15th Dec 2008 Second Appeal Letter to the CEO of JTC

To : Mrs Ow Foong Pheng
Chief Executive Officer
JTC Corporation.
Cc: Mr Lim Swee Say, MP for Holland and Bukit Timah GRC
Mr Han Chiaw Juan, Director of Housing Development Group
Ms Lisa Toi, Ms Esther Stanley

Dear Mrs Ow,
Subject: Review of Rental Renewal Rates for Residents of Chip Bee Gardens
On 12th Dec, 2 separate reports in The Straits Times (ST) showcased examples of various government bodies making concerted efforts/recommendations to find ways to help buoy the Singapore economy and community during this unprecedented economic tsunami which the world is facing and our island state will not be spared:
At a dialogue session with about 400 unionists, Mr Lim Swee Say, our MP and Singapore's labour chief, shared an urgent message for his union leaders: He asked them to take the initiative and meet bosses to find out what can be done to cut costs to save jobs. According to the ST, his call is prompted by what he says is the worst global recession he has seen in his working life.
2. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) announced a renewed $130 million relief and incentive package for Changi Airport's airlines and airport partners. The CAAS is proactively offering a helping hand to the aviation industry to cope with the global economic downturn. The report quotes CAAS's Director-General and Chief Executive Officer Lim Kim Choon: "CAAS recognises the tough operating environment that airlines and airport partners are currently operating under".
On the very same day, 12th Dec, Ms. Ketna Patel, our community-resident representative, received a hand delivered letter signed by Mr Han Chiaw Juan dated 10th Dec stating that JTC, our very own government agency overseeing the management of our residential community in Chip Bee Gardens WILL NOT engage in dialogue with its concerned residents in the review of extremely high (60-80%) rental hikes at a timing when Singapore has officially declared it is in an economic recession and despite The World Bank forecasting the bleakest economic outlook that the world has faced in 40 years!
As a residents-community; the majority of whom are Singaporeans and Singapore Permanent Residents; we are deeply disappointed to the insensitive stand that JTC has chosen to take on the subject.
As a community and after seeking advise on 1st Dec from our MP Mr. Lim Swee Say, we took what we believed to be the correct channel in writing officially to you on 2nd Dec to raise our collective concerns and to also share with you that we had supporting documents from a majority of the residential community (over 190 residents have signed the petition to date) in Chip Bee Gardens on the subject.
More than 10 days passed since our collective concerns were raised in official notification to your office and we did not receive any acknowledgment nor notification from JTC until:
1. THE letter of 12th Dec stated above which if we may summarise in 2 words states "Non Negotiable"; and
2. Representatives from EM Services (on behalf of JTC) individually visited several residents with the same message of "Non Negotiable" plus a notification of 7-10 day deadlines to make a decision on their lapsed tenancy agreements or face legal penalties.
The shared sentiment of all residents whom we have shared the information with resonates with the perspective that JTC is taking a highly insensitive and rather heavy handed approach to address this matter. Instead of dealing with the community as a collective and engaging us in dialogue to find a socially responsible and fair compromise during these very difficult economic times; it seems like JTC is taking a "divide and pressure" stance by approaching residents individually.
Instead of extending us a supportive hand and a listening ear, most of the residents that are waiting for an outcome from the submitted appeal were given what we perceive to be letters threatening the word of the law and with very short deadlines between 18th to the 20th Dec to comply or face legal consequences.
Dear Mrs Ow and the management of JTC; these are people's lives and homes you are talking about. We are not factories and furniture in an industrial park.
In one anecdotal conversation that transpired last week between one of your officers and one of our residents who has made Chip Bee Gardens their home for over 30 years; it might have seemed "practical" to the JTC officer to suggest that he could try to find a "cheaper" rental apartment in HDB for this resident but to the recipient of that news it comes across as very callous; as though it was an office and furniture they were discussing rather than someone's HOME.
As mentioned, JTC has not made any single attempt to officially receive and review the contents of our community petition. The signed petition represents the majority voice of the residents of Chip Bee Gardens. Please engage in dialogue with us.
Please allow us to reiterate, as a community, we would like to seek a group meeting with the decision makers of JTC to hear us out on our appeal and petition. We hope that JTC will listen to our appeal compassionately and kindly in view of the serious economic tsunami that has already started and is expected to worsen and affect us all severely in 2009.
In view of the tenancy deadlines imposed by JTC, we do urgently seek an audience with you, not later than 16 Dec, so that we may hand over the signed petitions to JTC. The residents group has planned for two possible timeslots that you could meet with us:
one being at 9pm on Monday in Block 32, Holland Close, #01-134 in our MP's office/Community Centre; or
the second is at 9pm on Tuesday in 35, Jalan Puteh Jerneh
If we are not able to have a proper meeting and discussion with you, we will present our case to the two ex-prime ministers who have spoken so proudly of our world class creative community in Chip Bee Gardens that has made Singapore proud. We will also be presenting our case to other relevant Ministries in hope for more sympathetic ears and will rally the press and public support to have our voices heard.
Again, we appeal to JTC to withdraw the threatening legal letters and to give us a proper opportunity to present the signed petitions to you and to seek your agency's compassionate support and kind consideration to engage in dialogue with our community to find a socially responsible and fair compromise on this subject. In the Chip Bee Gardens context, JTC is dealing with individual families that have varying economic thresholds and limited monthly income. To have to suddenly deal with significant rental increases of 60% to 80% under such a short notice period in this unprecedented economic downturn is an extreme financial burden for many residents.
When the Singapore government is expounding to companies to be humane where possible to its employees in cost-cutting and retrenchment measures and when its ministers and other government agencies are taking proactive steps to buoy the local economy and community, we appeal to JTC, as a government agency, to take a humane and socially responsible approach to working with our community during these difficult economic times.
Some options we would like JTC to explore:
For new tenants entering Chip Bee Gardens, JTC should maintain prevailing market rates as these individuals/households will be making tenancy decisions based on their in-coming financial thresholds.
For existing tenants, we would like JTC to review if they can maintain the rental increases for existing tenants to the same pricing thresholds that was extended to tenancy renewals transacted in the June-July 2008 window; that is, when the rental renewal window was between the $3000 - $3200. Rationale:
The pricing thresholds during this period was commercially viable for JTC and so it should not be financially disadvantageous to JTC to maintain them for current renewals
It reflects some level of financial thresholds of the existing residents during a window when the economy was still thriving
We would like JTC to make a further analysis if it might actually save JTC more money by renewing the existing tenancy agreements with marginal increases in rental rather than bringing in new tenants at the new market rate. Rationale: with new tenants; JTC potentially incurs additional costs for re-renovating the housing units and some corresponding loss of 2 to 3 months rental income to JTC whilst renovations ensue.
Dear Mrs Ow, we hope to receive your positive response today (via copy of all residents on the email distribution list) and look forward to meeting with you this evening at 9pm at our MP, Mr. Lim Swee Say's Meet the People office or at 35 Jalan Puteh Jerneh tomorrow evening at 9pm. We sincerely wish to engage with JTC on this subject very close to the community's heart.
As a residents' community, we will want to take the right course of action to ensure the signed petitions from the majority of the Residents of Chip Bee Gardens gets a proper and compassionate hearing from the relevant authorities from the Government of Singapore. This letter was compiled as a collaborative input of the residents representatives in the cc list.
Yours sincerely,
Residents of Chip Bee Gardens
Please respond to : 35 Jalan Puteh Jerneh, Chip Bee Gardens and residents on the cc list.