Happy 50th Birthday Singapore!

Image credits to keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk

Will be back with more renovation related posts...so do have a tremendously fun long weekend! :)

With Love,

Diva

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Couple's sewage disaster in new Punggol BTO flat

 

PUBLISHED ON MAY 12, 2015 6:23 PM

BY JOANNA SEOW & JALELAH ABU BAKER

Extracted from Straits Times 

SINGAPORE- Just a week before a young family was due to move into their new home in Punggol, they were shocked to hear from the Housing Board on Monday that there had been flooding in their unit.

When they arrived, they found it was not just water that covered the floor of the flat, but faeces as well.

Cement had choked the common sewage pipe shared by their seventh floor unit and those above it in Block 313C Sumang Link, causing a backflow into their home.

The owner, who gave her name as Ms Fadilah, 31, said she and her husband are "upset, stressed and angry".

"The dream house we have long waited to move into, which was complete with new furniture, was damaged just like that," she said. The renovations had been completed just a few months ago.

Photographs circulating online show faeces and murky water covering the floor of a toilet, hallway and living room.

It had even seeped into the children's bedroom and out of the front door. This was how a neighbour noticed something was amiss and called HDB last Friday, said another neighbour, Ms Fadhilah, 29.

A Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council spokesman said it was alerted by HDB on Monday morning. Town council and HDB staff went to the flat to help the family to clean up.

Confirming it was renovation debris that had caused the choke, he said: "We will be working with the HDB to find the culprit."

Ms Fadilah told evening daily Shin Min that when her husband turned up at their flat in Sumang Link, he was confronted with what she described as a "giant toilet bowl".

"My husband was so shocked that he just stood at the doorway crying. He couldn't believe what he was seeing," she said.

The family had spent some $50,000 on renovations alone, and intends to redo the whole house, including all the flooring which had stains between the tiles. A stench still lingered.

...............

joseow@sph.com.sg

- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/couples-sewage-disaster-new-punggol-bto-flat-explodes-on#sthash.cFRbEwGZ.dpuf

There is a saying...."When shit hits the fan...". Well, perhaps new homeowners should be very scared of what happens "when shit floods their home!"

Well, I have blogged about the issue of clogged pipes way back in my 2008 HDB defect checking post. Let me repost the paragraph again..

* ATTENTION*
It was just brought to my attention that aside from the defect lists I have compiled, you should also unscrew the metal covers of all the pipes in the kitchen and bathrooms. This is because some have complained of finding used food containers and waste construction materials underneath these covers! Some workers have even poured cement into these pipes. So, remember to dig them out before it clogs your pipes later on and also, lodge a complaint to HDB about it. :(

Lessons Learnt?

There are a couple of lessons learnt from this shitty incident...first of all, check everything! Nonetheless, I understand that there are pipes or areas which are hard to reach or impossible to check. However, I believe after this smelly incident, you can seek help from the HDB technical officer in checking these pipes!


The same goes for the Condo owners la...this might happen to you also. Why? All pipes are the same, construction workers might commit the same mistake. I heard rumors that they throw rubbish etc on the floor before pouring on the cement during the construction of the floors, it saves time and effort to dispose the waste. But I stress that this is a rumor...but it makes perfect sense.


Finally, the last lesson learnt? Buy home insurance and keep all the receipts of your purchase! Ok, I need to find out whether if the home insurance covers such shitty disaster...but one thing is for sure, if you have NO receipts, it is very hard to seek compensation and claims. Yes, you have to SCAN all the receipts since some of the damn receipts fade away with time.

Do you have any ideas what we can do to prevent this from happening again? Do share! :)

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Couple renovates 4-room Punggol HDB flat to look like interior of LKY’s 38 Oxley Road home property

I stumbled upon this post and this really amaze me....

One thing to note; seems like this picture is photoshopped; superimposed a couple onto the original photograph of LKY's living room.

Nonetheless, I wonder if our founding father is still alive....what would he say?

 A Singaporean couple have renovated the interior of of their four-room HDB flat in Punggol to look exactly like Lee Kuan Yew’s 38 Oxley Road home, complete with 1940s wooden furniture, tiled flooring and a clay urn that holds water to be used for bathing with a plastic scoop. The couple said this is the ultimate tribute they can pay to Lee Kuan Yew in honour of his legacy. To further pay their respects to the first prime minister of Singapore, they declared their intention to raise their one-year-old son to be the next prime minister of the country to follow in Lee Kuan Yew’s footsteps: “We feel that most Singaporeans are not going far enough with their words and deeds for Lee Kuan Yew.” “To show that we are not like that, we even named our son Lee Zhong Li in honour of our founding father. We are going to put him through the paces with multiple language classes and make sure he goes to Cambridge to study law.” Interior designers and home renovators said there have been no shortage of such queries these past few weeks to customise Singapore homes with Lee Kuan Yew’s favourite spartan look. One interior designer, Pai Mah Pi, said: “In our current climate, there is no such thing as going too far to show your respect and gratitude to Lee Kuan Yew.”

Resource: newnation.sg 

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Million dollar HDB: Bishan Executive maisonette sold for $1.09 million

 Images from emrenoblog.

"Despite the government’s cooling measures, a Bishan executive maisonette has been sold for a whooping sum of $1,088,888, reported the media. The 27-year-old two-storey unit is located at Block 194 in Bishan Street 13, near a 24-hour food centre and a supermarket. The deal was sealed in October...." 

Read the full article here.

In February this year, the EMRenoBlog blogger posted an article on million dollar HDB. It is really interesting that nearly 10 months later, another unit is being sold at an even higher price.

The ironic thing is that with such draconian property rules in place, record high HDB transactions are still taking place in a supposedly "soft" market. 

I guess the buyer is a Chinese family (since Chinese believes that 8 is a lucky number) who is willing to fork out an astronomical sum of money to own such a unit. Really CASH RICH lei. O_o""

Nevertheless, what makes such a unit so special?
Let us take a look at the floor plan and you will understand why.

 Images from emrenoblog.

The likely question on most people's mind is that will there be more of such record breaking HDB units in future?!

I guess HDB units with very rare layouts such as the "'Sky Terrace'" will be able to command such a high premium - for now. Due to the reduced years remaining on the lease, it will be difficult for the buyer to secure a bank loan to finance the property. Unless the buyer choose to pay mostly in cash lar...

  Nonetheless, I believe the resale units from The Pinnacle Duxton, SkyTerrace and Skyville at Dawson would perhaps command an even higher premium due to their highly central location and their young age.

Images from lalaland

Images from archdaily

images from sglivingpod

However, with the recent HDB Herculean efforts to ramp up the tidal supply of  BTOs, such unique HDB units will be a thing of the past. This is because in order to play catch up on the pent up demand of HDB flats, almost 95% of the HDBs built in the past 5 years are cookie cutter design; with similar extremely boring building facade. Don't know what I mean? Try driving through Seng Keng and Punggol and you will get it!

To be fair, even the mass-market condo looks the same (but thats another story!). I guess all of the developers; HDB and private developers alike, order their materials from the same supplier? Anyone can verify this? 

The HDB and private developers' effort to churn out units in the shortest possible time; either to meet the public demands for low cost flats or developer to milk as much money as possible from the homeowners and investors, the end result is that of homogeneous monotonous housing design. :( 

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Open House organised by Interior Design firms

Image from challenge.gov.sg

Have been attending a few open houses hosted by a few Interior Companies lately. Not that we are renovating our place...which we would if  we have the spare cash to do so! 

Well, Mr Diva and myself has been entrusted with a renovation project by our loved one...and thus we have been arming ourselves with the latest renovation news and happenings. Hopefully, we can help to make the renovation journey a smooth one for her.

The last few rounds were very useful and insightful. I would strongly encourage homeowners to attend these open houses because you get to:

1. See the actual workmanship and quality of the material provided by the Interior Company;
2. Mingle and talk to different Interior Designers at the same time;
3. Be inspired by the various different design themes;
4. Find out more on the prices, especially on the special Packages are usually offered.*

* However, I strongly advise not to sign up on the spot. Remember to do your homework and compare different packages offered before making any decisions. Try to bargain before signing anything.

Nonetheless, the open house could have been better:

1. Spread the number of people attending the Open House in different batches; this is mainly for crowd control as the flat is usually too small to fit in so many people!
2. Brief and detail what was done to the homeowners upfront instead of waiting to be asked; this helps to cut down the time spent in the flat;
3. Some Interior Designers in their haste to get the Open House ready simply forgot to prepare the unit properly; examples include leaving behind ugly stickers, unfinished silicons and this will affect the homeowners impression of their workmanship. Hummm....This really defects the purpose of "putting their best foot forward" isn't it?

Well, have you attended any Open House lately? Do share your thoughts!

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When things are not built to last

I was at my relative's place over the last weekend and in the middle of our dinner, there a loud distinctive water splashing sound emitting from his common bathroom; it sounded like someone is pouring a huge bucket of water right into the shower area.

Instinctively, we rushed over and lo and behold; we were shocked to see water streaming rapidly down from the false ceiling.

Upon further investigation at the manufacturer's website, we realized that apparently, the "aggressive"water (another word for acidic water) has corroded the pipes, leading to the water leakage from the storage heater.

We scrutinized the water heater's warranty card issued by the developer and realised that unfortunately, the 5 year warranty just lapsed a few weeks ago!

Similarly, the residents of The Peak @ Toa Payoh and newly TOP Vacanza private condominium face a host of defects after the liability period. Every now and then, the residents will post photos or accounts of defects that occurred right after the warranty period.

What do these mean for Homeowners?My relative could have preempt the situation by paying more attention to the water heater in the last few months. I guess one of the biggest lesson learnt is that gone is the era when things are built to last. We have to especially keep a vigilant watch over the appliances which are nearing their end of the warranty period.

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Selamat Hari Raya

Selamat Hari Raya

I have been very busy lately since I am managing a renovation project on the behalf of my relative. As it is an Condominium unit, there are a lot of new things to research and understand. In the meantime, I will try my best to post what I have learnt whilst managing this project.

In the meantime, Selamat Hari Raya to all my Malay readers! :)

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Paradigm of a "livable" Home

 

 Image from dornob

"When it comes to interior furniture furnishing, it is no longer just about color and aesthetics. It is about creating a personal intimate space which enhances our quality of life. 

It is about a Home which ultimately brings out the best in us.

It is about moving away from whatever perceived norms or space constraints which were placed upon us."

As I noticed the growing popularity of small size apartment which has steadily taking hold in Singapore recently, this thought suddenly came to mind. 

The steady downward march of the home sizes is fueled by the pressure on the developers to keep the quantum of the property purchase affordable. This is so far the most effective means of coping with rising home prices.

However, a smaller unit size certainly certainly poses a big challenge for homeowners like us. Many of us might have veered clear of smaller units due to the misconception that smaller units are simply "not-livable"

Nonetheless, I realized that all we need is a subtle shift in our paradigm of a "livable" home.

Just take a look at this video.


Are you amazed at how one can really maximize the use of very limited space?

In order to utilize our space effectively, we have to start to think in terms of multi-dimensional space; a space can function for different purposes at approporate juncture.

Apart from this, we have to think of muli-functional furniture pieces too; furniture which pulls double or triple duty to suit the homeowner's needs and purposes.

Image from designrulz. Multiplo modular furniture can be a bed, table, sitting room and much more.

Image from bharatdreamhome. The bed can be tucked away when not in use.

Interestingly, there was an initiative from a developer, to showcase that size doesn't matter when a home has been correctly furnished. The pilot involves a family of 3 and the family would feedback to the developer during the trial stay.

Free concept condo trial showcases small space

I would love to findout the outcome of the trial but so far, I am unable to find any more news on this. 

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Will Renovation Raise the Price of Your Property - Part 2

Image from Livingspace

I posted my views on whether renovation will raise the price of your property in May two years ago. I read with interest that similar views were shared in this article recently.

So you might be wondering why on earth do I bring up this article again?

Now, as a case in point, let's look at what happened today.

A property agent was trying his very best to convince us to purchase a resale unit. With a high COV of course.

Here is a quick overview at the situation at hand:

Family Makeup: 

A family of 4, maid and 2 hyper active dogs. 

Renovation Works: 

Very extensive; additional grills at the service yard and balcony to keep in and keep out the active dogs; bomb shelter which has been remodeled as a maid's room (and the bomb shelter's door was removed!! That is not permitted! Please refer to my post on Renovation Works allowed for Bomb Shelter.) A study room for the kids constructed in the middle of the hallway, a huge and thick TV feature wall cum storeroom with a 42" hole set aside for the flat screen TV. Due to this huge feature wall cum storeroom, there is simply no space for any sofas. Walls were removed for an open concept kitchen, room doors and walls were relocated, additional walls constructed to allow for a bigger master bedroom with a semi walk-in wardrobe.

And the list goes on.  

Obviously, their interior designer took great pains to ensure that the entire place is customized according to the family lifestyle needs. Hence, I am sure the family has spent a huge bomb in their renovation.

However, the family and the property agent is being unrealistic when they expect their prospective buyers to pay a premium for their renovation decision.
Every family's lifestyle need is unique. Yes, not every family comes with a maid or pets.
There are families who want sofas in the living room. And to add on - most flat screen TV can't even fit into the TV feature wall cum storeroom. 

To end off this post, it is very comical to hear the following condescending comments from the Property Agent.

"This is MOVE IN condition! No need to renovate what! ALL YOUR NEEDS ARE TAKEN CARE OF! Why do you want to remove the feature wall?! Do you have any idea how much the owner has spent in the renovation?! "

Gosh.

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Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Yet another year has passed and Christmas is upon us again.
This blog is alive is because of you..and hence I would like to thank all of you who have made this blog possible.

In the upcoming year, I hope to focus more on home products reviews and share tips for upgrading your home. I hope you will like them!

Lastly...

Image from bloggiveaways.blogspot.sg

....and a very Happy New Year!

:)

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Wrap the Perfect Eco-friendly Christmas Gift

Wrap the Perfect Eco-friendly Christmas Gift during this festive season! :)

Here are some tips to be environment friendly when wrapping presents.

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Happy Deepavali!

Happy Deepavali to my Hindu readers!

Thank you for your support all these years! :)

To my readers who have dropped me enquires, many apologies for the late reply as I am still clearing my mailbox.

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Renovation Plans Ahead Update - It isn't a Happy Ride

It isn't a Happy Ride

I blogged my Renovation Plans Ahead nearly 2 months ago and decided to do a quick update tonight.

In our search for a reliable renovation professional, we decided to head back to the Interior Design company which done up our flat nearly 6 years ago.

Many of you have actually asked me for the name of the Interior Design company which was responsible for our renovation, and hoped that I could recommend its services to you. 

Well, I decided not to since although the Interior Design company - let us call it G.P - had done a reasonably good job, I am not so sure of its after sales services.

Nonetheless to cut the long story short, I am glad that I did not recommend G.P to any of my readers. I am terribly disappointed with their way of handling their past customers. 

We approached G.P for a budgetary quotation on the cabinets. After some discussion, Mr Diva helpfully pointed out that their workmanship still have to be improved since one of the cabinet drawer had fallen off after barely 6 years of use.

J, the interior designer said that this could be rectified promptly FOC if we write in. I was pleasantly surprised since our 5 years warranty had lapsed.

However, another interior designer S, who was supposed to follow up in this matter took ages to respond. I wrote in a couple of times just to arrange on the date which the rectification can be done and most of my emails were ignored.

Until Mr Diva got so fed up he wrote to the managing director directly and S took action immediately.

As employees representing their company, J and S did not take this opportunity to re-engage their past customers and instead chose to sideline them instead.

With this, my faith and trust in G.P is gone. I do not and have decided not to engage them for my future renovations.

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Selamat Hari Raya

This is year another and my blog would not have made it without your support. I would like to wish all my Muslim readers joy and happiness on this special occasion...

Selamat Hari Raya!

Image from harjun.biz

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Overhauling my Blog

I am in the middle of overhauling my blog right now... Hence, do allow me some time as I reorganise my blog posts to make it easiler for you to access them.

As of now... the following are under construction:

• The top menu might be empty for some category. I am slowly tagging blog posts to the correct category..In the meantime, you should use the blog archive to read the rest of my blog post
  
  
• New categories are being introduced. My renovation project has completed quite a couple of years back...I have ventured into home maintenance and home related products and thus will be posting more of such right now. Even though there are minor renovation projects in the pipeline, they are not as massive as compared with what I have done before.. 
  
  
• There might be some broken links in the middle of the blog posts. I am in the process of removing all the ads from my posts and hence the broken urls..
  

Lastly, many thanks for visiting my blog. I hope you love the new layout as much as I do. Its like doing a mini renovation for my blog every year...improving it to make it more user friendly and prettier..hee hee...and also thank you for your emails! You have motived me to keep this humble place alive! :)

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Happy Lunar New Year

Image credited to irum

新年快樂 !

恭喜發財 !

Wishing you a prosperous and happy 2013!

:)

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Singapore White Paper - 6.9 million by 2030

  Picture from theglobalist.com

Singapore White Paper - 6.9 million by 2030 

The white paper recently released detailed the need for Singapore to increase the population to 6.9 million. I must say that the plan is indeed a very ambitious one.

The paper recited the need for us to import more foreign labor in order to sustain our economy growth. However I wonder if this is really the ONLY way for us to embark on. 

A quite fix

Honestly, to me it is a quick fix - and not a sustainable solution. It largely focus on the benefits to the country in terms of economic terms. 

Interestingly, there is actually an article which cautioned us the danger of such quick fix.

"Ponzi Demographics" - "Ponzi demography is essentially a pyramid scheme that attempts to make more money for some by adding on more and more people through population growth...The underlying strategy of Ponzi demography is to privatize the profits and socialize the costs incurred from increased population growth. "

 

More questions than it solves

But I wonder what about the social cost - the cost of integrating the influx of foreign workers within such a short period of time?

Will our social fabric be further weakened? 

Will crime rate go up?

Will this make us spiral into a vicious cycle by further exacerbating our declining birth rate?

What if these immigrates do not reproduce too? What happens to them when they age?

Aren't we just artificially bumping up our numbers while side stepping our REAL problem? 

Doesn't this further  aggravate our existing housing and transport problem? And magnify loopholes in our silly systems such as the COE?

And the MOST important question is WHAT IF THEY ARE WRONG? IT IS A POINT OF NO RETURN ISN'T IT? You can't simply ask people to come live our land to leave when things do not work out they way they envisioned!

John Calhoun´s overcrowding experiment with rats comes to mind. Does our government want our future to be like that?!

Exiting problem is still unresolved

Our government has NOT solved the pressing problems that still plague our country - ridiculous soaring property prices and COEs. Transport infrastructure that has been stained beyond its capacity. 

Yet they are ambitiously announcing their next grand plan. O_o!

Actual ground sediments

I wonder...

How many of them actually take our overcrowded public transport system or need to pinch just to save for their next meal?

How many understand that we are increasingly frustrated at the more and more crowded Singapore? 

How many of them know that MOST OF US (except for the very rich) do not care about whatever economic gains they are talking about since for the past 5 years...

• Housing prices have soared;
• Private property have inflated beyond most of our reach and;
• Car prices have skyrocketed!

To put in layman's terms - commodities have already outpaced our wages. Thus, so what if we are earning more right now?  

My thoughts

When Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan promised us "high quality of life" even with such population increase, I wonder what was his definition of "high quality of life"?

For me, my definition is simply a less stressful life and less crowded road with lots of greenery. 

Historic places do not have to be removed to make space for roads or more flats. Forrest areas are preserved.

People do not rush and packed like sardines in the MRT trains.

Car drivers do not dangerously overtake each other since they are rushing to elsewhere?

Perhaps the lifestyle that we had when it was it in the 1990s and early 2000s fits my ideal pace of life. The future they painted is definitely NOT what I have in mind!

I want to end this post with Lesson for men? Overcrowding of mice leads to extinction.

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“Home Sweet Home 2013” Photo Contest by Renonation

“Home Sweet Home 2013” Photo Contest by Renonation

Renonation is holding a “Home Sweet Home 2013” Photo Contest and you can win up to $2,000 worth of prizes!

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Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!

 Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!

Yet another year has passed! I would like to express my thanks to the readers who have made this blog possible. In fact from the numerous emails I have received, I am glad to know that my humble blog has helped you tremulously during your renovation journey. Such feedbacks really gave me encouragement and strength to keep this renovation blog alive. :)

Happy Holidays! 

Diva79

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FREEBIES! Printable Holiday Gift Tags

Image  credits to Eat, Drink, Chic

Printable Holiday Gift Tags

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