A Personal Thought

In a few days, we'll be leaving our home of a few years. Speaking to Mrs Minority, we realised that we've moved homes 3 times in the last 4 years.

• From overseas to Singapore because of work opportunities. A return to Home if you like, with big "H" to represent the nation.
• From parent's home (staying there while renovations were ongoing) to the current home. A change from old home to new home, a small "h" for home but nevertheless our current home has become what it means, when everyone says "home is where the heart is". It was to be our wonderful place of rest, of peace, of tranquility (nice quiet neighbourhood), of sanctuary.
  
• From current home to smaller home. Courtesy of an enbloc we have to downgrade, because we have to stay in the same area due to work reasons. We're fearful that our belongings won't fit into the new flat. Lots of people have left, our estate a ghost town, and the few remaining people (won't call them neighbours as they agreed to sell) have been coming and going, moving things out and complaining about the move. Well, doh. They went into it fully cognizant of the need to move, whereas we refused to sign the CSA, and have to move against our will.

Walked around the estate again, one last time, before the moving nightmare begins. I think with regards to home, a lot of us go through various stages:

1. When we're young, we have a strong sense of belonging. Ken Lee's daughters do not want to move because they love their home, their neighbourhood, the non-physical and non-financial aspects of 'being at home'. We have memories of our childhood homes, for those of us lucky enough to have pleasant ones, and to remember them. We long for, and belong home.
   
2. When we go into adulthood and work, the world is our oyster, for those of us fortunate enough to fly beyond the nation's boundaries. Home is where we move, to work and earn the money to make it big in the world. We become pragmatic about where we stay. A lot of people who are owner-residents and are for enbloc, I suspect, are pragmatists and do not have a strong attachment to their homes. It's just an asset. We economise home.
3. When we get to our golden years, when memory fades and things become harder to be mobile for us, like many old folks who are traumatised by enbloc sales, a retirement home is something special. It's a place to rest, and celebrate what you have achieved, be it wealth, family, networks of friends, reputation. But with memory going, it becomes more crucial to be familiar with one's surroundings. Change, at old age, is not welcome. We familiarise home.

Each group has a reason to cherish their homes, or to see their homes as assets. It's a sad fact that in enbloc sales, the first group (children) and the last group (older folks) are often ignored, marginalised, or even neglected in any consideration - be it policy-wise or sale-wise. Yet, the middle group (the working group aged 25-64 yrs old) constitute about 60% of Singapore's population (Source: General Household Survey 2005). That's neglecting about 40% of the population in terms of considering enbloc policies or sales (assuming even distribution of age population across the middle-class socio-economic status).

Even if minority owners among the working group constitute only 20%, that works out to about 52% of people (young, old, minority) who may not want to go for enbloc sales.

That's a large group isn't it?

I'm going to miss my home. Badly. I'm in that 20% minority. Home for me means many many things, and to have it taken away from me against my will, makes my blood boil.

There's also about 52% of blood boiling (and voting) citizens, potentially.

Good bye home. We'll miss you.

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Tags: collective sale, property, property, enbloc sale, enbloc, en-bloc sale, en bloc, condo, collective sales, real estate, singapore