The Government's decision to build around 6,000 Housing Board flats on the Keppel Club site in the Greater Southern Waterfront (GSW) means that a massive two-thirds of the site has been allocated to public housing. It sends an important signal that those who are more able to afford private housing will not monopolise prime locations and the quality of life that often comes with that, as Singapore shapes its housing landscape to better cater to the rising lifestyle aspirations of all residents. The prime seafront area could have become an enclave for the well-heeled, but the Government has opted instead to keep housing and facilities there accessible to all. The state could have derived more economic value from allocating the Keppel Club site mainly for private development, given the higher value of private homes compared with public housing.

However, land, not least in land-scarce Singapore, has immense social value along with its economic value. It is with an apparent eye to the former that the Government has decided to give a much larger chunk of the site to the HDB than the private sector. Even so, given the location, much of the public housing development there could fall under the prime location public housing model which has stricter buying and selling conditions for flat owners. This should come as no surprise. Singaporeans must accept that public housing, where subsidies come from the public exchequer, cannot lead to profiteering.