By Andrew Loh
Since the ’80s, the Government has introduced more measures to try and up the birth rate in Singapore – to no avail. (See here.)
Some 94 per cent of those polled in a Channelnesasia survey after PM Lee’s National Day Rally speech said the measures he announced to encourage Singaporeans to have babies will not help raise the birth rate.
But underlying all these measures is a serious concern, as with any country which is facing the same situation. Their governments too have tried and are trying all kinds of measures to prop up their birth rates too.
Singapore’s birth rate problem was first raised by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in 1983 and since then, it has been a huge headache not only for the Government but also for anyone who is concerned.
So, what -really – can be done?
I’ve noticed that all the measures and campaign so far are based on one thing – to persuade the unmarried to get married and to also have children. I wonder if we are not barking up the wrong tree.
Preaching to, cajoling, persuading a people whose minds are occupied with fear of the costs and burden of having children are not going to change their minds, especially when it comes from the Government. And especially too when it is the same Government which is seen as the cause of the problem in the first place. Cost of living, for example, is a prime example. Another is education – how children are stressed, pressured. Healthcare is expensive and so on.
I would like to offer a suggestion which is slightly different.
Perhaps the Government should stop trying to persuade Singaporeans to get married and have babies. It is not working anyway. And when you have someone like Mr Lee Kuan Yew now speaking in his usual blunt and condescending style, as he did several weeks ago, and with the mainstream media putting his blunt words on the front page, it is making matters worse. Like this:
That sounds like an order, doesn’t it? And sure, that will work. Sigh.
Perhaps a little tweaking of the message is in order.
Instead of incessantly urging Singaporeans to quickly pop some young ones, the Government should focus on helping those who already have children. These are those who, without the Government’s encouragement, went ahead and have babies – and are facing problems now. And if you speak to them, they will roll out a litany of – very valid – concerns.
One of these is education – how their children are facing so much stress in schools. I know of a 10-year old boy whose mother is so stressed each time she tries to get him to do his homework. There are also other parents who find it challenging to guide their kids’ school work. And when they tell of these, they create a climate of fear for those who might be contemplating having children. This perpetuates the mindset that having children is a daunting undertaking, one best left to others.
And that is precisely the thing we must focus on – mindset. The difference is that it is not the mindsets of those who are unmarried which we should focus on but those who already are parents.
I wondered how those who do not have children know so much about (the fears of) having children. And then I realised that this is perhaps perpetuated by those who do have children.
So, isn’t it clear that if we want to encourage Singaporeans to have kids that we should focus on those who already have children and the existing problems they face, rather than try to convince – through incentives, campaigns, admonishments – those who do not have children to have kids?
I thought that was a no-brainer.
So, maybe we should address the problems parents have and see if these can be alleviated or even removed or resolved.
And if we are able to do this, these parents will then become de facto and natural ambassadors who will speak well of having children, instead of perpetuating the fears. They would be much more effective than the Government in delivering the message.
Would you believe the Government or your relatives, friends or colleagues?
The message must be delivered in a more personal, believable, trustworthy way. And the Government cannot do this. Its job, instead, should be focused on helping to address existing problems parents face. And truth be told, we do have the means to address these.
The prime minister’s announcement that his Government is considering giving priority to HDB flats to those with young children is one example. Another could be to grant free schooling to children and free healthcare to children. These are things well within our means to do. After all, isn’t raising our low birth rate a matter of national importance and of top priority?
So, we should not stinge on resources.
Stop trying to persuade Singaporeans to get married and have children – and instead, do all we can to help those who are already parents to make parenting a joy which it should be.
And perhaps then, we will have thousands of ambassadors who will, through very personal and intimate stories, show others that having and raising children are not hard to do. It is, surely, better than having one loud speaker droning on about how we are all doomed and how our nation will “fold up” if we all did not, effectively, do this national service.
Worse than the constant admonishment to have babies, such a message puts people off starting families because it makes it seem like the Government does not care about the problems parents are facing and that all that matters is the number of babies.
It is a very impersonal message to send on something which is entirely very personal indeed.