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Opinion | How would Lee Kuan Yew have solved Hong Kong’s housing and health care problems?
- Singapore caught up with Hong Kong living standards years ago, apparently by setting Hong Kong as a benchmark. Now it’s time for the Hong Kong government to work towards what Singapore has achieved in public housing and health care
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Not that many years ago, Singapore was well behind Hong Kong when it came to most areas of the economy and living standards. At that time, according to a Singaporean friend who has worked in the government, prime minister Lee Kuan Yew instructed every minister in his cabinet to set the Hong Kong standard as their target for policy goals. Now, of course, Singapore has surpassed Hong Kong in nearly all areas.
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So, it’s time for a role reversal. The most pragmatic way to improve Hong Kong's governance is for Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to instruct all policy secretaries to aim for the Singapore standard.
Under such a scenario, how could Hong Kong look to Singapore for ideas to solve two of its most serious problems, housing and medical care?
Singapore has had similar difficulties in housing its population – limited land resources, high population density and fast-growing demand. But currently, Singapore provides public housing for 80 per cent of its population, while Hong Kong public estates house around 45 per cent of the population. The waiting time for public housing is 2.5 years in Singapore and 5.5 years in Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, average living space per person stands at 270 sq ft in Singapore, and in Hong Kong, just 170 sq ft – only a little more than a standard parking space. According to a recent survey by one real estate firm, the average price of a home in Hong Kong is HK$9.6 million, way above the HK$6.8 million in Singapore. Perhaps these comparative figures should become the key performance indicators for our secretary for housing in the coming years.
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