Desmond Lee’s attack on Lee Hsien Yang: The irony of PAP’s selective outrage

Opinion: Minister for National Development Desmond Lee’s recent fervent personal attack on Lee Hsien Yang highlights a glaring irony – the PAP’s selective outrage. As serious misconduct within their own ranks is met with silence, the party’s integrity is being questioned, throwing a harsh light on the double standards in their crisis management. “While Desmond Lee vehemently defends the government’s backing of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau’s investigation into potential corruption within its ranks, there appears to be a contrasting silence or lack of definitive action surrounding the case of Christopher de Souza, a fellow PAP member and Deputy Speaker of Parliament… …Similarly, the decision to retain Tan Chuan-Jin as Speaker of Parliament amidst the controversy of an extramarital affair, which the PAP has known about since at least 2020, highlights a troubling pattern within the PAP: a selective and biased response to allegations of misconduct based on party affiliation.”

Desmond Lee rejects WP’s rent control suggestion, citing potential supply and equity issues

Minister for National Development Desmond Lee dismissed the Workers’ Party’s suggestion for market rent regulation, warning that rent controls could reduce rental supply and create allocation and equity problems. He emphasised the adverse effects on housing market distortions and property prices, while assuring openness to alternative measures.

Deflecting and diverting instead of fixing system and policies

In this opinion piece, Augustine Low criticizes ministers for deflecting responsibility and avoiding solutions to pressing issues like high cost of living and housing affordability. Low calls out the ministers’ statements on rising incomes as insufficient explanations for these problems and urges the government to focus on addressing the concerns of the living instead of prioritizing “people not yet born.”

Desmond Lee stresses balancing act in land use for Singapore’s present and future generations

Singapore’s Minister for National Development Desmond Lee spoke at the 52nd St. Gallen Symposium, emphasizing the importance of balancing present and future needs, as well as the role of empathy in governance. He shared personal experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, illustrating how compassion and understanding are crucial in leadership, especially in challenging situations.

Desmond Lee expounds on rationale behind hike in ABSD as pre-emptive measures to manage property Investment demand

Minister Desmond Lee explains the hike in Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) rates is to pre-emptively curb local and foreign investment demand in Singapore’s residential properties. T he ABSD increase, effective from 27 April, aims to prioritize housing for owner occupation and dampen investor demand. The most significant increase affects foreigners, with the ABSD rate doubling from 30% to 60%. Minister Lee emphasized the need to calibrate rates to effectively dampen investments from abroad, while also acknowledging the price sensitivity of locals to ABSD adjustments. The measures come as foreign interest in Singapore’s residential property market is starting to rebound.

Desmond Lee says Singaporeans accept high-price BTO flats in mature estates

Singapore’s National Development Minister, Desmond Lee, believes that location and other attributes should be taken into account when setting prices for Build-To-Order (BTO) flats, which should remain affordable and accessible to eligible Singaporeans. The affordability of BTO flats, even for upper-middle-class families, has been questioned based on the Housing Price to Annual Income Ratio (HPI), with an HPI of more than three being considered unaffordable. Netizens commenting on the Straits Times’ Facebook post of the report questioned the definition of affordability by Mr Desmond Lee, arguing that being able to afford does not mean that the price is affordable. 

Workers’ Party rebuts out of context narrative spread by PAP’s social media channels on its 2019 Housing Paper

SINGAPORE — The Workers’ Party has issued a statement on Saturday evening…

Desmond Lee says 70% of BTO flats affordable for median household with income of S$8,400 but what about the 10th to 40th percentile?

It was revealed by Minister for National Development Desmond Lee in Parliament…

Desmond Lee files Ministerial Motion to affirm commitment on affordable public housing in Singapore

SINGAPORE — The National Development Minister, Mr Desmond Lee, has filed a…

Land for HDB flats “raided” at great cost to people under Land Acquisition Act

by Foong Swee Fong The Land Acquisition Act, while it gave the…