Parliament to discuss claims that civil servants bought properties near future MRT stations

Parliament will debate claims made in a recent study suggesting that some civil servants had purchased properties close to future MRT stations, Singapore's retrenchment rate reaching its highest level since 2020, and delays to the North-South Corridor when it sits again on Tuesday (Oct 6).

A total of nine Members of Parliament have filed questions on the working paper released by a United States-based research organisation, which made a statistical association between civil servants and the homes they purchased near planned MRT stations prior to public announcements regarding the stations.

Most of the questions filed pertain to safeguards and their effectiveness.

Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC MP Alex Yam has asked Prime Minister Lawrence Wong whether safeguards are periodically reviewed for officers with access to market-sensitive information concerning infrastructure, land use and other Government decisions.

Workers' Party MP for Aljunied GRC Gerald Giam has asked whether public officials’ purchasing property based on non-public land-use information constitutes a breach of statutory duties or civil service rules.

He also asked whether public officials’ asset declaration rules will be expanded to cover immediate family members and co-habitants, and if retrospective checks for anomalies will be conducted on past property transactions near unannounced infrastructure projects.

Earlier on Sept 25, the Public Service Division (PSD) of the Prime Minister's Office said it was currently reviewing if there was actual misconduct in cases highlighted in the National Bureau of Economic Research paper.

Stressing that PSD takes the paper's assertions seriously, it said that the patterns reported are concerning.

"But statistical patterns do not by themselves establish whether any individual officer actually had access to non-public information on MRT station locations at the relevant time, or whether such information influenced a property purchase," PSD said.

It added that if any evidence is found showing that an officer had used non-public information to make a property purchase for personal benefit was found, the matter would be referred to the police for further investigation.

Meanwhile, Members of Parliament have filed 10 questions on retrenchment, after the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) finalised data showed that the number of retrenchments rose to 4,620 in the second quarter of 2026 .

This is also the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2020 .

In its Labour Market Report released on Sept 21, MOM noted that the rise was driven by business reorganisation and restructuring in sectors such as manufacturing, information & communications and financial services.

Labour MP Patrick Tay (Pioneer SMC), who is also the National Trades Union Congress' assistant secretary-general, has asked Acting Minister for Manpower Jasmin Lau which sectors have consistently recorded the lowest six-month re-entry rates for retrenched resident Professionals, Managers, Executives, and Technicians (PMETs) in the last 14 quarters, up to and including the first and second quarters of 2026.

First-term MP Valerie Lee (Pasir Ris-Changi GRC) has asked whether MOM will consider strengthening referral mechanisms for mature employees, who may take longer to secure employment.

She also asked what further measures are being considered to support their long-term employment and reduce the risk of repeated displacement.

Another first-term MP Hazlina Abdul Halim (East Coast GRC) has asked how re-employment rates and the time taken to secure work differ for retrenched persons with disabilities and those with secondary education and below.

She also asked if they would receive dedicated placement support and additional financial assistance if still unemployed after six months.

North-South Corridor delays

Six MPs have filed questions on the two-year delay to the North-South Corridor caused by unexpected construction challenges.

Their questions cover the impact on businesses, residents and commuters, cost-overrun liabilities and related matters such as construction safety and measures to prevent further delays.

Parliament sits at 10.30am on Tuesday.

国会将于周二（10 月 6 日）再次开会，届时将讨论最近一项研究中提出的说法，即一些公务员购买了靠近未来地铁站的房产；新加坡的裁员率达到了 2020 年以来的最高水平；以及南北走廊的延误问题。

共有九名国会议员就一家美国研究机构发布的工作文件提出了质询。该文件统计分析了公务员与他们在地铁站规划公布前购买的靠近规划地铁站的房屋之间的关联。

提交的大部分问题都与保障措施及其有效性有关。

马西岭-油池集选区议员严宇问总理黄循财，政府是否会定期审查有关基础设施、土地使用和其他政府决策的市场敏感信息的官员的保障措施。

工人党阿裕尼集选区议员严燕松质问，公职人员根据非公开的土地用途信息购买房产是否构成违反法定职责或公务员规则。

他还询问公职人员的资产申报规则是否会扩大到直系亲属和同居者，以及是否会对未公布的基础设施项目附近的过去房产交易进行追溯性检查，以发现异常情况。

9月25日早些时候，总理公署公共服务司表示，目前正在审查国家经济研究局报告中提到的案例中是否存在实际的不当行为。

PSD强调，他们非常重视该论文中的说法，并表示所报道的模式令人担忧。

“但统计模式本身并不能确定任何一名警员在相关时期是否实际接触过有关地铁站位置的非公开信息，也不能确定此类信息是否影响了房产购买，”公共服务署表示。

声明还补充说，如果发现任何证据表明有警员利用非公开信息购买房产以谋取私利，则该事件将移交警方进行进一步调查。

与此同时，在人力部 (MOM) 最终公布的数据显示 2026 年第二季度裁员人数上升至 4,620 人之后，国会议员们就裁员问题提出了 10 个质询。

这也是自 2020 年第四季度以来的最高水平。

人力部在9月21日发布的《劳动力市场报告》中指出，劳动力市场增长是由制造业、信息通信业和金融服务业等行业的企业重组和结构调整所推动的。

工党议员郑德源（先驱单选区）同时也是全国职工总会助理秘书长，他询问人力部代部长刘嘉敏，在过去 14 个季度（截至 2026 年第一季度和第二季度）中，哪些行业的被裁员的本地专业人士、经理、主管和技术人员（PMET）的六个月再就业率一直最低。

新任国会议员李慧玲（白沙-樟宜集选区）询问人力部是否会考虑加强对成熟员工的推荐机制，因为他们可能需要更长时间才能找到工作。

她还询问正在考虑采取哪些进一步措施来支持他们的长期就业，并降低他们再次失业的风险。

另一位新任议员哈兹丽娜·阿卜杜勒·哈利姆（东海岸集选区）询问，残疾人士和中学及以下学历的被裁员者，其再就业率和找到工作所需的时间有何不同。

她还询问，如果六个月后仍然失业，他们是否会获得专门的就业安置支持和额外的经济援助。

南北走廊延误

六名议员就南北走廊因意想不到的施工挑战而延误两年一事提出了质询。

他们的问题涵盖了对企业、居民和通勤者的影响、成本超支责任以及相关事项，例如施工安全和防止进一步延误的措施。

议会周二上午10点30分开会。