EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was originally written by Dr Wong Wee Nam in 2008. It is reproduced here with his permission. The over-population issue and influx of foreigners is as pertinent an issue today as it was 2008. Perhaps the situation has become even more serious since then.
By Dr Wong Wee Nam
The Over-Population Problem
On 21st February 2008, a friend sent me an ST online forum letter written by Mr. Yong Koi Kwong on why Singapore should not become a 6.5 million city state.
The writer said: “Singapore is situated in a hot humid equatorial region. The average relative humidity is 80 per cent with a daily average temperature of 24 to 32 degrees Celcius for virtually the whole year. The average number of hours of sunshine is 5.5 to 6 hours. It is very unpleasant to live in such an environment if there is no natural ventilation to take away one’s perspiration.
Our country is unique in that we are a sovereign city state with no countryside. Only half the land could be built up (including about 12 per cent for roads). The rest of the country is occupied by military training grounds, central catchment area, 17 reservoirs and golf courses and five airports or airfields and two naval bases.
In spite of our relentless land reclamation for the last 40-odd years which grew our country to the present area of about 700 sq km and a projected area of 780 sq km, Singapore would be the most densely populated country with 12,800 persons per sq km of habitable area if the population is projected to grow to 5 million. If the population is planned for 6.5 million, the average number of persons per sq km is 16,640.”
He concluded, “We could live with the accolade such as the busiest port, best run airline and airport but the accolade that we are the densest populated sovereign state is one which we could live without.”
The consequences of high density
Well said! I wonder why such a well-researched letter with good arguments should be consigned to the online forum. The printed version would have allowed all Singaporeans to ponder over the problem and debate on it. It would also show that good ideas for the country need not come from highly-paid officials, policy-makers or scholars.
Any research scientist who has studied rats in an overpopulated situation will tell you that over-crowding is not a good thing for those rodents. They suffer from infectious diseases, become violent (they even form gangs), most become withdrawn, passive and some mount male and female rats indiscriminately.
Of course rats are not human beings but the biological needs for space and resources is a common demoninator influencing both human and rat behaviour.
William Cobett said, “Jails, barracks, factories in 1820s do not corrupt by their walls but by their condensed numbers. Populous cities corrupt for the same cause.”
So what should citizens expect when Singapore becomes over-populated? We must expect noise levels to be increased, more traffic congestion and more pollution from smoke emission and waste. Singaporeans must put up with having to manoeuvre through crowds in public areas, long queues for a lot of services and the squeeze on public transport. There will be very little space for fun and recreation as all these places will be packed during the weekends. Trying to get across the Causeway during the weekends will take many more hours than now.
On the health side, the control of an outbreak of infectious diseases in a dense population will spread easily and be harder to manage.
Over-crowding also reduces fertility and causes stress-related diseases like ulcers, enlarged adrenals, chronic heart disease and mental illness.
On the social side, there will be a higher rate of crimes, drug abuses, suicides, accidents and juvenile delinquency.
In a situation where resources, including jobs and space become scarce, the weak and the minorities will suffer.
Moreover, when the numbers to make up the population target is achieved through importing foreigners, then the friction will end up along ethnic lines. An intolerable living density will push those better qualified Singaporeans to emigrate and thus increase the ratio of foreigners to citizens.
We have been trying very hard over the years to build social cohesion through many activities that promote racial harmony and through community activities like singing national day songs. All these will be undone when good Singaporeans leave and they are replaced by foreigners. It is not hard to imagine the day when the economic clout will fall into the hands of the foreigners and the key positions in the various corporations will be in the hands of non-Singaporeans because good Singaporeans become scarce. When such a time comes, the ordinary Singaporeans will be no better than a colonized people, with their lives dictated by some global nomads.
Why cities thrive
Cities grow and die. They die when they outgrow themselves. They die when they stagnate and lose their vitality. They die when their inhabitants no longer care.
For Singapore, because the city is also the country, this means that, if the city dies, the country perishes as well. This was probably why the island of Temasek decayed and sunk into near-oblivion in the 14th Century until Stamford Raffles re-discovered it in 1819.
So why do our planners want to turn our city-state into a population of 6.5 million? Are they just thinking of economic growth without considering the side-effects of an over-crowded city? Are our citizens just digits and robots?
Major cities in the world have no problem because the sizes of their countries allow their people to commute 150km to 200km to and fro from work. They can live outside the city. In Singapore, if you drive more than 50km in a straight line, you’ll end up in the sea.
The health and life of a city is not in its great number of people but on the quality of its people. When people become apprehensive, apathetic and live like over-crowded rats, the city loses its vibrancy and begins to stagnate.
A city needs to rejuvenate, transform and re-create itself continually in order to stay healthy and alive. How can an over-crowded place with all the ills of high density be able to do that? What more if the population is already stifled by an overbearing political climate, which has caused apathy, to start with?
At the moment, Singapore is a fairly clean and safe city. It is still physically a comfortable and convenient place to live in. However, once the population goes over an optimum level, it may not be that clean, safe or comfortable.
It is a mistake to think that the higher the density, the better the economic growth and the more vibrant a city will become. It would be a mistake to think that by just focusing on the physical aspects, we will become a great global city.
A great global city must not just be a comfortable and convenient place to live. It must also be a great place to live, a satisfying place to work and an interesting place to play in. There must be life, energy and a soul. And what gives a great global city this verve and vitality is the drive and enthusiasm of the people who reside in it -– the energy of its own people supplemented by the boost from good imports.
What is the point of having a good physical environment, many great buildings with beautiful architecture and the most advanced technological infrastructures if our people do not have the drive and enthusiasm? If the people are apathetic and selfish, whether as a result of a stifling political climate or a extremely dense population, the city will be as listless as a sparkling shopping centre that has rude and disinterested staff.
The People Factor
The people factor is, therefore, the most important ingredient in the making of a great global city. A city that is a city-state can only be vibrant if there are enough citizens to lead changes, to create and to innovate.
New York, London and Hong Kong are examples of such a city. In the January 28th 2008 issue of Time magazine, these three cities, collectively known as Ny.lon.kong, were given the credit of driving the global economy. They are places where new ideas and new concepts are always hatching. They are fast and lively because of the people and not the skyscrapers.
Tricia Haynes, former inhabitant of New York wrote, “New Yorkers are the most vociferous people on earth. In New York everyone has a voice and everyone feels entitled to exercise it.” This is what makes New York throb and why it is able to attract “the ambitious, the flamboyant and those who want a slice of the action”.
A city that reverberates with verve and energy rejuvenates itself and acts as a magnet for people and ideas.
Singapore, therefore, needs to change if we are going to compete effectively against the likes of these three cities. As long as our people are tuned to act on cues from above and conditioned to move like a herd, then we can never hope to see Singaporeans experimenting and exploring new frontiers.
When we were a third world country, the opposition PAP complained about a biased press. When we were in Malaysia, the opposition PAP complained about a controlled press. Now that we have become a 1st world country, the PAP no longer complains about the local press. In fact they now feel that a free press is not the answer to all of a country’s development problems.
To bolster this argument, countries with rampant corruption and poverty are held up as examples of what we might become with a free press. Of course, the countries with growth and lesser corruption and a free press are not mentioned, for example, New York, London and Hong Kong — the cities held up for praise in the Time lead article.
New York is full of critics and investigative reporters and people demonstrate in Central Park for all sorts of reason. It has a free press.
Likewise for London. It has its full share of critical reporters. The press remains free.
Hong Kong is very Asian and belongs to China but yet the people demonstrate at the slightest unhappiness. The boisterous media are very jealous in protecting their press freedom and yet this has not reduced Hong Kong to poverty.
A free press and democracy have not reduced these places into penury. Why then are we so afraid of getting Singapore to join the Ny.lon.kong League? Why are we still reluctant to let our citizens have the space to create and work and nurture a conducive environment for them to have a voice and feel entitled to express it?
The three model cities are ahead of us because they allow diversity in the physical environment, in economic activities, in the social settings and, more importantly, in the area of ideas and thoughts.
Diversity is the engine of life and spontaneity in a city. According to Jane Jacobs, a writer, activist, and city aficionado, cities need “a most intricate and closed-grained diversity of uses that give each other constant mutual support, both economically and socially.”
Furthermore, “cities are natural generators of diversity and prolific incubators of new enterprises and ideas of all kinds. They are the natural economic homes of immense numbers and ranges of small enterprises.”
As a city-state, Singaporeans have no choice but to try and make Singapore a truly great global city if they want to survive. At the same time the government has a responsibility to provide our citizens the conducive environment and the right climate for physical, economic, social, cultural and political diversities to attain it.
It is not just the numbers that count. It is the quality of the people. The people must feel free and motivated. They must feel, and be manifestly shown, that this country belongs to them.
HELP keep the voice of TOC alive!
If you like this article, please consider a small donation to help theonlinecitizen.com stay alive. Please note that we can only accept donations from Singaporeans. Thank you for your assistance.Do you have a flair for writing? Volunteer with us. Email us your full name and contact details to theonlinecitizen@gmail.com
Thanks for reprinting this article.
In the corporate circuit, its already happening: Foreigners taking up key positions.
Any A level economics student will tell you the easiest way to increase GDP is to import more people.
Negative externalities of this increase is what we see today. Overcrowding everywhere, traffic jams, public transport crunch etc
Sigh :(
What a wonderful article. Thanks TOC.
I missed it in 2008.
It touched on something very intresting, the humidity level and the constrained area of habitation for so many people.
I think that has driven the temperature levels up and the greater built up area might be causing the floods.
After reading this article, I feel the only way ahead is, if we have breakdown, then we can re-invent ourselves.Usually, this has been the case in history. Why, a breakdown…(breakdown as in financial collapse).
Look at the number of govt controlled agencies/companies in Singapore, all neatly weaved togather. These groups must be independent if we want to optimise.
Can a 2 party system help to bring about this change? Plausible.
Again it depends on this agencies/companies, wonder how much of trouble they would cause to go back to the old way.
No we dont need 6.5 million people in tiny Singapore.
After all is said and done, the fact is overcrowding Singapore while maintaining their own personal space with the multimillion dollar mansions benefits the PAP. That alone is reason why this article is an absolute waste of time unless people vote these despots out.
Singapore has aready exceeded its optimum population of 4 million in the early 2000s. Even with the 2008 population number at 4.8 million, recently it is rated as the most OVERPOPULATED country in the world…follow by Isreal.
At 5.08 million people, it is at a point of no return.
The worse part is that majority of Singaporeans simply don’t care anymore about their so-call country.
We just received a few more true-blue Singaporean families immigrated to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. They are professionals with degrees and higher degrees and most of their kids are in the gifted schools in Singapore!
Singapore’s lost is Canada’s gain. Thank you Singapore.
I have been in Edmonton for almost 20 years. I see many Singaporeans who have been here the same period of time or longer are having their children graduated as professionals.
Eg. A chest specialist, an engineer major in nanotechnology now studing a law degree to specialize as patent lawyer, lots of general practitioners, loads of engineers and scientists and many more as phamacy and dentistry and computing. Hardly I hear of anyone of their children returning to Singapore to work and serve the army or PAP govt.
In past 5 years I personally see a influx of Singaporean families coming to Edmonton because of the network we have created. The traditional places like Vancounver and Toronto have been having too many Singaporeans and there is a sense that the PAP govt. is sending in spies there for whatever reasons.
The Contact Singapore is very active in these two cities trying hard to recruit back ex-Singaporeans. But let me remind them that: “Singaporeans NOT stupid lah”.
We know what shit hole is and we will never want to get back to the EXPENSIVE shit hole….yea, shit hole is bad enough and EXPENSIVE makes it worse!
“They must feel, and be manifestly shown, that this country belongs to them.”
I for one as a Singaporean, do not feel like this country belongs to me. I treat it as a hotel or company I happen to work for. When things go swimmingly fine, I’m happy to stay around. When the shit hits the fan, I’m checking out. The government has treated its people like serfs. They shouldn’t be surprised when the people are apathetic towards them, not when they have denied us a voice in how our country is being run.
why 6.5millions people? simple economic profit$…
who owned the transport/telco/supermarket/blah/blah/blah inc?
imagined this $cenerio..with 6.5million$ people $pendin $800/month nia…how much profit$ would temasick inc reaped?
when S’pore’s population reaches 6.5 millions. another few millions more will be needed to replace the aging population, its a spiraling effect.
people who already feel the squeeze will be “asked” to bear with it as infrastructure is always lagging behind the population growth while public transport operators, HDB, telcos earn record profits. transcient workers numbering thousands are cash cows of telcos…
>> Since the year 2000, I’ve written letters at least 10 times to ST Forum Page asking these two FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS:
(1) WHO SAY that Singapore needs such a large population to survive?
(2) HOW DO countries with small populations (such as Switzerland) survive and prosper?
>> Not surprisingly, the shameless PAP-bootlicker SHIT TIMES will not publish such letters i.e. so as to help PAP “brain-wash” S’poreans into yes-man citizens to accept PAP Misguided Policies being “forced down their throats”.
it takes the weight of 6.5 million people to sink sinkapore.
If I remember correctly, the concept plan at 1990 projects 4 million people at year X. We are way past year X now!
canada is easy to migrate but difficult to get jobs.
prefer australia or new zealand… at least, they dont do this sort of thing to screw their own people.
Do you seriously believe PAP’s argument that bringing in 2 million foreigners is to create jobs for 1 million singaporeans?
Many key positions are already taken by foreigners especially from our neighbour where they keep throwing their weight around to us thinking we are lower than them. Ask them go to hell la… This is Singapore and it belongs to us, not them. Go back to their homeland la. Dont steal our land.
WHY, do THEY NEED 6.5mill population???
It is so obvious really –
MORE Tax & related population Revenues to collect!
Imagine, just ONE person has so many needs for them to make from. I don’t have to describe what they are, anyone will know.
ya lar, if you remember few years ago, pm said we cannot expect economy to be thriving all the time and suddenly we become the fastest economy? how?
by importing millions and building less hdbs:-
1. lower cost of operations for companies
2. boost private.public housing demands
3. taxes and fees up up
4. can fast trek them for PRs and citizens and get their votes
5. basic needs and consumption increased by another 40%
why would not gdp and economy grow? and since its growth, singaporeans arent better off, this is why the GDP thing is really a farce created by all these schemes. otherwise they would have called for election already.
What’s the incentive for bringing in more people? Because that’s the easiest way to grow the GDP, and ministers’ bonuses are tied to GDP growth. What is of interest to us is GDP growth per head of population because that will better reflect whether the individual will benefit from the improved economy of the country.
Perhaps Singapore want to be like Hong Kong which have 7 million people? But even then, 1/3 of its population does not consist of foreigners.
Attributed to mycroft…
mycroft said…
All we need to do is look at the scientific evidence and the outcome of squashing 6.5 MILLION or more bodies into 700 sq. km is frighteningly predictable. The late Dr. John B. Calhoun demonstrated in his famous paper: “Population Density and Social Pathology” that as population density increased, social behaviour degenerated.
Among other findings, he developed the concept of universal autism — in which all members of the last generation of mice in an increasingly crowded environment are INCAPABLE of the social behaviour that would allow them to produce the next generation.
In one of Dr. Calhoun’s experiments, a square steel box, nine feet on each side, contained 2,600 mice, about 16 times what would be considered normal density. He determined that rodents rapidly developed a hierarchy when thrown together in such huge numbers, with those closest to the food supply growing most rapidly and, because of their size, assuming higher social status…
‘Calhoun described his experimental universes as “rat utopia,” “mouse paradise.”
With all their visible needs met, the animals bred rapidly. The only restriction Calhoun imposed on his population was of SPACE – and as the population grew, this became increasingly problematic. As the pens heaved with animals, one of his assistants described rodent “utopia” as having become “hell” (Marsden 1972).
Dominant males became aggressive, some moving in groups, attacking females and the young. Mating behaviours were disrupted. Some became exclusively homosexual. Others became pansexual and hypersexual, attempting to mount any rat they encountered.
Mothers neglected their infants, first failing to construct proper nests, and then carelessly abandoning and even attacking their pups. In certain sections of the pens, infant mortality rose as high as 96%, the dead cannibalized by adults. Subordinate animals withdrew psychologically, surviving in a physical sense but at an immense psychological cost. They were the majority in the late phases of growth, existing as a vacant, huddled mass in the centre of the pens.
Unable to breed, the population plummeted and did not recover. The crowded rodents had lost the ability to co-exist harmoniously, even after the population numbers once again fell to low levels. At a certain density, they had ceased to act like rats and mice, and the change was permanent’
We are human beings not rats nor mice but nevertheless we are still subject to the laws of natural evolution. Note the parallel with increasing reports of more than 1 suicide per day, animal cruelty, maid abuse, and neglect of children and the elderly as the family unit breaks down under unbearable stress in Singapore.
We are now the 3rd most crowded place on earth. Lee & Co. are actually insane enough to try to make us No.1 in pursuit of GDP glory. Imagine that, we are, at this very moment, more overcrowded than any city in India or China or almost anywhere in the world you care to name! There has never been any explanation for how this nightmare 6.5m figure came to become a holy grail. After that then…..what? Unless Singaporeans rouse themselves from their stupor soon, they and their families will find themselves sleepwalking into Calhoun’s macabre rat hell. Becoming a maid in a foreign country will seem like paradise then.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBP6lFU-J2M&feature=related
I felt guilty for what happened a few days ago. Someone rudely barged into me without apologizing in a crowded supermarket & took off. I suffer from demophobia, I was already feeling terrible, & that only made matters worse. Feeling worse, I took it out on other people & pushed my trolley of groceries about uncaringly & expected people to get outta the way. I was blinded by anger, & that anger was caused by overcrowding. Vicious cycle. That rude guy’s antics rubbed off on me, & I rubbed mine off other people, & this gets passed on. Now, this vicious cycle of anger wouldn’t happen in the absence of overcrowding.
This is one of my problems of overpopulation & overcrowding on a personal level. Think of overcrowding & overpopulation problems on a nation’s scale. Another gigantic problem is increased cost of living due to higher demand for every product brought forth by a bigger population. Jobs are scarce, salaries get supressed. Drivers pay exorbitant prices to drive a car & yet are unable to get parking spots conveniently especially at recreational places ‘cos of overpopulation!
pugdragon, 7 September 2010
i am slowly but surely becoming like the person you describe too. its a numbing effect…
as the saying goes “what goes around comes around”.
govt dun care, people also dun care already…
6.5 million is a more palatable figure they quote publicly. I believe privately they are toying with 10 million.
And yes, I hate it when I can’t help feeling irritated, annoyed and angry when I go out and am confronted by heaving masses of humanity everywhere I go. It has come to the point when I don’t go out if I don’t need to, and if possible not during peak hours.
the more dense we get, the hotter the inland weather and there will be more thunderstorms. nature has her own way to deal with overcrowding situation. usually drastic and irreversible.
If the Pro Alien Party hope that the new Citizens will help boost the birth rates – it definitely had its gut feelings wrong.
The population had grown since the 1999 census concluded the total population was 3,958,700.
By 2009, the total population grew to 4,987,600 – an increase of 1,028,900.
Unfortunately, the Total Fertility Rate remained insignificant as MM LKY lamented that the TFR in 2009 had continued its decline to an all time low of 1.22 – when in 1998 the TFR was 1.48
The only possible reason for the large influx of foreigners – who are supposedly ‘talented’ – seems to be loading the dice in favor of the incumbent PAP.
*
*
*
Reference 1
“Table A5 – Population 1871-2009″
Pg 27 or PDF Pg 37/72
http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/popn/population2009.pdf
Reference 2
“Table A12 – Live Births and Birth Rates, 1980 – 2008,”
Pg 44 or PDF Pg 54 / 72
http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/popn/population2009.pdf
PAP is the best in the world.
singapreans ungrateful lot of morons.
FTs know better how to appreciate the hardwworking government.
the FTs will help the government to kick out all useless and unemployed singaporeans.
To produce a nominal increase in our GDP which benefits no one but those whose bonuses are pegged to the size of Singapore’s economy.
the question is not whether we need 6.5 Mil people. Its a must in order for us to be a metropolis..the question should thus be, whether we can hold 6.5 mil on this island, given today’s technology
picknose 8 September 2010
PAP is the best in the world.
singapreans ungrateful lot of morons.
FTs know better how to appreciate the hardwworking government.
the FTs will help the government to kick out all useless and unemployed singaporeans.
…………..
as posted by Roland an angmor PR
Why wouldnt I give up my existing citizenship? Well most importantly there are the emotional reasons of loyalty to my country and my ancestors who fought for it.
…………………..
so picknose you bloomin idiot..can you handle a sar22? you can’t even coped with the sar viruses…
ere you are..sink songs liked your balless lampar xipeisong….
Just 3 MRT additional line costs, at current estimate, $60 billion. What about hospitals, utilities, schools, universities, other public transports, sewage works, land reclamation, deep underground tunnelling for living, transport and shopping, nuclear power station etc etc etc costing another $500 billion or more? Who is paying for all these when current income tax revenue from 5 million here is only $6.2 billion annualized. How many decades of payback needed or over a century just to add 1.5 million? Is it politics of vote-friendly buying or economic here?
I’m a mid-20′s female living in Singapore for the past 18 years and can possibly out Singlish quite a number of citizens. Tell me, do i still not have the right to call this place home? I can’t help but feel rejected by my own adopted home….
anonymous, 12 September 2010
looks like you’ll be treated like those who are born locally- like dirt. because S’poreans have to bend over their backs to welcome foreigners.
not sure if you’re feeling the heat of the competition in your line of work…
@mice is nice
that’s true, getting harassed for something that isn’t my fault isn’t a very pleasant experience, i’m sure that goes for locals as well
definitely there’s been heat, cheaper wages and what not, but that has only made my resolve stronger not to undercut myself just because there is cheaper labour out there
my only problem with the huge influx of foreigners is they don’t assimilate into the local culture, or even try(from what i’ve seen), like us immigrants who’ve been here very early on, it’s really irritating not being able to be understood in english and getting a blank stare in return
Hi,
The huge influx of the foreigner to Singapore is a result of the Trojan horse effect, first the PAP government tell our Singaporean that don’t worry nothing will happen!! Now they wanted to increase to 6.5 millions, Singaporean had been tricked, we are already slowly becoming minority, it is already happening now!!! There are many China national buying up our local property such as HDB, take away our job. They are everywhere from coffee shop in our heartlands to high end orchard road. I think why Singapore is in these pathetic state mainly due to we put too much trust and confident in our government, and there are absolutely no check and balance by anyone. The problem with one party dominate the entire cabinet is that they can do what they like and no one dare to utter a single word, one very good example is the million dollar salaries the minister gets, it is really ridiculous to be one of the most highest paid in the world next to Bill Gates!!! Do all these minister deserve such a high paid? Does that mean that with high paid there will be no corruption?? Money is never enough I believe, as long there are greed in a human heart, no matter how much it is still not enough to fill the greedy heart!! And how many minister are actually work hard for our fellow Singaporean, or just pencil pusher? Who will be doing the yearly appraisal for the minister or they appraise themselves?
anonymous, 12 September 2010
well, many are feeling the squeeze on this tiny island nation. when the daily stress increases & tempers flare, i find its unfair to pin the blame onto locals who have to bear the brunt of it all with no light at the end of the tunnel.
i hope you have better luck than i do trying to prevent being undercut by cheaper foreign/local labour, cos i’m not having it easy.
foreigners not assimilating into the local culture is an issue, but since their numbers are large, they do not have any incentive to assimilate. they can just get by sticking with their own circle of FTs/FWs. its the same with our youths studying overseas prefering to stick to their own cliques. with jobs on the line, i guess there is a certain level of tension that embracing foreigners with open arms a tad difficult.
hey, people i meet on the streets sometimes tell me i dun seem local. the way i talk, the way i look. i dun even look my age. its cool, until i realise its actually working against me where work is concerned.
lol… >.<
Fascinating blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A theme like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog jump out. Please let me know where you got your design. Thanks a lot