Tampines Murder: HDB flat Owner A New Citizen

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

Source: TR EMERITUS

Tampines murder: HDB flat owner a new citizen
December 22nd, 2014 | Author: Editorial

It was reported last week that a PRC man was arrested for the suspected murder of a PRC woman at Tampines Central 1 early Wednesday (17 Dec) morning (‘PRC Tampines murder: M’sian HDB owner lives in condo‘).

It turns out that the man and woman were husband and wife as further reported by the Chinese media in a follow-up report. The Chinese media reported that the PRC man suspected his wife had an affair and started questioning her all the way to the Tampines flat, where they rented a room from a PRC master tenant.



It was also reported that the master tenant first rented the whole flat from a Mr Chew, who in turn rented out to at least 8 other PRCs living in the flat.

The master tenant later confirmed that he was helping the flat owner to manage the sub-leasing.

Shin Min Daily interviewed Mdm Fadzilah Hanum who lived next door to the HDB flat. The flat is owned by a Malaysian, she said. He married a PRC and the couple live in a condominium while renting their HDB flat out to make money.

According to Mdm Fadzilah, the couple bought the flat 5 years ago. She said, “They lived there for about 2 to 3 years before moving to a condominium at East Coast. They then rented out their HDB flat and there were many tenants seen moving in and out.”

“He gave me his name card and asked me to inform him immediately if the flat gets too noisy. He said he will take care. Nothing has happened until now,” she added.

Mdm Fadzilah also told the media that she had seen mattresses in the living room, indicating that many tenants were staying in the HDB flat at times.

HDB flat belongs to new citizen

Later, ST reported that the unit is owned by a couple, Mr Chew Chak Min and Ms Huang Yuefan. ST also reported that Mr Chew actually works for SAA Architects Pte Ltd.

According to the company’s website [Link], Mr Chew is a director of the company:



He has a very impressive resume [Link]:

Chew Chak Min’s key roles as the Director include coordinating the needs of clients and project staff, overseeing the architectural aspects of the design, construction documents and specifications. Since joining SAA in 2001, Chak Min has undertaken projects such as the development and implementation of institutions, low-rise residential, retail and office projects.

In addition, Chak Min was the lead in the design and implementation of stations on the MRT North East Line and was appointed as the team leader for the newly completed Circle Line. He also plays an active role in delivering One Raffles Place, a prestigious Grade A office tower in downtown Singapore. He is currently leading JTC Space @ Tuas, a multi-uiser development scheduled for completion in 2016.

He is involved in many of the prestigious projects in Singapore:

Completion In 2017
Development of Changi Airport Budget Terminal 4 | Singapore | S$ 1b

Completion In 2016
JTC Space @ Tuas | S$ 315m
JTC Space @ Tampines North | Singapore | S$ 62m

2013
C2110 – Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link comprising RTS stations in Singapore and Johore Bahru with integrated Customs Immigration Quarantine (CIQ) | Feasibility Study

2012
Redevelopment of Tower 2 and A&A works to Tower 1 at One Raffles Place OUB | Singapore |
S$ 220m

2011
Singapore MRT Circle Line 4 & 5 for 6 stations | Singapore | S$ 1.2b
A&A works to Jurong East MRT Station design review and technical support | Singapore

2010
Singapore MRT Circle Line Stage 2 for 4 stations | Singapore | S$ 700m

2008
Bishan Interchange MRT station | Singapore | S$ 83m

Further ACRA check by TRE revealed that Mr Chew is a new citizen. He was previously a PR.

HDB guidelines

According to HDB guidelines [Link], only Singapore citizens can rent out their whole HDB flat. Other requirements include:

• Owners who wish to rent out their flat must meet a Minimum Occupation Period (MOP)
• Subletting of a flat to one or more non-Malaysian NCs is subject to the Non-Citizen quota for subletting of flat. The NC quota is set at 8% and 11% at the neighbourhood and block level respectively. It applies to subtenants who are Singapore Permanent Residents and foreigners, but not to Malaysians.
• Owner needs to make sure the flat is sublet to eligible subtenants only
• Making sure that there is no overcrowding and the number of subtenants does not exceed the maximum number allowed – in the case of Mr Chew’s 5-room flat, the max allowed is 9 persons
• Making sure that subtenants have entered and are remaining in Singapore lawfully at all times (while rental is in effect)
• Making sure that subtenants do not further sublet the flat to other persons

In the case of Mr Chew, it appear that he may have infringed on the guidelines of HDB, especially the part about not letting subtenants to further sublet the flat to others.

It’s not known if HDB will penalize Mr Chew, a new citizen of Singapore, for any infringements.

What do you think?

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