Heard it was government who 放火烧屋
Moi and plenty of my kawans have the same thoughts for we were right in the midst of 'kampong Singapore'.
At the time (1961) of the great Bukit Ho Swee inferno, we were members of Volunteer Firefighting Squads (with only armbands) and rubbed shoulders with the fire brigade and local PAP party members. Many other political parties existed then and the PAP was a puppy. There were plenty of kampong fires and we helped douse many in those good days.
As for housing redevelopment, the departing British masters tried something through their SIT (Singapore Improvement Trust) but were sluggish and hindered by the challenge of limited redevelopment land.
At that time, kampong folks loved kampong living and generally did not buy into such resettlement plans as they did not consider such public housing to be any different from the wooden houses that they were accustomed to. So they squatted and refused redevelopment.
The new PAP rulers had a problem in 1961 and the Bukit Ho Swee Fire was timely yet convenient to address the above "redevelopment land" challenge.
It was a big fire. 4 peasants lost their lives over 50 injured and over 15K became homeless.
The authorities had a big piece of land very near the city to launch a public housing programme.