Well...as some of you may have read in the papers...the recent WIS that happened on 2nd Feb 2007 caused a big hoo-hah in Singapore. Many were very unhappy that news of the WIS of matured estates somehow leaked and people were already Q-ing up 2 days before the launch!
For us, we might have become one of those who went to camp outside HDB. Someone I know works there and gave me a call the day before the told me that there's a long Q outside HDB already. She told me to quickly go down and Q. But I told her that I wouldn't wanna spend a night Q-ing for something which I am not even sure what it was. So I decided not to do it. As for her, she was informed that she had to report work the next morning at 7am because she would be involved in whatever was going on the next day.
So the next morning, I received a call from her at about 7am and she told me it was the WIS for matured estate. So I called Hun and we both rushed down to HDB Hub as soon as we could. We reached about 8am, which supposedly was the time the counter opens officially....but lo and behold...our Q number was like 496!! Nonetheless, we submitted the application and took the booklet of the units up for grabs.
Next, we sat down and shortlisted the units that we were interested in...came up to about 45 units in total. Then on sunday, Hun's dad drove us around to look at the units (only on the outside though) that we've selected. They are mainly from Redhill, Tiong Bahru, Clementi and Holland V area. After a tiring day, we managed to shortlist further which are the ones we really wanted.
Monday was the start of the selection exercise. It was an unforgettable day as I was logged on to the HDB website the whole day, watching the units we shortlised being taken. We lost many units because of the ethnic quota...so even though there are quite a number of empty units left, we couldn't apply cos the chinese ratio was full. After the first day, I must say I was very discouraged :(
The next 2 days, we started to select more units and look at the Depot area. On the day before our selection, we went in the evening again to take a look at the units that were left, after that night, we narrowed down to 5 units and prioritized them:
1. Holland Ave
2. West Coast Rd
3. Clementi West
4. Bukit Merah View
5. Depot Rd
We really really wanted the Holland Ave one and we prayed. The night before, I couldn't even sleep! But we thank God that our appointment time was 8:30am, which makes our chances quite high.
On thursday, 8 Feb 2007, we arrived at HDB at 8am. The television screens there were showing the units that are booked, and those that are still available. We saw the Holland Ave unit and were keeping our fingers crossed that no one before us wants it!
By 8:30, it was our turn. We told the officer which unit we wanted and she took our documents. However, we can't choosed yet cos the person before us is still making a selection. So we gotta wait for them. The officer told us they are considering Holland too! Our hearts were really pumpin fast!!. After what seems like forever, she came back and told us the person has made a choice, and it was not Holland Ave! So we confirmed with her again if we could book the Holland Ave unit and she said yes. Praise the Lord!
After that, we went to make payment and left the place...on cloud nine. It was so surreal...can't exactly describe the feeling.
So yes, here ends our house search in the most unexpected way, but a very very pleasant outcome...We are going to be Hollanders!! Yeah!
