NSP: Let people buy first HDB flat at cost

Singapore

NATIONAL Solidarity Party (NSP) on Friday offered its own solution for the younger generation.

In the party's first rally at Woodlands, party president Sebastian Teo proposed that Singaporeans be allowed to buy their first HDB flat at cost.

In Mandarin, he said: "Some might consider it too cheap. But don't forget. Before independence, this land belonged to you and me. It belonged to the people, not the government. Post-independence, the state acquired it, and now they tell you the cost of public flats is based on the market price of the land. This is unreasonable."

He is proposing this because in an overcrowding situation, it is the sandwiched middle-income class that suffers if property prices increase, he said.

Notwithstanding this, the government should still allow Singaporeans to purchase another resale flat from the open market.

Due to time constraints, he said he will leave the elaboration of the party's housing policy for its second rally in Tampines on Saturday.

His team mate, organising secretary Spencer Ng, later added that young Singaporeans can use savings from their first flat for their children's education and to cushion against rising costs of living, or as retirement funds.

In response to Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong's description of opposition politicians as "nomads" who "come and go" and have no interest in people's welfare, Mr Ng likened PAP candidates to hermit crabs "living in their own shell, in their own world".

"By changing the electoral boundaries every election, PAP is making a mockery of the residents . . . PAP is destroying any chances for our young to develop the kampong spirit, an identity with the place they stay in."

Newly elected secretary-general Lim Tean also distilled PAP's 88-page manifesto into four points: a "misguided nostalgia" of their past 50 years and their past leader; the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council issue; fear-mongering about how Singapore will collapse if PAP MPs are not voted into parliament, as well as how residents' estates will deteriorate under the opposition.

"The last two have been the same message of theirs for the last 35 years," he said.

On the town council issue, he said: "They (the PAP) want to talk about the town council. They want to turn the whole election into a municipal election. And they want Singaporeans to forget about national issues."

And policies that do not work for the people's good are the result of members of parliament not speaking up for people in the chambers, he said.

"I think national issues ultimately affect everyone more than just local issues. It not only affects you, it affects your children and future generations."

He added that in the next few NSP rallies, the party will focus on topics such as infrastructure breakdown, rising medical costs, overpopulation, CPF withdrawal, and competition with foreigners for jobs.

READ MORE: