Mah Bow Tan is Either Disingenuous, or Stupid (Maybe Both)

I simply do not understand how Mr Mah can make some of the statements he made that have been reported in the press today.

Dufus Statement No. 1:

"If you're a first-time buyer, there's more than enough flats for you."

Mr Mah claims that HDB is rolling out thousands of BTO flats this year. But how on earth can there be 'more than enough flats' when the flats are only going to be built in 3-4 years? A couple that is going to be married within the next 12 months needs the flats NOW, not in 3-4 years!

This is precisely what is happening to my sister-in-law. She is getting married early next year. But her BTO flat will only be completed around 2014/2015. In the mean time, she and her husband have to share a room with her relatives.

This is a ridiculous state of affairs and it is fundamentally disingenuous for Mah to state that there is adequate housing, when it is precisely the case that there IS NOT ENOUGH HOUSING to meet demand NOW, when it is needed the most. Mr Mah Bow Tan's statement is both insensitive and insulting to the many young Singaporeans trying to start a family in Singapore.


Dufus Statement No 2:

Demand is also hard to predict. Mr Mah said the indication is that there will be "some slowdown" in the economy later this year.  

Seriously, WTF!?!? Demand is hard to predict???? How on earth can it be that hard to predict when the Singapore Government is in control of immigration, and when immigration is the primary fuel driving the rise in housing prices? Lee Hsien Loong just annouced there will be 100,000 more foreigners to Singapore. Isn't it common sense that we will need housing space for 100,000 new people??? Isn't it common sense that if you don't build new housing infrastructure, that they are going to compete for the existing housing and push prices up???

Dufus Statement No 3:

'I hope that with HDB pushing out a record number of flats this year, this imbalance will be redressed over the medium-term... I would expect in another year or so we should be able to stabilise everything,'

Do you really expect the problem to be solved in 1 year? Or are you really saying that because you know that we have an election coming and you want to fool Singaporeans into thinking that this is not an election issue because it will go away soon??

Mr Mah Bow Tan, mark my word. You say 1 year, I say that resale housing prices will continue to rise consistently for at least the next 2-3 years. The so-called 'new housing' that you are starting to build now, will only come onto the market in 3-4 years time. That new housing supply will NOT offset the demand for resale flats over the short to mid term, because the resale flat prices are driven by 1. downgraders, 2. foreigners, and 3. rich first-timers. - all of whom are not affected by your new-build BTO scheme.

On top of that, your PAP government is addicted to foreign labour and foreign capital to fuel your GDP growth. Your addiction will mean that there will be more foreigners coming to Singapore in the short to medium term, since you do not have the political will to turn off the foreigner tap. This will further add to the demand shocks i previously talked about here, that will force further housing price inflation.

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I seriously cannot believe that Mah has been reported making some of the statements he has made. Either he knows what is going on but is being disingeuous with his words, or he must be simply plain stupid. But if he is stupid then why on earth have we been paying him $millions in salary for the last few years!?!?

Singaporeans, something needs to change!!!