Challenges S’pore faced after independence

Housing Ch. 10 pp.

Housing in 1950s & 1960s

Kampong life

Chinatown

Public Housing under British administration

Lim Kim San• Mr Lim Kim San, was called Mr HDB, as he

volunteered to be chairman of the Housing Development Board (HDB) when it was established in 1960.

• He took no salary for the first three years of his stint at the HDB and only started taking a salary in 1963, when he became Singapore’s National Development Minister, after winning his debut into politics as a fresh Member of Parliament.

• He subsequently became the Finance and Defence Minister.

Lim Kim San

• During his tenure as Chairman of HDB, Mr Lim Kim San was given the daunting task of providing low-cost public housing for about 400,000 people who were staying in squatter and make-shift homes.

Lim Kim San

Lim Kim San• Against all odds and to the chagrin of his critics,

he built about 25,000 HDB flats in the first three years.

• It was an eye-opener to what a dedicated and determined public servant could do, following on the then dismal performance of the Singapore Investment Trust (SIT) which was the provider of public housing before 1960.

• Indeed, some credited him with saving the PAP – which at that time was untested – by solving Singapore’s housing problem.

HDB flats 1960

HDB flats 1960

HDB flats

Queenstown

Toa Payoh

Publichousing