Beautiful Beauty by ~jayesposito from deviantArt

SINGAPORE is revamping its procreation policies and could be going the Swedish way, giving free childcare and paternity leave in a bid to get couples to have more babies.

The first hint of possible policy changes to prop up fertility rates was given by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew at a dialogue yesterday.

‘If we don’t reproduce ourselves to 2.1, we are in trouble,’ said Mr Lee, referring to the natural replacement rate of 2.1, which Singapore’s fertility rate of 1.29 falls short of.

‘So we are going to revamp. We’ve studied what the Swedes have done, what the French have done.

‘The Swedes have completely changed their system. Support paternity leave, women get their children into creches, into nursery schools, all paid by the state. Very heavy expenses but Sweden can afford it.

‘We are looking at our budget, can we afford it? But we’ve got to go because these are proven ways.’

His remarks on Singapore were in response to a question on Japan.

A Japanese participant at the Nomura Asia Equity Forum had asked Mr Lee what he would do, if he were Japan’s prime minister, to stimulate the country’s lacklustre economy.

Qualifying that his being PM of Japan was ‘a fantasy’ he found hard to imagine, Mr Lee zeroed in on Japan’s population problems due to a rapidly greying generation and low birth rate.

Despite this, Japan remains reluctant to top its population up with immigrants, he noted.

Like Japan, Mr Lee said that Singapore also had a birth dearth, a trend it was trying to reverse by supporting working mothers with creches in offices and help with preschool.

‘We are a small country, we can take immigrants…and there are many bright Chinese and bright Indians who are joining us,’ he said.

‘But if we have more immigrants than genuine Singaporeans, you become a different people.’

Hence, the need for Singaporeans to replace themselves.

‘We must have that core, at least 65 per cent of people born and bred who understand this place, who are part of this society and who know how we got here and why we must do these things,’ said Mr Lee.

Still, he urged Japan to open its doors to immigrants in this globalised world.

Using Singapore as an example, he said: ‘We see our future as a cosmopolitan society, more cosmopolitan than we were in the past.

‘Before, we were just an Asian society, with Chinese, Malays, Indians. Now we’ve got a real rainbow spread. You can travel on the MRT…or go on a bus or go to a hawker centre, you can see a completely different Singapore.’

He cited how a few Eastern Europeans have settled here. The Defence Minister ‘was very surprised one day to see a golden-haired boy doing national service’. The boy is Ukrainian; his parents live here and he is becoming a Singapore citizen.

‘If Japan wants to be part of this globalised world, Japan will have to accept these changes,’ he said. ‘There’s no way you can remain…in a group where you can speak to each other not in words but in grunts.’

But change is already happening, with over one million Japanese living and working abroad, he noted.

‘When they go back to Japan, already they are not quite the same as the Japanese. So it is part of a globalised process which you must accept,’ he said.
from Straits Times, excerpts from MM Lee]

So, are we really focusing on procreation the Swedish way or are getting more immigrants to top up the population?
I’m rather disillusioned by this article although it speaks of new policies which might change the population deficit in Singapore. This is due to it changing totally to the topic of immigrants in our country rather than the topic on procreation which it was supposed to focus on.

Anyway, here are my views on the immigrant issue as well as procreation in Singapore.
Having at least 65% of the population who are true Singaporeans is rather, jaw dropping. It really mean that more than 1/4 of our population(that’s over a million!) ain’t Singaporeans but people from China, India and other countries which we might be able to leech from.
So this also means that roughly 35% or more of our economy will be under immigrants, and this isn’t really a good sign.(Many of us would know that the immigrants that are coming into Singapore are mostly talents, and not just anyone from any countries, thus the claim on the percentage on the economy that might be under immigrants) Moreover, i personally think that they are more loyal and patriotic to their own motherland than Singapore, which might just be a stepping stone for them to wealth and fortune. This is really due to their families, relatives and friends which are mostly located in their motherland.
So, another question came to my mind.
Are we supposed to serve our National Service and will be expected to protect the immigrants and a cosmopolitan Singapore which potentially might not have it’s own true identity in the future?

What do we true Singaporeans do?
Of course, we are not going to get left out in our own motherland. However, giving such a strong forecast of 65% of the population that will be true Singaporeans is rather grim. The talented immigrants will be fighting with our future generations in the workforce, in school and stuffs. I can safely say that we are already feeling the heats now from the talented immigrants.
How would future parents be encouraged to procreate if such a competitive and potentially stressful environment is going to be there for their child?
A potentially negative feedback to the “Swedish Way”, no?

Back to square one i’ll say.

Here’s a comparatively better article on the Swedish system of procreation, and the potential issues Singapore might face if we adopt it.

Experts share views on Swedish procreation model
SINGAPORE: Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew recently commented that Singapore is looking at Swedish family policies to improve the birth rate in the Republic.

Sweden’s Ambassador to Singapore, Par Ahlberger, said that childcare in his country is kept affordable though it is not free.

Sweden is also the first country in the world to introduce paternal leave, back in 1974.

“A Swedish family can take 480 days of parental leave for the first child, and that is a lot. Out of these, some 60 days are earmarked for the father and he has to take them,” said Mr Ahlberger.

The Swedish workplace also offers family—friendly policies.

“One concept in Sweden which has helped the workforce spend more time with their children and family is called flexi—time. This is where the workers are able to negotiate their working hours with their employers so that more time can be set aside for the family,” said the ambassador.

“When I was posted to Stockholm, I took parental leave and I made a deal with the Minister for Trade that I would leave the office at 3 o’clock every day to pick up my kids from the kindergarten,” he added.

But all these measures come at a cost.

Associate Professor Paulin Straughan, a sociologist, said: “The Swedish way is very expensive because at the end of the day, personally, I wouldn’t want to see my taxes go up to support this. The Swedish model will be important for those who are planning to get married and have kids.

“It will certainly be welcomed by a large segment of those who are in the process of making important decisions and they are likely to welcome this and have more children.”

But younger Singaporeans face other contesting issues.

“They also articulate that if you want to start a family, if you want to marry and have children, you have to first be financially secure,” said
Associate Professor Straughan.

Some experts say much will depend on mindsets at home and at the workplace.

Women feel that husbands must accept that investment in nurturing children is just as important as investing in their careers, said sociologists.

With the hint that the government is reviewing its procreation policies, some Singaporeans are hoping for more pro—baby incentives.

In 2004, a comprehensive pro—family package included the baby bonus and new paternal leave for fathers.

Sharon Tan, a mother, said: “Infrastructure—wise, we need a lot more support for childcare to induce people who are working to have more kids, because I think it’s quite difficult when you have to rely on maids and relatives.”

“Kindergartens… because most of them are privately run. I just feel that maybe, yes, it would help if there are more subsidies,” said Penny Lim, another mother.
[from Channelnewsasia via Yahoo]

So, it’s might not really be about the Swedish Way, but the mindsets and infrastructure in our culture and society that we need to improve on, right?