Les voeux du Ministre

Nous mentionnions récemment les défis de fertilité de Singapour et les espoirs mis dans la Nouvelle Année du Lapin (le taux de fertilité moyen est de 1.16 enfants par couple, et seulement de 1.02 enfants par couple pour les singapouriens d’origine chinoise –majoritaires–).
Le discours de Nouvel An du Premier Ministre de Singapour confirme ses attentes : son message franc et direct exhorte les singapouriens « de souche » à la procréation. Sans détours,  il affirme que l’immigration sera limitée à ceux qui « ajoutent de la valeur », pour préserver l’identité singapourienne.

My hope for more Rabbit Year babies

“Even as we change, we must hold fast to certain constants: the core values which help Singapore to succeed; the heritage and cultures which makes us Asian and Singaporean; and the national cohesion and spirit which enable us to surmount crises together. This means we have to preserve a Singaporean core in our society. We need immigrants to reinforce our ranks, but we must maintain a clear majority of local-born Singaporeans who set the tone of our society, and uphold our core values and ethos. We are managing the inflow of foreigners who want to live and work here. Many want to become permanent residents and new citizens, but we will only select those who can add value to Singapore.

We also need Singaporeans to produce enough babies to replace ourselves and that has proved extremely challenging. Last year, our Total Fertility Rate fell to 1.16, an all time low. It was even lower for the Chinese – only 1.02, but the decline was for all races. It could have been because of the year of the Tiger, or perhaps the economic uncertainties of the year before, in 2009. Whatever the reasons, I hope more couples will start or add to their families in the Year of the Rabbit. Chinese New Year is the time for families to come together in celebration and more babies can only mean more joy in the years to come.”