“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown” ― H.P. Lovecraft

What Howard Phillips Lovecraft, the father of modern horror has recognised is that the humans are uniquely vulnerable to uncertainty. I would think that this is why many Singaporeans are anxious about the HDB flat lease decay issue, and understandably so.

99-year ‘Timebomb’

If all things remain constant, HDB flats will have to be returned to the Government once the 99-year lease expires. Naturally, this is anxiety-inducing, as depreciation will eventually set in as the lease on a property decays over time. In other words, the value of your HDB flat will fall together with its age. To get an idea of how much the value will drop, here is CEO of International Property Advisor Ku Swee Yong’s forecast of how much an average HDB flat might depreciate over time:...