Residents hardly inconvenienced by President Halimah Yacob’s continued stay at her HDB flat

A complaint letter that is circulating online which is allegedly written by a resident at Yishun, claims that residents are inconvenienced by the security arrangement for the newly elected President, Mdm Halimah Yacob who has chosen to continue to stay at her HDB flat of over thirty years.

The letter wrote that Mdm Halimah is causing a major inconvenience to the neighbours and asked that the President to kindly pack up as soon as possible and vacate the premises.

The claims made in the letter are:

• 2 parking spots reserved for police vehicles
• Constant stream of reporters
• Members of your presidential entourage competing for parking space in an already scarce parking lot
• Police and other assorted SOs stopping everyone around the area to ask for their IC and their business
• People living in the neighbouring blocks have to go through police questioning every time they leave and return home. 

This afternoon, I made a trip down to Mdm Halimah’s HDB flat in Yishun to take a look at the claims made by the letter and to determine whether is there any truth in it.

What is obvious from sight, is a shelter constructed to ensure Mdm Halimah is protected from the elements while boarding her allocated vehicle and two red signs which writes, “Reserved for police vehicles.” But other than that, there is no other obvious security installation such as a gantry post or additional security cameras. Even at the lift or stairwell, there is no additional checks imposed upon residents.

Speaking to the people who so happened to be around the area, they say that the police will conduct a throughout security screening around the area before Mdm Halimah comes in and out of her HDB flat with little inconvenience caused to the residents.

While one will assume that vehicles would be thoroughly checked by security, it is observed that the vehicles entering the carpark are not subjected to any security checks and taxis could enter without restriction.

Residents are seen going about their daily life at the park and the nearby coffeeshop. There is little observable security presence other than a sighting of an uniformed police officer making his rounds around the block.

So from what I observe, there is hardly any evidence to support the open letter’s complaints and that it had indeed been written by a resident of the block.

TOC understands from a third party source that the units above and below Mdm Halimah’s flat are subjected to daily checks by police officers for security purposes and it has been going on for months even prior to the nomination day of the Presidential Election. But speaking with the residents, they say that they do not know of any checks conducted at their flat. When asked if they are inconvenienced by Mdm Halimah’s stay at the HDB, they say that they are more inconvenienced by the visitors and reporters than Mdm Halimah and her entourage.