Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday identified three areas of priority for the government: restructuring the economy, addressing the population shortfall and updating the political system.
In a wide—ranging speech to the annual Singapore Perspective Conference organised by the Institute of Policy Studies, Mr Lee said Singapore’s economic policies must enable the country’s economy to perform to its limits and help Singaporeans thrive in the new world.
He said the Economic Strategies Committee will publish its recommendations next week and the government will respond to them in the Budget.
On the population shortfall, Mr Lee said Singapore’s birth rates are not improving despite the government’s best efforts.
Last year, there were about 170 fewer live births than in 2008.
This would mean that the total fertility rate would have gone down further.
PM Lee stressed that while the decline could have been due to the global economic downturn, it was still a grave trend. If left unchecked, Singapore will face not just an ageing, but a shrinking population.
Therefore, he said the government needs to encourage Singaporeans to start families with parenthood benefits and other incentives.
However, he added that the country must also top up the population and talent pool with immigration in a measured and calibrated manner.
Turning to the subject of updating the political system, Mr Lee said that while having a sound system is essential, that in itself is not enough to produce political stability and good governance.
He said that the nation is still dependent on having the right people in charge and an able and committed team coming forward to lead the country.
The Prime Minister said a key task for his predecessors and himself has always been to identify promising people to form the next team.
He said good progress has been made in this area but he does not have a complete next team lined up in Cabinet yet.
He is confident that by the next general election, the People’s Action Party (PAP) will field a team which will consist the core of the next generation leadership.
Mr Lee also stressed that leadership renewal will be a major issue in the next general election.
Welcome to overcrowding Sinkapore.
more crowd, more business for my pubs
Originally posted by angel7030:more crowd, more business for my pubs
more horny old men for u
bald and botak heads alot, but so far never seen any horn on top of them...maybe next christmas...reindeer
Go create your own forum and draw attention to yourself, lau ah lian aka longinchjohn aka angel7030.
Don't use this thread to seek attention.
attention seeking hum
aiya, aunty, people ask me mah, so i must have the courtesy to answer mah, unlike Foreign peoples, me true singaporeans ok,..i still remember when i was very young, there was a campaign on Courtesy..."Courtesy is our way of Life",. how come now no more such advertisment liao,..no wonder some foreigners have no courtesy like we do...what the heck is home affair dept doing???sleeping and partying
Originally posted by AH TRUTH:attention seeking hum
a bootlicking one, too
Originally posted by angel7030:aiya, aunty, people ask me mah, so i must have the courtesy to answer mah, unlike Foreign peoples, me true singaporeans ok,..i still remember when i was very young, there was a campaign on Courtesy..."Courtesy is our way of Life",. how come now no more such advertisment liao,..no wonder some foreigners have no courtesy like we do...what the heck is home affair dept doing???sleeping and partying
lau ah lian aka longinchjohn aka angel7030
Go create your own forum and draw attention to yourself, lau ah lian aka longinchjohn aka angel7030.
Don't use this thread to seek attention.
Seems that they are talking about different topics everyday now.
Wow, looks like election is near.
now the govt is perplexed by the issue of lack of new born babies …trying almost everything but couldn’t improve the falling birth rates and urged more babies…
the crux of the problem is what we have known all along..this country is over emphasizing on women’s charter and the ever greater pressure on men to commit in marriage without any legal protection..and we are expecting more liabilities on us…
the govt still fails and ignore the ground discontents that men feel it but couldn’t help it as the law is over protecting the women….men’s fear of commitment has increased …this comes as no surprise…
the govt tried subsidies of all kinds, promoting on dating, icebreakers, .....all these measures have failed and repeatedly fail with decreasing birth rates….they just dun dare to touch on whats need to be done to improve and lift men’s fears of unreasonable and unlimited liabilities of men to serve the country and worse, to get huge fines upon divorce….
Men’s liabilities are just too high…the due is overly and fearfully high…its better to be single…it is so clear and yet so stubbornly ignored
FCUKPAP – You dun even want to discuss on the matter…becos u know its difficult and ultra sensitive….easier to suppress men through legal means than finding a better and balanced solution....the more u suppress us men...fear of commitment increased and fewer the birth rates and ironically less talents and more foreign ones....thanks so much
Originally posted by Fcukpap:now the govt is perplexed by the issue of lack of new born babies …trying almost everything but couldn’t improve the falling birth rates and urged more babies…
the crux of the problem is what we have known all along..this country is over emphasizing on women’s charter and the ever greater pressure on men to commit in marriage without any legal protection..and we are expecting more liabilities on us…
the govt still fails and ignore the ground discontents that men feel it but couldn’t help it as the law is over protecting the women….men’s fear of commitment has increased …this comes as no surprise…
the govt tried subsidies of all kinds, promoting on dating, icebreakers, .....all these measures have failed and repeatedly fail with decreasing birth rates….they just dun dare to touch on whats need to be done to improve and lift men’s fears of unreasonable and unlimited liabilities of men to serve the country and worse, to get huge fines upon divorce….
Men’s liabilities are just too high…the due is overly and fearfully high…its better to be single…it is so clear and yet so stubbornly ignored
FCUKPAP – You dun even want to discuss on the matter…becos u know its difficult and ultra sensitive….easier to suppress men through legal means than finding a better and balanced solution....the more u suppress us men...fear of commitment increased and fewer the birth rates and ironically less talents and more foreign ones....thanks so much
I would think a more probable cause would be the cost of raising kids and the interruption it brings to a woman's career. Highly competitive society without a protective net.
FCUKPAP - u knew u made several grave social policies mistakes...but u know its hard to reverse....
now u started to decrease the influx of foreigns in view of upcoming election...but we would have to increase our productivity ..now we see even scholars joining the opposition...that simply means we didn't get the due justly for being one...driving them to suicides are just one sad social phenomenon....and the overemphasized women charter here has indirectly cause increase in men's fears of commitment as the unreasonably high liabilities are foreseeable and calculatingly huge besides risking males mental health coinciding with rising infertility...apart from the unreported deaths of many young NS guys...the liabilities of men are unlimited....now the retribution on women steps in when she becomes mother...her teenage son (could be 18 or 19 or even 20+) ..how much talent have u wasted and no one could pay her loss of son (if could live up to 80 yrs - 20 yrs died = 60 yrs of possible talent lost)....HOW MUCH R U GOING TO COMPENSATE?
this govt is strong academically in maths, science and politics but so weak in social psychology...
to include the high costs of maids to do women's housework .....
Naw, it's not just the women's charter.
Singapore's dismal birth rate is the result of several factors, and mostly a case of the government trying to do many different things at once, and ending up not doing any of these things well.
Case in point, one has to admit that the original population control policies were greatly myopic. The natural development of the nation will bring down the birth rate on its own, and in fact one might argue that had the government not embarked on such an aggressive "stop at two" policy, Singapore soceity would have had quite a lot more Singaporeans to buffer and set off our current population issues by quite a while.
Additionally, baby bonus and the like aside, one cannot avoid the fact that the rising cost of living in Singapore ultimately outweights whatever baby bonuses the government can provide. The fact remains that by and large our pragmatic concern with economic sucess and the lifestyle it creates in our society is often at odds at us wanting to encourage our population to have more children.
And of course, people are marrying and having children later as well. This adds even more to the problem.
The women's charter really has little to do with it, and I say this as a member of the male gender. Yes, I think it's unfair and ultimately in the long run does not really benefit either women or men the way it is currently done, but I do not think think it's the main reason.
The current practice of importing "talent" to make up for the shortfall of course, is not socially or economically sustainable in the long run. It is a stop-gap measure. The crux of the issue is, and will always be the birth rate and who will truly become citizens. Because that is largely what it means to be Singaporean.
I do not think Singapore will die if our birth rate carrys on like that... but it will radically redefine what it means to be Singaporean... given locals will feel increasingly disconnected from their homeland, as well as seeing citizenship as a liability. This cannot bode well for national identity.
the liabilities on men are much higher..as women could legal compensation..and even increase it in court....raising the kids are high costs besides we men rightfully share it PLUS the cost on men are much higher upon divorce PLUS the fears of getting married with such high liabilities on men delay marriages and end up singles...
something has to be done to level it...
it does impact as we still need men to accept the liabilities...and there is a growing concern of men who knows the advantage of being single than marriage/ divorce... before even calculating the costs of kids and others....
the subsidies, promotions on dating and icebreakers are such measures to push more marriages ... and eventually babies...but u have to resolve the first basic issue to make it equally conducive for men to contemplate marriage
dun forget the buzzword nowadays....RISK MANAGEMENT....we men do look into risks of divorce and its consequences
the govt needs to downplay the overemphasis on women...and sort ways to find better balance for men...make the marital environment more conducive ...more sustainable
i see sing men alot in joo chiat and geyland, i see sing men alots in batam and bangkok, i even see seen sing men alot in China provinces...blame who??? Sing gals??? no way, we dun even blame you guys from flirting around and you want to say us...are u ok??? or you posting from IMH???
Blame the govt lah for allowing so many beautiful sexy Foreign gals in ya, Singapore men fighting with singapore gals for what??? Foreign gals all laughing.
ya, like those staffs in Air Force one, need singaporeans.
Airforceone, Airforceone, this is Escort 18 hornet chief, over, airforceone, can you read me over...
Originally posted by SingaporeTyrannosaur:Naw, it's not just the women's charter.
Singapore's dismal birth rate is the result of several factors, and mostly a case of the government trying to do many different things at once, and ending up not doing any of these things well.
Case in point, one has to admit that the original population control policies were greatly myopic. The natural development of the nation will bring down the birth rate on its own, and in fact one might argue that had the government not embarked on such an aggressive "stop at two" policy, Singapore soceity would have had quite a lot more Singaporeans to buffer and set off our current population issues by quite a while.
Additionally, baby bonus and the like aside, one cannot avoid the fact that the rising cost of living in Singapore ultimately outweights whatever baby bonuses the government can provide. The fact remains that by and large our pragmatic concern with economic sucess and the lifestyle it creates in our society is often at odds at us wanting to encourage our population to have more children.
And of course, people are marrying and having children later as well. This adds even more to the problem.
The women's charter really has little to do with it, and I say this as a member of the male gender. Yes, I think it's unfair and ultimately in the long run does not really benefit either women or men the way it is currently done, but I do not think think it's the main reason.
The current practice of importing "talent" to make up for the shortfall of course, is not socially or economically sustainable in the long run. It is a stop-gap measure. The crux of the issue is, and will always be the birth rate and who will truly become citizens. Because that is largely what it means to be Singaporean.
I do not think Singapore will die if our birth rate carrys on like that... but it will radically redefine what it means to be Singaporean... given locals will feel increasingly disconnected from their homeland, as well as seeing citizenship as a liability. This cannot bode well for national identity.
If we are to select opposition who can really replace the PAP we need to have a good understanding of the problem.
For one, our current population growth problem is about RATE, not numbers. Our population numbers aren't dwindling like that of Japan yet.
The rate of replacement is particularly important for us because of our "social security" measure - the CPF. In an ideal scenario, as more and more Singaporeans retire it becomes a neccessity to ensure that the amount of contributors is constant with the amount of people drawing their retirement funds from.
Of course, since our government treats the CPF like a free piggy bank using it for god knows what without accountability it becomes crucial to ensure that there is enough money to pay off the initial contributors to the CPF. Essentially the CPF (Including its counterpart - the Social Security and Pension System in the US) is a Ponzi Scheme.
My theory is that they realised there isn't enough remaining currently in the CPF to pay off the increasing number of retirees leaving the workforce that's why they were so eager to impose limits on the withdrawal amount and the bullshit annuity measures.
That's also why they're so eager to let in so much foreign workforce.
If a PR wishes to leave Singapore and wants to withdraw his or her CPF, they would have to put back the money PLUS interest if they want to ever come back here to work again. Since very few are so confident to do that, they're not so eager to withdraw their whole CPF.
SO basically that means the opening of the floodgates is to refill the coffers of the CPF, not because we have a dwindling population. They're using a potential future problem to cover up the fuck up they're having now.
u dun see sing gals (married ones some more) in hotel 81? u dun see sing gals sucking ang moh bananas in public? u even see sing gals licking sing gals smelly holes on buses and on grass patches with newspapers...
blame men? look at your own species too...