Which really, by my humble observation, should really be called The SENG KANG Enhancement Program. Seng Kang -- The cousin of Punggol; the more favoured one because she's got more people in her than Punggol 21, who looks like some barren godforsaken third world desert.
I'm sorry. I tried so hard. I defended you, Punggol! I stood my ground everytime someone made fun of you, called you names like Mordor or Long Kang ("That's Seng Kang, and next to it.. Long Kang")! Teased your numerical suffix! I really believed your developers when they said that Punggol 21 was going to be the Suburbia of the Millenium!
The Town for the Twenty-First Century!
The Mother of All Self-Sufficient Towns!
The Envy of All The Other Towns Because I Would Not Have To Even Go To Orchard Road Anymore!
Yes, yes, yes, it was all said. Someone, anyone, back me up on this! I really remember, especially the part about not needing to go to Orchard Road to shop since we'd have all the amneties readily avaliable. On top of that, we'd have a WATERFRONT ENTERTAINMENT Center -- boardwalks, water sports, restaurants...
Well, the waterfront marina looks very sweet, yah?
WATERFRONT, YOUR HEAD! WHERE GOT?! Basket.
I hate her now. But I can't leave her. Like a bad pre-nuptial contract, I'm stuck with her because I paid an arm and a leg to stay in an apartment the size of a 5-room flat in mature estates. And selling would drive me into negative equity.
Then, because of some arbitrary naming game, they decided that my 128sqm flat is an "Executive Apartment", now I can't get rebates on anything! The Progress Package is dangled in my face but yanked away with a "Nyeh nyeh nyeh, Executive flat! You don't get thiiiiis! Nyeh Nyeh Nyeh!"
I can live without the rebates, without the progress package. Fine. It's just money. But explain to me WHY MY FLAT IS TYPED AS "EXECUTIVE" BUT MY FRIEND's "5-room" IN WOODLANDS is BIGGER?!
WAH SI BUAY SONG AH!!!!!!!!
And after all I've invested and believed in them, now that the elections are around the corner, they try to placate me with a Punggol 21 Enhancement Program!
Oooh, I'm so excited! Can it be true? Will I finally get a library? Sports Complex? Cinemas? Reataurants?
No, wait... the Sports Complex is called "Seng Kang Sports Complex". Its located in Seng Kang. And its nowhere near Punggol *cough* 21. Unless by 'near' you mean, Oh Johor Bahru? It's near to Woodlands.
Nevermind, got shopping mall -- Fernvale Point.
By the way, Jurong Point, Compass Point, East Point... can someone PLEASE juice up the creativity level here? Point, point, point, YOUR HEAD! Fish.
Ok, Fernvale Point... gargantuan shopping arcade, and it's located in... SENG-friggin'-KANG!!! What's the point?! They should just call it The SENG KANG enhancement program!
Liars! All of them.
Is there nothing for Punggol? And I mean 'PUNGGOL' ok! Not Punggol-slash-Seng Kang!
Well, there's covered walkways and fitness *beat* points. OH MY G... (Mmmmph. Must. Not. Swear.) Mmmmmmaaaarrrggghh!! What is wrong with these people and their ability to name things? USE A (MMMAAARRGGHHH!) THESAURUS!
Liars! All of them.
Is there nothing for Punggol? And I mean 'PUNGGOL' ok! Not Punggol-slash-Seng Kang!
Well, there's covered walkways and fitness *beat* points. OH MY G... (Mmmmph. Must. Not. Swear.) Mmmmmmaaaarrrggghh!! What is wrong with these people and their ability to name things? USE A (MMMAAARRGGHHH!) THESAURUS!
If I wanted shelter from the bus stop to my flat I would bring my umbrella! See, I don't mind if I get wet, if I could dry off at the LIBRARY! With a hot cuppa java at a nice cafe! But where got? Don't have! MMmmmmaarrgghh!!
Ok, actually, there's a library ... in SENG KANG! *cries*
And the fitness points... I think even the artists knew The Truth when they drew up the pictures for the posters! There's only OLD PEOPLE shown using the fitness points! OLD PEOPLE! I don't have anything against old people. Sure, fitness for them. Yay! But here's the newsflash ... NOT EVEN OLD PEOPLE USE THE FITNESS POINTS THAT REGULARLY!
I think I should take pics of the fitness point just below my block. Yes, I will do that. And I will prove once and for all, that 10 people may use the fitness points in a whole day, but look how many people there are at COMPASS POINT and PUNGGOL PLAZA!
Singaporeans are a lazy bunch! We don't want more fitness points! That's only there to impress the taxi drivers! And even then what they really say is "Wah, nice place, but I wouldn't want to stay here."
We want more malls! And markets! And food courts! And restaurants! And sports complexes! And libraries! And bus services! And THE WATERFRONT ENTERTAINMENT MARINA you promised!!!!!!!
And instead we get MORE design & build flats...
More people, yay... but who will want to move into an estate with no proper amneties of its own?
Hey... wait a minute! Can it be true? Yes, they've planned for a "cluster of shops" along Punggol Central... for 2009! Cluster of Shops, huh? Throw in a "Prime Supermarket", one kopi tiam and you could call that a "cluster of shops" too. I'm not very hopeful.
And notice how the Commercial site at Punggol Drive is only "listed in the Reserved List"? That's code for : we want you to know that we're planning for it, and hopefully you'll get it before your grandchildren pass away from old age"
but at least, we're getting a petrol station -- oh yay! Happiness for the taxi drivers who zoom past and comment on how wonderful the place looks. Because that's what everyone says : this place looks great... but I wouldn't want to live here.
And still the
*insert thunderclaps and sounds of the Sesame Street Count's laughter*
Now, would that ONE commercial centre be Fernvale Point? Because Fernvale Point is located in.. SENG KANG. NOT Punggol! SENG KANG!
OK... Must. Compose. Myself.
Alright, it is a lot better than what it was ..
mb says:
when my cousin in law moved there
mb says:
when the town just opened
mb says:
she had to take two hours to get home
mb says:
cos no train
mb says:
and no bus
mb says:
she would walk 20 minutes from the bus stop
mb says:
she told us, every night, she get home, she CRY
mb says:
how can an estate make a person cry?
mb, very easily. Very. Easily. It's a lot better, yes, but I wish the authorities would stop using that as a leverage. Just because you've upgraded us from pathetically dismal to barely surviving, isn't a cause for celebration! Or for me to vote for you, for that matter.
But it doesn't matter does it? Because you'll just change the boundaries again, and I won't get to vote. Or if I do, you'll just make things worse for me, to teach me a lesson for not voting for you.
But you know what? Either way, I live in a town that isn't living up to it's advertising, and hype, and the exorbitant cost. It's not a crappy town. It's just worth it's own weight in salt.
You're in charge and I still get crap. Someone else is in charge and you'll make sure I stay in crap. So where my vote swings isn't going to change much. And that, is my sad sad awakening.
Technorati tags: punggol21 sengkang singapore elections enhancement upgrading voting
32 comments:
should sent this to the MP....let them do something constructive for once...
actually i like it the way it is now.. not so crowded, peaceful, 5 min walk away from nature.
they develop SK as much as they want. so when i want a feel of civilisation, take a bus there lor. if not, just stay in the peaceful, forgotten estate called Punggol21.
aberwyn, did you PAY for your flat? Or are you living with your parents?
Sure, it's peaceful. My contention is :
1. for the price I paid for it, it's ridiculous. Size, amneties, everything is ridiculous.
2. if I wanted nature, in the first place, sure, I'd be happy now. I didn't. This was not what was promised!
3. I can nature AND amneties at Pasir Ris, East Coast, etc. AND a cheaper and/or bigger flat!
I'm glad you are happy. I am resigned.
nope. staying alone. 5rm, edgefield. well, cant really blame them, nobody wanna buy. till now ppl are still adverse to the god forsaken corner called punggo21. chicken and egg thing lah. ppl dont buy the house there, the coastal living plan can't kick start. Ppl complain transportation in the area sucks so dont wanna buy. no critical mass, the bus/train company cant sustain.
ppl dont call it mordor for nothing lor. First and foremost, ppl MUST be receptive to punggol21 for it to work.
My family put in the bid for the newest batch of flats - Coralinus, 5 mins walk from Punggol MRT. Granted it is in Mordor/Punggol(at the FAR end of the NEL), but they are betting that when the flats are finished... there will be shopping complexes and the town centre will materialise, eventually..... hopefully....
I will be your neighbour.
In 5 years..... haha.
Incidentally, my parents still cant pronounce Coralinus correctly....
I live in Punggol & i really like it.
All the "... Points" malls are part of the "Centre Point" group, so its kinda branding for them.
However i do agree with you that it sucks to have that little amenities... not to mention no fastfood as well (not that i'm a big fast food fan), no petrol station as well (i own a car and have to pump at SK or serangoon). However, there are lots of insects & foreign labourers. :)
Having said that, i would not want to take up this difficult task to populate a sawmpy place in one corner of Singapore known as Punggol with nice people while having to clearly inconvinence them with the distance... its either i paint a very nice promise or just delivery the promise real slow... Then again, how would one fund such an activity to fund this excercise? I'm glad i don't have to worry about that.
One thing i'm glad is that i can watch an evening movie at Plaza Sing at get back home quite quickly without needing to drive down. Oh yah... no cinemas too. ;)
Wow! You guys really get into local politics. In my corner of the world, housing prices are dertermined by macro-economic forces beyond our control, so we mainly complain about the potholes in the street. Seriously, one of them nearly took off my tire yesterday! They say there's two seasons in Canada--winter and road-work.
i think the solution would be to just build bigger houses... or whatever it is that people were used to... just to shed the 'punggol-ridiculously small house' image... i mean... make a 5-room flat in punggol equivalent to a 5-room flat elsewhere (eg.woodlands)...
Flats in woodlands were built earlier. HDB keeps building smaller flats. Perhaps, in 5 years time, a 5-Rm flat would have the same floor space as a 2-Rm? Maybe the flat won't come with a kitchen. HDB excuse is, Singaporeans don't cook.
Ponggol 21's plan has been hit hard by the economy. Too bad.
I thought all Ponggolians drive.
But take heart, Ponggol should blossom into what they promise. Its just when...
I missed the old rustic Ponggol. With its farms and long windy tracks. And especially Ponggol point (sea food).
You're spot on Faith.Keep going and Singapore will be a better place with your courage, conviction and integrity to SPEAK UP! Good Luck!
Hi FaithToh,
Noted your frustrations, if i m in your shoes, i would also bang my chest everyday.
Well, Punggol 21 was (or still is ?) the "Vision" of those scholars up there. Appears that they had miscalulated the human factors and some important criteria and priority of buyers in choosing their flats.
For a developer armed with decades of experience in housing a nation, still can make such a mistake, it is really just another "honest mistake".
Unless you were being forced to get a flat there, it was also a miscaculation on your part, a wrong choice (for the time being)
Well, the situation may change, maybe another 10 - 20 years or more.
Decades ago, Clementi was a ulu town, now it is a sought- after town, with many amenities.
Dont get angry or frustration over it. Learn to accept and adapt to it is a better option.
If you are not in a good mood, you can drop by our forum to make some noises.
patgoh
www.findsingapore.net/forum
Hahaha ! You crack me up ! :) Actually, when I was visiting my friends in Seng Kang, I was mostly appalled by their plastic toilets. They feel like a life-sized version of the doll house kids my time used to play 'masak masak' with. So Punggol isn't that bad right ? (I'm hoping you don't have one of those plastic toilets)
Just a side note, "Wa Si Buay Song" can be construed wrongly to mean Wa (I) + Si Buay (very) + Song as opposed to Wa (I) + Si (is) + Buay (not) + Song.
Anyway, look on the bright side - you've got plenty of upside in terms of capital gains. If you're living there while it's crap, you'll benefit when it gets better. I'm assuming it will eventually get better of course. After all, it's not an opposition ward is it ;)
Parting note: I have to say that I'm not partial to Patgoh's suggestion of accepting and adapting to it. If our forefathers did that, they'd still be in China, toiling the land and LKY would be an accepting Malaysian. After all, it's the squeaky wheel that gets the oil.
Keep up the entertaining blog ! :)
I sympathise with your plight as really the HDB has the virtual monopoly on supply of "affordable" apartments. The price mechanism that the HDB uses is still fairly monopolistic and not that elastic to changing market conditions. It's tough to be caught in the negative equity trap.
When my parents first moved to Jurong East in 1986, it was equally "ulu" for many years until development caught up with the place. The MRT only came in 1989 or 1990 so we endured 3 years of MRT-lessness. But that was the time when my mother cooked even when she was working.
The amenities will eventually catch up but it takes time. I guess what sucks is the con-job or marketing spin that HDB painted how Punggol 21 would be like. The same way we have "achieved" swiss standard of (material?) living with 3rd world level of political openess and engagement of civil space.
Do hang in there and count the positives but stay true to your convictions and it was a great piece of writing/soul-baring/rant/legitimate complaint!
God bless.
On the bright side, I was in a cab ranting to my friend about p21 and the cabbie started telling me what living in Boon Lay is like.
We were regaled with stories of junkies shooting up their *ahem* naughty-no-no places.
When we alighted, I turned to my friend and solemnly said, "Suddenly I don't feel so bad about Punggol..."
*chortle*
The most gross thing I've seen around here are the snails. It's a conspiracy, I tell you! They import the little buggers and strew them all around for me to nearly step on!
marco gray -- i dunno about all punggolians driving. I only know I only have 2 "kahs" ... left leg, right leg.
joe -- wouldn't that be "sibeh song"?
Thank u everyone for ur compliments & listening 'eyes'! I'm glad we all can have a good laugh about the farce of HDB living. Cuz in the end, if we don't have humour, then we have a pretty sad life, yah?
When we were shopping for a flat I just KNEW that Punggol would be a damn bad choice, despite all the wonderful promises by HDB. Come on, you think HDB and SBS are so stupid??? They won't throw money into something they can't make back! And for a new estate, critical mass would take time to build. So I guessed correctly - very little amenities, very poor public transport, etc.
My university mate at that time said that you could choose a new flat (instead of a resale one), then use the difference to buy a car. But you cannot use CPF to buy car and what's more, the roads in Punggol are atrocious!
I was determined to buy a resale and I thank Tua Pek Kong that we could afford to do so, and found one near my mom's place.
We go to Punggol these days when we want to experience "Somewhere Out There"... and only when we get to use a car.
hi, i live in punggol and i can empathise with what you r experiencing. mordor21 really
Express your displeasure with your sacred vote!
Faith. You're right. I stand corrected. It's just that 'beh' and 'buay' are so close that when I vocalised it in my mind, it sounded pretty much the same, so I had to re-read what you wrote just to make sure I got it right.
Never realised there were junkies shooting up in public in Singapore. Sounds like a New Paper exposé is on the way.
I used to stay in Punggol Rd till about 10 years back.
Back then, there was no stupid Seng Kang-Punggol differences. There was only Punggol as a whole. No stupid road names like Fernvale, Edgefield, Compassvale too!
I missed Punggol the way it was.
Btw, I stay in Fernvale, Seng Kang and I tell you, it is the SK version of ulu place!! Hah! Well, at least that Fernvale Point should bring some life to the estate... I hope.
OMG! We stay Boon Lay leh!! Got junkies meh? Anyway I don't stay out in the neighbourhood long enough to know anyway.
Punggol 21 waterfront facilities? Must wait long, long ah ;p
Argh. All the new flats all so miserably small. U r not alone. My Sengkang 4-room flat is only 85 sqm ;p
At least you've got Punggol Plaza ;) Sengkang's developement started before Punggol's. Just as Tampines' development started before Pasir Ris'. Look at Pasir Ris now. Is it any worse off than Tampines? All it takes is time ;)
All the Punggolians should deserve a better quality of lifestyle including all the convenient and essentials that they paid for. Punggolians had been very patient while waiting for the so-called Punggol 21 plan but how long they have to wait? If they are happy they will not complain so will the Punggol Town Council will more to the town.
Punggol had been hit by economic down turn? What about other town why they are not?
Check this out. http://www.ura.gov.sg/dgp_reports/punggl21/main.html
It's just a matter of time.... this was planned around 1998.
From: Hot Punnggolian
we all mistaken liao lar! punggol 21 means it will only start developing the facilities in year 2100 so infact its way ahead of time now! :)
How come Seng Kang such a big town got no running track for its Sports complex ???
We have too many roads and bridges
in SK, We need a running track !!!
Hiya, this is a very interesting blog. I wanted to get a flat in Punggol. So, I wanna ask you as of now after staying there for a more months, how is it ? Still "bad" ?
Thanks
yuen fong,
define "bad"...
if "bad" means, "no change" then, yes... still "bad".
the only difference is that we got ourselves a car, so now, we're not stuck with just going to Compasspoint and Punggol Plaza.
We can venture further.
Although, it does mean paying more for fuel, but I suppose there's always a trade-off.
The only significant change would be the brand new signpost that declares my estate as one of the "walking trails"...
ofcourse, walk to WHERE?
Hi. Was surfing the web for comments on Punggol due to the new interest in the coming BTO - Regalia.
I saw the future plans - proposed town centre, bus interchange, etc.
So has the work started? Feeling excited about it?
Infohigh, a quick answer: NO. :)
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