ipoh-horfun
Well-Known Member
THE population debate has been inward-looking as Singaporeans lament about their discomforts, but they seem to be taking for granted that the good life will continue, former minister Mah Bow Tan said yesterday.
They expect more infrastructure and more subsidies even as growth may be slowing, he noted.
"We expect new infrastructure to be rolled out even as growth slows, more houses, more rail lines. We want more subsidies for health care and housing," he said.
But he asked: "Where will the revenue for all this come from?"
He said he pored through the Population White Paper for the answer, and found it in small print in a footnote that the Tampines GRC MP said should have been in bold and highlighted in a box.
The footnote said that the Government's revenues will come mostly from income, consumption and asset taxes.
These depend on economic growth, said Mr Mah, who held the National Development portfolio from 1999 to 2011.
Singapore, he said, needs a bigger population with better-educated citizens and talented non-residents for growth, as cited in the White Paper.
But to make it more palatable to Singaporeans, he suggested splitting up the Government's priorities.
In the short term, the focus should be on fixing the infrastructure and social integration problems being faced today.
Then, in five years' time, the assumptions and estimates in the White Paper - which for now projects population plans until 2030 - can be reviewed with an eye on what Singapore's policy should be after 2020.
Mr Mah said: "This will give everyone a clearer picture of whether our trains and buses are getting less crowded, our housing prices have stabilised, our people are having more babies, and our companies more productive and learning to cope with less foreign workers.
"It would be a much more informed and meaningful debate by then."
With the transport bottlenecks from the rapid expansion of the past not solved yet, it is hard to get Singaporeans' buy-in that the country needs to take in more people, he said.
"One resident put it to me bluntly: Fix the problems first, then talk. Seeing is believing."
Calling the White Paper "probably the most important document regarding our future that we have seen since independence", Mr Mah urged citizens to keep an open mind.
He ended with a call for unity: "Give the Government a chance to explain their plans and time to implement them, and work together for our beloved country.
"We have done so over the last 50 years, we will do so again."
limze@sph.com.sg
They expect more infrastructure and more subsidies even as growth may be slowing, he noted.
"We expect new infrastructure to be rolled out even as growth slows, more houses, more rail lines. We want more subsidies for health care and housing," he said.
But he asked: "Where will the revenue for all this come from?"
He said he pored through the Population White Paper for the answer, and found it in small print in a footnote that the Tampines GRC MP said should have been in bold and highlighted in a box.
The footnote said that the Government's revenues will come mostly from income, consumption and asset taxes.
These depend on economic growth, said Mr Mah, who held the National Development portfolio from 1999 to 2011.
Singapore, he said, needs a bigger population with better-educated citizens and talented non-residents for growth, as cited in the White Paper.
But to make it more palatable to Singaporeans, he suggested splitting up the Government's priorities.
In the short term, the focus should be on fixing the infrastructure and social integration problems being faced today.
Then, in five years' time, the assumptions and estimates in the White Paper - which for now projects population plans until 2030 - can be reviewed with an eye on what Singapore's policy should be after 2020.
Mr Mah said: "This will give everyone a clearer picture of whether our trains and buses are getting less crowded, our housing prices have stabilised, our people are having more babies, and our companies more productive and learning to cope with less foreign workers.
"It would be a much more informed and meaningful debate by then."
With the transport bottlenecks from the rapid expansion of the past not solved yet, it is hard to get Singaporeans' buy-in that the country needs to take in more people, he said.
"One resident put it to me bluntly: Fix the problems first, then talk. Seeing is believing."
Calling the White Paper "probably the most important document regarding our future that we have seen since independence", Mr Mah urged citizens to keep an open mind.
He ended with a call for unity: "Give the Government a chance to explain their plans and time to implement them, and work together for our beloved country.
"We have done so over the last 50 years, we will do so again."
limze@sph.com.sg
