He said such allegations were provocative and seditious.

Nga said the ministry’s staff had always provided the best service while implementing affordable and holistic housing policies for the people.

“Civil servants have been serving with excellence from the time of first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman until today.

“The synergy of civil servants and members of the administration has produced various policies, programmes and action plans for the benefit of the people.

“Our intention to invite foreign experts, including from Singapore, for seminars and workshops, is to gain knowledge and share expertise in the field of housing so that Malaysia can move forward and be in step with current developments,” he told Bernama.

He was responding to a report which claimed that the government had to bring in experts from Singapore to resolve Malaysia’s housing issues because officials handling Malaysia’s public housing did not have sufficient expertise.

Nga said engagements with Singapore’s Housing and Development Board (HDB) were initiated in 2018 to understand the planning and provision aspects, especially in “social housing”.

He said the existing National Housing Policy was the result of the ministry’s collaboration with local housing experts, such as the Khazanah Research Institute, Bank Negara Malaysia, the Construction Industry Development Board, academics and real estate analysts.

“It is not wrong to improve policies based on best practices so that they are more comprehensive and practical for implementation in accordance with the Malaysian model.”

He said through the ministry, Malaysia had also initiated similar collaboration with other countries, such as Australia and India, pertaining to private housing development and laws as well as mixed private development.