The vast majority of Singaporeans live in public housing managed by the Housing and Development Board (HDB). These are flats owned by the government and leased for 99 years. Wikipedia reports that 78.7% of resident Singaporeans live in HDB homes.
Lawrence Wong, the Minister for National Development has declared that when balancing the rights of non-cat owners and cat owners it is right to ban cats from HDB homes.
The position is being reviewed. The government accepts that many Singaporeans like to own a cat or cats. However, they say that irresponsible cat ownership can lead to ‘disamenities in the community and cause unhappiness’. He is referring to cat hair, urine and faces plus noises.
While we would like very much to accommodate the wishes of all pet owners, we also have to take into consideration the views of other home-owners, and take a holistic and balanced approach in addressing this issue
Comment: as usual whether they do or do not allow cats in HDB flats depends on a balancing act between the benefits and detriments to the community of cat ownership by some residents. If the problem is irresponsible cat ownership by some residents isn’t the solution to make these cat owners more responsible rather than to simply ban cats entirely?
Note: this is an updating post on a policy that I have written about before. Nothing has changed.
Comment: This looks like control-freakery to me. A government that wants Singapore to be squeaky clean and not spoiled by nasty animals. What about nasty people? And certain dog breeds are allowed in HDB flats. Is this also an example of speciesism?
SOME MORE ON SINGAPORE:
