Should S’pore adopt anti-discrimination law? — Dr James Gomez says national legislation needed to deal with all forms of discrimination

Facebook page WakeUp Singapore asked Dr Gomez for his reaction to the announcement that the Housing and Development Board (HDB) will buy back flats constrained by the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP).

“As early as April 2010, the UN Special Rapporteur on racism mentioned that the ethnic integration policy causes inconveniences for minority communities to buy and sell the flat,” he explained.

Dr Gomez noted this policy “remains to be seen how effective it is whether it can really alleviate the problem, but the most important thing is that this policy is still in place in spite of this new announcement.”

“What Singapore needs is a national anti-discrimination legislation” to deal with all forms of discrimination, said the academic, politician, and member of opposition Singapore Democratic Party, James Gomez, in a video uploaded on March 11.

HDB announced on March 8 that flat owners constrained by the EIP who face “genuine difficulties” selling their homes will be able to sell them back to HDB at a “fair price.”

“The EIP was introduced in 1989 to foster greater social cohesion. Since its inception, it has helped to maintain a diverse ethnic mix across HDB blocks and neighbourhoods, through quotas that apply at the point of flat purchase, as well as at subsequent resale,” said HDB on March 8.

“Most Singaporeans, across all ethnic groups, recognise the importance of the EIP in promoting racial harmony.”

However, a “small number of EIP-constrained” flat owners have difficulties selling their flats.

To assist these flat owners, HDB has put a range of measures in place over the years.

These include giving EIP-constrained flat owners more time to sell their existing flat if they have purchased another one, and waiving the EIP limits in exceptional circumstances to allow flat owners to sell their flat to buyers from any ethnic group, said HDB.

HDB will assess the requests for buyback assistance on a case-by-case basis, considering the household’s specific circumstances, such as if they’ve owned the flat for at least 10 years and made regular genuine attempts to sell the flat at a reasonable asking price.

More details on the HDB buyback assistance can be found here. /TISG

@wakeupsingapore

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