ST Forum : Baseline lesson from 'Mr HDB'

Jan 30, 2010

Baseline lesson from 'Mr HDB'

IN THE midst of the current controversy over the prices of HDB flats, it is important to remember how central the whole HDB exercise has been to Singapore's emergence as a nation. Rising expectations are natural, but they should have a baseline.

The baseline could be illustrated by the case of a man Mr Lim Kim San met soon after he was appointed HDB chairman. He was touring a slum in Chinatown and came across a labourer in a bunk who had a blanket pulled right up to his neck. Mr Lim asked the man if he was sick. The labourer replied: 'No. I've got no trousers on.' Mr Lim asked him why. He replied: 'My brother has just taken my trousers out. I'm wearing briefs.'

Recounting the incident, Mr Lim, who held several Cabinet portfolios in his career and was the executive chairman of Singapore Press Holdings, did not think the man was in briefs. 'My God,' he thought to himself, 'I really must help these people.'

The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies' book, Lim Kim San: A Builder Of Singapore by Asad Latif, contains many examples of change the HDB brought about in the lives and thinking of Singaporeans.

'Mr HDB' is no more, but his legacy lives on in the Singapore skyline.

K. Kesavapany
Director
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies