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PAP’s housing blunder

May 02, 2011 - Danny Gilchrist
In light of the election results last weekend, many would wonder it seems what factors affected voters decision making in the run up to 7 May.


(PAP pride took a knock - and many blame Mah Bow Tan's housing policies. Image courtesy of Singapore Tourism Board.)

For Mr Mah Bow Tan, housing was one of the issues very much influencing voters choices and the man himself admitted not only its importance but also the mistake his party had made over the last 5 years. In addressing reporters after the results Mr Mah said ‘Housing will be one of the issues that we will have to go back to relook again. We have already started doing that’.

The discontent among voters was expressed in the form of the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) lowest backing from his Tampines GRC since the system (GRC) began in 1988. This was compounded by the fact that the rivals for the constituent were, as The Strait Times stated ‘mostly unknowns’. Mr Mah would not have been pleased that the voters were not enamoured by the alternatives, but were so enough to vote for something, anything different.

Exactly how they (PAP) got it wrong provides potential evidence of discourse between the classes of the Singapore property market. The Strait Times reports again how PM Lee Hsien Loong was to ‘review the income ceiling for new flat buyers’, a move which by in large middle income citizens have been looking for.

The balancing act of regulating a housing market that caters to a highly variant demographic seems to have been a disarming block for the National Development Minister. Undoubtedly with all political decisions certain stakeholders will benefit more than others, but this is one mistake Mr Mah will not be looking to replicate again.



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Related Categories: HDB

Tags: housing, Mah Bow Tan, new buyers, People’s Action Party, Singapore General Election 2011, Singapore property market

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