SINGAPORE: In a social media post on Wednesday (Aug 28), Workers’ Party MP Jamus Lim recounted how, in the course of conversations with residents, while several ask questions about the next elections, a number of them have talked about how high the cost of living has gotten in Singapore.
However, one particular comment stood out to him and stayed with him. A woman told the Sengkang MP that housing prices are “becoming unbearably high,” with some having moved to Malaysia to live.
Assoc Prof Lim, who has represented the Anchorvale ward in Sengkang in Parliament since 2020, added:
“This has always happened, of course; it is especially so for either those who are Malaysians to begin with (but working in Singapore) or for those seeking to stretch their retirement dollar.”
However, the woman told him she feels this is now “happening even for regular Singaporeans, who simply cannot make the sums work,” particularly when it comes to reasonably-priced housing.
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The MP wrote that despite how widespread, or otherwise, this may be happening, it is nevertheless “extremely costly” for those who do it, particularly when it comes to time since crossing the causeway daily eats away at the hours of one’s day.
He added that the conversation has made him wonder about what the consequences of high living costs are on Singaporeans’ “sense of rootedness and belonging” to society, given that one of the cornerstones of public policy was affordable housing for everyone, which gives people a real stake in the nation.
“Is this hallmark of national identity being exchanged for a transactional one, with the ownership of a flat becoming a means of extracting government grants or reaping rent?” he then asked.
However, he also admitted that he does not have an answer to this question and that many Singaporeans he has encountered are “proud of their homes and happy with living in Sengkang.”
Nevertheless, for the sake of public policy, he noted the usefulness of recognizing that high living costs can affect people on the economic level and when it comes to social and cultural ties. /TISG
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