HDB deserves praise

I refer to the letter “HDB deserves praise” dated 10 Oct 2009.

In his letter, Dr Lee urged Singaporeans to be thankful and to not forget what HDB has done for us. But the gargantuan problem Dr Lee refererred to occurred four decades ago. Why should we continue to pay tribute to an organisation that no longer serves the needs of the people as it did four decades ago? If we adopt this attitude, wouldn’t we be condoning current bad practices on the basis of past good performances?

Take the case of TT Durai. No amount of good work he has done in the past can prevent him from going to jail for the misdeeds that he subsequently committed. Take too, the recent case of Dr Martin Huang, who has to answer for the medical malpractice he was found to be guilty of regardless of the good work he has done in the past. Similarly, if Dr Lee is ever found to be guilty of whatever medical malpractices, he can be rest assured that the law of this country will not be thankful or remember the good work he has done in the past.

Dr Lee compares a HDB to a condominium and concludes that the HDB is cheap. So if the prices of HDB and condominium both increase by a million dollars overnight, Dr Lee will still think that the HDB is affordable. His thinking betrays the ignorance that is unbecoming of a medical doctor.

He can only blindly quote Mr Mah’s findings but he doesn’t even suspect let alone question the validity of Mr Mah’s findings. Unless Dr Lee sells his house now and moves to the second floor of an HDB, he is not qualified to criticise those who do not wish to stay on a low floor.

All in all, I would say no thanks to an ill thought letter from Dr Lee that contributes absolutely nothing to this discussion.