Population: A redirection
As Singaporeans feel the over-crowdedness, Lee Kuan Yew reduces the
optimum size in future to 5.5m. By Seah Chiang Nee.
Feb 13, 2008
SIGNALLING
a major redirection, Singapore’s political icon has reduced his own
population projection for the future by up to 1.5 million
people.
Minister
Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has scaled down a projected 6.5 million
population – mainly through immigration – by some 20% “to preserve
a sense of comfort”.
He
now prefers an optimum size of 5 million to 5.5 million, down from
the 6 million to 7 million that he wanted two years ago. Currently
the population stands at 4.6 million, so expansion has only a
little way to go.
In
2005, he told a surprised nation that he foresaw a thriving global
Singapore of 6 million to 7 million people by 2030.
That
would place Singapore’s size just behind major cities like New York
(8.2 million) and London (7.6 million). The time span for achieving
this was revised from 30 years to 40-50 years.
Lee’s
climb-down is as abrupt as his idea was two years ago; none
received prior discussion in Parliament. He is now obviously
convinced that there is not enough space in Singapore for such
large numbers.
The
Minister Mentor said last Tuesday: “I have not quite been sold on
the idea that we should have 6.5 million. I think there’s an
optimum size for the land that we have, to preserve the open spaces
and the sense of comfort.”
Lee
told a think tank seminar that he did not want to see Singapore
going the way of Hong Kong – “just solid buildings, one blocking
the sunlight of the other”.
The
revision is more than to keep aesthetic values; it follows the
adverse impact of the rapid demographic change in the past few
years.
In
some areas, there is serious over-crowding, especially on the roads
and in public transport, as well as universities and hospitals (a
fourth is being planned), which are straining public
tolerance.
(Senior
Minister Goh Chok Tong recently warned of potential friction
between newcomers and locals.)
Singaporeans
are fearful of being muscled out by foreigners in their own
country. Critics have accused the government of treating them
better than citizens on issues such as jobs, national service and
education.
Others
are worried about the future of this small city-state, which has
the fourth densest population in the world.
Concerned
at being pushed out of their comfort zone, more Singaporeans now
opt to work or settle down abroad.
The
brain drain is even hitting close to his family, Lee recently
said.
His
grandson Li Hongyi, who is studying economics in America on a
government scholarship, recently advised his younger brother not to
accept a scholarship.
The
advice was apparently aimed at telling brother Hao Yi not to tie
himself down by a bond to work for six years in Singapore, which is
a condition of the financing.
It
implies that the son of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong may be
planning to work abroad after graduation.
The
economy is also declining.
Job
creation, which has always determined the rate of immigration here,
is expected to slow significantly from almost 200,000 in 2007 to
60,000, a Citigroup research says.
The
expected drop in employment this year is bound to slow down the
number of foreign arrivals, irrespective of what the government
wants.
Meanwhile,
the authorities are tackling some of the public woes – packed
trains and crowded roads during peak hours.
From
7.30am-9am and 5.30pm-7.30pm some stations are so packed that
commuters are left standing to wait for the second or third train
before they can get on board.
“Going
to work every morning is a nightmare. It’s virtually impossible to
be able to catch the first train that comes along. There are so
many people in it,” said a clerical assistant, who has to start her
day half an hour earlier.
Sometimes
she would have to join others to make an extra trip upstream in
order to make it.
A
S$20bil plan has been announced to double the length of MRT tracks
from 138km to 278km by 2020 by building two more lines, one of
which will run underground.
Buses
are also feeling the strain of the increase in population and a
major revamp is under way.
The
roads are getting clogged as people withstand some hefty costs (the
most expensive in the world) to buy and operate a car.
To
get motorists to use public transport, cars are taxed
electronically every time they pass under some 71 gantries built
across the island, the costs depending on location and
time.
Recently,
as the number of cars increased, more and more gantries were built
and they moved from crowded highways to some residential
neighbours.
One
motorist who lives in non-congested Upper Bukit Timah Road
complained that one was erected not far from his house. “This means
that every time I drive out of my gate I pay a fee.”
