• Before 1991, all MPs had offices at HDB void deck spaces
• A policy change in 1991, made after the GE, disallowed political parties from renting void deck space
• After 20 years, the policy was reversed in 2011, also made after the GE

SINGAPORE — The perennial issue of opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) using the void deck space at public housing blocks to conduct their meet-the-people sessions cropped up again in Parliament on Wednesday (Sept 2).

This time, it was Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh who broached the subject, saying there were claims that he was trying to gain sympathy by still conducting these sessions at void decks.

Speaking during an exchange with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong that day, Mr Singh raised the issue as an example of the kind of questions Workers’ Party (WP) MPs sometimes face from voters.

There were several policy reversals over the years that first disallowed, then allowed MPs from all political parties to build offices at the void decks of Housing and Development Board (HDB) residential blocks and they can then use the space to conduct their meet-the-people sessions.

TODAY explains how the rule changes came about and how they affected MPs from both sides of the House over the years.

BEFORE 1991

All MPs were given an office space at HDB void decks before 1991. WP said that HDB once built an office for Mr JB Jeyaretnam, the former WP MP for the then Anson ward.

POLICY CHANGE IN 1991

In November 1991, HDB changed its policy and disallowed political parties from renting void deck space.

It said that this was because demand for void deck space was growing.

These spaces would be leased to “approved” grassroots organisations and education foundations at subsidised rates, but at market rates to town councils and childcare centres, The Straits Times reported in 2011.

The policy change happened three months after the General Election (GE) that year, which saw four opposition MPs voted into Parliament, including WP’s Low Thia Khiang and then-Singapore Democratic Party chief Chiam See Tong — the best showing by the Opposition up until then.

It was the first time Mr Low won Hougang Single Member Constituency, a seat that he held until 2011, when he left the ward to contest in the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) during the GE that year.

HDB’s policy change meant that more than 40 MPs had to shut their void deck offices by September 1992.

But opposition MPs decried the change as something that would only benefit People’s Action Party (PAP) MPs who can still use kindergartens run by the ruling party for their meet-the-people sessions, The Straits Times reported.

PAP responded by challenging the Opposition to set up their own kindergartens.

Mr Low brought up this issue several times in Parliament in 1992, questioning the Government on why he was unable to convert the void deck space into an MP’s office.

When he asked for the proportion of space that an MP’s office would take up out of the total void deck space in Hougang, former National Development Minister S Dhanabalan said that it would take up “about 1 per cent”, based on records of official reports of parliamentary debates.

Mr Low, Mr Chiam and other opposition MPs have been known to conduct their meet-the-people sessions at open void decks since the policy change.

POLICY REVERSAL IN 2011

In the GE held in May 2011, more WP MPs were voted into Parliament when they won Aljunied GRC, bringing the total number of opposition MPs to six.

Later that same month, the Ministry of National Development announced a policy reversal: It asked HDB to allow elected MPs to rent void deck space and set up an MP’s office for their meet-the-people sessions.

“The rental will be at a concessionary rate, similar to that levied for non-profit, social communal uses,” the ministry said.

However, WP responded to the change by deciding against building offices at HDB void decks, saying that it would be a financial burden.

The party said then: “As WP does not have access to limitless resources, prudence dictates that WP be conservative in spending… In addition, in view of the constant redrawing of electoral boundaries by the Government, the long-term viability of the construction of offices for WP MPs is open to question.

“While the WP appreciates HDB’s gesture, it is nothing more.”