‘I can’t bear to leave': Henderson Heights residents who are relocating

All her life, 42-year-old Janet Yee has lived in a two-room rental flat on the 15th floor of Block 91 Henderson Road.

The home is filled with family pictures, Buddhist figurines that belonged to her parents, and old furniture such as two cupboards that store the clothes and bedsheets of Ms Yee, her Malaysian husband, and two children, aged five and nine, in their bedroom.

But Ms Yee never intended to live there forever.

“I had always wanted to buy my own flat so that my kids have more certainty and security than I did. When you live in a rental flat, you never know when you might be asked to move,” said the senior kitchen leader at a Japanese pizza restaurant.

Her fears came true earlier in 2024 when she was told by the Housing Board that her family had until the end of September 2025 to move out.

Her family is among 675 households living in two-room rental flats at Henderson Heights – which comprises Blocks 91, 92 and 93 – that are being relocated.

This is the sixth relocation of rental residents that HDB has done in the last five years. The agency said it is reviewing development plans for the Henderson Heights site.

 

Many of the residents have lived in the estate, which was built in 1975, for over two decades.

All 20 residents whom The Straits Times spoke to were upset when they first learnt in March that they had to move. They were informed by HDB officers who went door to door.

Many residents spoke fondly of leaving a neighbourhood where they had raised their children and worked to rebuild their lives amid various adversities, including divorces, injuries and illnesses, or brushes with the law.

They also rued the impending loss of the estate’s close-knit community, especially the elderly, who thought they would live out their golden years there.

Since October, residents have been selecting replacement flats from over 40 rental blocks across Singapore. Some will move to nearby estates such as Redhill and Tiong Bahru; others will move farther away to places like Ang Mo Kio.

 

Priority to pick flats has been given to the elderly and households with members who have special or medical needs. HDB said nearly seven in 10 of the 675 households have selected a replacement rental flat.

Said Ms Yee: “I have so many memories here. This is where I took my first steps, and where my two kids took theirs, too. All the firsts happened here. I thought I would have a few more years to say goodbye to this place.”

In 2022, she dug into more than two decades’ worth of her Central Provident Fund savings to buy a three-room Build-To-Order (BTO) flat with her permanent resident husband, just a stone’s throw away at Bukit Merah Ridge.

But their flat will be ready only in 2028, which means the family will need to continue renting from HDB for at least another four more years. They will be moving to a two-room flat in Jalan Bukit Ho Swee.

 

For some residents, like 90-year-old retired cleaner Lim Lay Eng, this is not the first time they have been told to move.

Slightly over a decade ago, she was living in nearby Block 95 when the authorities told her she had to relocate.

Her block, where she had been living for over 20 years, and two others were going to be demolished and redeveloped. Today, a BTO project stands in their place.

Madam Lim said she was fortunate enough to move to Block 93, but is disappointed that she now has to leave the neighbourhood for good.

“I really can’t bear to leave because I have many friends here, including people at Redhill Market,” said Madam Lim, who lives with her younger son and will move to a two-room flat in Jalan Bukit Merah.

Madam Rasidah Ebus, 60, will miss gathering with neighbours of all races at the void deck of Block 93 every evening.

“We come here to chit-chat and enjoy one another’s company. On Saturday nights, we also bring home-cooked food down to ‘makan’ together. We try to take care of one another,” added Madam Rasidah, who has lived in Block 92 for 25 years.

 

“I have been very stressed ever since they told us about the move in March. Everyone in the estate has been asking one another – in the lifts, or at the void deck – what their queue number is (to pick a flat), or where they will be moving to,” said Madam Rasidah, a retired mail sorter who used to work at Singapore Post.

She hopes to get a rental flat in Jurong as her 18-year-old son has cerebral palsy and will attend a day activity centre for adults with disabilities in Jurong West from 2025.

But she is not hopeful – while rental units at Block 967A Jurong West Street 93 are on the list that residents can choose from, the block has hit the Malay ethnic quota limit.

Madam Rasidah has appealed to HDB to be allocated a flat in Jurong. She is grateful HDB had set up a counter at the void deck of Block 93, where residents could inquire about the relocation exercise.

Henderson Heights residents can select flats and collect their keys at this counter, which is based inside a community space called We Love Learning Centre run by grassroots volunteers, instead of travelling to HDB Hub in Toa Payoh.

 

HDB said this has made the relocation process more convenient, especially for residents with mobility issues, and allowed it to address immediate concerns quickly.

The agency also said residents will receive rehousing benefits to cover part of their moving costs – families will get $2,500, while singles will receive $1,250.

Those who are ready to buy their first flat will be given relocation grants ($25,000 for families, and $12,500 for singles) to help them do so, said HDB, adding that about 40 households at Henderson Heights have booked new flats.

According to a rehousing benefits guide seen by ST, all residents will also have the first month of their rent waived, while those who get a replacement flat in towns that are farther away, such as Ang Mo Kio and Bedok, will get additional rental credits equal to the rehousing allowance.

 

Ms Joan Pereira, an MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC, said the grassroots team of her Henderson-Dawson ward formed a multi-agency task force with HDB, social service agencies, mosques and the area’s Social Service Office to support frail individuals and vulnerable families with the relocation.

The grassroots team will also share information with agencies working in the estates where they are being relocated to, so they will continue to receive social support, she added.

On the sidelines of a farewell event on Nov 10, Ms Pereira told ST: “It is going to be very tough for me to let them (the residents) go... but I told them that Henderson-Dawson is always open, and they can always come back to the market and hawker centre here or meet me if they need assistance.”

For Ms Yee, who began working part-time at McDonald’s when she was 15 to supplement her family’s household income, parting with her home of 42 years is bittersweet.

“My sisters and I did not have much growing up, but there was so much joy in our flat. And our mother worked so hard for the family and made sure we had new clothes every Chinese New Year,” she said.

“She always wanted to buy us our own home and leave rental housing. After working and saving for so many years, I can finally fulfil her wish.”