ST : Redas chief: Media misconstrued speech

Apr 24, 2010

Redas chief: Media misconstrued speech

IN HER commentary on Tuesday, ('Property: Do something drastic or do nothing?'), Ms Chua Mui Hoong had categorised me under the school of thought that 'wants the Government to 'do nothing' about rising property prices' on the basis that 'private property served just 16.5 per cent of the population and should be left free of government intervention'. That was not what I said.

At the launch of the NUS Singapore Residential Price Index on March 24, I had highlighted in my speech that Singapore's residential market is unique in having a very dominant and successful public housing sector which provides a roof over 83.5 per cent of the population.

The strong public housing resale market has helped to realise wealth for many Singaporeans and helped the ongoing upgrading process.

The private housing segment of the market serves only 16.5 per cent of the demography. In this regard, and given the academic forum, I had merely raised an academic question whether the state should be so concerned with intervention in the private residential market.

Nowhere in the speech did I state the view that 'the state should keep its hands off, and developers should be able to price condo units as high as the market can accept'.

Having a free market does not mean having an unregulated market, which many in the media have incorrectly ascribed to my comments. I had in fact observed that the Government is the custodian of state land and it has a range of measures it can use to rein in the market.

Simon Cheong
President
Real Estate Developers' Association of Singapore (Redas)