Our Home is not for sale

This is what Goh Meng Seng said of his feelings about Hsien Loong’s National Day speech in his article posted in TRE. 

‘But yet, PM Lee wants us to feel “at ease” and reassure us that we can possibly retire by selling off our HDB flats! I am totally disgusted by such suggestion, especially from the ruling elites of PAP who have been paid obscene amount of salaries for the past decades and do not understand how it feels to be “forced” to sell off their “HOME” for retirement. Our HDB flat is our HOME, not an investment. PAP ruling elites don’t even understand this.’ 

The thought of selling your home is a very frightening and depressing thing, very emotional and upsetting. The home, no matter how small, is more than just the four walls. It is place that a person lived, grew up, a place that provided the comfort and security from the stresses and insecurity of the outside world. Many people think of home when they are insecure, in trouble, in need of help. It is home that provides the shelter and warmth when needed. It is a place of full of memory, an anchor of once life. 

The seniors are not as resolute and confident of themselves at their advanced age. They fear change, new environment, strangers, they need the familiarity, the neighbours and familiar faces, comfort and sense of safety in the homes they have lived in. The home is a part of their lives. To sell the home at a time when they are most vulnerable, financially challenged and emotionally unstable in a way is more than just about money. There are more to the selling of a home. 

In the same way, there are more to a country, nation and people than just goods for commercial exchange and economic growth. Selling a country is unthinkable. And selling a country is not simply getting a price for the land. A country can be sold in many ways without the citizens knowing it. Selling a country, selling a people, selling a home, is not a commercial transaction, but very much more.