The Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) was a government organisation set up in 1927 by the British colonial government in Singapore (Straits Settlements) in response to the housing needs of the population of Singapore. At that time, many people resided in overcrowded shophouses and squatter settlements, resulting in widespread disease and lack of hygiene and sanitation. Often, over 200 people would live in one shophouse. This also generated massive civil unrest and crime.
The SIT was formed with the recruitment of Captain Edwin Percy Richards as deputy chairman. The SIT was composed of professional architects and contractors to resolve this large social problem, with the goal of building affordable public housing for the common population of Singapore. One of its earliest projects was the Tiong Bahru housing estate, which is regarded as the first public housing estate of Singapore.
source: Wiki