Equipment on laboratory of Fertilization, IVF from Shutterstock.com

by Simon Lim

My children are grown-up already but still as a citizen, I am heartened to read in the Straits Times that the People’s Action Party (PAP)’s government is moving and putting in more efforts to address our long-neglected total fertility problems.

Let me explain.

Our total fertility rates now stand at 1.14 per childbearing woman, a world record low. If nothing is resolutely done to tackle its persistent decline, it is totally possible that in our children’s lifetime, native Singaporeans will become a clear minority in their own country, Singapore. Projecting even further into the future, it is completely possible that native Singaporeans may one day become extinct and all thanks to the hopeless, greedy and overpaid PAP government’s neglect and indifference attitude.

Just days ago, the government announced that age limit will be removed for women seeking in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment and in today’s Straits Times front page, it announced that low-income families can expect to pay $3/ monthly for full-day childcare etc. All those sounded very good and encouraging but I have some thoughts and advice.
Bringing up children properly and healthy is a marathon race and not a sprint. One, government schemes may be available but I want to see them further simplified and making qualifying for them even more hassle-free that even the uneducated can easily understand them.
Next and very importantly, we must be wise enough never to attract the wrong types of people to have more children if they simply cannot afford despite having all the official help, otherwise, we will be sowing even more social problems for our future. With that in mind, I suggest that the government has some sorts of mean testings for those lowest of income or no income couples to be implemented for those seeking government’s help and cash incentives for getting pregnant.
Thirdly and most importantly, the government and young people must never delude themselves but recognise realistically that Singapore is an expensive place to live and bring up a family. The whole eco-system in Singapore is a high cost and high-pressure eco-system and to a very large extent, it is the PAP government’s own making but still, it must work hard to lighten the costs for our young people to bring up families.
Contrary to some poorer countries which are unable to do more for their people even if they want to, the PAP government is totally able to do more to mitigate the overall cost of living if they want to. I hope that they can become a more able and willing government rather than stay as an able but unwilling government.
This PAP government has clearly lost many decades at seriously tackling our falling total fertility rates challenges. Please don’t waste any more time. Think.
This was first published on Simon Lim’s Facebook account and reproduced with permission.

 

 

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