(02-02-2013, 08:52 AM)Temperament Wrote: [ -> ]i think most of the people in any kind of "business" will want population of 6.9 to 7 million. If they only think short term. Just like investing in stocks they are short term and long term goals.
Actually things are more nuanced than that. Yes, as business owners, and in fact any commission dependent employee whose sales benefit from increased pop, we do know that 7m pop will help us. In fact any land owner or retiree who has made his money feels that way too (more pop = more people to work in silver care service line). However, we are also fathers, mothers, fellow ns men, fellow joggers, fellow religious brothers. So these roles too affect how we view pop targets.
Personally, I know sg is very competitive and our form of meritocracy needs to be tweaked to ensure social mobility and to ensure multiple elites. We should ensure that our safety nets are robust so that those who earn little too have dignity.
But for all that to happen, as a nation we must continue to thrive and mature and grow. So I love it that wp is evolving and hopefully they gather sufficient ethical and smart people to pose a credible threat to pap. But I also feel we must be logical and accept things that make sense. Pop growth of 1+% per annum to hit 7m by 2030 makes a lot of sense to me. Don't forget we will all live much longer and we have much less children, so our actual working pop will need to be supplemented.
Also, I like it that spore is like a Tokyo or new york or London or Paris or shanghai. I don't want to become a 2nd or 3rd tier global city. Where are the opportunities for my children then? And all top global cities have a pop of closer to 10m and up. When I travel I see a lot and I am proud to be sporean because we did a lot on our own steam. We are wealthy, independent, educated and truly quite unique.
If we allow pop to remain at 5m with an aging non working pop, we will decline into a Milan if we are lucky ? Still got 1-2 good niches but not top tier. If not lucky, we will decline into a regional city. Irrelevant.
Also, we underestimate technology and advances. There are many ways to make living comfortable even with 7m people in sg. It's not just smaller apt sizes, it is removing those useless golf courses, redesignating former industrial space, multi purpose furniture, building up and downwards, etc. so much can be improved which will generate more space. And this knowledge can become another export for Singapore.
This is what I think now. So on pop, I support growing at slower pace and maybe even faster pace. Not because I am elite or support pap but because it makes sense to me as a citizen, father, entrepreneur. And how we get there matters too, not more of same but really relook land use, Building tech and even furnishing.
What say you guys?
