SINGAPORE: Leader of the Opposition (LO) Pritam Singh’s warning in Parliament yesterday (22 Feb), that “two Singapores” could emerge if inequality is not stemmed, has resonated with a large segment of Singaporeans, including prominent figures like veteran architect Tay Kheng Soon.

Opening the parliamentary debate on the 2023 Budget statement, Mr Singh expressed concerns that one Singapore would be a thriving hub economy, while the other – where the majority of Singaporeans live – would be marked by slow social mobility and high housing prices.

He added that the potential emergence of “two Singapores” would cause friction in society as Singapore is a small country with no countryside to retreat to.

The Workers’ Party (WP) chief also expressed concerns about the way Budget 2023 has been characterized by some as a “Robin Hood” budget that takes from the rich to give to the poor.

Asserting that this label reinforces the notion of a potential emergence of “two Singapores,” he said: “Referring to it as such pits one group, high earners and the rich, against the lower and middle-classes.”

Although he supported Budget 2023, Mr Singh expressed doubts about specific announcements and called for redistribution to be at the core of government policies.

Tay Kheng Soon – the architect behind iconic structures in Singapore like KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Golden Mile Complex and the People’s Park Complex – is among the many who have expressed support for Mr Singh’s views, online.

Mr Tay alluded to the LO’s speech as he wrote on Facebook today (23 Feb): “In a small place, when price differences are too great, social order is in danger.”

Touching on the skyrocketing price of flats in Singapore, he added in a comment: “High prices in a small place migrate very quickly downwards. The high private market prices tends to raise the hdb prices too.”

When a Facebook user commented on his post and referred to the social chasm that Mr Singh was describing with his “two Singapores” remarks, Mr Tay said that the LO “is right.”

Meanwhile, some netizens online have said that there already are “two Singapores” as Mr Singh has put it. Delving into how the cost of living has more or less, in their view, split Singapore society, netizens said that Singaporeans already live in two different worlds depending on their income level: