I will now write to give my views on the Population White Paper and on the target of 6.9 million people by 2030.
1. Singapore is already too crowded based on our current population of 5.1 million. Look at our MRT stations, trains and shopping malls next to these stations. - teeming with people. Already life is quite stressful in these crowded conditions; it will get worse.
2. We do not need a big economy to create sufficient jobs for our people. For each size of population, we need perhaps 70% to be working in the domestic sector, i.e. education, health care, housing, safety, law and order, and the other 30% in the export sectors. Our competitive export sectors, e.g. airlines, tourism, high tech manufacturing, education, financial services, trading, etc, can provide these jobs.
3. We have some economic activities that create jobs of questionable value, i.e. selling of properties and financial products, speculation in shares , COE and casinos and money lending (look at the number of pawn shops). We do not need so many people to be involved in these activities - which may be harmful for the future. If some of these people are deployed towards the other sectors of the economy, there is no need for a larger population.
4. We have to get rid of the wasteful activities in our economy; they create jobs but do not improve the quality of life. I refer to the people involved in GST accounting (my favorite grouse), in bureaucratic inefficiency (e.g. payments by cheques, submitting returns to complicated government websites), disruptions of town councils management, and the excessive time spent in National Service (most countries have reduced to one year).
5. We can allow some immigration of quality workers (i.e. those needed by our economy) and families who are willing to immigrate and make a home in Singapore, and to serve National Service and other obligations like the local born. We can accept them for a short term, but they have to make up their mind beyond the initial period.
6. Our population will grow, but much more slowly and consistent with our ability to provide the infrastructure and public services. For the time being, we should keep the population steady until the overcrowding and lack of infrastructure is sorted out.
1. Singapore is already too crowded based on our current population of 5.1 million. Look at our MRT stations, trains and shopping malls next to these stations. - teeming with people. Already life is quite stressful in these crowded conditions; it will get worse.
2. We do not need a big economy to create sufficient jobs for our people. For each size of population, we need perhaps 70% to be working in the domestic sector, i.e. education, health care, housing, safety, law and order, and the other 30% in the export sectors. Our competitive export sectors, e.g. airlines, tourism, high tech manufacturing, education, financial services, trading, etc, can provide these jobs.
3. We have some economic activities that create jobs of questionable value, i.e. selling of properties and financial products, speculation in shares , COE and casinos and money lending (look at the number of pawn shops). We do not need so many people to be involved in these activities - which may be harmful for the future. If some of these people are deployed towards the other sectors of the economy, there is no need for a larger population.
4. We have to get rid of the wasteful activities in our economy; they create jobs but do not improve the quality of life. I refer to the people involved in GST accounting (my favorite grouse), in bureaucratic inefficiency (e.g. payments by cheques, submitting returns to complicated government websites), disruptions of town councils management, and the excessive time spent in National Service (most countries have reduced to one year).
5. We can allow some immigration of quality workers (i.e. those needed by our economy) and families who are willing to immigrate and make a home in Singapore, and to serve National Service and other obligations like the local born. We can accept them for a short term, but they have to make up their mind beyond the initial period.
6. Our population will grow, but much more slowly and consistent with our ability to provide the infrastructure and public services. For the time being, we should keep the population steady until the overcrowding and lack of infrastructure is sorted out.
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