Newly independent Singapore faced many urban challenges. Land badly needed to address overcrowding and slums in the city centre was in short supply. With limited funds and resources, the new government enacted sweeping legislation to obtain land for urban development without straining public coffers. The Land Acquisition Act (LAA) of 1966 was controversial but necessary, as then PM Lee Kuan Yew would later explain:.

When we were confronted with an enormous problem of bad housing, no development, overcrowding, we decided that unless drastic measures were taken to break the law, break the rules, we would never solve it. We therefore took overriding powers to acquire land at low cost, which was in breach of one of the fundamentals of British constitutional law – the sanctity of property. But that had to be overcome, because the sanctity of the society seeking to preserve itself was greater. So we acquired at sub-economic rates. 

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The power to acquire land was critical to fulfilling many of Singapore’s early objectives, from the provision of public housing to the development of industrial estates and major public infrastructure projects such as the airport and ports. Because land acquisition was by nature sweeping and contentious, its legal and administrative framework had to be open, fair and transparent. Safeguards as well as an appeal process were put in place to prevent its abuse by the unscrupulous and to ensure that land acquired was clearly needed for a public purpose. 

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https://www.psd.gov.sg/heartofpublicservice/our-institutions/housing-a-nation-building-a-city/