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On home ground

Ms Sia wants to help provide world-class housing for Singaporeans.
PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG

MORE than 80 per cent of Singaporeans live in flats planned and developed by the Housing and Development Board (HDB), which also successfully solved Singapore's public housing crisis in just 10 years after the board was established in 1960.

To Ms Sia Tze Ming, 30, these facts alone are enough to fill her with awe.

She says: "The work that HDB does impacts a large proportion of our population, and I want to play a part in it."

The desire to contribute led her to apply for the HDB Undergraduate Scholarship, and she earned her Bachelor of Science in town and country planning at University College London (UCL) in the United Kingdom.

Her studies complemented her interest in learning how to shape people's living environment through the physical landscape.

She describes her life at UCL as enriching, as she learnt techniques to create better living spaces via urban planning, policy-making and community involvement.

She says: "Our classes extended beyond the classroom to community projects in various London boroughs, a feasibility study for a cycling plan project in Nottingham and a study on collaboration of different building professionals in New York."

"The training was largely based on a British and European system, and it was important to understand the local context so as to better apply the knowledge gained."

During her university term break, she underwent an attachment programme with HDB and participated in master planning and redevelopment exercises, which broadened her knowledge of physical planning in Singapore's context.

It was an eye-opener, she says, as the experience gave her a peek into HDB’s role as a public housing provider and a nation builder.

In 2001, she returned to Singapore and started working at HDB to tackle the board’s hardware challenges as an urban planner responsible for coordinating and planning the towns under her charge.

Last year, she took on a position that enabled her to examine the software aspect of HDB's work.

As a senior executive estates officer in the policy research and development unit, she reviews public housing policies and updates them when necessary to ensure they remain relevant. She also looks after the development of new policies.

She often has to deliver presentations on public housing to overseas visitors — a task she finds very interesting, as she is able to learn about the housing issues in other parts of the world.

She is also part of a team looking into public education efforts.

Ms Sia is happy to have experienced both the hardware and software aspects of HDB's work, as it has given her a good overview of how the organisation works.

She says: "Knowledge aside however, I think the key ingredients for a successful career are an open mind and good interpersonal and people management skills. People's habits and needs are changing rapidly, and there are new challenges to face."

"We have to keep adapting as well, picking up the trends and learning new ways of doing things. Only then can we continue to provide world-class housing for our residents."