Trade-offs needed to solve Singapore’s challenges

The Prime Minister has set out three key challenges Singapore will face in the next 50 years, and more discussion is perhaps needed about the potential trade-offs among these (“S’pore’s ‘key future challenges’: Economy, population, identity”; July 1).

While Singaporeans must do their part to overcome these challenges, we are also human — with limitations, expectations and emotional needs — and are not production units to be pushed to the limits. Most of the time, we cannot have our cake and eat it too.

For example, for the average Singaporean, having children means choosing between making some career sacrifices and giving up bonding time with the children. Some people do not wish to make this choice and do not have children instead. But it is their choice, and we cannot pass judgment on whether they are right or wrong.

When individual choices are extrapolated to the national level, the choices are similar. Can we pursue strong economic growth without making some sacrifices to our population target and national identity?

Singapore’s key constraint is our lack of space and natural resources. Compared with our larger competitors, we must make greater sacrifices to pursue one objective over another.

The United States and the United Kingdom can open up New York and London to the world’s top talents, and their citizens who are unable to compete, or who want a slower pace of life to focus on raising a family, can move to a lower-rung city. These countries have sufficient space and resources for their citizens to lead a comfortable life and retain the national identity even with a large number of top foreign talents in their major cities.

However, a Singaporean who leaves the workforce to raise a family will be replaced quickly. There is no place to go here that is less competitive and easier for one to return to work, leading some people to be hesitant about raising a family.

The pertinent question, therefore, is whether we should assign priorities to the three challenges and perhaps make some big, bold policy moves on the challenges with higher priority.

For example, if we assign top priority to growing the population, then we can perhaps give longer maternity leave and legislate that those returning to work after that must have a job with the same level of responsibility and pay.

This would incur an economic cost, but Singaporeans would have to accept that it would be worthwhile for our future.