Comments from an ex-AMK resident cum long time friend of 20-yrs
Met my long time friend 2 days ago for lunch. It had been a long while since we last catch up. She had been busy with her life and never follow any local news in-depth.
During coffee time, she asked how was things at my end. I replied didn’t you heard about the pile of unhappiness caused by SERS in AMK.
To my surprised, her answer was no and she was living under a rock. LOL!
Friend – “Oh, you kena enbloc? Where is the replacement site?”
Me – “Neh, the stupid Ulu AMK Dr beside AMK ITE lor. Not even birds want to lay eggs there.”
Friend – “Wah, you kena that place arh? So good!”
Me – “Huh? What do you mean good?”
Friend – “You know I used to live at Blk 540 for long time right?”
Me – “Yup. So?”
Friend – “That place is so nice! From YCK MRT you take bus 72 and after 3 bus stops you will reach home. Also in between ITE and Polytechnic. When driving, just turn out is already CTE. It’s so convenient!”
Sun’s ray after a storm?
Since after the SERS announcement, we were mired in bad news one after another. And as creature of comfort, it is hard to detach ourselves from the norms once we grew accustomed to.
My friend’s word as an ex-resident got me thinking about “Ulu” AMK Drive. To be fair, when I moved in to the current HDB 2 decades ago, amenities were much less desiring then. It took more than 10 years to get to what we have today.
We can’t buy time but we can buy locations with good amenities. However looking at my current age profile, financial standings and wants vs needs, I have to be very practical. It’s good to have hawker centres just a stone’s throw away but it comes with a hefty cost of paying $535K for a 4-room unit at level 2 in Central Weave @ AMK. Is it justifiable? To some maybe yes.
For my family, taking a bus from YCK and alighting 3 bus-stops later seems pretty decent. And along the way I saved at least $100K if we take ‘Ulu’ AMK Drive. After all, to me, it will be the home that my family will be living in for the rest of our lives and had no intention to sell even after MOP.
Asset Rich But Cash Poor
My worst fear in life is that when I am 65 years old, suddenly then I realised I am super asset rich but cash poor just as mentioned in this 2013 news article and this 2018 article. I can afford Central Weave @ AMK, but will that be a right move for me?
Given my age, I don’t intend to take any loans and will 100% pay off the 99-yr HDB upon collection of keys while still maintaining cash savings, CPF that already meet the required FRS or ERS in years to come and alternative income streams from a healthy investment portfolio and small business.
For a small city like Singapore and proximity between Central Weave and ‘Ulu” AMK Drive, if we adjust our living standards and expectations, it can really be like what my friend had said – AMK Dr is a good location. And the bonus will be the tons of money I saved from chosing AMK Dr.
The best thing in life is that we no longer need to worry about CPF accrued interest with HDB loans, or raising interest rate hikes from Fed and the next 1-month / 3-month SORA rates, news of looming global recession etc.
Rather, I can plan the next vacation with family to see Northern Lights in Norway or taking pictures of the lavender field at Hokkaido.