SINGAPORE: Acting Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said there are positive signs that Singapore will be able to achieve its target of building as strong a Singaporean core as possible, by encouraging its people to get married and have more children earlier.
Mr Teo, who is also Minister-in-Charge of population policies, said surveys show that 85 per cent of singles want to get married, while eight in 10 married couples want to have two to three children.
He said these reflect the desire among the vast majority to get married and start families.
Addressing
about 200 participants at a townhall dialogue on "Our Population, Our
Future" on Tuesday, Mr Teo said this is very encouraging.
Mr Teo also hopes that Singapore's Total Fertility Rate (TFR) can increase from the current 1.2 to at least 1.4 or 1.5.
He said it would be good if the TFR is higher than 1.5 but added that it'll take time to change this.
He
said there have been suggestions for the government to increase
financial support for parents, improve the availability and quality of
childcare facilities and promote work-life balance and flexi-work
arrangements.
Mr Teo said the government is studying these
proposals, including ideas to refine existing marriage and parenthood
initiatives.
But he stressed that what's more important is a whole-of-society effort to enhance a family-friendly culture.
"Getting
married and having children must be something that couples want and
look forward to, and feel is important to make their lives complete. We
will strive to create a supportive and conducive environment for raising
children, and we hope that couples will make the decision to start a
family, even if circumstances do not fit their expectations completely
or perfectly," said Mr Teo.
He pointed out that Singapore will need to add about 20,000 new Singaporeans each year, to keep the citizen population stable.
A good number of these new Singaporeans are spouses of citizens.
Last year, 39 per cent of marriages, or about 9,000, were between a Singaporean and a non-Singaporean.
So
with 20,000 new citizens per year, Mr Teo said the country is "filling"
in the shortfall to replace itself and to have a sustainable and stable
population of Singaporeans.
Turning to long-term population
projections, Mr Teo said how many people Singapore can have will depend
on factors such as plans for its urban environment.
The Urban
Redevelopment Authority (URA), in its most recent mid-term concept plan
review in 2006, had assessed that Singapore has sufficient land to
support a population of 6.5 million.
Mr Teo stressed that this was a planning parameter - not a population target.
He
said what Singapore's population would be will depend on how many more
babies the country has, whether it continues to create good jobs and is
able to attract new immigrants, as well as the decisions on the number
of foreign workers needed to support economic and social needs.
"But
because major infrastructure projects take time, we must plan well
ahead, and build in a buffer for contingencies. This is a prudent thing
to do so that we can implement the plans if needed with minimal lag
time, and continue to enjoy a well-planned and good living environment,"
said Mr Teo.
The National Population and Talent Division has
received close to 2,000 pieces of feedback directly and met over 1,200
individuals and representatives of various groupings and organisations.
The government is preparing a White Paper on the population issue and plans to finalise it by the end of the year.
- CNA/ck
all i see are half naked minsters running on the road ,in hawker centres and in shopping malls with their leaky appendages.:)
keep raising the costs of living and see how many can afford to bring up kids or get married.
Maybe it is the porn and prostitution epidemic. More and more singaporean men are wasting their sperm into the drain watching porn and going to geylang for prostitutes instead of spending time to make babies with their wives.