Speech by SMS Tan Kiat How at The MyNiceHome Roadshow for Tampines GreenOpal
Apr 12, 2025
Opening
Good morning, everyone. I see many families here and I understand that many of you are from the east side, different parts of Bedok and Tampines, and are now moving into Tampines South. Tampines GreenOpal is a lovely development. I’ve been there a few times to monitor its development and progress.
Congratulations, and my pleasure to join all of you here at the MyNiceHome Roadshow for Tampines GreenOpal! Moving into a new home is a significant milestone, and I am sure that you are eager to collect your keys.
So, I would like to take this opportunity to share some key information to prepare you for your homeownership journey, starting with some updates on Tampines GreenOpal.
Updates on Tampines GreenOpal
Getting around Tampines town will soon be even easier with a new bus service along Tampines Street 96, to seamlessly connect residents to Tampines North Bus Interchange, Our Tampines Hub, and nearby schools. This new bus service will complement the 10 existing bus routes along Bedok Reservoir Road, giving you even more travel options.
You can also look forward to a new bridge across Bedok Canal, slated for completion early next year. This will shorten the walk to Bedok Reservoir MRT station, and I am sure many daily commuters will find this most convenient.
For your everyday needs, you can head over to the shops across the road at Tampines GreenGem, which offer residents various amenity options like a dental clinic, a hairdressing salon, and a household goods store. From this July, a new eating house and a supermarket will also be opening for your convenience.
Families with young children can expect to see more childcare options too. The childcare centre within Tampines GreenOpal will open in the first quarter of next year, while the next nearest childcare centre at Tampines GreenGem will open within the next 3 months.
Right downstairs, you will enjoy lush green spaces fitted with seating areas, fitness stations, playgrounds, and a precinct pavilion.
Some of these facilities are still under construction, as we had prioritised the completion of flats to hand over your keys and allow you to settle into your new home much earlier.
So, I seek your patience as we finish up the remaining works. Not to worry, we target for all our facilities to be up and ready by the third quarter of this year!
Approach to all BTO projects
All these new flats, infrastructure, amenities, and facilities are the result of careful planning and close coordination between HDB and various partner agencies.
HDB and partner agencies have put great effort into the planning and designing of our HDB estates, ensuring that our residents’ needs can be met and at the same time creating a vibrant living space for the community.
This process starts even before construction begins, with every feature thoughtfully designed to create a comfortable living environment that meets your needs.
Despite our extensive efforts, teething issues may still arise at the early stages of moving in.
For example, certain amenities or facilities may not be ready at the point of moving in, as observed in the case of Tampines GreenOpal.
Some of these issues have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, while some are commonly anticipated in newly built-up towns like Tengah, or in larger projects that involve more extensive works.
The good news is that HDB’s BTO building programme is back on track, following the delivery of all pandemic-delayed flats. We can all eagerly look forward to around 130,000 new flats being completed from 2025 to 2030.
In fact, we expect BTO construction volume to peak in 2026 and 2027, with close to 150 projects that will be under construction.
With an extensive building programme, it is even more important for us to strengthen our planning and coordination efforts, to shape a better moving in experience for new residents settling into their new homes.
To better support this, we have set up a new multi-agency BTO Coordination Committee, to identify common pain points faced by new residents when moving in, and put in place measures to ensure better coordination across agencies to mitigate against these pain points.
Let me break this down into a few examples.
First, we are reviewing how we can better time the provision of key infrastructure, including mobile signal networks and systems, as well as pedestrian pathways, roads, and bus stops, to ensure that they are functioning for residents’ use at move-in.
Second, we are studying ways to speed up the time needed for shops and childcare centres to be operational, so that they are ready earlier to provide essential services to residents when they move in, while balancing the need to ensure an adequate customer pool to sustain businesses.
And third, we hope to complete the precinct facilities and landscaping at around the same time as the completion of key collection, so that these new facilities can be enjoyed by residents immediately.
Led by MND and HDB, the Committee includes LTA, NEA, ECDA, IMDA, and PA. They are our key partners in the building, delivery, and management of the infrastructure and services related to new BTO projects.
Together, we will further tighten the integration across agencies to enhance efficiency, and will step up community communications and outreach efforts to keep residents apprised of the latest developments in their projects.
For new housing areas, such as Bayshore and Mount Pleasant, we seek residents’ understanding that it may not be possible to have everything ready by the time of key collection.
The Committee will study and put in place interim measures where necessary, to better serve residents’ needs.
While our priority remains to hand over keys to homeowners as early as possible, we want to also work towards narrowing the time between the completion of flats and the readiness of other key amenities, community facilities, and precinct landscaping, so that our residents can enjoy them soon after they move in.
So, more information on the Committee’s progress will be shared when ready.
Allow me to say a few words in Mandarin.
Mandarin segment
大家早上好! 很高兴能够出席今天的活动。
随着建屋发展局把所有因疫情延迟的预购组屋项目顺利交付，施工重回正轨，我们预计接下来五年将完成约13万个预购组屋单位。因此，加强相关的规划和协调工作，让新居民能够更顺利迁入新居，就更为重要。
为此，我很高兴宣布我们成立了一个新的跨部门预购组屋协 调委员会（BTO Coordination Committee）来探讨新居民在迁入新居时所面对的痛点，并检讨现有程序和流程， 看如何做得更好，减少这些痛点。
这个委员会由国家发展部和建屋发展局领导，成员包括陆交局、国家环境局、幼儿培育署、资讯通信媒体发展局和人民协会。
我们将更好地整合与协调预购组屋项目的基础设施和相关服务的建造、交付和管理程序，以提高效率。委员会也会促进与新居民的沟通和联系，以方便他们了解新居的进展。
更多相关详情会在合适的时机公布。
我们知道搬入新居是一件兴奋的事，但新居民也有很多事情需要考量。所以，我们希望预购组屋协调委员会可以在这些方面给予您帮助。谢谢！
Closing
Let me conclude, beyond the Committee’s work, we recognise that the best insights come from residents themselves. I encourage all of you to:
Participate actively in community events and connect with your neighbours to find out the latest local happenings.
Embody good neighbourliness, such as by disposing your waste from renovations and deliveries responsibly, and doing your part to contribute to a pleasant living environment for all.
And most importantly, take time to share your feedback with us. Our HDB staff and Grassroots Leaders here today are happy to hear your views, which will go towards refining our measures and plugging gaps.
So, I hope you will find this roadshow useful, and I look forward to seeing Tampines GreenOpal grow into a harmonious and thriving community. Thank you.