Third day - Singapore International School, St Mary's Home for the Aged

Today is the day! Our presentation day! We have spent alot of time prior and during the trip to prepare for this presentation. 7 of us presented on Market Failure in the Consumption of Private Cars and Policies implemented by the Singapore government while the other 6 students presented on Market Failure in Housing Market in Singapore and the Policies. 

We were initially very nervous about this sharing as we will be presenting to our buddies from SIS.  However, we also look forward to this session as our buddies will also be sharing about the same topic in the context of Hong Kong.

We found out that the price of houses in Hong Kong is surprising more expensive than the housing prices in Singapore. For example, a 3 room HDB flat costs approximately SGD$455,000 in Singapore while a similar house would cost SGD$1 million in Hong Kong. We also learnt that houses in Hong Kong are expensive as people usually buy them as an investment and would sell these houses at a significantly higher price. Thus, the housing sector in Hong Kong still has much improvements to be made, in order to cater to the needs of more people so that they will be able to afford a house. 

After the presentation, we had a question and answer session whereby we asked each other and clarified the policies that we were unsure of. From that, we learnt that Hong Kong also has stamp duty imposed on foreign buyers just like Singapore. This stamp duty of 10% adds as a disincentive to investors to buy property in Hong Kong as it reduces their profits when they sell it in the short run. The price they sell has to be more than 10% higher than the price when they first purchase the unit in order to make an economic profit. However, this is unlikely to happen in the SR as property usually takes time to appreciate in value as a result of rise in demand due to various factors such as more amenities built around it. Hence, this aims to make it less attractive for investors to buy property in Hong Kong thus reducing the demand from this group of consumers. Holding other factors constant, price might fall or at least remains stable, hence preventing property prices from escalating so that more locals can afford to buy a house. This is one of the few measures implemented by the Hong Kong government to cool the property market in Hong Kong. We also learnt that this measure is mainly targeting at investors from mainland China as they form the largest group of "foreign buyers".

From the sharing on policies to reduce consumption of private cars due to presence of negative externalities, we observed a number of similarities between the 2 cities. For example, although Hong Kong does not have ERP to reduce or divert traffic, it has 3 underwater tunnels that link Hong Kong island to Kowloon with  differing toll charges. Drivers who have inelastic demand to use the road would usually take the Eastern Harbour-Crossing tunnel or Western Harbour-Crossing tunnel (operates by private firms) due to smoother traffic instead of the Cross-Harbour tunnel (operates by the government) which is usually congested as the charges for the latter is 10times cheaper.

During the Q&A session, several questions were raised by students from both schools to seek clarification on the points presented. These include why there is a fee differences between Cross-Harbour Tunnel and Eastern and Western Cross-Harbour Tunnels. We learnt that the last 2 Tunnels were constructed and operate by private firms under the Build-Operate-Transfer model proposed by the government. It is a 30 year franchise, afterwhich the license will expires and has to return to the government. During this 30 years, the private firms are allowed to earn up to 10% profits. This explains why the charge is 10times higher than the Cross-Harbour Tunnel operates by the government.

Miss Ekta, the Economics tutor at SIS commented that she finds the public transport system in Hong Kong much efficient than that in Singapore. She highlighted the transfer time taken as one of the key differences between the 2 systems. Due to time constraint, we couldn't clarify further but it certainly leaves us thinking how we could probably learn from Hong Kong and how the degree of competition in the transport system will affect the degree of efficiency. This has also given us more insight on the different policies implemented in both countries.

After the presentation, we adjourned to St Mary’s Home for the Aged for our CIP. St Mary’s Home for the Aged is a shelter for homeless and poor income elderly. This home was founded by t. Jeanne Jugan who was the mother foundress for the Little Sisters of the Poor. In Hong Kong, there is only one home available and the homes are also found in other countries such as the US and Singapore. 

The Little Sisters provide residents with a place where meals are shared in communion: Joys are multiplied and sorrows are divided: a place where the love of a human heart moves freely from one to another. Faced with the insecurity of the Elderly Poor, Little Sisters wish to give them assurance that they will be cared for with the competence and accompanied to the end.

While visiting St Mary’s Home for the Aged, we learnt more about the home and also help out by sweeping the fallen leaves on the walkway. Though it was just a few hours visit, we experienced and learnt lots of things. Teamwork is important as everyone has a part to play in clearing away the leaves. Sweeping the leaves on the walkway might seem like a minor gesture to us, but to the elderly, it is actually an act of kindness which transcends beyond words. We do not have to do great thing to help the elderly, little things that we do can also make a difference in their lives. For instance, we do not have to donate huge sum of money to the home to be considered as helping them, we can also help them in other ways such as spending time with them and cleaning the home. As we were interacting with some of the elderly at the home, they expressed their gratitude towards us and welcomed us warmly to the home. 

By volunteering our time at the home alongside with our Hong Kong buddies from the Singapore International School, we really felt that it was an enriching and rewarding experience. As the third day comes to a close, we look forward to going to Ma Shi Chau and Sai Kung High Island Geo Park Tour in order to see the physical geography lithospheric processes at work.