For business government and society

Essay by shurenCollege, UndergraduateA, September 2013

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The 2011 Singaporean general elections serves as a clarion call for important changes in public policy. The Singaporean population has sent strong signals to the government to review its pro-economic stance and recognize social concerns stemming from population growth, public housing and low wages. In response, the Singaporean government created new public policies and adapted current ones to suit the local situation. I believe the government has been successful in taking crucial steps of recognizing and addressing the problems at hand.

Amendments to housing policy

Singapore has introduced its 7th round of property cooling measures in early 2013, increasing additional-buyer stamp duty and raising the cash deposit for property purchases. There exists a performance-expectation gap with regards to the demand and supply of properties in the market due to the mismatch in citizen income and property prices. As a vital stakeholder, Singaporean citizens expect affordable housing so that they can settle down and build their families.

These state policies are very important for building social stability and inculcating the sense of nationhood (Smidt-Jensen & Cecilie Jochumsen, 2012). However, the high costs of living prove to be a strong deterrent to family planning. Moreover, past performances by the Housing Development Board (HDB) of Singapore has fallen short of the local housing demands. These higher expectations by society are largely due to an increasing standard of living; more citizens are becoming increasingly educated and expect a standard of living commensurate with their education and career.

Using the BGS issue management process, the Ministry of National Development has anticipated housing concerns by closely monitoring the property market. Through careful analysis of property price trends, the Ministry has realized that property prices were out of control. It had to generate options to cool the property market. These options include curbing speculative behavior, therefore ensuring...