If not for this fucking bastard's stop at 2 policy, Singapore
wouldn't be in this population mess today.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_control_in_Singapore
Family Planning
Do you know …
On average,
a baby was born in Singapore every 11 minutes in
1965!1
The high birth rates stretched facilities at the Kandang Kerbau
Hospital (KKH). Lee Suk Ting, a Nursing Officer, recounted the
situation in 1962: “The number of deliveries in KKH was at its
peak, with an average of 100 deliveries per day. The number of beds
available then fell far short of demand, and many deliveries were
conducted with patients lying on the floor on mackintoshes or on
transport trolleys. Patients in the early stages of labour sat for
long hours on hard wooden benches waiting for a
bed.” 2
Nearly all mothers with normal deliveries had to be discharged
within 24 hours. In 1966, the number of deliveries reached a record
high of 39,835 and won KKH a place in the Guinness Book of Records
for the largest number of births in a single maternity facility – a
record it held for 10 years.3
Recognising the potential impact of
the high birth rates on the Republic's limited resources, Minister
for Health, Mr. Yong Nyuk Lin, tabled a White Paper in Parliament
in September 1965 and outlined aFive-year Mass Family Planning
programme aimed at
reducing the birth rate from 29.9 per thousand in 1965 to 20 per
thousand in 1970.4 The
Family Planning and Population Board (FPPB) was subsequently
established in January 1966 to implement the recommendations in the
White Paper. 5
The national policy then was to
provide family planning facilities to all eligible married women in
the 15-44 years age group, numbering about 180,000. A sum of S$1
million was allocated for the entire programme.6 Although
the programme met with initial resistance, more than 156,000
eventually received family planning services.7 By
the end of its third cycle in 1980, fertility rate had declined to
1.7 children per female
population.8 By
then, however, Singapore’s economic growth and aging population
meant that it needed to maintain a sizeable workforce. The family
planning programme was revised in 1986 to encourage Singaporeans to
have more children.
Source MICA
Mr. Yong Nyuk Lin speaking at inauguration meeting of
the
Family Planning and Population Board (FPPB) in January 1966.
Source FPPB
National Day Float decorated with family
planning
campaign posters by FPPB in 1968.
Source FPPB
Family planning campaign posters produced between
1974-1983, to educate public on the advantages of small families
and how that could be achieved with family planning. "Stop at Two"
was the official slogan.
1 Based
on figures from the Family Planning and Population Board Annual
Report 1965, p.5.
2 Paulin
Koh, "History of Midwifery and O&G Nursing in Singapore"
in The History of Obstetrics & Gynaecology in
Singapore, ed. Tan Kok Hian and Tay Eng Hseon (Singapore:
ARMOUR Publishing Pte Ltd, 2003), p. 373.
3 Dr
Kelvin Tan Kok Hian, "The World’s Largest Maternity Hospital – How
It All Began” in The History of Obstetrics & Gynaecology in
Singapore, ed. Tan Kok Hian and Tay Eng Hseon (Singapore: ARMOUR
Publishing Pte Ltd, 2003), pp. 48-50.
4 Speech
by Mr Chua Sian Chin, Minister for Health, at the Conference on
Regional Cooperation in Population and Family Planning on Thursday,
22 October 1970 at Kuala Lumpur. Source: Ministry of
Culture.
5 Speech
by Mr Yong Nyuk Lin, Minister for Health, at the official opening
of the Working Group on Communication Aspects of Family Planning
sponsored by ECAFE at the Conference Hall on Tuesday, 5 September
1967 at 10 am. Source: Ministry of
Culture.
6 Ibid.
7Speech
by Mr Chua Sian Chin, Minister for Health, at the Opening Ceremony
of the Second Official Meeting of the Inter-Governmental
Coordinating Committee, Southeast Asian Regional Cooperation in
Family and Population Planning at the Hotel Equatorial on Monday,
21 February 1972 at 9 am. Source: Ministry of
Culture.
8 Singapore
Family Planning & Population Board, Fifteenth Annual Report,
1980, p. 2.
9 Parliamentary
Debates Official Report, Second Session of the Sixth Parliament,
Vol. 48, Sitting No. 7, “Oral Answers to Questions”, Declining
Population Growth (Corrective Measures), 22 September
1986.
http://www.a2o.com.sg/a2o/public/html/etc/07_family.htm
