the land was free to the gabrament... because it belongs to the
people..
now remember.. the HDB is building tenement homes for the
people.. note the word: FOR the people...
it is not and i repeat, NOT to be used to gouge people for
profits...
it is wrong and immoral to use these tenements which were built
for the people as instruments for speculation and profit...
however, i guess even morality has its price.. and it seems that
the gabrament has sold it really cheaply for a myopic gain, and
created a quagmire which they have no clue to get the country out
of
so it's full steam ahead, damn the torpedoes
But still, expecting the land to be given free? HDB needs to pay
SLA leh, or so I think 
Anyway, the economic implications of selling HDBs now at $90k is
very big. It will result in a major property crash, and devalue the
networth of all asset rich Singaporeans. Rentals drop, housing
prices drop. This will in turn lead to property companies to
experience drops in profits, and in turn lead to lesser borrowings
and lesser constructions, etc. And when everyone's profits drop, it
will lead to retrenchments, etc. It will be a destructive
cycle.
"it is wrong and immoral to use these tenements which were built
for the people as instruments for speculation and profit..."
-- the question is, how true is this?
My take is, the prices of HDBs are so planned to ensure long
term growth in property prices, and make citizens happy. And with
inflation, how could we ever expect the prices to remain the same
as in 1980s, when my dad bought a 5-rm flat for around $80k+? Fast
forward to 2010 at $325k with lifts at every block in a more
affluent Singapore. It's still a tad expensive as the prices grew
greater than the inflation rate, but it still isn't too bad
yet.
So was it to gouge profits, or was it to put paper profits into
the people's hands? Would you prefer to buy a HDB for $100k and see
it devalue to $50k after 20 to 30 years?
And while people are complaining 110sqm HDBs going at $325k,
there are others snatching mickey mouse units at between $600k to
$900k!
