Challenging the 6.9m "Goal"

As taken from the many online comments with regards to the White Paper, the idea of increasing the population to 6.9 million in 2030 with the help of foreigners influx to curb the fertility crisis as well as the greying  population,  may not be too welcoming to most Singaporeans.

In my opinion, there must a something in between that is agreeable and acceptable to both the government as well as the majority of local citizens.

Looking forward, though there are many challenges ahead, everyone has a role to play in order to make our land a better place to live, to work and to play.

1) True Blue Singaporeans

Based on the recent study of about 4,600 people aged between 21 and 45 years old, it is reported most singles want to get married, have two or more children. 

On work-life balance, though most singles and married respondents reported to have work-life balance, quite unanimously more than 60 per cent said they are exhausted when they came home from work; and about 50 per cent of singles and married respondents, said that their jobs prevented them from spending more time with their family and loved ones.

Hence, based on what we see here, the workload is probably one of the main causes for the fertility crisis. Some solution to it, is to find play at work and also not be bounded by the stress of working 9 to 5 each day. We got to change the concept of working to the concept of fun.

On the other hand, as mentioned in one of my earlier articles, you got to leave your work on time; working overtime is not healthy;  the working singles need to go out and meet people while the working parents need to spend more quality time with their family and children.

Timothy Ferris, author of the "Four Hour Workweek", has taught that we do not need to work fully for  the eight hours or more in a day in order to produce exactly eight hours of work.

Sometimes, by working just one, two hours or less in a day, you can also be able produce what others may seem like a week's work.

All you need to do is to put in a strong focus on that one or two hours of work, prioritizing your work and also learning to reject stuffs or people that are not related to your work results or may hinder your performance.

As the saying goes, time is money. Let me improvise the saying a little. Time is gold. It is the most precious thing that you could give to yourself and your loved ones. So, you got to be the one who control your time and do not let others control your time.

2) Foreign Talents

Well, to some point, the influx of foreign talent may encourage to boost economic growth and solves the fertility issues. However, we may need to look more into it further.

What we are looking for, perhaps is to have "true blue Singapore foreign talents" in the country. These group of foreign talents are the ones who would "sink their roots" in Singapore for the love of the country, the men from this group are happy to "sweat" alongside with other Singapore men during National Service, their selfless contribution will be something that every people living in Singapore would be gladly proud of.

 One fine example of a "true blue Singapore foreign talent" is none other than Mr Aleksandar Duric who recently ended his 20-year professional football career with a stunning victory for Singapore at the AFP Suzuki Cup, at the age of 42 year old. His hard work, his efforts and selfless dedication to the love of football, is an inspiration to all Singaporeans and foreigners living in the country.

And of course, we need more of such talent in the country so long he or she is willing to sink roots here and also impart their skills and knowledge in helping more Singaporeans to improve their value in the industry; thus creating more Singaporeans talents with better quality skills and industry value in the local as well as the global market. In a way, we want overseas employers to feel that Singaporean employees are one of the most demanded talents in the world.

3) Employers

I think the employers also have a somewhat bigger role to play in shaping our population numbers too; companies can give employees more flexible working time instead of "gluing" them to a desk bounded 9-to-5 kind of job.

Employers also need to be more opened to the idea that more productivity does not mean the workers have to work overtime; but more productivity will mean that employees can achieve outstanding results with the least working time.

Furthermore, for some job scope, the employees need not be physically present in the office, they could simply do it at the comfort of their homes.

By becoming more flexible and less "micro-managing", productivity can also be achieved without sacrificing too much of the employees' time; this will mean that working singles and working parents will then can enjoy more quality time with their families and friends.

A win-win situation to both.

In summary,

I just want to say that whatever that lies ahead of us, may look challenging and daunting at times; but if we can grit our teeth; come out with more creative ways to improve the situation to help ourselves and also others around us; I believe, everyone can grow together - as a nation - be it, the local, the foreign talent, the government, or the employer.