been gingerly brushing away the layers of rust that have accumulated in the grooves of the cast-iron gates.

Supported by wooden frames, the brittle gates are undergoing a six-month refurbishment by a team from Fusion Clad Precision – a contractor hired by the National Heritage Board (NHB).

The refurbishment, which started in January, has five core steps. Rust is first removed before coatings are applied to reduce future corrosion.

The gates’ lock and latch components as well as lampholders are then repaired before missing parts are replaced. The last step is to reinforce the gates’ structural integrity.

The team, comprising four master craftsmen and three other members, is at step two of the process.

Its managing director Teo Khiam Gee said the gates need a lot of attention as well as “the human touch”.

“Skilful hands are important as the parts are in varying states of disrepair. Its original state was very fragile. It is like handling a baby,” he said.

The structure is made up of parts, such as a pair of cast-iron gates through which cars used to pass, two side gates for pedestrians, and four free-standing square columns.

It was likely prefabricated in Britain and shipped to Singapore. Its square columns were cast on the spot.

Bukit Brown Cemetery opened its doors in 1922.

About 20 per cent of the structure will be replaced to address the damage to its structural integrity and functionality.

NHB told The Straits Times that the gates will likely be relocated next month to the mouth of a new access road near its original location.

NHB’s assistant chief executive of policy and community, Mr Alvin Tan, said retaining and refurbishing the gates are important as they “provide a sense of arrival to the cemetery and preserve a sense of continuity for visitors and interest groups”.

The refurbishment is an initiative of a multi-agency work group chaired by the Ministry of National Development. It includes NHB, the Land Transport Authority (LTA), and civic organisations All Things Bukit Brown and the Singapore Heritage Society (SHS).

The effort is guided by conservation best practices shared by SHS. The heritage board also has its own in-house metals specialist, Mr Ian Tan, manager of the heritage research and assessment division.

When ready, the gates will be painted black – a common colour for outdoor use.

Mr Tan said its original colour is hard to determine. Exposed layers of paint show that it had changed colours – which included a shade of blue – a few times over its history.

Mr Tan said the structure is one of the rare large-scale ornamental iron gates in Singapore. “It shows how technology flowed across countries. It is also likely that its ornamental parts were done here in Singapore. Each coil and twist are different and clearly done by hand,” he said.

Some parts of Bukit Brown have been razed as the LTA constructs a major eight-lane road through the cemetery to connect the MacRitchie Viaduct to the Adam Flyover. This project is expected to be completed by the end of next year.

This article was first published on May 3, 2016.
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NHB launched its documentary on the relocation of the gates on its heritage portal Roots.sg yesterday.

Visitors to three popular beauty spots have recently complained about a spate of littering – and they believe they know who the culprits are.

The trash, usually found in spots near military training grounds, are suspected by hikers to have been left by those who were in the vicinity for military exercises.

Empty food ration packets, mess tins and transparencies bearing map markings have been found around Upper Peirce and Seletar reservoirs, as well as a beach near Pasir Ris.

Debbie Fordyce, a rights activist, has been walking at the reservoirs for more than a decade and picks up litter when she sees it.

On April 10, she collected 64 empty ration packets, 23 clear plastic bags used to hold these rations and other items such as water bottles wrapped in green socks. “The trash filled seven full plastic bags,” she said.

Two weeks later, when she visited the same clearing, she and her nephew – together with this reporter – collected four bags of litter.

A biker, who wanted to be known only as Mr Koh, said he sees the trash on his route towards Seletar Reservoir every Sunday.

The 43-year-old bank manager said: “The trash is usually scattered… and looks to be the work of irresponsible individuals, not an organisation.

“The sight is an eyesore because the forest is a reserve meant for people who want to get away from the city. We don’t need reminders of inconsiderate and uncivil behaviour.”

As training grounds are out of bounds to civilians, the trash that the public found may be part of a larger litter problem.

A clean-up operation by the Public Hygiene Council on April 23 at a beach near Pasir Ris yielded at least 100 empty food ration packets.

Council chairman Edward D’Silva said: “Unfortunately, military trash found in public spaces is not something new.”

Wildlife consultant Subaraj Rajathurai urged the public not to quickly point fingers at the Ministry of Defence as the items could also be left behind by the public. He noted that trekkers may “want a realistic experience, and they buy military rations from the army market”.

The empty ration packets on the beach, he added, could have been washed ashore by contractors who did not dispose of the trash properly.

“More investigation is needed,” he said.

Colonel Andrew Lim, assistant chief of the general staff (training), said the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) “does not condone littering, whether in camps or in the training area”. Servicemen are educated and consistently briefed on the need to keep the training areas clean and to dispose of waste appropriately, he added, noting that administrative areas are cleared of waste before units depart the training area.

Col Lim added: “We do our best to keep them litter-free.

“However, from time to time, we do receive public feedback of SAF litter in training areas.

“When that happens, the SAF will conduct clean-up operations. At the same time, servicemen caught littering will be disciplined accordingly.”

Member of Parliament Lee Bee Wah, who is also chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for the Environment and Water Resources, said there is “no magical answer” to the littering problem.

Ms Lee, an advocate against littering, said: “We just need to go on emphasising to the public the need to be responsible citizens.

“Hopefully, in time, we win (litterbugs) over… We have set the ball rolling and we just have to keep at it.”

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A 14-month-old child was sent to hospital for smoke inhalation when loan sharks allegedly set fire to his parents’ rental flat just two weeks after moving in.

This incident happened at about 2am on Sunday at Block 59, Lengkok Bahru, Chinese newspaper Shin Min Daily News reported yesterday.

Mr Chen, a 50-year-old who works in retail, told Shin Min that he had just moved into the two-room flat with his wife and son two weeks ago.

They went to bed at about 1am that night, when there was no sign of anything unusual, but the main door was set on fire about 45 minutes later.

“I woke up with a shock when I smelt smoke and first rushed to the kitchen to check the stove before realising the smoke was coming from the door,” said Mr Chen.

“My neighbour shouted for me to come put out the fire.

“Luckily, it wasn’t too big so I put it out with a pan of water.”

He told Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao in a report yesterday that neighbours helped douse the flames as well.

However, his son had inhaled smoke and they sent him to hospital.

The gate and door were burnt black, and slippers left outside were melted.

Police were called to the scene.

Mr Chen discovered the word “Andy” written on the wall four times, which he believes is the name of the former owner of the flat.

Mr Chen told Wanbao that the previous flat owner owed $200 in phone bills and received many tickets for traffic violations.

His spouse is a housewife and often stays at home with his young son, and he is worried for their safety.

“I can’t even focus at work. These loan sharks are very ruthless, fortunately the fire did not spread,” he added.

Spooked by the encounter, he hopes to move out.

He told Wanbao that his son has just learnt how to walk.

“I’m so worried about him.

“We were lucky this time but what about next time?”

Loan shark activities are not uncommon here.

Last month, loan shark runners sent video threats of a house on fire and splashed red paint on an elderly woman’s gate, locking her in with a metal chain, Wanbao reported.

Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob had told Wanbao then that such sinister activities carried out by loan sharks were a serious threat to life and property and would not be tolerated.

myp@sph.com.sg

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