The recent announcement at PM Lee’s NDR may have given owners of HDB flats with shorter remaining leases a lifeline. But what is clear is that the grand narrative of public housing is undergoing subtle shifts. The home ownership ideal was conceived in the 1960s. The idea was that helping people buy, not just rent, a roof over their heads could strengthen social cohesion and national bonding. Since the 1980s, the Government and HDB flat owners have regarded the flats as possessing tangible pecuniary value that can appreciate in value and be monetised. Through the 1990s and early 2000s, HDB flats were thus viewed as tradeable assets. This shifted the focus from ownership to commoditisation, by which quick profits can be made by flat owners when they live in their flat and then resell it to others, usually for a profit. When HDB flats changed hands for more than a million dollars, it was celebrated, although some wondered about market overexuberance.... Continue Reading