To the Landlord, he is an Asshole to All Singaporean he is the Best.
The Land Acquisition Act (LAA) of 1966 was controversial but necessary, as then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew would later explain:
When we were confronted with an enormous problem of bad housing, no development, overcrowding, we decided that unless drastic measures were taken to break the law, break the rules, we would never solve it. We, therefore, took overriding powers to acquire land at low cost, which was in breach of one of the fundamentals of British constitutional law – the sanctity of property. But that had to be overcome because the sanctity of the society seeking to preserve itself was greater. So we acquired at sub-economic rates.
On Merdeka Day in 1964, a Straits Times article headlined “A Flat Every 45 Minutes” reflected the buoyant mood that the housing problem had been resolved: