the present day. Conspiracy The lack of a clear conclusion has led to speculation by some that the fire was started by the newly minted local government, led by the PAP. It was suggested that because the government faced difficulties in persuading residents to move out from their kampongs, it deliberately started this fire to forcibly move residents out. Purported evidence cited in support of this theory included the fact that even though the fire took place on a public holiday when many residents were home, the death toll remained relatively low. Others have dismissed this theory as "wild talk". These people argued that because the fire would have created a huge burden on the government to deal with the social fallout resulting from this event, it would not have made sense for the government to start this fire. Official sources largely do not refer to the unresolved cause of the fire and archival materials regarding the Bukit Ho Swee fire in government archives are difficult for researchers to access. Interviewees regarding the fire were wary about speculating on the reason of the fire, and distanced themselves from directly alleging arson, preferring to accept "due process of the law over the words between neighbours". Rumours about the causes of the Bukit Ho Swee fire remain a sensitive topic for decades. However, the death of Lim Kim San in 2006 brought the debate over the cause of the Bukit Ho Swee fire to the public sphere. Legacy Nevertheless, the Bukit Ho Swee fire was a major political victory for the governing PAP. The sheer speed of construction at Bukit Ho Swee, with 3.5 housing units completed per day, demonstrated to the population that the party was able to deliver. The political capital it gained as a result enabled the party-led government to rebuild other "black areas", kampongs which are similar to the one in Bukit Ho Swee. By 1965, the Housing Development Board successfully accommodated 23% of the population in its housing estates. The PAP leveraged on the Bukit Ho Swee fire and the subsequent emergency construction of public housing for its political purposes. It used photographs of the newly completed public housing flats to showcase the progress of Singapore, demonstrating to both locals and the international community how Singapore had transformed a place filled with dangerous settlements into a modern development that could provide immaculate and safe housing for its