SINGAPORE – From Wednesday (Sept 11), more first-time buyers will get higher grants and more flexibility to choose the size of their flat and where it is located.
The income ceiling for eligible buyers has also been raised for the first time since 2015.
Announcing these changes on Tuesday, Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong said they simplify the grant structure and increase affordability for first-time buyers.
The changes come on the back of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally speech last month, when he said his younger colleagues have “a few more ideas to support couples to have more kids, and to keep HDB flats affordable”.
Currently, there are three types of grants: the CPF Housing Grant of $50,000, the Additional CPF Housing Grant (AHG) of up to $40,000 and the Special CPF Housing Grant (SHG) of up to $40,000.
Those buying Build-to-Order flats may be eligible for the AHG and SHG, while those buying resale homes could get the CPF Housing Grant and the AHG.
SINGAPORE: A man was charged on Wednesday (Sep 11) with cultivating cannabis plants in an Yishun flat this year.
Artamu Ibrahim, a 44-year-old Singaporean man, was charged with one count of cultivating a Class A controlled drug.
He is accused of growing two plants believed to be of the genus cannabis between July and Sep 9 in a flat on the 13th floor at Block 336A, Yishun Street 31.
Artamu was remanded for investigations.
He was arrested after officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) raided the unit on Sep 9. This was after Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers detected glass apparatuses, suspected to be used for smoking drugs, at the parcel post section of SingPost Centre.
Two pots of cannabis plants seized by CNB in a raid on Sep 9, 2019. (Photo: CNB)
Officers found glass apparatuses, two pots of cannabis plants and various equipment and instructions on the cultivation of the plants.
Artamu was arrested along with a 52-year-old woman, whose case is pending.
Artamu will return to court next Wednesday.
If found guilty of the offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act, he could be jailed for a minimum of three years, fined S$5,000, or both. The maximum punishment is 20 years’ jail, a fine of S$40,000, or both.
Whew, what a show. iPhone 11 announce day has arrived and Apple didn’t disappoint in flexing some top-notch camera capabilities of their new smartphone lineup: the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Keep it down there at the back, Android fanboys — yes, we know that these features have been in other phones for years already.
Anyway, the Apple special event was held at the Steve Jobs Theatre in its Cupertino Campus Apple Park earlier this morning, with the tech giant releasing a slew of new products and services that’ll arrive very soon. Folks were more excited about the new iPhones than anything else, but the other announcements were just as exciting.
A new Apple Watch! And Apple TV+!
Here’s everything you need to know about Apple’s fall lineup.
A total of 3,373 Build-to-Order (BTO) flats were launched in Punggol and Tampines, while 719 unsold flats from previous sales exercises were launched under the Re-Offer of Balance Flats (ROF) exercise, said the Housing and Development Board (HDB) in a news release.
National Development Minister Lawrence Wong announced on Tuesday that the income ceiling to purchase new flats will be raised from S$12,000 to S$14,000. For singles aged 35 and above, the new income ceiling will be S$7,000, up from S$6,000.
It will also be easier for first-time buyers to qualify for housing grants. They will also get more flexibility to choose the size of their flat and its location.
Buyers can choose units ranging from two-room Flexi flats to five-room flats. Prices for the Punggol projects range from S$109,000 to S$423,000 and from S$312,000 to S$418,000 for the Tampines project.
(Table: HDB)
“New HDB flats are priced with a generous subsidy, taking into account factors such as location, flat attributes and prevailing market conditions,” HDB said.
It added that that prices for the new flats are “considerably lower” than that of comparable resale flats in the vicinity.
For the ROF flats, there are 268 two-room Flexi flats, 202 three-room flats, 90 four-room flats, 49 five-room flats, 104 3Gen flats and three executive flats in various estates, including Ang Mo Kio, Bukit Merah, Clementi, Tampines and Toa Payoh.
About 12 per cent of these flats are completed while the rest are under construction.
At least 95 per cent of the ROF flats will be set aside for first-timer families, HDB said.
“The elderly may apply if they meet the eligibility conditions to buy a two-room Flexi flat on short lease. They will be shortlisted after families for the booking of flats,” it added.
Applications for BTO and ROF flats can be made online on HDB’s website from Sep 11 to Sep 17. HDB will then shortlist applicants using a computer ballot.
About 4,500 BTO flats in Ang Mo Kio, Tampines and Tengah will be launched for sale in November. In February next year, 3,000 BTO flats in Sembawang and Toa Payoh will be launched.
SINGAPORE – Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will testify in court if his defamation suit against the chief editor of The Online Citizen (TOC) goes to trial.
PM Lee’s press secretary Chang Li Lin said this in a statement on Tuesday night (Sept 10) in response to media queries.
The Prime Minister had filed the suit against Mr Terry Xu because the allegations in an Aug 15 article published by TOC are “completely false”, she noted.
“His siblings can decide, together with Mr Xu, whether they too will testify and repeat the allegations in court,” she said, referring to PM Lee’s siblings, Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Dr Lee Wei Ling.
SINGAPORE – The woman who is being sued for $2 million by her former lover told the High Court on Monday (Sept 9) that the businessman’s wife had bribed her tenant to get access to her bank book.
That was how the wife, Madam Chong Lee Yee, found out about the exact amounts of money that Mr Toh Eng Tiah, 55, had given her, said Ms Angelina Jiang, 33.
Ms Jiang was testifying on the fifth day of the hearing in Mr Toh’s suit to get back $2 million he paid her between December 2016 and March 2017.
Mr Toh, who owns three recycling companies, says the money was a loan, while Ms Jiang says it was a gift.
Both of them signed a loan agreement for $2 million on March 24, 2017, after Mr Toh had already advanced more than $1 million to her. He then paid her another $872,000.
Ms Jiang contends that Mr Toh had suggested they sign the agreement as a “ploy” to placate his wife, who had found out that he gave large sums of money to Ms Jiang.
According to her testimony, Mr Toh told her that his wife was making things difficult for him and he needed the agreement to show her that Ms Jiang genuinely loved him, and was not just after his money.
Two cannabis plants were found growing in a makeshift greenhouse in Yishun after a raid on Monday.
In a joint media release yesterday, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said a 44-year-old man and 52-year-old woman suspected of being drug offenders were arrested
CNB officers raided the unit in the vicinity of Yishun Street 31 after ICA officers detected glass apparatuses, suspected to be used for drugs, at the Parcel Post Section of the SingPost Centre.
The officers found glass apparatuses and the two pots of plants along with various equipment and instructions on the cultivation of cannabis in the unit.
The plants were found in a makeshift greenhouse, complete with temperature, light and humidity control devices.
ELABORATE SETUP
Pictures of the raid show an elaborate setup which included the instructions on the cultivation of cannabis pinned on the wall in one of the unit’s rooms.In the release, CNB reminded the public that cannabis is a Class A controlled drug.
Violence erupted at a void deck wedding in Ghim Moh over the weekend, leaving residents in shock.
A 52-year-old resident who wanted to be known only as Madam Siti told The New Paper she heard shouting on Sunday night and looked out of her window. She said she saw a middle-aged man with blood on his face crawling away from another man in the corridor.
“I was so scared they would come to my flat because I was alone, so I quickly shut my door and called the police,” she said.
“They were shouting and fighting for about 10 minutes before going downstairs.”
Commuters were upset and frustrated after their buses were stuck for almost half an hour waiting for their turn to enter the new Yishun bus interchange during morning and evening peak hours yesterday.
Several complained about having their journeys delayed, with some noting they would have reached their destination faster if they had walked.
When The New Paper was at the interchange around 5.30pm yesterday, there was a queue of 15 buses from the direction of Sembawang, and another queue of 10 buses from the direction of Khatib.
A commuter who wanted to be known only as Mr Aw, 60, said he was stuck on a bus coming from Khatib for half an hour before it could enter the interchange.
He said: “It usually takes less than 30 minutes to get from my home to the interchange, which is four stops away. But I took one hour to get here.
“So am I supposed to set aside one hour for just four stops? That is just ridiculous.”
NEW INTEGRATED HUB
The new interchange, managed by SMRT Buses, opened on Sunday and is part of the new Yishun Integrated Transport Hub (ITH), the tenth ITH here.
SINGAPORE – A rider on his personal mobility aid (PMA) crashed into an automated sliding glass door at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) at noon on Monday (Sept 9).
The door at the lobby of Block 5 in SGH fell when a visitor crashed into it while he was on the PMA, said SGH in a Facebook post on Monday.
The hospital added that no one was injured and the broken glass door has been removed.
“We urge all PMA users to be careful when moving around the SGH Campus,” it said.
This is the second known PMA accident in recent months.
In June, a woman on a PMA crashed into a sliding glass door at Toa Payoh bus interchange, causing it to shatter.
