SINGAPORE \u2013 Residents in two Tiong Bahru HDB blocks could get a second chance to vote on whether they want to undergo the Home Improvement Programme (HIP) after a narrow miss in November, said Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Foo Cexiang.<\/p>\n
Whether the re-poll takes place will depend on the level of support from residents, he told The Straits Times on Dec 4. Mr Foo added that he and grassroots volunteers will continue to reach out to households that did not vote or voted \u201cno\u201d, and address their concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf residents are strongly supportive, I will make the request to HDB to have the re-poll,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The two blocks \u2013 Block 34 Kim Cheng Street and Block 35 Lim Liak Street \u2013 had <\/p>\n failed to garner enough votes to pass the 75 per cent threshold<\/p>\n <\/a> by a narrow margin of two and one votes respectively.<\/p>\n They were among 29 blocks in the neighbourhood that voted in November on whether to carry out HIP improvements. Voting was successful for the other 27 blocks. All the blocks are four-storey walk-up flats built in 1949 by the Singapore Improvement Trust, the predecessor to HDB.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are going to proceed with HIP for the first few blocks, hopefully after Chinese New Year,\u201d Mr Foo said. \u201cAnd we need to do it well so we can further convince those on the fence now \u2013 that perhaps it is inconvenient, but the benefit to the blocks are much more.\u201d<\/p>\n The HIP was launched in 2007 to spruce up older housing estates and resolve common maintenance problems, such as spalling concrete. It is carried out only if at least 75 per cent of a block\u2019s eligible Singaporean households have voted for it. Permanent resident households are not eligible to vote.<\/p>\n If the vote passes, residents have to undergo some compulsory works, such as repairing spalling concrete, but can opt out of other improvements like bathroom upgrading.<\/p>\n On Dec 3, Mr Foo met about 15 households in the two unsuccessful blocks at a town hall to address their concerns.<\/p>\n All the households had hoped HIP could be carried out and were concerned about the options available to them next, he said.<\/p>\n Mr Foo said the main hurdle to a successful vote was residents who could not be contacted. Before the poll, he had reached out to home owners to inform them about the HIP, but faced \u201cradio silence\u201d with some units.<\/p>\n He noted there were also several newer residents who moved in recently after major renovation works, and thus felt little incentive to support the HIP.<\/p>\n Since the voting results were published, volunteers have continued to engage residents and one resident who did not vote has changed his mind, he said.<\/p>\n