SINGAPORE — Former GIC Chief-economist Yeoh Lam Keong and The Online Citizen Asia (TOC) were served with POFMA Correction Directions notice on Friday (14 Oct) under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act as directed by the Minister of National Development, Desmond Lee.
In one of the notices addressed at TOC’s article, ”Singapore’s reserves substantially profits from $500m land sales in AMK BTO” and social media posts, the government said that TOC has falsely conveyed that the government’s sale of land to Housing Development Board for the Central Weave @ Ang Mo Kio Build-To-Order (BTO) project will lead to an increase in Singapore’s reserves.
“When HDB requires land to develop flats, the land has to be taken out of the Past Reserves. HDB has to purchase the land by paying fair market value for the land, and the money goes into the Past Reserves. The estimated land cost for Central Weave @ AMK is about $500 million,” the statement said.
“If the Government arbitrarily prices the land below its fair market value, such as at the historical price that past Governments had paid to acquire the land, or at just a nominal $1, then it is not putting back fully what it has taken out from Past Reserves. This is equivalent to drawing down the Reserves…”
Indeed, past historical prices of land which were acquired by past People’s Action Party (PAP) Governments were much lower than their present fair market value. Many of these land were acquired compulsorily from Singaporeans at very low monetary value.
Take for example, the land at Bishan was acquired from Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng temple through a compulsory acquisition by past PAP Government.
We know this from an article written by Mr Lim Chin Joo who was the lawyer acting on behalf of the temple, which owned the cemetery land at Bishan before it was acquired and developed by HDB (‘Land acquisition – for the sake of nation building‘, 3 Dec 2010, ST). The article first appeared in Lianhe Zaobao before it was translated and published in the Straits Times. Incidentally, Mr Lim is the brother of the late Lim Chin Siong, the famous trade unionist and politician in Singapore in the 50s and 60s.
Mr Lim was invited to the 140th anniversary celebration of the temple in 2010 and thereafter he wrote the article recounting his experience dealing with then the National Development Minister Teh Cheang Wan over the compulsory acquisition of the temple’s land in Bishan in the 70s. He recalled that the government was determined to acquire the temple’s land. When the land acquisition gazette notification finally came in the late 70s, the clansmen were saddened by the news and appointed Mr Lim as their legal adviser.
After much negotiations, the government was only willing to pay a paltry S$4.9 million for the 131ha land owned by the temple. “As expected, the compensation did not amount to much. It came to less than $5 million for the 131ha of land – or 30 cents per square foot after appeal,” Mr Lim recalled.
“The clansmen were more concerned about conserving the ancestral temple, which was more than a century old, and handling the cremated remains. These emotional issues sparked heated arguments. It was decided that the PST (temple) would try to keep the temple, and request the Government to allot it land around the temple to build a crematorium and columbarium.”
“On behalf of the PST, I wrote to the HDB and the permanent secretary of the Ministry of National Development on two occasions. The replies left no room for negotiations. We were told the decision to acquire the cemetery had come from the top.”
After appealing to then National Development Minister Teh Cheang Wan and more talks with HDB, HDB agreed to let the temple remain where it was, and allot surrounding land to restore it and construct a columbarium. Request for the crematorium was rejected. Finally, the clansmen at the temple had to accept whatever terms the government demanded.
“After due consideration, the clansmen accepted the acquisition for the sake of nation building. Bishan estate was the result. It was a decision that benefited Singapore,” said Mr Lim.
Whatever the case, the government at the time acquired the Bishan land on the cheap at 30 cents per square foot in 1979. Perhaps the government can help Singaporeans to understand how this deal translate to our Past Reserves?
On another note, the HDB BTO estate that was launched in 2020, Bishan Ridges, has 1,502 units and sells a 4-room flat at about S$555 per square foot.
In any case, the government has required TOC and Mr Yeoh to put up the POFMA correction notice, with the clarification article saying:
“Neither the Government nor the Past Reserves profit from land sales. When State land is disposed of at fair market value, there is no addition to the Past Reserves but a conversion of one type of asset (land) to another (cash).”
“For the Central Weave @ AMK BTO project, HDB will pay the Government fair market value for the land, estimated to be about $500 million. This money will be paid into the Past Reserves, but does not result in a net increase in the Past Reserves.”
