I'm pretty sure Singapore usings contractors to build the HDBs and doesn't employee labourers themselves.
But also Singapore's construction per sq ft isn't insanely cheaper than the US. You're looking at $120 per sq ft and you would expect Singapore to be much cheaper because they have $2-3/hr labourers, less labor laws, and far less environmental restrictions.
And the HDBs don't really house the poor but the middle class. The poor live in cramped dormitories for foreign immigrants.
I don't think that there is anything wrong with public housing being extended to the middle class or even the upper class. As long as it pushes housing prices down.
Labourers in Singapore do not make 2-3$/h anymore. Nowadays it's closer to 10$/h for the bare minimum. Yet prices are still at 120$/sqft or thereabouts.
The HDB in Singapore owns a controlling stake in many contractors, but yes the general construction is often handled by contractors. That's still different from the US methodology that subcontracts everything from design to maintenance, and it maintains the structural advantages of the government building housing I put forth above.
But also Singapore's construction per sq ft isn't insanely cheaper than the US. You're looking at $120 per sq ft and you would expect Singapore to be much cheaper because they have $2-3/hr labourers, less labor laws, and far less environmental restrictions.
And the HDBs don't really house the poor but the middle class. The poor live in cramped dormitories for foreign immigrants.