Developers, don’t get flowery
30/03/2007 The Star

YOUR ‘Boob Watch’ March 23, in which the writer commented on the grammar of a housing development’s promotional material, caught my eye. May I comment on the corrections suggested?

1. “The homes are built with a facade that highlights it’s exterior elegance ...’’

Although “it’s” should have been “its” (as pointed out by the writer), I wonder whether “their” should be used instead of “its” since “homes” is plural.

I also wonder whether housing developers put up “houses” or “homes”. I feel that they build “HOUSES”, not “HOMES”. Dwellers are the ones who decide to make their “homes” as they want them to be.

2. “Not to be missed is the spacious layout and the superior living standard of it’s residence.”

I agree with the writer that “residence” should be replaced by “residents”. We are referring to the DWELLERS and not the PLACE.

Another point to note is that since TWO subjects – “layout” and “standard” – are mentioned, the verb should be “ARE” and not “is”.

3. I agree with the writer about the meaninglessness of the sentence: “The homes are built for close connection of the community and world-class infrastructure.”

I can sense the thinking of developers: They use ‘flowery’ language with the aim of impressing potential buyers. And they tend to be so carried away by their notion of the grandeur of their projects that they forget they are addressing ORDINARY buyers who want the BASIC things a house can provide.

There is no point in flying off with high-flown words . – S.H. Huang