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Today I found out that every new home in Singapore has to have a bomb shelter

7 replies

BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 09/07/2022 17:59

I watch a YouTube channel called Never Too Small and they have Singapore apartment designed by a father for his son. It's an amazing apartment, I couldn't live in it but it fits its owner perfectly. What caught my attention was that it had a bomb shelter in it, so I looked it up and it turns out that every home built since 1997 is required to have one.

A bit of Googling shows that everyone uses it for storage and very few have any confidence that it would stay standing 14 stories up if a building was bombed, although in theory it should as they are stacked on top of each other and reinforced and should still be there even if the rest of the building collapses.

I can't really find any reason why they require this. Some conspiracy type theories are that it's to make citizens a bit scared and therefore more likely to obey the government. I could understand why somewhere like Taiwan would require it as they are perpetually under threat of invasion by China, but Singapore doesn't have any countries making territorial claims on it.

OP posts:
BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 09/07/2022 18:00

I don't know why the video popped up there, it was supposed to be a link.

OP posts:
Bhu · 09/07/2022 18:02

They don’t use it for storage. Their maids sleep in there.

Bhu · 09/07/2022 18:03

They are built in as ‘bomb shelters’ because they aren’t officially allowed to be used as bedrooms.

bluejelly · 09/07/2022 18:04

That seems bonkers to me

Takingthepmaybe · 09/07/2022 18:04

Switzerland still requires this!

BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 09/07/2022 18:09

Yes, I did read that people make it the maid's bedroom although the article said that it's not legal as the ventilation is too poor. However some people use it with the heavy door open and either add a second, internal door or a fabric curtain for privacy. It wouldn't be my choice.

OP posts:
Bhu · 09/07/2022 18:22

Housing is absurdly expensive in Singapore, and live in domestic help is absurdly cheap. It is far more likely that someone can afford to employ a helper than for them to be able to afford a bedroom for her to sleep in. Hence, ‘bomb shelters’.

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