Are you ready for 7 million people on tiny Singapore?

[WeiHan]

I used to enjoy taking a bus ride along the stretch of road along tengah air base. It is a big patch of fresh greeneries that is almost extinct in Singapore…but slowly, the Home Team has their headquarters shifted there…some camps moved there also…and soon…according to plan, a new big housing estate called Tengah housing estate will emerge…if you go to google map, you will get what i mean…is really a big piece of land presently still filled with green trees. the size is almost the entire amk,bishan, TPY combined…huge and will be gone soon and yes…by that time, every corner of Singapore will be crowded all the time.

[Emelyn]

WeiHan:

I used to enjoy taking a bus ride along the stretch of road along tengah air base. It is a big patch of fresh greeneries that is almost extinct in Singapore....but slowly, the Home Team has their headquarters shifted there...some camps moved there also.....and soon....according to plan, a new big housing estate called Tengah housing estate will emerge...if you go to google map, you will get what i mean..is really a big piece of land presently still filled with green trees. the size is almost the entire amk,bishan, TPY combined...huge and will be gone soon and yes...by that time, every corner of Singapore will be crowded all the time.

I totally understand what you mean.
I used to live around there too. Lots of green and space. Hard to find nowadays. Going forward, even more rare.

[Oppsgal]

Dora1:

NO!!!!! As it is now, every small plot of greenery that we used to have in between flats are being sold to build new condos or HDB. There is hardly any green spaces left. I think I don't even have to go into the MRT/Bus squeeze, not only during peak hours, but now it is also super crowded at night and on weekends. Roads big and small are jammed packed.

Same as sleepy, I don't enjoy going window shopping now (not that I can afford the time anyway). I only go shopping when I need to - its actually a torture to go shopping nowadays with the endless crowd, queues at every cashier, restaurant, carpark etc.
Frankly, the new spiderweb MRT network, which is supposed to be completed in 2030, can only support the current population. If we increase to 7 million, the MRT of 2030 will still feel like the MRT of today.

:gloomy: I drag coming back whenever I am out of the country. Hardly able to walk straight on weekends without almost bump into people and bicycles in high speed, despite banners are hang up \"no cycling\". Narrow walkways still need to give way to rushing bicycles.

[concern2]

Emelyn:

WeiHan:

I used to enjoy taking a bus ride along the stretch of road along tengah air base. It is a big patch of fresh greeneries that is almost extinct in Singapore....but slowly, the Home Team has their headquarters shifted there...some camps moved there also.....and soon....according to plan, a new big housing estate called Tengah housing estate will emerge...if you go to google map, you will get what i mean..is really a big piece of land presently still filled with green trees. the size is almost the entire amk,bishan, TPY combined...huge and will be gone soon and yes...by that time, every corner of Singapore will be crowded all the time.

I totally understand what you mean.
I used to live around there too. Lots of green and space. Hard to find nowadays. Going forward, even more rare.

The big field that they use for holding the rallies at Punggol East now - it'll be filled with flats - possibly by the next GE. No wonder our national bird is the crane

[KSP]

the train may be really by 2030 … but 7m for SG may be much earlier…

[sunflower]

When LKY first conceived the “Two is Enough” policy, my thought is that it was calculated based on theory. He might not have anticipated that with increasing affluence, there would be a change in people’s mindset and social behaviour. The policy would have worked if people continue with the same mindset with respect to procreation as when it was in the 60s and 70s.


In the direct opposite, Mao Zedong believed in strength in numbers, and he encouraged people to give birth to as many children as possible. How did he win the Korean war?..by the never ending supply of human walls! Even American bullets were not enough to kill all those soldiers!

However, it was tragic that China was unable to feed everyone in the country, and many died of starvation. Perhaps LKY upon seeing history being unfolded, did not want this to happen to Singapore, as our country was not rich and we were still building our nation then.

Times have changed and having children is no longer viewed as all that important anymore. The missing part of the equation is now staring hard at us. It’s a pity that fire-fighting measures have been implemented to fulfill KPIs and to counter the problem of population decline. It does not appear to me that those population/immigration policies were being thoroughly thought through, where ministries seem to work in isolation and not communicating with each other. We need meaningful policies that anticipate future problems with strategies that are well planned and executed correctly to address them. As of now, we are facing the brunt of inadequate and ill-conceived policies.

Of course with more people, especially those with spending power, it’ll boost the economy. However, I hope the reversal of the “Two is Enough” as well as immigration policies to counter the problem of population decline are something that have been carefully thought through, weighing the pros and cons, and whether the cons is something that we can deal with and not in the expense of the people already living in this small island.

I do hope we do not need to suffer the consequences and deal with another missing part of the equation again.

[concern2]

sunflower:

When LKY first conceived the “Two is Enough” policy ..

I do hope we do not need to suffer the consequences and deal with another missing part of the equation again.

Has anyone of you wondered why China, after seeing what is happening to Singapore, isn't calling their one-child policy to a halt?

[Harlequin]

sunflower:

When LKY first conceived the “Two is Enough” policy, my thought is that it was calculated based on theory. He might not have anticipated that with increasing affluence, there would be a change in people’s mindset and social behaviour. The policy would have worked if people continue with the same mindset with respect to procreation as when it was in the 60s and 70s.


In the direct opposite, Mao Zedong believed in strength in numbers, and he encouraged people to give birth to as many children as possible. How did he win the Korean war?....by the never ending supply of human walls! Even American bullets were not enough to kill all those soldiers!

However, it was tragic that China was unable to feed everyone in the country, and many died of starvation. Perhaps LKY upon seeing history being unfolded, did not want this to happen to Singapore, as our country was not rich and we were still building our nation then.

Times have changed and having children is no longer viewed as all that important anymore. The missing part of the equation is now staring hard at us. It’s a pity that fire-fighting measures have been implemented to fulfill KPIs and to counter the problem of population decline. It does not appear to me that those population/immigration policies were being thoroughly thought through, where ministries seem to work in isolation and not communicating with each other. We need meaningful policies that anticipate future problems with strategies that are well planned and executed correctly to address them. As of now, we are facing the brunt of inadequate and ill-conceived policies.

Of course with more people, especially those with spending power, it’ll boost the economy. However, I hope the reversal of the “Two is Enough” as well as immigration policies to counter the problem of population decline are something that have been carefully thought through, weighing the pros and cons, and whether the cons is something that we can deal with and not in the expense of the people already living in this small island.

I do hope we do not need to suffer the consequences and deal with another missing part of the equation again.

I remember I read from one of the earlier books of LKY, that the \"2 is enough\" policy was to encourage women to join the workforce, back then the country had less than optimal workforce partly due to the mandatory national service vacuumed out our male counterparts.

[wonderm]

sunflower:

When LKY first conceived the “Two is Enough” policy, my thought is that it was calculated based on theory. He might not have anticipated that with increasing affluence, there would be a change in people’s mindset and social behaviour. The policy would have worked if people continue with the same mindset with respect to procreation as when it was in the 60s and 70s.


In the direct opposite, Mao Zedong believed in strength in numbers, and he encouraged people to give birth to as many children as possible. How did he win the Korean war?....by the never ending supply of human walls! Even American bullets were not enough to kill all those soldiers!

However, it was tragic that China was unable to feed everyone in the country, and many died of starvation. Perhaps LKY upon seeing history being unfolded, did not want this to happen to Singapore, as our country was not rich and we were still building our nation then.

Times have changed and having children is no longer viewed as all that important anymore. The missing part of the equation is now staring hard at us. It’s a pity that fire-fighting measures have been implemented to fulfill KPIs and to counter the problem of population decline. It does not appear to me that those population/immigration policies were being thoroughly thought through, where ministries seem to work in isolation and not communicating with each other. We need meaningful policies that anticipate future problems with strategies that are well planned and executed correctly to address them. As of now, we are facing the brunt of inadequate and ill-conceived policies.

Of course with more people, especially those with spending power, it’ll boost the economy. However, I hope the reversal of the “Two is Enough” as well as immigration policies to counter the problem of population decline are something that have been carefully thought through, weighing the pros and cons, and whether the cons is something that we can deal with and not in the expense of the people already living in this small island.

I do hope we do not need to suffer the consequences and deal with another missing part of the equation again.

Singapore and China did not go opposite direction. Back in the 70s, many countries including China and Singapore, HK, etc. started the two-child policy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-child_policy

http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/38105696.html

[sunflower]

Harlequin:

I remember I read from one of the earlier books of LKY, that the \"2 is enough\" policy was to encourage women to join the workforce, back then the country had less than optimal workforce partly due to the mandatory national service vacuumed out our male counterparts.

OIC, wasn’t aware of that. Perhaps that’s his “official” stand.