Daily Archives: 18 Sep 2009

Counsellors find way out of debt for families

Posted on 18 Sep 2009 | Comments Off on Counsellors find way out of debt for families

HDB’s specially trained staff have helped 800 families so far

ABOUT 800 families who owed the Housing Board money have downgraded to smaller flats in the past year, after receiving debt-management advice from specially trained HDB staff.

In an apparent move to tackle the growing number of households in arrears, the HDB, in September last year, started deploying these housing counsellorsin its branch offices.

And one of them, Ms C. Arasi, said that patience is key when it comes to dealing with home owners with difficult cases.

The bulk of her cases are the ‘more complex’ ones, such as divorced couples who try to push responsibility for settling the loan to the other party, or jobless workers who are unable to keep up with repayments.

The majority of those in arrears are odd-job workers without a stable income or Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions, she added.

‘Previously, the block officers in charge handled these cases but they may not have the time or skills to deal with these people,’ she said.

‘We are trained to counsel, to empathise.’ Continue reading →

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Farrer Park hospital delayed

Posted on 18 Sep 2009 | Comments Off on Farrer Park hospital delayed

A HOSPITAL-cum-hotel complex that was slated to open next year at Farrer Park has been delayed till the end of 2011, but this has resulted in lower costs for the developer and doctors who bought its medical suites.

Planning for Connexion started well before the financial crisis, resulting in high initial estimates for building costs.

However, piling work took longer than expected because it was being built above the Farrer Park MRT station.

The targeted completion date had to be pushed back, said Dr Maurice Choo, cardiologist and chairman of Singapore HealthPartners, which is behind the project.

Forty local doctors own half of the Singapore HealthPartners stakes, while the rest is owned by architect Lim-Tan Suat Hua, families linked to Malaysia’s Berjaya Group and little-known Indonesian firm Wharton Scott.

The $600 million project standing on a 1.36ha site in Race Course Road was initially scheduled to open in October next year.

Dr Choo said the delay resulted in construction costs coming down, and this lowered prices of the medical suites by a third. Continue reading →

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