As expected, the White Paper on the 6.9 million population was approved last week in parliament. Before it was approved, PM Lee clarified that the figure was actually a "projection" meant to be the worst case scenario and guideline for infrastructure planning. Both he and Minister Khaw mentioned that it was not a target that the government is working towards.
All about money
I do not know who wrote the White Paper and I have not read it thoroughly but off-hand, all I can see is: money and economic growth. It shows fanciful charts depicting Singapore's rapid ageing population and the serious social problems it poses to the economy. It illustrated how Singapore will be burdened with the "silver tsunami" when the baby boomers grow old in 10-20 years time. It talks about Singapore's low fertility rate and forecasted that the next generation of Singaporeans will have problems supporting the ageing population. It even churned out figures to predict that Singapore's economy will slow down drastically due to these social issues.
No good solution in the White Paper
The White Paper proposed that to solve the twin problem of ageing society and low birth rate, the only way is to mass import foreign immigrants and make them our Singapore core. Whilst I am not anti-foreigners, I feel that everything has to be done in moderation. In the last decade, our population has grew by estimated of one million. This has created undesirable social tension in the form of crowded public infrastructure and competition for jobs. So I am not sure whether the 6.9 million population is a desired outcome that Singaporeans would want. Furthermore, importing so many foreigners would not solve the issue of low birth rate at all. I just don't see how bringing in more foreigners to Singapore would encourage Singaporeans to set up family and make more babies. The government must grab the bull by the horns and make more efforts to encourage Singaporeans to make more babies. The new Baby Bonuses are merely incremental financial incentives that would not induce Singaporeans to make more babies. More pro-family policies must be devised to encourage true-blue citizens to have babies. Children are our future and pillars of the country. Not foreigners. We must build up our Singapore core through natural replacement. If Nordic countries can reverse their falling birth rates, I don't see why Singapore can't.
Constructive comments from readers
I see some good comments from a few of my readers for my previous article. One talked about re-inventing job designation for the elderlys in Canada. I thought thats a good and constructive idea. To solve the twin problem of ageing society and falling birth rate, we must also look at job re-invention for our seniors and not merely replace them with cheap and young foreign workers. We are citizens of this country and should not be treated as economic digits.
To me, The White Paper offers no sustainable solution to tackle the ageing problem. Its solution is to import more foreigners but then again, they will also grow old one day. What happened then? Import more and more foreigners?
Magically yours
All about money
I do not know who wrote the White Paper and I have not read it thoroughly but off-hand, all I can see is: money and economic growth. It shows fanciful charts depicting Singapore's rapid ageing population and the serious social problems it poses to the economy. It illustrated how Singapore will be burdened with the "silver tsunami" when the baby boomers grow old in 10-20 years time. It talks about Singapore's low fertility rate and forecasted that the next generation of Singaporeans will have problems supporting the ageing population. It even churned out figures to predict that Singapore's economy will slow down drastically due to these social issues.
No good solution in the White Paper
The White Paper proposed that to solve the twin problem of ageing society and low birth rate, the only way is to mass import foreign immigrants and make them our Singapore core. Whilst I am not anti-foreigners, I feel that everything has to be done in moderation. In the last decade, our population has grew by estimated of one million. This has created undesirable social tension in the form of crowded public infrastructure and competition for jobs. So I am not sure whether the 6.9 million population is a desired outcome that Singaporeans would want. Furthermore, importing so many foreigners would not solve the issue of low birth rate at all. I just don't see how bringing in more foreigners to Singapore would encourage Singaporeans to set up family and make more babies. The government must grab the bull by the horns and make more efforts to encourage Singaporeans to make more babies. The new Baby Bonuses are merely incremental financial incentives that would not induce Singaporeans to make more babies. More pro-family policies must be devised to encourage true-blue citizens to have babies. Children are our future and pillars of the country. Not foreigners. We must build up our Singapore core through natural replacement. If Nordic countries can reverse their falling birth rates, I don't see why Singapore can't.
Constructive comments from readers
I see some good comments from a few of my readers for my previous article. One talked about re-inventing job designation for the elderlys in Canada. I thought thats a good and constructive idea. To solve the twin problem of ageing society and falling birth rate, we must also look at job re-invention for our seniors and not merely replace them with cheap and young foreign workers. We are citizens of this country and should not be treated as economic digits.
To me, The White Paper offers no sustainable solution to tackle the ageing problem. Its solution is to import more foreigners but then again, they will also grow old one day. What happened then? Import more and more foreigners?
Magically yours
This is what has been passed in the parliament, not 6.9 million population.
ReplyDeleteHow many people who kpkb about the White Paper know the exact wording of the amended motion or bother to find out?
“That this House endorses Paper Cmd. 1 of 2013 on "A Sustainable Population for a Dynamic Singapore" as the roadmap to address Singapore's demographic challenge, and Paper Misc. 1 of 2013 on "A High Quality Living Environment for all Singaporeans" as the land use plan to support Singapore's future population projections; and supports maintaining a strong Singaporean core by encouraging more Singaporeans to get married and have children, supplemented by a calibrated pace of immigration to prevent the citizen population from shrinking; and recognises that the population projections beyond 2020 are for the purpose of land use and infrastructure planning, and not a population target; and calls on the Government to:
(a) place priority on resolving current strains on the infrastructure, particularly in transport;
(b) plan, invest in, and implement infrastructure development ahead of demand;
(c) ensure that the benefits of our population policies, such as better job opportunities and salaries, flow to Singaporeans; and
(d) carry out medium term reviews of our population policies and assumptions to take into account the changing needs of
Singapore and Singaporeans, as well as changing domestic and external circumstances.”
People are simply skeptical that the government will adhere to what was agreed in the amended motion, which is why everybody is still harping on 6.9 million. There is no trust that they will back pedal on this, since the white paper itself clearly pointed to the 6.9 million projection. It's basically a loss of trust, and given how the population figures have exploded in the recent years, it's not surprising why people are reading more into it.
DeleteAgree with you. Give 6 months maternity leave followed by half pay 6 more months. Increase the income tax for those making more than 15 k a month to subsidies more incentives for child birth. Will Singaporeans become extinct? Will the rich be willing to pay more income tax? Easy to say but now high Coe already many complain. We cannot expect low taxes and low Coe but expect child birth to increase miraculously. The rich must chip in.
ReplyDelete