Speech by 2M Indranee Rajah at Bukit Batok East's Cluster Block Party (Nature View)

Ms Rahayu Mahzam, Grassroots Adviser for Bukit Batok East, Jurong East - Bukit Batok GRC
Residents of Bukit Batok East
Ladies and Gentlemen

Good evening, everyone.

Today I'm very happy to join Adviser Rahayu and all of you, because we want to share a few things. Very good to see so many of you with your families and friends, residents of Nature View and the wider Bukit Batok East community coming together for this block party.

First of all, a big thank you to the Town Council and all the volunteers for organising this block party. I hope everyone has been having a great time with the carnival games and activities. Events like these are a wonderful way for everyone to connect and have fun.

They are also important touchpoints for us to engage residents. For example, you may have seen the information panels at the back of the hall on the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme, or the NRP. The NRP was introduced in 2007 and it is intended to refresh your HDB blocks and neighbourhood spaces.

Last month, Minister Chee Hong Tat announced the latest batch of 17 NRP projects with a budget of over $130 million, which will benefit close to 20,000 households. This brings us to a total of 263 projects since 2007, including this ongoing NRP project right here in your neighbourhood.

HDB and other partner agencies will work closely with residents to shape improvements under NRP. Today, as part of the engagement process, Jurong - Clementi - Bukit Batok Town Council will be seeking your views on the improvements that you hope to see in your neighbourhood. I understand that the proposal for Nature View includes a new fitness area, playgrounds and sheltered linkways. I encourage everyone to share any feedback you have on the design proposals, and play an active role in shaping your neighbourhood spaces. Because we want to make sure that this is a place that you will enjoy, and it has the things that you want.

Beyond enhancements to our shared neighbourhood spaces, let me share more on what we are doing to refresh and rejuvenate our HDB homes.

Home Improvement Programme

Some of you might be familiar with the Home Improvement Programme, or HIP, which was also launched in 2007. As one of our key upgrading programmes, HIP helps to refresh and rejuvenate our older HDB flats to ensure that they remain safe and liveable for our residents. As of last March, the Government has spent about $5 billion on HIP. Thus far, 494,000 flats have been selected for HIP, of which 409,000 flats have been upgraded.

For those of you who are not familiar with HIP, there are two components.

First, essential improvements address common maintenance issues faced by older flats and help to improve public health and safety. These are fully funded by the Government for Singapore Citizen households, and include repairs to spalling concrete, replacement of waste pipes, as well as replacement of old pipe sockets with new clothes drying racks.

Second, optional improvements help to improve liveability within the flat. As residents, you can choose from a suite of options such as toilet upgrading, replacing the entrance door and gate, and replacing the refuse chute hopper. These optional improvements are heavily subsidised by the Government for Singapore Citizen households.

This year, I am happy to announce that HIP will be extended to another 198 HDB blocks across 12 towns, benefitting more than 18,000 households across Singapore.

Including the latest batch, around 512,000 flats, or about 9 in 10 eligible flats have been selected for HIP since the start of the programme in 2007.

Many of you have been giving feedback to Adviser Rahayu and my colleagues at HDB and asking when HIP will be offered in your estate. I am pleased to share that here in Bukit Batok East, more than 1,600 households across 14 blocks have been selected in the upcoming batch of HIP. These blocks are right around the corner, located at Blocks 288A to 288G, and Blocks 289A to 289G Bukit Batok Street 25.

In addition to HIP improvements, households can also look forward to senior-friendly fittings under the Enhancement for Active Seniors, or EASE programme. Many of you may have heard about EASE or have family and friends who have benefitted from improvements such as grab bars and ramps. However, some of you might not be aware that EASE was enhanced in 2024 to include a wider range of senior-friendly items such as rocker switches and Home Fire Alarm Devices.

Besides opting for these items during HIP, eligible households can also apply directly to HDB for EASE improvements at any time. In other words, you can have EASE together with your HIP. For other flats who are not on HIP can also apply for EASE directly. Since the launch of the EASE programme in 2012, about 379,000 households have benefitted from the programme.

So please encourage your family and friends to sign up for the programme, especially if they have seniors in their households, so they too can benefit from these heavily subsidised improvements.

Conclusion

In summary, HIP rejuvenates the inside of your house - refreshing your flat's fittings and fixtures, while NRP upgrades the shared spaces and facilities outside your home, in the surrounding environment. These upgrading programmes work hand in hand as part of our broader efforts to keep your HDB estates vibrant, safe, and comfortable as the estates get older.

On that note, thank you for joining us today, and I wish everyone an enjoyable time at the block party.