For the purposes of this article, I want to broadly defined the housing types into HDB - Lower Income. Private condos and apartments – Middle Income. Landed property – Higher income.
We have all been fed the company line. Singapore is a great economic success. This is all due to the Great Lee Kuan Yew and his vision. He transformed Singapore from a mosquito infested swamp and fishing village into the great metropolis that we see today. HDB is pointed out as the jewel in this crown, how the population was moved from ghettos into the modern highrise flats that they own. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The original idea for the HDB was not a PAP nor Lee Kuan Yew idea. It was started by the British Colonial administration as SIT (Singapore Improvement Trust) in 1927. The idea of SIT was to produce affordable housing for low income people. The performance of SIT up till the 1950s was abysmal. A British govt white paper in 1947 noted that Singapore had one of the worse slums in the civilized world, a disgrace to a civilized community. Upon Independence, the HDB was created to take over the role of SIT. Its mandate was the same. Under Lim Kim San, the HDB far exceeded what the SIT had accomplished. Namely, to provide govt. affordable low cost housing to low income and poor people. This is the reason that all original HDB flats under the first 5 year programme were only rental units. In 1964, HDB allowed residents to “purchase” their flats under a 99 year lease. The intended purpose was nation building and to give lower income Singaporeans more of a stake in their new country. Because of this, all flats were priced at cost (pioneer Singaporeans will remember buying flats for under $20,000 and even later for less then $100,000 up into the 1970s). All flats had to be sold back to the HDB when the flat dwellers move on to bigger and better things. This killed off speculation and made the flats affordable.
So far so good. The narrative is fantastic and shows that many of the lower income housing needs were indeed met by the HDB. Even today, the PAP still insists that it is producing subsidized and affordable housing for its people. Now, we have the ask the one question that the PAP and Lee Kuan Yew has avoided for the last 50 years. That is:
“If Singapore is such an economic success story, then why are 82% of its people, tenants living in govt
made, subsidized and affordable low income basic housing?”
Why do Singaporeans not stop to look around and ask themselves this question? If they are doing so well, why do they not ask themselves why then, do they still need to live in a govt subsidized rental flat? This is not the sign of a successful economy if 82% of the people have to rely on govt subsidized housing for a roof over their heads. The goal of all HDB flat dwellers back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s was to move up the next class in the social ladder into the middle class as evidenced by purchasing private flats and condos. And indeed many of them did so. Also, a smaller number of HDB flat dwellers made it all the way to the upper class by purchasing landed properties. We all know someone who was living in a HDB flat and ended up owning a bungalow. But statistically speaking, these sort of people are in the minority as 82% of the population continue to rent HDB flats. No country has a middle class that resides in govt build and own public subsidized housing. Which is to way, we don’t have a middle class at all.
How did this come about? There are many reasons. One of which is the land monopoly that the PAP has. If they take all the land and keep it for themselves, and only sell crumbs to the private condo developers, there is only so many condos that they can build and subsequently everything has to be priced higher. Imagine if the PAP decided that the PAP should only build housing estates for the 30% or so people that are truly lower income and release the rest of the land to condo developers on a 99 year lease or freehold. There would be many more private condos build for Singaporeans, the price per unit will be much lower. We might see HDB flats priced at affordable price ranges of under $250,000. Private condos might be as low as $500 psf, due to the much higher numbers available for sale.
The other reasons are of course, HDB is a money generator for the PAP. The PAP makes billions $ keeping the population forcibly in govt rental housing, and pretending they are subsidized and affordable. People with good household income must ask themselves why they are still in a HDB flat, and not in a private property like a condo. Granted that some HDB flat dwellers secretly own private condos and landed properties, but again, they are in a minority. The citizens and the opposition need to wake up and ask the fundamental question. Why are most of the population still living in govt rental subsidized housing if the PAP has been so successful as a govt?
Copyright PAPsmearer
We have all been fed the company line. Singapore is a great economic success. This is all due to the Great Lee Kuan Yew and his vision. He transformed Singapore from a mosquito infested swamp and fishing village into the great metropolis that we see today. HDB is pointed out as the jewel in this crown, how the population was moved from ghettos into the modern highrise flats that they own. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The original idea for the HDB was not a PAP nor Lee Kuan Yew idea. It was started by the British Colonial administration as SIT (Singapore Improvement Trust) in 1927. The idea of SIT was to produce affordable housing for low income people. The performance of SIT up till the 1950s was abysmal. A British govt white paper in 1947 noted that Singapore had one of the worse slums in the civilized world, a disgrace to a civilized community. Upon Independence, the HDB was created to take over the role of SIT. Its mandate was the same. Under Lim Kim San, the HDB far exceeded what the SIT had accomplished. Namely, to provide govt. affordable low cost housing to low income and poor people. This is the reason that all original HDB flats under the first 5 year programme were only rental units. In 1964, HDB allowed residents to “purchase” their flats under a 99 year lease. The intended purpose was nation building and to give lower income Singaporeans more of a stake in their new country. Because of this, all flats were priced at cost (pioneer Singaporeans will remember buying flats for under $20,000 and even later for less then $100,000 up into the 1970s). All flats had to be sold back to the HDB when the flat dwellers move on to bigger and better things. This killed off speculation and made the flats affordable.
So far so good. The narrative is fantastic and shows that many of the lower income housing needs were indeed met by the HDB. Even today, the PAP still insists that it is producing subsidized and affordable housing for its people. Now, we have the ask the one question that the PAP and Lee Kuan Yew has avoided for the last 50 years. That is:
“If Singapore is such an economic success story, then why are 82% of its people, tenants living in govt
made, subsidized and affordable low income basic housing?”
Why do Singaporeans not stop to look around and ask themselves this question? If they are doing so well, why do they not ask themselves why then, do they still need to live in a govt subsidized rental flat? This is not the sign of a successful economy if 82% of the people have to rely on govt subsidized housing for a roof over their heads. The goal of all HDB flat dwellers back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s was to move up the next class in the social ladder into the middle class as evidenced by purchasing private flats and condos. And indeed many of them did so. Also, a smaller number of HDB flat dwellers made it all the way to the upper class by purchasing landed properties. We all know someone who was living in a HDB flat and ended up owning a bungalow. But statistically speaking, these sort of people are in the minority as 82% of the population continue to rent HDB flats. No country has a middle class that resides in govt build and own public subsidized housing. Which is to way, we don’t have a middle class at all.
How did this come about? There are many reasons. One of which is the land monopoly that the PAP has. If they take all the land and keep it for themselves, and only sell crumbs to the private condo developers, there is only so many condos that they can build and subsequently everything has to be priced higher. Imagine if the PAP decided that the PAP should only build housing estates for the 30% or so people that are truly lower income and release the rest of the land to condo developers on a 99 year lease or freehold. There would be many more private condos build for Singaporeans, the price per unit will be much lower. We might see HDB flats priced at affordable price ranges of under $250,000. Private condos might be as low as $500 psf, due to the much higher numbers available for sale.
The other reasons are of course, HDB is a money generator for the PAP. The PAP makes billions $ keeping the population forcibly in govt rental housing, and pretending they are subsidized and affordable. People with good household income must ask themselves why they are still in a HDB flat, and not in a private property like a condo. Granted that some HDB flat dwellers secretly own private condos and landed properties, but again, they are in a minority. The citizens and the opposition need to wake up and ask the fundamental question. Why are most of the population still living in govt rental subsidized housing if the PAP has been so successful as a govt?
Copyright PAPsmearer
