Whether or not mental illness is a scam, it has been recently reported in the press that 1 in 10 Singaporeans will eventually succumb to the disorder in one form or another. I'm assuming that it represents a rising trend or it would not have been reported in the press otherwise.
In the old days when animals in the zoo are kept in small concrete cages with steel bars, the animals also displayed symptoms of mental disorder. You will find tigers or lions pacing up and down the cages non stop or apes like chimpanzees sitting in a corner rocking to and fro.
But guess what? The joke is on us now. Singaporeans (the 99%) who cannot afford to live in landed properties now find themselves confined to living in ever shrinking HDB flats. Apparently quality of life will not be affected according to the CEO of HDB. She who most likely isn't currently living in one of her organisations latest creations but nevertheless finds herself qualified to pronounce on the fitness of purpose for it.
She needs to walk the talk. Sell off whatever private property she is currently living in (at a handsome profit too I'm sure) and buy a flat to live in with her family. Mr Khaw Boon Wan can make an exception for her and put her at the front of the queue, I don't think Singaporeans would mind. She AND her family should stay in that flat for the duration of her tenure as CEO of HDB. Then, she should talk.
The Institue of Mental Health should relook their data and find out the proportion of people who suffer from mental problems living in HDB flats compared to those that do not and see if there is a correlation. It would be an interesting data point whichever way it turns out. Regardless, the rising trend in mental illness correlating with increasingly smaller flat sizes is already a fact.
Mr Khaw really should institute a design review of all current HDB flats and freeze construction of any that have yet to start until such a review is done. Build show flats of various size configurations and invite applicants (eg: newly weds) to rank them. NO prices should be shown as the intention is to find the acceptable size of a unit. I would suggest that the design that unanimously gets a "wow so spacious" be seriously considered as the minimum size to build for future construction. Using focus groups to determine public reactions to products and services is a standard industry practice. If Mr Khaw declines to do so, he needs to ask himself why not? And let us know.
Do you know why ordinarily harmless grasshoppers turn into destructive locusts? Crowded living conditions. When the number of grasshoppers get too cramped for space, they start rubbing against each other and this sets off a metamorphic change. They turn brown and start growing flight capable wings. The change is irreversible. Once airborne, they spread destruction the likes of which are written in the bible.
The Singaporean 'grasshopper' is beginning to get agitated. The buzz of discontent can be heard by all except the intentionally deaf. They are definitely rubbing against each other in the MRT trains! Some might already be testing their wings by jumping out of their windows or taking a one way trip to Bedok reservoir.
The housing problem is not going to resolve itself by simple proclaimation that it is not a problem. or even worse: that it is a good thing. Simply repeating that unsupported assertion by various people will not change that fact. Don't believe me? A LOT of people had been saying that Greece will not default on its debt too. Many times. You can draw your own conclusions from that.
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