Aiming to affirm the government’s commitment to affordable housing.
SINGAPORE — Minister for National Development Desmond Lee has presented a ministerial motion focused on ‘affordable and accessible public housing’ in response to an earlier motion submitted by Progress Singapore Party (PSP) non-constituency members of parliament, Leong Mun Wai and Hazel Poa, concerning public housing policies.
This development was announced earlier this week by Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State for National Development. She stated that the motion from the People’s Action Party MP seeks to “affirm the importance of maintaining public housing affordability and accessibility while safeguarding the interests of both current and future generations of Singaporeans.” Furthermore, it aims to endorse the government’s commitment to these dual objectives.
Ms. Sim clarified that while the motions may appear similar, they are fundamentally different. “The PSP’s motion implicitly claims that the Government has not done enough to provide affordable and accessible HDB flats, enhance the owner-occupation intent of public housing, ensure retirement adequacy, or keep public housing inclusive. We dispute this claim,” she asserted.
As outlined in the Order Paper for the parliamentary session on February 6, the Leader of the House indicated that both motions will be debated simultaneously. “That, notwithstanding the Standing Orders, the Motions on ‘Affordable and Accessible Public Housing’ and ‘Public Housing Policies’ be taken together, and the debate on these Motions and on any proposed amendments shall proceed as though it were a single Motion.”
The motion introduced by PSP’s NCMPs calls for the government to “review its public housing policies to provide affordable and accessible HDB flats for all Singaporeans, strengthen the owner-occupation intent of public housing, safeguard retirement adequacy, and ensure that public housing remains inclusive for every generation of Singaporeans.”
In response to the ministerial motion’s announcement, PSP’s Leong Mun Wai expressed on his Facebook page that while the government has the right to file such motions, Singaporeans should recognize that this strategy allows the Minister to initiate the debate with a comprehensive statement promoting the government’s stance, which is likely to receive extensive coverage in mainstream media.
Leong further explained that the government’s position contradicts the assertion that it has fallen short in delivering affordable and accessible HDB flats. “If this were true, housing affordability would not be a prominent concern for many Singaporeans, and there would be no need for extensive parliamentary discussions on this issue, which has sparked significant public interest. Ultimately, Singaporeans will judge whether adequate measures have been implemented to ensure public housing remains affordable,” concluded NCMP Leong.
