To our Dear PAP: Prepare for the greying
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Below article was taken from the Straits Times. I hope, our dear government reads the papers daily.
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Prepare for the greying
Jan 9, 2006
The Straits Times
MENTION 'population crisis' and what comes to mind is runaway growth. But a new worry is being posed by, of all things, slowing expansion in population. In many parts of the world the number of people continues to rise faster than planned for. Elsewhere, population sizes are moderating. Just recently, it was announced a national census had found Japan's population shrank by about 20,000 from last year's estimate. Japanese women were having fewer children. Indeed, fertility rates are coming down around the world, and not just in developed countries. According to one report, Mexico's fertility rate may be lower than America's. Lower rates of birth go hand in hand with an ageing general population, and this is what presents new challenges for society.
An ageing population means an ever-smaller workforce must support a rising number of retirees. But that crunch won't come for some time. More immediately, employers will find it harder to find workers to fill jobs. So rapidly ageing countries need to tweak workforce availability. Japan, for example, is trying to increase the number of women managers and teachers. It also wants to let government employees work shorter hours, so that work won't get too much in the way of looking after children and elderly parents. Still, going forward there will be more old people with no children to depend on. So while issues related to adequate pension funding are one thing, governments will need to consider building social infrastructure like retirement homes and support for the independent elderly. These need to be slowly built up now, rather than later when needs become critical; small outlays over many years are easier to deal with than massive spendings later.
An ageing population is in fact a mark of policy success. Healthcare advances have allowed people to live longer, and longer lifespans are definitely a good thing. At the same time, lower birth rates reduce burdens placed on the environment and on food production. Of course, governments won't find it easy or affordable to take care of a rising number of elderly citizens. But while it will be a challenge, it contrasts with the potential crisis posed by rapid population growth. The challenges of increasingly ageing populations are precisely the ones the world should want. -
But the fact more and more foreign talent are doing things for us, more and more jobs are lost. What's the use of having a growing population yet giving the jobs to them? It just don't make sense.
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not enuth workers ah ? so easy, FTs loh....not majiam we dun have...just order from India, China can liao mah....dats not a problem at all cos solution is already given !
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strangely, the population people think that we must increase our population in order that the "greying population" will not become a huge percentage of the population...
i wonder how more myopic these policy people can be?
so, where are these people who are young now going to become? chopped liver in a maniac all out world war?
these people will grow old and become the next generation's "greying population"..
then what next? 10million population for singapore? -
i heard that if u dun vote for PAP but vote for opposition parties instead,
then u are in deep trouble.
i heard from my mum friend that she did not vote for PAP den police come to her house and ask her remove the small pot for burning joss sticks in front of her house immediately or pay $$$ fine. but before that was okay...
i doubt whether this story is true.
can anyone identify? -
oops duplicate post...
sorry about that... -
you think so many police around to do these stupid things?
the ruling party may be paranoid and idiotic most of the time, but they're not like the stalinist type communistsOriginally posted by huaqing:i heard that if u dun vote for PAP but vote for opposition parties instead,
then u are in deep trouble.
i heard from my mum friend that she did not vote for PAP den police come to her house and ask her remove the small pot for burning joss sticks in front of her house immediately or pay $$$ fine. but before that was okay...
i doubt whether this story is true.
can anyone identify?