# The line between public servants and private property

- **Source:** The Business Times
- **Published:** 2026-10-12T07:34:46.000Z
- **Author:** Leslie Yee
- **Original:** https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion-features/line-between-public-servants-and-private-property
- **Topics:** Market Updates

## Featured rationale

The concentration of purchases one to two years before announcements signals that advance infrastructure information may influence buyer decisions and potentially affect nearby transaction activity.

## AI summary

An NBER working paper associated Singapore civil servants linked to rail planning with 113 private-property purchases worth S$138 million near unannounced MRT stations.

## Original article

[SINGAPORE] Recently, a working paper published by the US-based National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) reported a statistical association between civil servants working in agencies connected to rail planning and their purchase of private property near planned MRT stations, before the station locations were publicly announced.

According to the non-profit organisation’s research, civil servants in Singapore disproportionately bought homes near MRT stations that were planned but not publicly announced.

The paper found this behaviour concentrated one to two years before public announcements, and cited an estimated 113 property purchases totalling S$138 million. The pattern was observed for MRT station announcements in or before 2011.

## Chinese translation

> Translation model: grok_cli

### 公务员与私人房产之间的界线

一份近期报告指出，公务员不成比例地购入了已规划但尚未宣布的地铁（MRT）站附近的住宅。

［新加坡］近日，总部位于美国的国家经济研究局（National Bureau of Economic Research，NBER）发表的一份工作论文报告称，在与轨道交通规划相关机构任职的公务员，与他们在车站位置公开宣布之前购买规划中地铁（MRT）站附近私人房产的行为之间，存在统计关联。

根据这家非营利组织的研究，新加坡公务员不成比例地购入了已规划但尚未公开宣布的地铁站附近的住宅。

该论文发现，这种行为集中在公开宣布之前的一至两年，并援引估计共113宗房产购买、总额达1.38亿新元。该模式见于2011年或之前的地铁站公布。