January 19, 2010
Dear Mr Shanmugam,
I refer to your comments as reported by Straits Times on 18 Jan
2010.
You said that it is a misconception that there are five million
people putting pressure on all of us because the 1.3 million here
on temporary work permits impose no burden on the public housing
system. That unfortunately, is the real misconception.
Even as workers on temporary permits aren’t allowed to buy flats,
they are allowed to rent flats or rooms. The flats that they
rent becomes unavailable for sale to the people and thus puts
presure on the availability of units. Also, land that could
otherwise have housed Singaporeans are being used to house workers
like those in Serangoon Gardens.
On what basis do you brush aside the 500,000 PRs as being too small
a number to impact prices? You said the number of BTO flats
to be launched this year is 12,000. If every one of these
500,000 PRs were to buy a flat each, it would take 40 years to
build all the flats to accomodate these PRs.
While Singaporeans may be the ones who are forking out top dollar
for certain flats, are there cheaper alternatives for the same
locations? And for flats that are much more far flung, are
they really that much cheaper?
Instead of imposing limits on resale flat prices, the Government
can impose limits on the price of new flats sold by the HDB.
In a climate of spiralling prices, the Government should not join
in the fray but should hold flat prices steady instead. That
way, the government does not end up making one person happy at the
expense of another. It only makes itself less happy. Is
the government willing to do that?
The concessionary loans and grants of $40,000 pale in comparison to
the $100,000 to $200,000 increase in flat prices over the last
three years.
While 8 in 10 Singaporeans pay for their flats entirely through
their CPFs, they will have to keep paying for the next 30 years and
would have nothing left in their CPF for retirement. You call
that affordable?
Politics is, first and foremost, about satisfying the needs of the
people. All popular revolutions and uprisings stem from
inadequate provisions from the government. The art of
communication cannot change the feelings of hardship that the
people has to endure.
Thank you
Ng Kok Lim
