Thursday 23 August 2012

Fertility rate : Its the QUALITY not QUANTITY....

The PAP wants us to up our fertility rate to increase the QUANTITY of people. 
But what matters is the QUALITY of life. If we have QUALITY, quantity does not matter. But if our quality of life is poor, then there will be no QUANTITY anyway.

My suggestion to the PAP is try to catch up with Malaysia in terms of quality of life:

1. The amount of debt to own a home in Singapore relative to income is more than double (almost triple) that of a median income Malaysian. Malaysians face less financial burden. We are also comparing landed property vs apartments in Singapore.

2. More than 80% of Malaysians can own a car to drive their families around compared with 30% of Singaporeans hard limited by COE quotas. Imagine pushing strollers and bring toddlers up crowded buses. If more families have cars, then life is much better. Cars in Singapore are 5-10 times more expensive than in Malaysia. Petrol & taxes not included in computation. Having better transport for families is important and in Malaysia it is much better. 

3. Make medical care more affordable. Medical care in Singapore is 6-8 times that in Malaysia and for elderly we are infinitely more expensive because elderly see doctor for free in Malaysia. Also, many of our medical staff are from Phillipines and even doctors from China so our medical care is staffed by 3rd world train manpower. 

4. Make retirement possible in Singapore for majority. Most of my relatives in Malaysia stop work at 60+ some even 55yrs stop but in Singapore work until 70+ also have.

5. Less stress less working hours, more balanced lifestyle. Singaporeans work much longer hours and in more stressful work environment. There is also heated competition from foreigners to add to the stress. If the work environment can improve, it will also help the situation.

If we can match the quality of life in Malaysia, we may be able to push up our fertility rate. In Malaysia the fertility rate is more than double that of Singapore because people have more time for the families, less debt burden, bigger homes, better transport and access to cheaper medical care.The gap between Singapore and Malaysia is very big in terms of quality of life...hopefully Singapore govt can help us to catch up with Malaysia.

2 comments:

  1. If everyone wants to live in bungalow, then how? Singapore no land. Malaysia have land. Even if houses are cheap, people will want to upgrade. As you know, there's a law called "supply and demand". When demand increase and Singapore being so small cannot create supply, prices will go up. This is what's happening now. You suggestions are ideal, but cannot be implemented.

    In fact, what's happening on the ground is that many Singaporeans are already owning more than 1 home. I'm not talking about the filthy rich doing so. People who earn as little as 20k can afford to buy 2 homes AT LEAST. They rent out the second home. Can you tell all these "richer Singaporeans" to be less selfish? You cant. Can you stop these "richer Singaporeans" from earning money from rental? You also cant. Can you encourage these "richer Singaporeans" from having more kids? They also claim that they are very poor...

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  2. Dear commentter,

    I agree with you that Singapore is snall with limited land so it is hard to catch up with Malaysia but we must still try.

    For example, if our land is so small, why are we importing so many people. It is clearly a contradiction.

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