In “Low birth rates not key cause of reliance on foreigners” (Jan 6), the writer opined that our economy has grown “at a rate higher than the natural” in some years.
He also stated that low birth rates and an ageing population by themselves do not necessarily increase dependency on foreigners, as demand for new homes would drop, for example.
Imagine an island with two million couples who produce only one child each. Over a generation, the fertile population would shrink to one million and, in subsequent generations, to half a million and a quarter.
The economically-active population would shrink; dependency on foreigners to solve labour shortages would increase.
Due to our rising affluence and aspirations, and the invention of new products, it is impossible to contain consumption and the economy from growing higher than the “natural” rate.
Despite low birth rates, the number of foreign domestic helpers increased by 15 per cent from 2007 to last year, when the resident population grew by only 7.3 per cent.
The current hospital bed crunch is another example. When the number of senior citizens triples to 900,000 by 2030, the reliance on foreigners to build and serve in our hospitals will grow.
We must enhance our foreign exchange earning sector incessantly. With Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok planning to raise their airport capacity to handle 100 million passengers a year, we must also expand our airport.
Likewise, we should welcome ExxonMobil’s multibillion-dollar investment in its expanded plant. (“Singapore aims to keep lead in chemicals, energy sectors: PM”; Jan 9)
Other infrastructure must be renewed and expanded constantly: In education, environment, social services and so on. We must invest more in technology enhancement, as we are behind mature economies in this area.
If we suppress economic growth to, say, 2 per cent, foreign worker levies would have to be raised, along with taxes and duties. Prices of goods, including homes, would escalate. Standards of living and competitiveness would decline.
Worse, we would turn our economy and nation into a heavily regulated and lacklustre one, adding to the plight of a shrinking, ageing citizen population.
NG YA KEN
*Article first appeared on TodayOnline Forums (13 Jan 2014)