Adjournment motion on Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3

NCMP Leong Mun Wai is "deliberately misleading the public" by "shaping ungrounded expectations" of the Government's en bloc schemes, said Senior Minister of State for National Development Sim Ann. Responding to an adjournment motion by Mr Leong in Parliament on Monday (Jan 9), she refuted his claims on the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3. In his adjournment motion, Mr Leong called the Ang Mo Kio SERS exercise "an epochal event in the history of our public housing". He also argued that a future scheme - the Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (VERS) - was not a viable solution for when HDB flats' leases run out. He contended that the Ang Mo Kio SERS exercise differs from previous ones as affected residents must "top up cash to get an equivalent replacement flat with a new 99-year lease". However, Ms Sim told the House that SERS compensation has never been intentionally pegged to the price of a new flat of similar size in a similar location on a fresh 99-year lease. She also pointed out that 99 per cent of affected Ang Mo Kio SERS residents no longer have to top up cash for their replacement homes after they were offered more options, such as shorter leases for seniors and letting them apply for flats at different sites. She added that Mr Leong is blurring the distinction between a market expectation and a policy commitment. "I hope that instead of conflating issues, confusing issues, or quite deliberately misleading the public by shaping ungrounded expectations of schemes, creating goalposts as it were, I hope that Mr Leong will engage in the upcoming debate responsibly. To do otherwise makes it harder, not easier, for us collectively to balance the needs of Singaporeans and I am talking about the current generation as well as the future generations," she said.