[Oyk]

Their only claim is company promised to extend when property was sold for a premium.

The premium was never stated in initial contract. The company asked for $130K for 20yrs extension which the residents rejected as too high.

I think people have to understand that only what is in the contract is valid. Anything outside is not guaranteed.

If one go in with eyes open to pay for 30yrs low cost housing and no extension. These properties are a good deal for retirees who want a quiet place and rent out their HDB in Singapore.

If you retire at 40, you might have 20 years of relatively good health.  Then you live away from the urban madding crowd, and live close to nature.  You are likely to be healthy and fit enough to do a lot of things on your own.

A lot of young people think of retirement along this line, and assume that at 65 years of age, they will have a body of a 30 year old....can kick a ball around, can cook...do BBQ, picnic, dance to the latest rock, pop, gangnam...with a 100 W amplified speaker.

Reality is....
If you have elderly parents living with you, you will know that this is not the case..  

In countries like Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, they have large families where the young take care of the elderly members of the TRIBE. In Singapore, you may not even be married and have chewren. What tribe can you talk about?

In Singapore, your chewren go out to work, you are alone in your HDB flat.  You retire in Batam, it gets worse because first, your chewren are a long ferry ride plus taxi ride away.  Two, you are not fluent in Bahasa.  Three, you are old, and Auntie Lucy (aka NTUC Fairprice) is not a stone's throw away...you cannot carry too heavy...you may have hypertension, heart problems, ischemic heart disease   Unlike when you were young, you cannot drive, cannot even ride a bicycle to do your shopping.  Worse if you have had a stroke.

When you are old, what you need is a polyclinic close by, a hospital within minutes of an ambulance ride, top notch healthcare and not village doctors...and supermarket, wet markets, hawker centres all nearby....you want urban living....plus you want neighbours who can speak your language if you need help, and you get that in HDB flats, not some where in Batam.