News Room

Mr James Koh, Chairman HDB

Mr Tay Kim Poh, CEO HDB

Principals, teachers and students from Nanyang Girls’ High

School and Beatty Secondary School

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good afternoon

1     I am glad to be here today for the opening of the revamped HDB Gallery. Singapore has witnessed a great transformation over the years, and many Singaporeans today enjoy a high quality of life. In this, HDB has played a significant role by providing every Singaporean with a roof over their heads, and a place to call home.

2     As HDB celebrates its 50th Anniversary in 2010, this newly revamped Gallery is most timely. It will allow HDB to showcase its remarkable journey in housing a nation through the past 50 years – from solving an acute housing shortage in the 1960s, to transforming Singapore’s housing landscape to a standard that has earned worldwide acclaim and recognition.

3     No other city or country in the world has elevated public housing to the level that we have achieved here. Most countries provide public housing only to cater to the bottom 20 percent of the population. But in Singapore, we have decided to cater to the majority, or about 80 percent of the population. The revamped Gallery will be an important showpiece to share our achievements not just with Singaporeans, but with the international community as well.

An Important Showcase

4     The success of our public housing programme has attracted many foreign governments and delegations to visit HDB to learn more about our housing programmes and policies. Since the previous Gallery opened in 2003, it attracted 330,000 visitors and played host to 1,200 foreign delegations comprising 25,000 officials. They included visitors from this region – from countries such as Malaysia, Brunei, China; and from further afield – from the United States, even Ghana and Costa Rica.

5     Many foreign delegations have found the Gallery a good showcase of our public housing journey. From the exhibits, they were impressed by how Singapore has transformed itself from slums to vibrant towns in just a few decades. They also told us that it has helped them better understand Singapore’s public housing programme, and to draw useful learning experiences.

6     The Gallery is also one of the designated Learning Journey sites planned for delegates of the World Cities Summit 2010, which will be held from 28 June to 1 July 2010. Ministers, Governors, Mayors and other high-level delegates, who will be here to exchange ideas and knowledge on urban development, will learn about Singapore's public housing experience at the Gallery. In line with the Summit's theme of 'Liveable and Sustainable Cities for the Future', delegates will uncover exciting plans for quality homes of the future such as sustainable housing, new housing norms, and community building.

7     On the home front, the Gallery serves an equally important function. It is designed to support the schools under the Ministry of Education’s Learning Journey for National Education programme. To date, HDB has conducted 150 tours for students to educate them on the work of HDB and its role in nation-building. These tours have given our younger Singaporeans a better understanding not just of public housing, but also of the history of their country.

A Self-Discovery Journey in Public Housing

8     As HDB celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year, the HDB gallery is an ideal platform to capture the evolution of public housing over the past five decades. It provides a canvas for HDB to portray not only the “bricks-and-mortar”, but also the “heart and soul” of public housing; and the Gallery is designed such that visitors can have an immersive educational experience.

9     As you will also soon discover, the revamped HDB gallery presents visitors with an exciting self-discovery experience. A variety of entertaining and multi-sensory exhibits will bring visitors through Singapore’s public housing story.

10     For example, visitors can find out useful information on HDB's 23 towns and estates and learn more about town planning. They can even compete with one another in the Town Discovery Challenge game and learn about HDB’s policies, fun facts and figures.

11     In addition, visitors can uncover exciting plans to create quality homes of the future and even bring home a photo memory of their visit.

Conclusion
12     Ladies and Gentleman, Singapore's public housing story is like no other. Here, I would like to pay tribute to all staff at HDB, both past and present. Your hard work and sacrifices have made a difference to the lives of all Singaporeans, and your success has also done Singapore proud in the international arena.

13     Through the Gallery, I hope younger Singaporeans will be able to learn more in an interesting environment, and that more of our foreign friends can take away useful lessons from our experience.

14     On this note, I am pleased to declare the HDB Gallery open. Thank you.