A Political Hot Potato

[TracyTan866]

Exactly. When govt thinks that people are robots and will do as instructed they are wrong. That wrong, the Stop at 2, set us back 20 years. When they next do a U-turn, thinking that their mistake can be corrected overnight, they are wrong again because people are not robots.

They look at the rise of their income if any, look at the cost of living, the cost of housing, the cost of transport and the cost of a maid with the maid levy. They find out that they will need two incomes to make ends meet and they need to save to accumulate enough cash for their flats and to delay their marriages to wait for their BTOs.

So babies have to wait. Singapore is an Asian society. Normal couples do not produce babies out of wedlock. Did the govt do enough to make having more babies a matter of fact thing to do? No.

So the FT policy is not only a recognition of a failed past policy that have set us back 20 years, it is also a demonstration of failed govt actions to support a reversal of this policy by encouraging people to produce more. Now we are seeing yet another failure of not planning enough to support this FT policy.

Don't ask me to debate with you anymore. My heart cannot take it because of frustration and sadness.

I am very vocal of the pap because I see many bad policies lately, especially under LHL's leadership. My heart aches for SG and Singaporeans. So many of our good sons and daughters are migrating and the pap is importing so many foreigners. Did they see the pain in the parents hearts and faces?

I also sympathise with those Singaporeans who are stuck in SG..the future is bleak for them. When they reach retirement age, not much will be left in their hard earned CPF savings because of pure PAP greed to squeeze every dollar from singaporeans. these elderly Singaporeans face a very daunting future.

Is this what a govt shd do?

 

[Kinana]

I am very vocal of the pap because I see many bad policies lately, especially under LHL's leadership. My heart aches for SG and Singaporeans. So many of our good sons and daughters are migrating and the pap is importing so many foreigners. Did they see the pain in the parents hearts and faces?

What are the reasons why people emigrate and immigrate?

I also sympathise with those Singaporeans who are stuck in SG..the future is bleak for them. When they reach retirement age, not much will be left in their hard earned CPF savings because of pure PAP greed to squeeze every dollar from singaporeans. these elderly Singaporeans face a very daunting future.

Do you pity those people living in welfare states who are taxed heavily and are left with a bankrupt social security system then?

Is this what a govt shd do?

The govt shld be and is responsible.
Jobs are always available and it is up to us to save up for retirement. You want others to pay for your retirement? What are you talking about?

I will tell you what is irresponsible. Not heeding the govt's advice to have kids and expect the country to continue to thrive w/o immigrants.

 

[Fook Seng]

I am very vocal of the pap because I see many bad policies lately, especially under LHL's leadership. My heart aches for SG and Singaporeans. So many of our good sons and daughters are migrating and the pap is importing so many foreigners.

Is this what a govt shd do?

You can put the blame on LHL's leadership. To me the key issue is the dominance of one guy that have prevented subsequent leaders from looking beyond the box and making appropriate changes, even slaughtering sacred cows.

It was a blessing when we had that guy but it has since become a liability because it discourages change. The political system, too, favours things to stay at status quo. To me, this is the sad part of the Singapore situation. Being a city state, we can do a lot of things that other larger countries cannot dream of, but it is not happening.

 

[Kinana]

You can put the blame on LHL's leadership. To me the key issue is the dominance of one guy that have prevented subsequent leaders from looking beyond the box and making appropriate changes, even slaughtering sacred cows.

It was a blessing when we had that guy but it has since become a liability because it discourages change. The political system, too, favours things to stay at status quo. To me, this is the sad part of the Singapore situation. Being a city state, we can do a lot of things that other larger countries cannot dream of, but it is not happening.

Can you be specific in what you just wrote?

 

[TracyTan866]

You can put the blame on LHL's leadership. To me the key issue is the dominance of one guy that have prevented subsequent leaders from looking beyond the box and making appropriate changes, even slaughtering sacred cows.

It was a blessing when we had that guy but it has since become a liability because it discourages change. The political system, too, favours things to stay at status quo. To me, this is the sad part of the Singapore situation. Being a city state, we can do a lot of things that other larger countries cannot dream of, but it is not happening.

LKY was both a blessing and a curse to SG. His strong leadership allowed him to drive SG to what it was in 1990. But this same leadership cursed SG when he stifled alternative legitimate political voices causing us to have mediocre GCT and LHL as PMs.

But now that LHL is PM, he has to take responsibility for what is happening in SG. If he cant handle the job, he shd just step down. As long as he stays on the job, we hold him responsible

 

[TracyTan866]

To me, this is the sad part of the Singapore situation. Being a city state, we can do a lot of things that other larger countries cannot dream of, but it is not happening.

Yes, it is truly sad. Singaporeans are generally hardworking and knowledgeable. SG has the potential to do great things. But because of the small mindedeness of the pap to grow the GDP at all costs, we have shortchanged ourselves and have relegated ourselves to chasing after materialism and money at the expense of true greatness.

Being led by an ass has stifled and limited Singaporeans real potential and greatness

 

[Kinana]

Yes, it is truly sad. Singaporeans are generally hardworking and knowledgeable. SG has the potential to do great things. But because of the small mindedeness of the pap to grow the GDP at all costs, we have shortchanged ourselves and have relegated ourselves to chasing after materialism and money at the expense of true greatness.

Being led by an ass has stifled and limited Singaporeans real potential and greatness

Be more specific please so we can understand what you are talking about.

 

[dareme]

The pap also thought that the "Stop-at-Two" was the right policy. Look what happened!

Hi there, I'm a newcomer to the forum. Have been reading other SG political sites and thought that it would be nice to have a place where I can have interesting discussions.

Anyways on this topic. I'm not too certain if we should really attribute our birthrate reversal to the 'stop-to-two' policy.

Reason being that women education level and employment opportunities have also increased by quite a bit in this period and there are many evidence which shows that birthrate is a function of women SES. Having said that, our absurdly low fertility rate is also very abnormal and probably can't be attribute wholly to the reasons I just mentioned. Instead, I think the main reasons behind our low fertility is failed housing policies and high cost of living. For a long time a couple will need to wait at least 4-5 years to get their new HDB flat, if successfully applied. Simple math tells us that this waiting period had reduced the fertility window by quite a bit. Furthermore, due to the competitive nature of our economy and high cost of living, many couples would only have one child even though they want more.

To digress a bit, I also think it is really stupid that the baby bonus is given out to the first child. Rather, I feel that PAP should negate the bonus for the first born and stack it all on the 2nd child. There is really no point of incentivizing people to do things that they will be doing in any event. In this sense, I agree with the OP that there had been many failed policies and probably more to come...

 

[Fook Seng]

Can you be specific in what you just wrote?

With you, it is very difficult. Others have tried. Total failure. Like hitting at a wall.

 

[TracyTan866]

With you, it is very difficult. Others have tried. Total failure. Like hitting at a wall.

Good rebut. No point talking to a wall

 

[Kinana]

With you, it is very difficult. Others have tried. Total failure. Like hitting at a wall.

There are some who tried to poison me with their lies and they failed. I discuss with reason and logic. If you have evidence, reason and logic, why be afraid to debate.

 

[Fook Seng]

Good rebut. No point talking to a wall

Nor to a broken gramophone record.