The elections are really getting to me.

I see countless tweets and Facebook messages circulating, about how PAP is not  a good government, that they are arrogant, that they do not admit to their mistakes (esp re: floods/mas selamat), how they do not listen to the people, how they are homophobic… etc, etc, etc.

People are not happy about Chia Shi-Lu getting a seat in Tanjong Pagar GRC out of nowhere, more people are not happy about Tin Pei Ling, etc, etc, etc.

It is obvious that many Singaporeans want change, and they want to bring PAP down.

While I am moved that politically, we are not as apathetic as we believed ourselves to be, it is, however, extremely unsettling how things are panning out.

How are people deciding who to vote for?

This tweet pretty much sums it up:

Are people anti-PAP or pro-Opposition? Such a thin fine line it is… #sgelections

It seems that people are merely wanting to not vote PAP. They may not feel for opposition parties or their candidate(s), they may not share opposition parties’ visions or ideals, some may not even know who are in the opposition parties (maybe except Nicole Seah).

But there is one thing they are sure of them. Which is that they are not the PAP.

And this seems to be their main or only reason why they are supporting these parties, whichever one happens to be contesting for their constituency.

I ask – is this reason enough to sway our vote towards an opposition party? Because they are not PAP? Really?

If you follow #sgelections on Twitter, you will see tweets such as the following:

Now i know why foreigners think we’re a 3rd world country, b’cos u people make it sounds like that under the leadership of PAP. #sgelections

Our followers like this article, so we’re reposting – “What The PAP Does Not Want you to know” http://ow.ly/4Hdx4

Dr Chia takes “back-door” MP to new heights http://bit.ly/jZKplk #sgelections

You know we the people are hot on the PAP’s heels they resort to FUD & threats to us like http://t.co/BR53wN6 #sgelections

VivianBala being clever here, clever there and ended up in the gutter #sgelections. http://twitpic.com/4pm8ma

This morning, the PAP lorry drove past my house. On speakers: They wanted our votes. I kinda snorted… #therebelvote #sgelections

There is much mud-slinging and mockery/sarcasm for PAP for whatever they do or do not do.

I ask – why is there so little discussion on what the opposition parties are doing or offering us?

I desperately hope that Singaporeans are not wanting change for the sake of change. I hope that we all can question and find out – exactly what changes are these, how they plan to do it, why they want to do it, and who is the person heading it (I don’t mean his name).

Do not blindly vote for the opposition because you dislike PAP. We all want Singapore to progress, and we want the best people to lead us.

I hope that we can give credit, where credit is due.

I hope that we can be mature enough to acknowledge that not all PAP candidates are awful just by the vitue of being in the PAP. I hope that we do not discredit worthy candidates out of spite for the PAP.

I hope that we do not glorify the opposition’s every word and action just because they are not the PAP. I hope that we can also recognize their mistakes, seek to understand what they want to do for our country, before making an informed decision whether to vote for them or not.

Our votes make a difference. Let us be critical. Let us be discerning.

But above all, let us vote for the best people that will best represent us and serve us. Let us vote for the people with integrity, intelligence, altriusm, and dedication, regardless of party, language, gender, race, religion or orientation.

Ok?

I’ve been hearing quite a number of arguments about Mah Bow Tan’s following statement:

Mr. Mah cited an example of how a young couple below 30 and earning a combined income of S$4,000 can pay the 5 per cent downpayment for a new four-room HDB flat with no cash after working for half a year to build up their CPF, and pay less than S$50 for their monthly mortgage payment.

He told reporters: “You would get a flat with zero deposit. Now, how many countries in the world can say that? How many housing ministers in the world can say what I have just said?”

Source: http://www.todayonline.com/SingaporeVotes/EDC110425-0000183/Housing-not-a-make-or-break-issue-at-GE–Mah-Bow-Tan

Various people are calculating here n there and concluding that this means MBT is saying that new four-room flats cost around $110,000. Their calculations mostly go like this:

As someone who has been looking at HDB flats for about a year now, and very into excel spreadsheets, I would like to clarify that the above calculation is not correct.

This does not imply that I support or do not support PAP, or MBT’s claims that HDB  flats are affordable. I simply cannot stand it when calculations are wrong. Hehe OCD sorry.

There are 2 parts to MBT’s statement:

1) CPF after 6 months is sufficient for the couple not to fork out cash during the downpayment.
2) They can pay less than $50 in cash for their monthly mortgage payment.

Both of these are true. Please read on.

Part 1: Downpayment – Edited

As long as the HDB flat costs $300,000 and below, this couple will not need to fork out any cash for their downpayment.

Assumptions:

• This couple is below 30,
• First time buyers, and
• Utilizing the Staggered Downpayment Scheme

Now for the mathematics…

The downpayment required for a $300,000 HDB flat is as follows:

5% of flat price: $15,000
Stamp duty: $4,200
Legal fees: $193
Total Downpayment Required: $19,393

Their CPF available is as follows:

Additional Housing Grant (AHG): $15,000
CPF in Ordinary Account after working for 6 months: $5,560
Total CPF Available: $20,560

Part 2: Mortgage Payment

As for the “less than $50 mortgage payment per month” part, the flat needs to cost below $273,000 for this to be true. ($50 refers to cash top up, not total mortgage payment.)

So is this true?

Well, in the April 2011 BTO just launched, the Hougang four-room flats range from $248,000-$324,000. The Sembawang four-room flats cost $255,000-$310,000.

Therefore, again, yes it is possible for the couple to pay only $50 a month for their mortgage payment, for a new four-room flat.

The End.

If I made any error above, please do correct me in the comments below and I will amend accordingly. :)