Forum: Not taking any chances with VERS and am starting to relocate now
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I am beginning to think that the authorities have not thought through the Home Improvement Programme (HIP) or the proposed Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (VERS) properly ( Tiong Bahru and the vote on upgrading: An old estate, a new divide
If they had, they would have combined all 29 Tiong Bahru blocks as one collective whole. In this way, the aggregate of all “yes” or “no” votes in the precinct are measured against the threshold required for HIP upgrades (or for VERS in future).
Hence, I think VERS should probably be a collection of blocks deciding the outcomes at precinct level, not block level.
On my side, I take VERS as a 20-year warning to residents living in old HDB estates.
I will be in my 80s when VERS is rolled out and most likely will have mobility and hypertension issues. The last thing I want is to worry about VERS and moving out in my 80s. And that is a full four years of worrying (as BTO, or Build-To-Order, flats take four years to build).
And there will be thousands of octogenarians asking for help just in moving houses alone.
That is why I started to involuntarily relocate myself from Marine Parade early this year by applying for a new 45-year lease BTO unit in Woodlands North. The unit will be ready in four years’ time.
This is a small, inconvenient price to pay just to relieve myself from the VERS woes that are coming. My future 80-year-old self will thank me for that.
Wee Kok Chew
