Singapore's population could hit 6.9 million by 2030

troublemaker2005 SG

please lah.

when they say population, they should only include singaporeas (including new citizens), PRs only.

those on socila visit passes, foreign cheap labors they cannot call them population.

dont forget we have overstayers also.

how can people overstay? when they socila visit duration reached at immigrantions records, they never update report or renew or report at checkpoints to fuck home, wont we issue a warranty for their arrest if they dont report again? or put them on wanted list?

still i think there should not be more people consider the uncertainties aheads.

we should continue to vote for promising opoositions during GEs whom have past records of 40percent or more votes to ensure enuuf oppositions in parliament should 2030 comes and the white paper proposals in place but still fail practically.

the era of 'can do' mindset os over ' the era of 'practical approach' dawns, here ..now!

yenwei yow SG

If I were given the chance to vote, I will just wait till 2016 to vote for someone who really cares and listen for Singaporeans. I do not even need to read their 6.9 million people plans (or 2030 population plans) liao.

Summer hill SG

you are only 18 then.

charlize SG

It's only 6.9 million.

Be grateful it is not 10 million.

Oh wait, that could be the target for 2040.

charlize SG

This is like shopping.

instead of putting 7 million, they put 6.9 million so that you will buy their idea.

Trouble is, nobody wants the product they are selling.

yenwei yow SG

you are only 18 then.

the Bear SG

This is like shopping.

instead of putting 7 million, they put 6.9 million so that you will buy their idea.

Trouble is, nobody wants the product they are selling.

i was waiting for someone to notice that.. $7.95 instead of $8.00.. if $8.00 no one will buy but $7.95, people think it's "only $7"

the Bear SG

Khaw say that the 6.9m is "worse case scenario" and he hopes that they "will never be caught short like they are now"

so, he's admitting incompetence...

or maybe he's stating something everyone knows and their position of "we were right" is now indefensible...

either way, no one with an IQ over 50 believes them or trusts them anymore

charlize SG

The figures are no joke.

Current population is 5.3 million.

Target population is 6.9 million.

That is a 30% increase in people.

Current land is 71400 ha.

Target land increase via reclamation is 76600 ha.

That is an increase of only 7% land.

You do the math and compare.

SJS6638 SG

Coming amid an already rising wave of anti-foreigner sentiment following the influx of immigrants in recent years, a white paper released by the National Population and Talent Division on Tuesday said that Singaporeans were expected to make up little more than half or 55 per cent of the projected population.

Foreigners, who currently make up about two out of five people living in Singapore, have been blamed for the rising cost of living, stagnation of wages and crowding in public transport.

Singaporeans took it to online platforms to give voice to their rage over the government’s population plan. A Facebook group, Say No to an Overpopulated Singapore, was started on Monday and has since gotten 658 likes.

Hundreds of comments to articles regarding the population target were also overwhelmingly negative.

In one comment, Yahoo! reader Ah Lim said, “… Singapore is just a tiny island, it can never [sustain] such a huge population. Maintain a reasonable population and everyone can live in comfort. I do not wish to squeeze like hell wherever I go.”

Another reader Seasand123 said, "I would consider the mother of all policy blunders ever made by the ruling party is their open door policy and flooding this tiny nation with millions of foreigners."

Social activist and owner of unemployment support site Transitioning.org Gilbert Goh told Yahoo! Singapore that the population expansion plans shocked him.

“It will cause a lot of social tension between foreigners and Singaporeans. When there are so many people coming in, you have to get them jobs and housing, and these two things will affect Singaporeans a lot,” Goh said.

“We have to produce about half a million to 750,000 jobs to accommodate a population of about 6.9 million,” he added.

The former National Solidarity Party (NSP) member said he will be organising a protest at Speakers’ Corner at Hong Lim Park on 16 February.

“[People I spoke to] are disappointed with the government for not hearing them out. The majority of Singaporeans don’t want this expansion. The disappointment is that after the PAP’s loss in Punggol East, the government still went ahead to introduce unpopular policies,” Goh said.

Immigration policies were one of the hotly debated topics at the Punggol East by-election in early January.
Yeoh Lam Keong, adjunct senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) and Vice President of the Economic Society of Singapore, told Yahoo! Singapore that the government should be trying harder to cap total population at 6 million or below by 2030 and around 6.5 million by 2050.

This will involve constraining workforce growth to 1 per cent between now and 2020 and around 0.5 per cent after that rather than the 1 to 2 per cent between now and 2020 and 1 per cent thereafter proposed in the government white paper.

Arguing that the positive economic benefits of the higher proposed growth in workforce do not outweigh the negative societal consequences that will come with the larger expansion of population size, Yeoh said economic history of other developed countries like the US and Northern Europe indicated that such higher workforce growth and related immigration is unnecessary for a vibrant economy.

He explained that the 0.5 to 1 per cent difference in extra annual workforce growth may be the difference between a liveable and cosmopolitan but reasonably indigenous and more egalitarian environment like Switzerland, and a horrendously crowded, unequal and highly foreign environment like Dubai.

"The problem I have with the white paper is that the tradeoffs considered between good jobs and economic dynamism, and population and workforce growth are overly mechanistic, economically simplistic and astonishingly sociologically and politically naive," Yeoh said.

With the proposed 6.9 million population by 2030, Yeoh added that Singapore might be moving towards Dubai, where there is difficult social tensions and little national soul.

"In short, it proposes trading the birthright of our basis for national identity and social cohesion for the dubious pottage of 0.5 to 1 per cent extra workforce growth on the narrow, unsubstantiated belief that it somehow makes for a more secure and vibrant economic future," he said.

In the same vein, Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) said the intention to raise the population to 7 million is "extremely worrying".

"There are no justifiable reasons for the PAP to raise the population by such a large number in such a short span of time. The population explosion will cause further economic, social and psychological stress for the people, as well as add to national security implications," said the SDP.

Other Singaporeans have expressed their frustration with humour, sharing memes made by popular satire website SGAG.

(Photo courtesy of Mato Kotwani)

(Photo courtesy of SGAG)

What are your thoughts on the plan to expand our population to 6.9 million by 2030 proposed by the government? We welcome your views. Email us at [email protected]. Please include your full name, age and occupation if you want your emails to be considered for publishing. Please note that all submissions will be subject to these terms.

Mr Milo SG

60 million
Laughing

SJS6638 SG

Govt's assurance: S'pore can have quality of life

By Haley Chan

SINGAPORE - The Government's latest projected population figures are focused on the interest and benefit of Singaporeans, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean assured citizens yesterday.

Referring to the Population White Paper which projects a population of 6.9 million by 2030, Mr Teo said that it is "quite understandable" that people have their concerns.

Infrastructure constraints, job competition and foreigner numbers are among issues raised, he said.

But Mr Teo stressed that the Government is looking for "high-quality, productivity-driven growth which will bring good lives, good jobs and decent wages".

He was speaking to reporters at a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Home Team Tactical Centre in Mandai.

To illustrate his point, Mr Teo, who is also Minister for Home Affairs and Coordinating Minister for National Security, painted two scenarios: One where the workforce "freezes" at where it is today and the other, where the workforce continues to grow at its current annual pace of about 3.3 per cent.

He said that neither scenario would produce desirable outcomes and instead stressed the need to strike a "fine and careful balance" between the two.

Mr Teo also said that while the Government looks to the future, it also places priority on addressing "immediate concerns", such as housing and transportation.

Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan also weighed in on the Government's Land Use Plan to Support Singapore's Future Population, which was released yesterday.

He said that Singaporeans' reaction, thinking "the planners must be mad", is a legitimate one.

But he said that the country can have a larger population - and better quality of life - if certain conditions are right.

These include good long-term planning and good infrastructure, built ahead of time and demand.

Speaking to the media at HDB Hub in Toa Payoh, Mr Khaw said that if those conditions are there, Singapore can overcome this seemingly-difficult problem.

"And we are confident because we have time," he added.

_____________________________________

Please, you all in PAP still continue to treat us all as fools. You have no conscience, you people just go all the way to do as you like and ignore the concerns and voice of Singaporeans. Money will continue to come your way and more money to come when population reaches 6.9 million. Money again

gunner77 SG

123,321

PAP number 1!

fuck la knn, pui!

simi 2030 plans?

who says u will still be in control after 2016 election?

GHoST_18 SG

the next PM will admit govt lack 20/20 foresight in 2030

SJS6638 SG

This is like shopping.

instead of putting 7 million, they put 6.9 million so that you will buy their idea.

Trouble is, nobody wants the product they are selling.

they are playing pschology. Pricing with tag $6.90 is as good as $7.00

Dalforce 1941 SG

All Singaporeans from now on must step up their efforts to end the rule of the PAP regime.

The target is end of PAP rule in 2021.

TARGET 2021

Seowlah SG

the next PM will admit govt lack 20/20 foresight in 2030

Can blame the optometrist for lack of 20/20 sight or not ?

Dalforce 1941 SG

Singaporeans must beat back the attacks of the PAP.

SJS6638 SG

In history of Singapore, Lee hsien loong is the first on the list as pm who brings in many negative stuff to Singaporeans

Dalforce 1941 SG

In history of Singapore, Lee hsien loong is the first on the list as pm who brings in many negative stuff to Singaporeans

What about Harry Lee Kuan Yew's repressive rule and destruction of chinese education system? What about the "stop at 2" policy?

It all began with peranakan Harry Lee Kuan Yew.

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