Population planning in Singapore: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Stop-at-Two.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A historical poster from the widespread "Stop at Two" campaign, which created hundreds of different posters across four languages that were displayed in schools, hospitals and public workplaces.]] |
[[File:Stop-at-Two.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A historical poster from the widespread "Stop at Two" campaign, which created hundreds of different posters across four languages that were displayed in schools, hospitals and public workplaces.]] |
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Like other governments before it, the [[government of Singapore|Singaporean government]] has experimented with and implemented a number of '''[[eugenics]] programmes in Singapore''' |
Like other governments before it, the [[government of Singapore|Singaporean government]] has experimented with and implemented a number of '''[[eugenics]] programmes in Singapore'''. The first Prime Minister of Singapore, [[Lee Kuan Yew]], believed that the public good and governance of Singapore would become easier to oversee if the [[demographics of Singapore]] were pushed towards such optima as having more highly-educated individuals; he believed that socioeconomic factors have a strong [[heritability]]. <ref name=Barr>{{Cite journal |
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| last = Barr |
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| first = Michael D. |
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| title = Lee Kuan Yew: Race, Culture and Genes |
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| journal = Journal of Contemporary Asia |
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| volume = 29 |
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| issue = 2 |
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| pages = 145–166 |
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| publisher = Taylor and Francis - Routledge |
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| location = Nottingham, U.K. |
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| year = 1999 |
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| language = eng |
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| url = http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/lib/ne/lky/raceculturegenes.pdf |
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| issn = 1752-7554; 0047-2336 |
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| doi = 10.1080/00472339980000291 |
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| accessdate = 15 April, [[2011]]}}</ref> |
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Lee Kuan Yew in a speech in 1967, declared that all societies had that "five percent" of a population, "who are more than ordinarily endowed physically and mentally, in whom we must extend [our limited resources] in order ... to provide [that catalyst] in our society ... to ensure that Singapore shall maintain its pre-eminent place in the societies that exist in [Southeast Asia]." He was also recorded as saying, "[[Free education]] and [[subsidised housing]] lead to a situation where the less economically productive people ... are reproducing themselves at [a higher rate]." His solution was to implement a system of disincentives so that the "the irresponsible, the social delinquents" would not believe that having more children would entitle them to more government-provided social services. As of 2008, he was quoted as saying, "[If] you marry a non-graduate, then you are going to worry if your son or daughter is going to make it to the university."<ref name=CSJ>{{cite news|title=Eugenics in Singapore|url=http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/1437-eugenics-in-singapore|accessdate=11 August 2011|newspaper=Your SDP|date=9 November 2008}}</ref> |
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These policies, some of them since rescinded, include: |
These policies, some of them since rescinded, include: |
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* the '''Graduate Mothers Scheme''', which gave education and housing priorities, tax rebates and other benefits to mothers with a university degree, as well as their children. The government established a '''[[Social Development Unit]]''' (SDU) in 1984 to get educated women to marry. Conversely, the government offered cash incentives to the uneducated to voluntarily undergo [[Sterilization (medicine)|sterilisation]]. |
* the '''Graduate Mothers Scheme''', which gave education and housing priorities, tax rebates and other benefits to mothers with a university degree, as well as their children. The government established a '''[[Social Development Unit]]''' (SDU) in 1984 to get educated women to marry. Conversely, the government offered cash incentives to the uneducated to voluntarily undergo [[Sterilization (medicine)|sterilisation]]. |
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** The government also had to respond to criticism that this policy favoured Chinese over minority races, who were known to have a lower birth rate and smaller families than Malays or Indians, further fuelling accusations of eugenics. <ref name=pushingforbabies>{{cite news|last=Webb|first=Sara|title=Pushing for babies: S'pore fights fertility decline|url=http://www.singapore-window.org/sw06/060426re.htm|accessdate=11 August 2011|newspaper=Reuters|date=26 April 2006}}</ref> In 1987, [[Goh Chok Tong]], at that time the 1st Deputy Prime Minister, had to state to the press that "the Government 'had no objection' to those with less than secondary education having more children if they could afford them." <ref name=UN1995>{{cite journal|last=Mui|first=Teng Yap|title=Singapore's `Three or More' Policy: The First Five Years|journal=Asia-Pacific Population Journal|year=1995|volume=10|issue=4|pages=39-52|url=http://www.un.org/Depts/escap/pop/journal/v10n4a3.htm|accessdate=11 August 2011}}</ref> |
** The government also had to respond to criticism that this policy favoured Chinese over minority races, who were known to have a lower birth rate and smaller families than Malays or Indians, further fuelling accusations of eugenics. <ref name=pushingforbabies>{{cite news|last=Webb|first=Sara|title=Pushing for babies: S'pore fights fertility decline|url=http://www.singapore-window.org/sw06/060426re.htm|accessdate=11 August 2011|newspaper=Reuters|date=26 April 2006}}</ref> In 1987, [[Goh Chok Tong]], at that time the 1st Deputy Prime Minister, had to state to the press that "the Government 'had no objection' to those with less than secondary education having more children if they could afford them." <ref name=UN1995>{{cite journal|last=Mui|first=Teng Yap|title=Singapore's `Three or More' Policy: The First Five Years|journal=Asia-Pacific Population Journal|year=1995|volume=10|issue=4|pages=39-52|url=http://www.un.org/Depts/escap/pop/journal/v10n4a3.htm|accessdate=11 August 2011}}</ref> |
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* the '''Stop at Two''' campaign, which was implemented in the 1960s and 1970s to reduce the birth rate of Singaporeans and reduce what was perceived as overpopulation of a small island. |
* the '''Stop at Two''' campaign, which was implemented in the 1960s and 1970s to reduce the birth rate of Singaporeans and reduce what was perceived as overpopulation of a small island. Lee Kuan Yew explained part of his motivation for the policy: |
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:''We must encourage those who earn less than $200 per month and cannot afford to nurture and educate many children never to have more than two...we will regret the time lost if we do not now take the first tentative steps towards correcting a trend which can leave our society with a large number of the physically, intellectually and culturally anaemic.'' <ref name=CSJ /> |
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Today, because of Singapore's [[demographic transition]] as a developed nation, the government has completely reversed its policy and encourages higher birth rates instead. |
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* the modern SDU, renamed the [[Social Development Network]] (SDN) encourages Singaporean couples to procreate and marry in order to reverse Singapore's negative [[replacement rate]] |
* the modern SDU, renamed the [[Social Development Network]] (SDN) encourages Singaporean couples to procreate and marry in order to reverse Singapore's negative [[replacement rate]] |
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Revision as of 20:51, 10 August 2011
Like other governments before it, the Singaporean government has experimented with and implemented a number of eugenics programmes in Singapore. The first Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, believed that the public good and governance of Singapore would become easier to oversee if the demographics of Singapore were pushed towards such optima as having more highly-educated individuals; he believed that socioeconomic factors have a strong heritability. [1]
Lee Kuan Yew in a speech in 1967, declared that all societies had that "five percent" of a population, "who are more than ordinarily endowed physically and mentally, in whom we must extend [our limited resources] in order ... to provide [that catalyst] in our society ... to ensure that Singapore shall maintain its pre-eminent place in the societies that exist in [Southeast Asia]." He was also recorded as saying, "Free education and subsidised housing lead to a situation where the less economically productive people ... are reproducing themselves at [a higher rate]." His solution was to implement a system of disincentives so that the "the irresponsible, the social delinquents" would not believe that having more children would entitle them to more government-provided social services. As of 2008, he was quoted as saying, "[If] you marry a non-graduate, then you are going to worry if your son or daughter is going to make it to the university."[2]
These policies, some of them since rescinded, include:
- the Graduate Mothers Scheme, which gave education and housing priorities, tax rebates and other benefits to mothers with a university degree, as well as their children. The government established a Social Development Unit (SDU) in 1984 to get educated women to marry. Conversely, the government offered cash incentives to the uneducated to voluntarily undergo sterilisation.
- The government also had to respond to criticism that this policy favoured Chinese over minority races, who were known to have a lower birth rate and smaller families than Malays or Indians, further fuelling accusations of eugenics. [3] In 1987, Goh Chok Tong, at that time the 1st Deputy Prime Minister, had to state to the press that "the Government 'had no objection' to those with less than secondary education having more children if they could afford them." [4]
- the Stop at Two campaign, which was implemented in the 1960s and 1970s to reduce the birth rate of Singaporeans and reduce what was perceived as overpopulation of a small island. Lee Kuan Yew explained part of his motivation for the policy:
- We must encourage those who earn less than $200 per month and cannot afford to nurture and educate many children never to have more than two...we will regret the time lost if we do not now take the first tentative steps towards correcting a trend which can leave our society with a large number of the physically, intellectually and culturally anaemic. [2]
Today, because of Singapore's demographic transition as a developed nation, the government has completely reversed its policy and encourages higher birth rates instead.
- the modern SDU, renamed the Social Development Network (SDN) encourages Singaporean couples to procreate and marry in order to reverse Singapore's negative replacement rate
References
- ^ Barr, Michael D. (1999). "Lee Kuan Yew: Race, Culture and Genes" (PDF). Journal of Contemporary Asia (in eng). 29 (2). Nottingham, U.K.: Taylor and Francis - Routledge: 145–166. doi:10.1080/00472339980000291. ISSN 0047-2336 1752-7554; 0047-2336. Retrieved 15 April, 2011.
{{cite journal}}: Check|issn=value (help); Check date values in:|accessdate=(help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ a b "Eugenics in Singapore". Your SDP. 9 November 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
- ^ Webb, Sara (26 April 2006). "Pushing for babies: S'pore fights fertility decline". Reuters. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
- ^ Mui, Teng Yap (1995). "Singapore's `Three or More' Policy: The First Five Years". Asia-Pacific Population Journal. 10 (4): 39–52. Retrieved 11 August 2011.