SINGAPORE: Desmond Lee recently made a comment on the future generations of Singapore, saying that the nation must “keep some land for people not yet born.” However, in response to this, many Singaporeans have clapped back with references to the current prices of public housing in Singapore. A handful have gone so far as to predict that future generations won’t even be able to afford public housing at the rate that prices are going.
According to a recent news report, Mr Lee recently spoke at the 52nd St Gallen Symposium which took place in Switzerland. In response to a question from a member of the audience, Mr Lee spoke of the trade-offs related to the size of Singapore.
The Minister for National Development brought up the necessary equilibrium between the current generation and that of the future, saying, “…we have to control the eligibility for certain facilities and access to housing, because we need to get some land for people not yet born, who can’t vote, who can’t speak up, and keeping optionalities for them.”
Many netizens took to social media to respond to a particular part of his statement, where he mentioned keeping land for future generations. While some argued raising environmental points, many others made reference to the current high costs of public housing in Singapore. In line with this, many netizens questioned the ability of future Singaporeans to afford homes.
“If we are sensible, we should probably advise the youngsters in our family to migrate when possible,” said one.
Another wrote, “Now 3 rooms HDB resale already touch half a million, I think best not to be born.”
“The future generations should be living under the sea,” wrote a third, while a fourth was more straightforward, saying “Future gen for sure can’t get to buy BTO flats!”
Last year, in late November, when Mr Lee made a statement on the apparent moderation of private and public housing markets, citing the property cooling measures that the government rolled out, many Singaporeans took the opportunity to share their two cents on the matter, with one even calling on the Minister to “open his eyes wide to see.”
Desmond Lee says he’s “committed to keeping public housing affordable & accessible to Singaporeans”