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Volkswagen Accused of Cheating on Emissions; Republican Presidential Candidates Stoke Controversy with Muslim Comments; The Role of Santeria in Cuba; Skyville Looks to Redefine Public Housing in Singapore; Game of Thrones Wins Big, Viola Davis Makes History at Emmy Awards. Aired 8:00a- 9:00p ET

Aired September 21, 2015 - 8:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[08:00:35] ANDREW STEVENS, HOST: I'm Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream.

Billions of dollars wiped off the value of the world's biggest carmaker after Volkswagen apologizes for cheating on an emissions test.

A major security breach for Apple as apps infected with a security flaw reach the iPhone and iPad app store.

And Republican presidential candidates stoke controversy with their comments on Islam.

$18 billion is gone. Volkswagen stock plummeting more than 20 percent, a fifth after the U.S. accused the car maker of cheating on

pollution control tests for years. The EPA says Volkwagen installed software that only turned on controls during emission tests in nearly

500,000 diesel cars.

Volkswagen CEO has apologized for breaking consumers' trust and says there will be an investigation.

Well, Volkswagen faces billions in losses. Let's got to Isa Soares now with more on this story. It's interesting, Isa, that the CEO is

talking about a breach of trust with their customers. This looks more like a criminal act.

ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It could be -- it could be, Andrew. But this case may be too early to tell.

I was speaking to an auto analyst exactly about this point. And it's a very good question. And basically what he said to me is at this point

it's too early to know, because you just do not know how much -- who knew what and when.

Without a doubt, VW will be facing a very heavy fines for really for actually going against U.S .regulators, for misleading them, for lying to

them about cleverly implementing -- implanting this little device that lied about its fuel -- about its emissions.

What we don't know at this stage is, did Winterkorn, did the CEO right at the top, did he know about this? Or was he not made aware? Was this

just within a department within Volkswagen that they put this through?

So, the level of knowledge within VW is still not known. So that makes a criminal investigation, criminal case, much harder. But without a

doubt, Andrew, the fines will be hefty.

And we've got the numbers just to break it down for you. Now, if it does prove -- this is just an accusation so far. Just so viewers are well

aware. If it -- if VW did go against federal clean rules, then they'll have to pay $37,000 per vehicle. They have sold 408,000 cars since 2008.

If we do the math, that's $18 billion worth of fines. That's a top level of fines.

And then on top of that, you talked about how much money has been wiped off the marketshares, more than 14.5 billion euros so far today.

Stocks down more than 20 percent or so, last time I checked. So you start to get a picture of how this could escalate. 19 percent at the moment, get

a picture of how this could escalate into a full-blown scandal for VW and really tarnish its image, Andrew.

STEVENS: Yeah, as you say lying to regulators even as Isa they were promoting clean diesel as part of their marketing plan to get into the U.S.

market, weren't they?

SOARES: Absolutely. This is something they've built their image around. You know, 20 percent of their vehicles are diesel engines. The

U.S. markets, though, Andrew, only account for about 6 percent, though, of their sales. Nevertheless, you know, I was speaking to one consumer of an

Audi A3, which is basically one of the brands that's affected, Audi A3, VW Jetta, Beetle, Golf and Passat models. And he was saying to me here in

London, look, I bought my Audi A3 on these green credentials. I bought it because, you know, basically traveling through London, the congestion

charge, it's much, much lower than if I bought anything else. So, I think consumer confidence will be hit.

But in the U.S., this is something they've made a huge push for. It is this growth in Diesel cars that attracted such a large following,

really, of VW. But like you said, it's not just -- this is not, Andrew, a question of, you know, a usual recall, a faulty item within a car, this is

their accusations of them going -- lying to regulators and knowing about it and not -- and really going against everything that the automotive industry

has been standing up for. And this is damaging for automakers.

If we have a look at shares of other automakers, down right across the board. I'm talking about Daimler, I'm talking Peugeot. Their shares are

down. Look at that, BMW. Daimler was down almost more than 5 percent last time I checked. But look, 4.5 percent.

So this is the concern that they -- with this defeat device, this sophisticated algorithm, they deliberately set out to mislead regulators

and that has huge, huge question marks regarding what does this mean about this green credentials of the automotive industry.

[08:05:49] STEVENS: Just very quickly, Isa, just how dirty, then, are these engines?

SOARES: Well, they could go up. Basically what -- the way it was explained to me today by an auto analyst, because I had so many questions

about this, basically is when the algorithm that was put in there, the -- basically when they go for the test, that's turned on so it's clean. Once

they're out on the road forty times more emission. So that is really worrying, forty times more. Problems such as asthma, those are the causes

that some people say, look this is just not good enough. You lied, and you shouldn't have lied about this which is something that is hugely serious.

STEVENS: They are shocking numbers they really are. Isa thanks so much for breaking that down for us. Isa Soares joining us live from London.

Just to repeat, Volkswagen finds stock down nearly 20 percent, still trading in Frankfurt.

Now, Apple is cleaning up its app store for iPhones and iPads following a major security breach. Researchers say apps with malicious code

made it onto the Apples official store. It was embedded in several apps that are popular in China including We Chat, that's a messaging app with

hundreds of millions of users. We Chat says that the security flaw has now been fixed.

So, here's what exactly happened. If you want to make an app for the iPhone or an iPad most of us use Apple software called Xcode. X code

believed that hackers created a fake version of Xcode, one that would add malicious code to any app created. It appeared that the infected version

was downloaded by some developers, mostly in China. Well those apps were then submitted to Apple which posted them onto the official app store.

Researchers say a few infected apps have made it to the Apple store before, but this is the first time so many apps have been compromised all

at once. And it's also the first time that it's happened with an app as popular as We Chat. Well, Apple says it's removing all the tainted apps,

while We Chat says it has now posted a safe version of its app to the store.

Well Alex Tsipras has now a second chance to lead Greece after declaring victory in Sunday's snap election. He was voted back in a month

after he resigned as Prime Minister and now it's up to his Syriza party to deal with the economic crisis, get the countries bailout on track and

manage the influx of migrants into Greece.

Let's get the mood now in Athens. Elinda Labrapoulou joins us now by phone. Now Elinda, this election victory is -- I guess it's sort of a part

of the victory, he still has to rule in a coalition doesn't he? And is that going to make it difficult for him to institute any tough changes.

ELINDA LABRAPOULOU, CNN INTERNATIONAL: For Mr. Tsipras this is definitely a victory in the sense that we were all expecting this election

to be neck and neck, and finally his party won with over seven percentage points difference. He did go into a coalition, he's joined a coalition with

a smaller party called the Independent Greeks. It's the same coalition partner that Mr. Tsipras had chosen before, during the general election.

And the two together will hold 155 seats in a 300 seat parliament.

So, it's sad to say at this point that although the numbers don't look very high, you know this does not look like a very strong coalition in such

a difficult time for Greece, at a time where Mr. Tsipras has to make so many difficult decisions.

He has managed to do quite a few things with this election. He has managed in many ways to purge his own party from the hard left. As you may

recall, before signing this bailout for Greece, a number of MPs, about a quarter of (INAUDIBLE) MPs had rebelled, they left the party. Eventually,

Mr. Tsipras was left without the majority. Now, by having that part out of the party, and therefore effectively out of the new government, he has

strengthened his position and it means that those who wanted Greece out of the Euro zone who were complicating things for him are now out. So, at

least in that sense, he is in the stronger position now.

STEVENS: Absolutely. He has much more support within his party at least.

Okay, thank you very much for that little input. Elinda Labrapoulou joining us live from Athens.

You're watching News Stream. Still ahead on the show, a North Korean woman orphaned during a famine is now giving back to other children who

lost their parents, and we'll be hearing her story.

And Pope Francis has been drawing huge crowds in Cuba. We'll tell you what's next on his schedule.

Plus there's new controversy in the Republican race for U.S. President, and it's centered on comments about Islam.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEVENS: Welcome back.

Protests broke out in Japan over the weekend after lawmakers approved a controversial security bill. The bill grants Japan the power to engage in

defensive military actions over seas to aide its allies. Well Japan has had a pacifist stance since the end of the second World War. Some are not happy

about the change, prompting the protest and even scuffles inside parliament.

North Korea has invited CNN's Will Ripley back into the country. He wanted to meet people outside the countries capital Pyongyang so government

officials took him to meet a 20 year old woman they say is a shining product of North Korean collective society. Well she was orphaned in the

countries famine during the 1990s and was later adopted, but now she's dedicating her life to adopting other orphans while also holding down a

full time job. Will Ripley has her story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL: North Koreans born 20 years ago during the Great Famine are too young to remember when these fields were

ravaged, when hundreds of thousands died from starvation.

Jang Jong Hwa doesn't remember the mother and father she lost.

My parents died a long time ago. I was so young, she says.

The 20 year old is part of a generation of orphans, now young adults, born during the 1990's humanitarian crisis North Korea calls The Arduous

March. A family with three children of their own took her in.

My adoptive mother was so kind to me, she says. A kindness she's trying to repay by serving the state, caring for a house full of orphans

while also working full time.

Jong gets help from family, friends and neighbors. She began taking in orphans when she was 18, just out of secondary school. Now, she's caring

for seven of them. An achievement recognized by North Korea Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-un.

Jong shows us laptops sent by the state for the kids to study with, but she doesn't have batteries to turn them on. The family, including all

seven orphans, live in standard government housing, sharing a one bathroom apartment in a working class neighborhood 45 minutes west of Pyung Yang.

The oldest orphan, Jong Un Jong, is 16. Her parents died working in a state owned steel mill. The other workers took turns caring for her, her

brother and sister until Jong brought them home.

At first, she was like my older sister because she's only four years older than me, but now, I call her my mother, she says.

She and her sisters say they want to join the army to serve Kim Jong- un, and their younger brother wants to play soccer.

When I grow up, I'm going to be a very good football player to please our leader, he says. All tell me they consider their leader their father,

something we hear everywhere in North Korea. Jong says she hopes these kids will grow strong to serve the nation.

Our country is one huge family, she says. And here, country always comes first.

Will Ripley, CNN Nampo City, North Korea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEVENS: It's been more than 50 years in the making, but now Nepal has put its new constitution into effect. For the first time, Nepal's

governing document was written by representatives of the people. It took more than 7 years to draft, but not everyone is happy. A handful of groups

representing ethnic minorities have denounced the new constitution, they want a bigger representation in parliament and have launched protests over

the past few weeks, including this one on Sunday.

Pope Francis is kicking off the second leg of his trip to Cuba. He left Havana just a short while ago, heading to the eastern part of the

island, where he'll hold a mass in about two hours from now. On Sunday, he received a very warm welcome from a large crowd in Havana's Revolution

Square, and he had a rare meeting with Fidel Castro at the former Cuban leaders home.

Well Cuba is a multicultural society with strong African influences and some Cubans practice a religion that combines Catholicism with African

traditions. And that's blended into a religion that's being called Santeia. And it's caused some consternation among Catholic leaders there.

Patrick Oppmann has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In the gritty harbor side town of Regula (ph) just across the water from Havana, the

faithful adore their beloved local statue of the Virgin Mary.

It's one of the largest Catholic processions, leading up to the visit of Pope Francis to the island. But not everyone here is a strictly by the

book Catholic.

Priests order the crowds not to throw money at the virgin, a veiled reference to the kind of offerings made by followers of Santeria.

Santeria has its roots in Cuba's slave trade. The slaves brought here from Africa were forced to convert to Christianity, but catholicism, mixed

with African traditions and a new religion was born -- Santeria. Many Cubans say they are Catholics and Santeros.

"You can be both at once" Isabel (ph) says. "First you have to believe in the Lord Jesus and then Santeria."

And even though the previous two popes to visit Cuba didn't acknowledge Santeria's large following on the island, practitioners of the

religion, like Anita (ph) say they are excited that Pope Francis is coming.

"It's a big deal," Anita (ph) says. "We welcome him. And we hope to see him."

Duality is nothing new for an island that is both Communist and capitalist, African and European.

Juan Carlos Toca (ph) is a Babalawo, or Santeria priest. While he has crosses and images of Jesus in his home, he says Santeria, also known to

some as the Yoruba religion, has its advantages.

"The church calms people. It gives them spirituality," he says. "The Yoruba religion is more direct with the analysis of problems and the

solution to those problems. So a lot of times people like it more, though we can say your problem is this and here is how we are going to fix it."

As the Cuban government has loosened controls on religion, the number of Santeria followers has soared.

Santeria's rise in popularity has presented a dilemma for the Catholic Church. Church officials criticize the religion being what they call a

cult, but at the same time they acknowledge that many of the people who come out the Catholic processions and services like this one are followers

of Santeria.

The Catholic church was nearly shut down in the early years of the Cuban revolution. And it's been a long road back.

With the visit from Pope Francis, the church is now trying to build up the ranks of the faithful, even if they might not be, well, always faithful

to just one Church.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Regula (ph).

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: Saudi Arabia's crown prince says the safety of Muslim pilgrims is a top priority as the Hajj begins today in Mecca. And he's

promising the deadly crane accident of Islam's holiest site would not affect the annual pilgrimage of about 2 million Muslims from around the

world, that's another are expected to take part in the Hajj.

Well, more than 100 people were killed when a crane collapsed at Mecca's grand mosque just a week ago.

You're watching CNN News Stream. Still to come on the show, the shrill chorus of chirping fills the early morning air in downtown

Singapore. We'll tell you about the unexpected residents of the city's hippest shopping district.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:24:07] STEVENS: That's the view looking across Victoria Harbor to downtown Hong Kong. Welcome back to News Stream.

Now in Singapore just down the road from Hong Kong, Orchard Road is a 2 kilometer boulevard that's home to high end retail shops and restaurants,

but as David Molko now explains one of Asia's most shopping strips is also the center of a year's long turf war between man and nature.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MOLKO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's Saturday and Singapore shoppers are out in full force.

As the sun sets, the crowd builds -- not on the ground, but in the treetops.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see the birds here. They're actually flying everywhere. They came from here. There's altogether about 5,000 of

them.

MOLKO: How many?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 5,000 of them.

MOLKO: Up here, the first thing that hits you is the noise.

But down on the street, well, let's just say look out below.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow, lucky.

MOLKO: It's lucky in Chinese culture.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it's lucky.

MOLKO: The worst culprits are these Java myna says Stephen Go (ph) at the Orchard Road Business Association and they have been coming every

evening for at least a decade.

If these birds could understand you, what would you want to tell them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay out now and give me night and come back where there's no (inaudible).

MOLKO: Businesses here have tried everything and anything to get these birds to try another spot. They even brought in a trained hawk from

a local bird park. But apparently there are so many birds, even the hawk got spooked.

SUBARAJ RAJATHURAI, WILDLIFE CONSULTANT: It's obvious what they're saying. This is my roost, get out of the way.

MOLKO: Wildlife consultant Subaraj Rajathurai says Orchard Road's bird problem is entirely man-made.

The Yangsana (ph) trees were brought in decades back to quickly green the city, the mynas came from Indonesia.

RAJATHURAI: They work in gangs so they're very successful. Secondly, they (inaudible), which means they do well in an urban environment.

MOLKO: Subaraj says to convince the birds to move on you first have to understand why they're here.

RAJATHURAI: (inaudible) a tree that's cut from palm leaves where it's open and light penetrates birds will like it.

MOLKO: Move these trees away, he says, and the birds will follow.

RAJATHURAI: Away from people, away from houses. They can poop in the grass all they want.

MOLKO: Chances are it's probably not a priority, because most people here don't appear to let the birds get between them and a bargain.

David Molko, CNN, Singapore.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: Still to come here on News Stream, caught in controversy, two U.S. Republican Presidential candidates are under fire, one for what he

said about Islam, the other for what he didn't say. Stay with us.

Plus, all smiles on the red carpet as stars of primetime television turn out for the 67th Emmy Awards. We've got the highlights just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEVENS: I'm Andrew Stevens in Hong Kong. And you're watching News Stream. These are your world headlines.

Volkswagen shares tumbling more than 20 percent after U.S. regulators accuse the company of cheating on pollution emission tests. The

Environmental Protection Agency says the company programmed the software in some diesel engine cars to give false emissions data.

Well, Apple says that it's removing infected software from its app store after a security breach. Researchers say apps with malicious code

made it on to Apple's official store. They include several apps that are popular in China such as WeChat. The company says that the latest version

has now been fixed.

Alexis Tsipras is set to return as prime minister of Greece after declaring victory in Sunday's snap election. He resigned as prime minister

last month after facing criticism over a bailout deal he struck with Greece's predators. Now his job is to keep that deal on track.

Well, the latest talk in the U.S. presidential campaign has centered on controversial comments about Islam among Republican candidates. The

presidential hopeful Ben Carson says the U.S. should not elect a Muslim president. And Donald Trump continued to face questions about a recent

campaign rally when he failed to counter anti-Muslim remarks made by a supporter.

Athena Jones is in Washington with the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[08:30:56 DR. BEN CARSON, 2016 REPUBLCIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This shocking statement by Dr. Ben Carson under a spotlight this morning in the Republican

presidential race.

On NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, Carson said a Muslim president should not be in the Oval Office and that a president's faith should matter

to voters.

CARSON: If it's inconsistent with the values and principles of America, then of course, it should matter.

JONES: Later, when Donald Trump was asked about the possibility of a Muslim president, he said...

TRUMP (via phone): Some people have said it already happened.

JONES: A reference to President Barack Obama. Trump later adding...

TRUMP: He said he was a Christian, and he said he is a Christian. You know, I'm willing to take him at his word for that.

JONES: But Carson is doubling down on his controversial comments. In an interview with a Washington newspaper "The Hill," he said, quote,

"Muslims feel that their religion is very much a part of your public life, and that is inconsistent with our principles and our Constitution."

Democrats were quick to pounce.

SANDERS: You judge candidates for president not on their religion, not on the color of their skin, but on their ideas on what they stand for.

JONES: This as the latest CNN/ORC poll shows Trump and Carson losing momentum with voters after the CNN debate. Trump still the frontrunner but

his lead slipping as Carly Fiorina makes the biggest jump, rising 12 percentage points.

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How many of you saw the debate on Wednesday night?

JONES: Over half of poll respondents who watched CNN's debate think Fiorina did the best job, Florida Senator Marco Rubio taking home second

place, far better than his former mentor, Jeb Bush.

TRUMP: I think Carly had a good night, but I think you gave her a lot of very easy questions.

JONES: Trump now zeroing in on the post-debate star, attacking Fiorina's record as CEO once again Sunday, tweeting, "She did such a

horrible jot at Lucent and H.P., she never got another CEO job offer." The GOP frontrunner writing, "There is no way that Carly Fiorina can become the

Republican nominee."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: Athena Jones reporting there.

Meanwhile, on the Democratic side of the race, a new CNN/ORC poll shows Hillary Clinton is bouncing back after a recent downward trend. The

former Secretary of State has widened her lead over challenge of Bernie Sanders among Democratic voters nationally. That lead grows even more if

Vice President Biden does not run. Without Biden in the race, 57 percent of those polled say that she'd be their top choice for nominee in 2016.

Well, the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards made history on Sunday night when Viola Davis became the first African-American to win outstanding lead

actress in a drama. She won for her role in the series How to Get Away With Murder.

Meanwhile, Game of Thrones reached another Emmy milestone. The HBO blockbuster racked up a record 12 awards in one night.

Well, for more on tonight's highlights, let's go to our senior media correspondent Brian Stelter now who is in New York.

Let's just take the overview on HBO. What are they feeding them over there? These guys are on a tear?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN MEDIA CORRESPNDENT: You're absolutely right about that. This was perhaps the most dominant year by HBO in over a decade.

And the reason why I say that is HBO won both the best drama award for Game of Thrones, and the best comedy award for Veep. The last time the same

network won both those awards was in 2002. It was NBC winning for The West Wing and Friends.

So it goes to show that HBO really dominated these awards last night. In fact, it won more awards -- 14 -- than every other network combined.

I think what it shows is that in an age where Netflix and Amazon and Hulu are creating new competition, HBO is still the television brand to

beat. We should mention it's owned by Time Warner, which also owns CNN. So we're talking about a sister network here.

But HBO really has kind of set the pace for all these other networks, whether it's Game of Thrones or Veep or other series.

STEVENS: Yeah, absolutely. Knocking them out of the park.

Now, as I mentioned Viola Davis. I'm curious, does it surprise you that it's taken to 2015 for an African-American woman to win sort of best

lead actress in a drama?

[08:35:12] STELTER: It absolutely shows the distance that is still, you know, there between the American reality, the diversity that we see all

across the country, and the diversity that's still lacking in Hollywood. And we heard her address it on stage. I think we can play the part, which

she said on stage last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VIOLA DAVIS, ACTRESS: In my mind I see a line. And over that line I see green fields and lovely flowers and beautiful white women with their

arms stretched out to me over that line, but I can't seem to get there nohow. I can't seem to get over that line. That was Harriet Tubman in the

1800s.

And let me tell you something, the only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an Emmy for roles

that are simply not there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: Certainly one of the most emotional moments of the night. We should mention one other moment that I think was history making and that

is Jeffrey Tambor who is a straight white man as an actor who is playing a transgender woman in the series Transparent. This is Amazon's breakout

hit, the streaming service's breakout hit. And Transparent's award last night, Jeffrey Tambor's winning of that award was a landmark moment as we

see television reflecting again the full diversity of the country and the world presenting an award to a transgender character.

Jeffrey Tambor has been praised for his performance and he dedicated the award to the Transgender community last night.

STEVENS: Yeah, absolutely. That was also quite a moving speech, too.

OK, Brian thanks so much for that. Brian Stelter joining us from New York.

You're watching News Stream. Still ahead, a new housing project in Singapore is breaking the mold. Why developers say it's both park and

apartment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:03] STEVENS: All this week, CNN is on the road in Singapore. And today, we're taking a look at public housing. More than 80 percent of

Singaporeans live in what's commonly known as an HDB flat. Now Paula Newton takes us inside one new project that's anything but ordinary.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORREPSONDENT: Look up, straight up, and dream. Public housing isn't normally the stuff of dreams, but follow me

for a whirl through Skyville, the vast open spaces of Singapore's newest housing project.

RICHARD HASSEL, ARCHITECT: But what we're not really building is more public space. And the idea within this building is that if you increase the

amount of parks at the same time you increase the amount of apartments you know we can actually end up with a better quality of life.

NEWTON: Architect Richard Hassel calls it a natural evolution, a concept of a public park, several of them, carefully curated in the middle

of a 47 story complex, each shared by 80 flats.

HASSEL: This is really integral that every home belongs to a village and the village are the 80 families that share this space.

NEWTON: This is about integrating communities, families, neighbors.

HASSEL: Yeah, but trying to do it in such a way that we're not forcing people together. So -- and I think we've struck the right balance

here.

NEWTON: Lucas seems to think so. The toddler is exploring his new home with his parents Marie and Leon (ph). They're waited six years to get

into this place.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're on the 32nd floor. And we're overlooking the city, the city view.

NEWTON: A measure of the demand to live at Skyville.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You've got a lot of privacy. It's got a lot of greenery, nature.

NEWTON: It's absolutely gorgeous.

UNIDENITIFIED FEMALE: The designed looked different from the standard public housing, so I think a lot of effort and emphasis has been on making

it look -- I don't know, a new kind of public housing.

NEWTON: For half a century as Singapore was built from the ground up, public housing was its very foundation. More than 80 percent of everyone

who lives here lives in public housing. To achieve that, for decades the aesthetic was pretty basic.

HASSEL: Many of these families 50 years ago were living, you know, in slums in Chinatown. And so this kind of a bright, aerie clean, spacious

apartment is incredible that they've done it for the whole country.

NEWTON: The key has been combining a public initiative with private ownership.

MARI LI, SKYVILLE RESIDENT: So I think the priority of home ownership is quite strong here in Singapore. And it's common among all the young

couples.

HASSEL: Because public housing is the only kind most can afford here, these public flats define where and how people live their very quality of

life.

And Skyville is a reflection of what they want now, a home in a bright flexible park-like community setting that they can call their own.

Paula Newton, CNN, Singapore.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEVENS: And that is News Stream. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Andrew Stevens. Don't go anywhere. World Sport with Amanda Davies is

up next.

END