‘How often does your HDB estate get painted?’ — Resident whose Tampines block looks like an ‘abandoned building in the middle of nowhere’ asks

SINGAPORE: After a Reddit user posted a photo of the building where he lives and asked how often others get a fresh coat of paint, people commented on how bad the HDB estate really looks.

“Just wondering how this process/frequency is really like on the ground so wanted to get redditors’ experience as well. Have been living in this Tampines HDB estate since 2005 and to date there was only one paint job done in 2008. So it’s been 15 years since the last paint job and was wondering if this is normal (since the flats in my surrounding have had a few paint jobs being done already) How do they decide who gets the paint job or not?” asked u/Nunububumemo on r/Singapore on Wednesday (Apr 26).

FYI: HDB blocks are supposed to get a fresh coat of paint every seven years, which is part of Repair and Redecoration works under Town Councils.

Commenters appeared to be shocked at the condition the HDB is in.

“The state of the building in your photo looks so bad, it looks like it’s supposed to be some abandoned building in the middle of nowhere,” wrote one.

“This is actually the worst I’ve seen along with Waterway Terraces mould situation,” a Reddit user opined.

“Wow this looks quite bad,” another agreed.

A fellow Tampines resident said the situation is quite different where he lives.

He suggested in a separate comment that the post author reach out to (PAP) MP Bae Yam Keng because “among all the Tampines MPs I would think he’ll be the most likely to do something about it.” Ouch.

One netizen got even more specific in identifying where in Singapore this building is.

“This is at tampines Street 42 blk 450+++++ For anyone who want to know where this area is. Take pictures of the moul and post too. There are mould everywhere.”

Another answered the post author’s question by saying that HDB estates get repainted “Once every 2 election cycle(s).”

One netizen, however, decided to be proactive, writing, “Alright let’s do it reddit, let’s blow this up and get this fellow dude a fresh coat of paint!” 

/TISG

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