The Goods & Services Tax (GST) hikes are around the corner, and prices for everything have spiked. The issue is the affordability (or not) of Housing Development Board (HDB) flats.
Indeed, this will be raised by Worker’s Party (WP) members of parliament (MPs) in Parliament next week. Among other things, questions revolve around the numbers – numbers of applicants, income ratios, the value of grants and subsidies, the number of flats launched etc.
It is important for such questions to be asked in Parliament, as it serves as a focal point for the public to identify the areas of concern so we can resolve them. It is imperative for such data to be publicly made available in a way that helps us to pinpoint the actual problem so that we can diagnose what needs to be done to improve the situation.
As the rest of 2023 looms ahead, the issue of affordable housing will continue to be a hot-button one. If not properly addressed, it could well become an election issue at the next general elections. Has the HDB structure now become unwieldy?
In a Letter to the Editor of The Independent Singapore, a reader asked a pressing question in relation to the maturity in the relaxation of the PAP’s whip:
“On the contrary, PAP has not yet reached that stage of maturity in the relaxation of its whip, even with its long-established history. Or, perhaps PAP has its own “considerations”?
While the question was related to the PAP not lifting the party whip when it came to repealing Section 377A, it may also cut across many of the issues facing us today. Despite its long tenure, is it a case of being unable to relinquish absolute control?
Recently, President Halimah Yacob commented that caning should apply to rapists above 50. In Parliament next week, Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh and MP for Hougang Single Member Constituency Dennis Tan will ask, among other things, if there is a trend of older offenders committing this type of offence. After all, if there is no such trend, how would amending the law be served?