Former Singapore Chief Statistician Paul Cheung:
Singapore can still accommodate more people
During a speech made at the HDB’s 50th anniversary celebration
last week, Singapore’s former Chief Statistician (1994 –
2001) Dr Paul Cheung said that Singapore can still
accommodate more people due to increase in per capita living
space.
Dr Cheung was born in Hong Kong and is now a Singapore citizen.
He is currently a visiting consultant to China’s National Bureau of
Statistics.
He pointed out that the average number of people per household
including maids is 3.5 and the number of extended families living
under the same roof occupies only 7 per cent of the total
population.
Singapore’s demographics has changed radically due to the
relentless influx of foreigners in recent years who now make up 36
per cent of the population.
Dr Cheung opined that though the current supply of public
housing is adequate to meet local demands, there is a need to make
some adjustments to allow foreigners to have a place to live in as
well.
He suggested that HDB rent a few blocks of flats to private real
estate companies to rent out to foreigners at a rate lower than
that of condominiums.
He quoted the example of New York where every block of high-rise
flat has rental units to faciliate the moving in and out of
foreigners.
“Foreigners in Singapore face two extremes in the choice of
their housing: it is either too expensive or cheap like workers’
dormitories. Not every foreigner can afford high-end private
apartments like Ritz-Carlton Residences.”
Dr Cheung failed to mention the fact that the apartments in New
York mostly belong to the private housing sector while HDB flats
are supposedly public housing built to cater for the housing needs
of Singaporeans.
Furthermore, they are built by a government agency HDB which
monopolizes the entire public housing market in Singapore, leaving
Singaporeans with no other alternatives.
He also jumped to the defence of the PAP’s pro-foreigner policy
that foreigners help to prop up the prices of HDB resale flats
thereby increasing the “asset value” of Singaporeans.
What was not mentioned is that the capital value of HDB flats
can only be unlocked if the owners emigrate or downgrade to a
cheaper flat.
The sky-rocketing prices coupled with stagnant wages mean that
Singaporeans will be plunged into greater debts financing their
flats thereby leaving very little cash left for their
retirement.
Stung by rising frustration, resentment and anger on the ground
at its liberal immigration policies, PAP leaders have backtracked
in the last few days by reassuring Singaporeans that the inflow of
foreigners will be slowed down.
