‘Maybe they should let the opposition try to come up with ideas on this’ —  Singaporeans react to Desmond Lee’s BTO housing statement

In response to Minister for National Development Desmond Lee’s recent statement on BTO (Build-to-Order) housing, a handful of Singaporeans called for the opposition to be given a chance to present new ideas to tackle the issue of public housing in Singapore.

In an event at Singapore Management University on Monday (Oct 18), Mr Lee said, “Our offering of BTO flats with different attributes, price points, locations and different levels of housing grants allow us to serve the needs and budgets of a diverse group of flat buyers.”

In response to this, many Singaporeans have taken to social media to share their thoughts on the matter. While many tackled the issue of the high prices of public housing, others called out what they saw as a “vicious cycle.”

Some questioned the background of the participants of the event, with one netizen pointing out that the event where Mr Lee spoke consisted of about 70 participants, half of which were professionals and had managerial, executive, and technical positions. Most were above 45 years old.

“Might as well(not) survey…How do you expect people under 35 to pay such (an) amount?” they asked. Another raised the question “Getting feedback from only 70 people is reflective of the sentiment of the population at large?”

Still, others called for the opposition in Singapore to be given a chance to bring something new to the table. One netizen wrote, “Maybe should let (the) opposition party try to come (up) with ideas on this…the current government has run out of ideas other than increasing supply but they did not factor in the waiting times for these BTOs.”

Other netizens expressed interest in seeing what would happen in the nation’s General Elections.