Speech by SMS Sim Ann on the Home Improvement Programme at The Community Garden, Kampung Kaki
Jul 28, 2024
A very good morning to all our residents and volunteers. I’m very delighted to meet all of you and Grassroots Adviser Mr Shamsul Kamar at this beautiful community garden, Kampung Kaki.
Pockets of greenery like community gardens like this do enhance the aesthetic appeal of our surroundings, and also support sustainable living in our HDB estates. Very importantly, they provide a wonderful space for residents to mingle and bond and where they can bond over shared interests such as gardening, reading, and pets. In the process, they will foster a very strong spirit of belonging to the community. I am heartened to see so many residents who are actively involved in caring for their community gardens. With your hard work, all your neighbours get to enjoy this beautiful space, and I also understand get to share in the delicious produce that the garden produces.
HDB’s Lively Places Fund (LPF)
The building of infrastructure alone is not enough for us to keep our neighbourhood warm and endearing. We need the community to come onboard to enliven our living environment. And this is where HDB’s Lively Places Fund, or LPF comes in. It is a key effort that helps the community enliven common spaces with good ideas that are very specific to the neighbourhoods that they are in. The reason why the LPF is ground up is because residents know best what the needs are in their specific areas. And I want to encourage residents who are keen to embark on their own projects and to apply to the LPF for support, just like the RN here has done.
Thank you very much for applying and I think the results speak for themselves.
Since 2016, HDB has disbursed more than $1.1 million under the LPF, supporting 230 such projects that create friendly and lively neighbourhoods.
Some of the other projects supported by the fund include pet parks, community cafes, community libraries, and workshop spaces.
Home Improvement Programme
As part of our efforts to ensure a quality living environment for residents, HDB has also rolled out various upgrading programmes.
We renew our neighbourhoods, revitalise our heartland shops and improve the interior of our flats to meet the evolving needs and lifestyles of our residents, to provide a pleasant as well as refreshed living environment.
As our flats get older, HDB’s Home Improvement Programme, or HIP for short, helps to keep them in good condition through in-flat upgrades which address common maintenance issues such as spalling concrete and ceiling leaks.
This year, more than 53,000 homes, have been selected for upgrading under the HIP.
Our residents can choose from a suite of improvement items such as entrance door, gate, and toilet package which features large wall and floor tiles in a range of modern designs and a dual flush low-capacity toilet bowl, along with tap and sanitary fittings.
Seniors can also opt to have senior-friendly fittings offered under the Enhancements for Active Seniors, or EASE, Programme installed together with the HIP upgrades. These optional improvement items are heavily subsidised by the Government, so I encourage residents to take them up.
I am pleased to share that for households selected for HIP this year, HDB will implement an enhanced repair method, known as Corrosion Resistant Repair method, to address spalling concrete issues in toilets, which are prone to high levels of moisture, thereby increasing the likelihood and extent of spalling concrete.
For this enhanced method, we will apply multiple anti-corrosion coatings to the steel bars and concrete, which greatly improves their resistance to corrosion. This is done on top of the current repair process so as to minimise downtime and inconveniences to residents.
HDB has successfully completed pilot tests using this method in more than 300 flats in 4 precincts that commenced HIP in 2021. The results have been promising. Residents who participated in the pilot shared that since the enhanced repair method, there has been no further spalling in their units.
Even though the enhanced repair method requires more time for application, it will not delay the duration of the HIP, which still remains up to 10 days for each unit.
This is only made possible through HDB’s extensive efforts towards research and development, leveraging technological advancements and new innovative solutions to improve livability in our estates and homes, and for the benefit of all residents.
Allow me to now share these updates in Mandarin.
大家早上好！很高兴能够出席今天的活动。
我们今天所在的地方，Kampung Kaki 花园是加基武吉区通过建屋发展局“活力社区基金”（Lively Places Fund）设立的。
“活力社区基金” 在2016年设立以来，已拨款超过110万元来支持230个由社区发起的项目，涵盖花园、社区图书馆、社区咖啡馆、公园内的宠物设施等。
除了为个别社区注入活力， 这类项目也有助加强邻居之间的凝聚力。
要给居民提供更好的生活环境，必须翻新和提升现有组屋和住宅。政府组屋的屋龄虽然逐年增加，但是通过翻新计划，我们也可以做到“年久不失修”， 让组屋维持在良好实用的状态。
家居改进计划，简称HIP，很受居民欢迎。HIP主要分为三个环节，必要项目、自选项目和乐龄易计划，简称EASE。
必要项目包括 修 复 结 构 性 裂 缝和洋 灰 剥 落、更换排 污 水管、安装晾衣架，以及提高电力负荷量。
自选项目则包括更换住家大门、铁门、垃圾槽盖和厕所翻新等。
今年，超过5万3千户家庭被选中参与最新一批的HIP。为了改进居民的生活环境，建屋发展局不断研发并采用先进的建筑科技。
最新一批的HIP将采用新的修复方案，来解决天花板洋灰剥落的问题。洋灰剥落大多发生在屋里较潮湿的地方，如厕所和浴室。
在2021年，建屋发展局在300多个组屋单位测试新的修复方案，效果相当理想。
虽然新的修复方案需要更多时间，但它不会延误家居改进计划的翻新工程， 每个单位的翻新时间仍维持在10天以内。
So ladies and gentlemen and all residents, let us continue to work together to improve our living environment and make living in our HDB heartlands something special that all of us can be very proud of.
Thank you very much.