Fundraising for Home & Children

31/8/22: In the News - Strong demand for 5-room HDB BTO flats in Ang Mo Kio despite prices of up to $877K. Second-timers face an even bleaker prospect with more than 82 applicants to each available unit.

HDB BTO flats are Built-To-Order. Order them now and wait a few years for them to be built. As I’m not allowed to buy from HDB for 2.5 years until about November 2024, i.e., I can only order from HDB in about November 2024, would prices for new HDB BTO flats reach or cross S$1 million by then?* After applying, wait around 4 to 5 years for the flat to be built, wait some more for the keys, wait for repairs/renovations I’d be around 60 years old when I move in! This is if I can afford the crazy high prices or continue to live in this “slum”. *HDB resale price has crossed S$1.4 million this year.

27/8/22: In the News - More new HDB flats to be set aside for first-time homebuyers, starting from BTO exercise on Aug 30. At least 95 per cent of the *four-room and larger BTO flat supply in non-mature estates will be set aside for families applying for the first time, up from current 85 per cent currently. For *three-room BTO flat supply, at least 85 per cent of the quota will be set aside for these families, up from 70 per cent now. *Five-room HDB flat actually means 3 bedrooms, four-room HDB flat actually means 3 bedrooms and three-room HDB flat actually means 2 bedrooms while two-room HDB flat actually means 1 bedroom.

Th new rule is another barrier in front of me and my kids as I bought a flat with my mother 24 years ago as a first-time applicant. My mum went to live with my sister then I agreed to sell the flat to fulfill someone else’s dream of buying a condo. Every single cent from the flat went into buying the condo which was later repossessed by the bank. Now, as a second-time applicant for a HDB flat, there are extremely few flats and the crazy high prices of HDB flats is way more than what I have in my CPF (government held) account.

Updated 6/8/22: The Housing & Development Board (HDB) rejected my appeal to buy from them. They have a waiting period of 2.5 years until about mid-November 2024 before they’ll entertain an application from me to buy a house from them. I have no choice because resale prices of government housing has gone up to as high as more than $1.4 million for a HDB flat. HDB also requires that I pay them $15,000 in lump sum CASH being a sales levy for the sale of my first HDB flat in 2013. I owe my sister, friends & lawyers more than $50,000 for helping me the last 2 years. How do I pay HDB $15,000 in cash to let me buy a house from them? This situation is so impossible. So very impossible to get around. There is somehow a chronic shortage of HDB flats for many, many years since approximately 2002. 20 years! 2 decades of shortage of HDB flats. We are not Crazy Rich Asians. We live in a teeny, tiny, 50-year old HDB rental flat where we have to walk sideways due to the very little space inside & outside we are surrounded by trash & feaces. This is the life. A HDB rental life.

Updated 21/6/22: The bank that took possession of the house & sold it has also deducted $222,446.95 from the sales proceeds to pay for his forex trading!! What madness! How much more was thrown into the forex market? I implored him to stop forex trading. I asked our church cell group leader to talk some sense to him. I asked his parents to talk some sense to him. I asked his closest friend to talk some sense to him. I asked him to go for counseling as his anger was very frightening. Instead, he hated me for telling him to stop how he was mistreating the kids. He hated me for telling him to stop forex trading. He hated me for telling him to stop the violent temper tantrums. He hated me for telling him to stop the affair. My kids & I have been left with almost nothing but trauma & deep sorrow. I’m not having any luck in my job applications. There are supposed to be so many job vacancies yet no one has hired this 51yo former housewife. I can’t help but feel extraordinarily disappointed. I thought we were on the road to healing but this feels like damnation instead.

Updated 25/3/22: Our former home was put on auction, however, it was not a success. It may be sold at about 12% below the asking price which would also be below the bank’s valuation. I’m waiting for news and just hope to get out of here soon. The rental blocks are very neglected. I’ve not seen any cleaners and the grounds are terribly filthy with trash all over and even dog/human excrement. Yes, there are “slums” in crazy rich and super clean Singapore! There is even a homeless woman, whom I offered food to, who sleeps rough at a bench downstairs. My neighbour is also a single mum of 2. We’ve exchanged food. There was a terrible fight between a man and a woman upstairs last week. Her screams were very loud & terrifying. Fortunately, the police came. Lastly, I want to update that after going without a CPAP for over 15 months I finally replaced my broken CPAP. Thank you all so very much! Everyone’s help has been great! Thank you all for blessing us & may you all be blessed very much more! Thank you

Updated 25/12/21: I no longer have access to my matrimonial home. Handed over the house keys to the bank’s Law firm. My sons & I now live in a very old, tiny apartment with 1 bedroom, rusty pipes, rusty screws, leaking tap, broken toilet bowl seat, etc. We don’t have a stove & I don’t have a bed. There’s no space so I cook with what I have & sleep on the sofa. We’re surviving & I still have faith that things will look up for us. Thanks so much to my sister, old & new friends, & donors. I am blessed to have good people in my life. I am grateful for all the care & concern I have received. My sis & a few friends helped me over 3 weekends to pack & move. I’m so very thankful as it was a stressful time. Thank you to all the kind souls in my life. Now we wait for the bank sale of our former home. I know bank sales usually receive lower offer prices & as the master bedroom is badly damaged - multiple cracks on the door, broken door frame, broken glass closet door & multiple dents on the parquet floor - the offers will be even lower. I just hope a kind soul will buy it at the valuation price or very close to it. Government built apartments just keep getting more & more expensive. So expensive that we may be stuck here for a long time. I hope not

Updated 12/11/21: We have 1 month to move out then we’ll be homeless. No child support and soon no roof over our heads too. I never expected that getting married would lead to this situation

Updated 1/9/21: It is worse now. From 1/9/20 to 1/9/21 (12 months), we have received 4.5 months of maintenance from March to June 2021. I live in a crazy expensive country. I had a little 2-bedroom government built apartment before I married. It was sold to fulfill another person’s dream of buying a condo. The bank is commencing legal proceedings to take possession of our home so my sons and I will likely become homeless in a few months. I can’t afford anything, I can’t afford to buy a 2-bedroom apartment from the government nor rent one from the open market. I can’t even rent a 1-bedroom apartment from the government because of our matrimonial home. I tried applying online. It stated that I’m not eligible even after our matrimonial home is sold! A very dire situation and I keep ending up in dead ends in my search for solutions. Since 2018 it has been nightmare after nightmare. Now my husband is also claiming maintenance from me. It’s the craziest thing

Updated 1/8/21: From 1/9/20 to 1/8/21 (11 months), we have received 4.5 months of maintenance. He’s not going to honour the court order of 12/3/21 any further.

Updated 30/6/21: From 1/9/20 to 30/6/21 (10 months), we have received 4.5 months of maintenance. The boys are still afraid of their father. For months I’ve suggested my husband get parent-child counseling to help him with his relationship with his sons but he declined saying he doesn’t trust counselors

Updated 25/5/21: It has been almost 9 months & we have received 3.5 months of maintenance.

Updated 19/5/21: I returned $500 to a friend who donated it here because I had gotten a court order on 12 March 2021 for maintenance. Since 1 September 2020, almost 9 months, I have received 2.5 months of maintenance for our home and children. My husband informed me on 14 April that the court order of 12 March 2021 included all expenses except the mortgage for the house, thus my husband left the estate maintenance bill of $1,307.70 for me to pay. By then there was an additional late payment interest charge of almost $30. As of today, I can see from my bank app that the mortgage due on 1 May hasn’t been paid. It takes time to sell the house. I don’t even have the money to repair the house. How do I show a house to potential buyers when it’s in this state? Am I to sell the house at a loss? How would I then pay for a roof over our heads? I had a house once. Bought it before I married. It was a cozy little apartment & only cost one-tenth of our current house. I agreed to sell it when my husband wanted to buy our current house. I didn’t receive a single cent from the sale of my house as it went into buying this house. Now I’m faced with the possibility of this house ending up in a bank auction where I may possibly get nothing. No roof. No home. I spent time at a shelter when I was about 6 years old & our parents had abandoned us. It saddens me greatly that I may end up at a shelter again but one thing for sure is I’d die before abandoning my kids. I live for them & only them. I shared a bit of my life here: https://www.facebook.com/100044572113214/posts/302483157914086/?d=n

Updated 13/3/21: Many thanks to the Law Society Pro Bono Services, a volunteer lawyer helped me during yesterday’s court hearing. Many thanks also to family and friends who were praying for me and my sons during the hearing. I accepted a compromise (19/4/21: details deleted due to legal threat even though I told the truth. I don’t have money to hire a lawyer to respond to my husband’s lawyers) worked out for the benefit of the children. (19/4/21: deleted due to legal threat even though I told the truth. I don’t have money to hire a lawyer to respond to my husband’s lawyer). I hope we can all now live peacefully.

The next step is to take care of the safety hazards in the house. Please help me to repair all the damage in the house:

1) Broken master bedroom door frame, damaged master bedroom door, damaged bedroom 3 door and frame. The master bedroom door frame has long nails jutting out thus is a safety hazard.

2) Broken closet door. I did my best to patch it up with clear tape to keep the cracked glass from falling, however, this is only a temporary solution. I’m afraid one day the countless pieces of glass will all come falling down.

3) Master bedroom parquet floor. I remember staff from the flooring company telling me the parquet is thin as it had been sanded down a few times due to defects discovered before we moved in. There are now around 100 dents on the parquet as a result of the metal balls hitting the floor.

This is a quotation I received for 1) above. It’s too costly:

Timber door frame (supply and install)
Size up to: 3 x 7ft x 95mm
Price $1000 before GST

-included hacking existing wooden frame.

HPL laminate door (solid) bedroom door
Size up to: 3 x 7ft x 36mm
Yellow label price $299 before GST
Pink label price $329 before GST

Minimum purchase 2 doors, price included door knob and stopper.

A volunteer I met recently works in a renovation company. She’ll come over to inspect all the damage and give me her quotation. Hopefully, she can offer much more affordable solutions.

Updated: 19/4/21: I received a quotation from another contractor. Again it’s so costly:

780 per door frame = 1560
480 per door = 960
380 per closet door
= 2900

Please help me with the repairs and to replace my CPAP that hasn’t worked since mid-December 2020.

Thank you so much!

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[Deleted. Please refer to update above.]

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLufCKmi_81B1DWvx4hQ8ST3y3ZA2RQkCO

I have been a full time mother of two children for almost 16 years. My child with special needs requires close supervision, medication and therapy. My marriage has collapsed due to a third party’s more than 3-year intrusion and other issues. These difficulties have had depressing effects on me and my children. Their academic performance has suffered and their teachers call, text and email almost every week (up to 3 times a week) on behavioural issues in school. Our self esteem is in tatters and I’m constantly distracted and exasperated by the multitude of problems. I am struggling to cope. My health has deteriorated these few years. Please refer to the update in this campaign for my health issues. One of the effects is daytime fatigue but I’m doing my best for my sons.

We need help to repair our house. I started this campaign hoping to raise funds to buy an apartment for my mother where my sons and I could seek refuge too, however, this campaign isn’t reaching many people. I continue to hope for solutions. (19/4/21: deleted due to legal threat even though I told the trut I don’t have money to hire a lawyer to respond to my husband’s lawyers). Please donate and share this fundraiser. Thank you so much.