How Singapore Solved Housing

Audio editing by Eric Schneider
Motion graphics by Vincent de Langen
Illustrations by Kate Willært
Everything else by Evan

This includes a paid sponsorship which had no part in the writing, editing, or production of the rest of the video.

[redwater]

Honestly as a singaporean, my biggest blessings (and curses) are that growing up, I never knew what tax and visa was because I’ve never had to apply for a travel visa or pay tax for anything I bought. I never feared staying out late as a women or experienced natural disasters or even thought about government corruption. Of course Singapore isn’t perfect, but I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

[MarekSnipr]

This should be a series "How (country) X Solved Y"

[fayetan]

As a Singaporean, it makes me super proud to know that our government has done something considered impossible to the rest of the world. I am super proud of how far we had come, but where we are going to go still is a huge question.

FYI, every five years, we repaint every single HDB in different colours, which is chosen via poll by that HDB's residents. It's always a fresh look and keeps the community excited about their own home

[enhex]

this amazes me two fold:
that their government has to have such low level of corruption to pull that off, and that their leaders had so much foresight.

[samtcy]

I love my 4-room flat. We are located next to a school, right across a MRT train station, food courts, shops, market, clinics, fast foods...
Both my husband and I don't even own driving licenses (nor feel the need to) since the MRT station is located just across the road from us.
And yes, I love how safe Singapore is. I'm a female and I used to roam around my neighborhood at like 3am in the middle of the night to catch pokemons. lol.

[DrBluefox]

Hong Kong: wait you guys are getting houses?

[ben.s.s]

I am honesty surprised how well researched this video is. Most videos I seen about Singapore are way off.

You even capture many of the real social issues that you will probably need local context and talking to actual locals to understand.

Definitely going to hit the bell and subscribed!

[Thekidisalright]

One additional information to add, although the lease of an HDB is 99 years, a clause in HDB terms and conditions stated that if the flat owner live beyond the years of the lease, he/she will be able to live in the flat until he/she pass on, even if the lease has expired.

[Kodecco]

This guy knows more about my country than me, who lived in the country for over 20 years

[Towkeeyoh]

Dang, he even got that proposal “will you buy a house with me?” inside “joke”

[hiyukelavie]

No joke, the HDB is secretly one of the biggest reasons behind Singapore's success as a nation

[hrpang]

NGL, as a Singaporean, I did not realize how brutal HDB was in the 1990s. Like I believe it was an accident that a slum burnt down but immediately moving in to have a policy that lets them scoop up burnt land is incredibly efficient in the most iron fist way.

[emeraldvirgo]

As someone with family living in singapore (public housing and detached houses), I can atest that their public housing has the best access to public transit, malls, libraries, hospitals, and some right next to beaches.

[hb]

Singapore's success is very very hard to replicate. It requires a strong authoritarian government yet cares for the benefit of the people, the sheer size of the nation is also a critical issue. Singapore is a city nation which allows the central government to pose very strong control across the country, which is imaginable in other countries.

That is why China did try to learn from Singapore, but failed.

[SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

PolyMatter: Singapore
China: Phew I get a break

[Onesteve]

Citizens in Stockholm: "Wait? You can build homes on top of each other?"

[george]

Tbh if Singapore just let the market control housing, it would have ended up like HK.

[xaostek]

Singaporean here. The hypothetical city mentioned at 1:47 where housing is so prohibitively expensive that adult children are forced to live with their parents IS essentially what has happened here. Applying for HDB housing requires you to be either married, or be 35 years old and have another 35yo roommate to move in with, and private housing/rentals are just too expensive. With many of the societal problems/shifts the youth are facing (marrying early for the sake of housing is a truly depressing thought), it is overwhelmingly common and actually part of the culture to live with your parents well into adulthood. Obviously there are many many more societal problems that aren't covered by the scope of this video, but the line "It's no coincidence that the party that meticulously designed Singapore receives the vast majority of its votes" pretty much sums it up.

[dee]

We need to learn from this. I lived in Singapore for 4 years in the eighties. The flats I visited were small, but they were treated with such pride and respect by the residents. Their homes were lovely and their hospitality second to none. I went to ATT Secretarial school, which was in Tanglin then. Let down by the English comprehensive system, it was in Singapore that I learned how to learn! The patience of my tutors was endless. Thank you Singapore. You impacted my life for the good.

[jomarturtoga]

"Will you marry me?" has been replaced with "Can we buy a house together?"
-SINGAPORE