Population plans to be reviewed nearer 2020, says PM

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong delivered an impassioned defence of the Population White Paper yesterday, as Parliament wrapped up one of the most heated debates in recent years.

Speaking before the House passed an amended motion to endorse the Population White Paper with 77 ayes and 13 nays, he said the plans would have to be reviewed closer to 2020, as it was not possible to see so far ahead.

Well before that, he added, the conversation about Singapore’s population challenges would have to continue both in and outside Parliament.

PM Lee made clear that it would have been easier for him to “kick the can down the road” and avoid taking up the thorny issue of population and immigration, but that would have been irresponsible.

Singapore faces a real demographic challenge, which it has to discuss openly and face squarely. He urged Singaporeans not to look at the White Paper as just a document discussing a difficult problem.

“It’s really an affirmation of faith in Singapore’s future, belief that Singapore has a future which is worth building, protecting, striving for,” he said.

The Prime Minister was the last of the more than 70 Members who joined in the debate this week.

While the fireworks that punctuated the first four days were largely missing yesterday, PM Lee made sure the last leg of the debate had its fair share of emotional highs and lows.

At one point when speaking about the meaning and importance of a Singaporean core, PM Lee, eyes reddening, had to pause for a sip of water to gather himself before continuing.

Like several of his ministers, he said that the 6.9 million figure was not a target and has been taken out of context. The future population, he said, actually depends on Singaporeans of tomorrow, and not the Government of today.

“Nobody knows what’s going to happen in 2030. Even in 2020, you cannot be sure… Therefore we cannot decide on a population trajectory beyond 2020. That has to be left to a future government and future Singaporeans to decide,” he said.

His own guess was that it would be somewhere above six million to cater to an ageing baby boomer generation but yet “significantly below” 6.9 million.

Population plans to be reviewed nearer 2020, says PM