A Thousand Whines and Groans

A Thousand Whines and Groans for the entire day spent doing just this alone.
Oh so goes the first draft of my first dreaded critique paper:-

An Overview Of The Need For Population Control:-

As Saw (p52, 1980) quotes then Health Minister of State Mr Yong Nyuk Lin, "Singapore, as we all know, is a very overcrowded little island of nearly 2 million people living in an area of just over 2 hundred square miles or a density of population around 8,000 people per square mile. Family planning is therefore a matter of national importance and indeed, one of urgency for us. Our best chances for survival in an independent Singapore is stress on quality and not quantity."

Evidently, the issue of population control and family planning rests on the mind of the state's leaders, due to a surge in post world war 2 baby boomers and a free trade, migration policy between Singapore and Peninsula Malaya during the decade from 1947 to 1957.

The crude birth rate peaked at 42.7% in 1957. Also, in 1966, the number of deliveries reached a record high of 39,835 which won KKH* a place in the Guinness Book of Records for the largest number of births in a single maternity facility – a record it held for 10 years.

In light of the momentous separation between Singapore and Peninsular Malaya in August 1965, the government was fully aware that the newly independent state had to survive alone without its traditional economic hinterland, thus, highlighting Singapore's limited small land area and the economic difficulties and lack of viability of the island state devoid of natural resources. These factors drew serious attention on the dire need for the government to keep check on Singapore's rapid population growth in planning for social and economic development (p53, 1980).

Likewise, the government then feared that unchecked population growth could strain the country’s limited resources as they would of any underdeveloped country. Moreover, the average educational qualification of each youth then, was capped at secondary two due to the disruption of the Japanese Occupation.

In recognizing the potential impact of high birth rates on the Republic's limited resources, the Health Minister tabled a White Paper in Parliament in September 1965 and outlined a 5-Year Mass Family Planning Program, introduced in 1966 to regulate the level of fertility and control the rate of population growth. Singapore was to reduce its TFR* to a replacement level of 2.1 by 1980 and maintain this level indefinitely so as to achieve ZPG* by 2030.

The enactment of the 5 year mass family planning program has essentially been an integral part of the social and economic development strategy of the government aimed at improving the general standard of living of the people. The program was specifically designed to reduce the rate of population increase to facilitate and reinforce government efforts in advancing rapid economic development geared towards raising the per capita income of the masses. Also as explained in the above paragraph, this program itself constitutes the principal component of the overall population control program directed at the maintenance of fertility at replacement level to ensure that zero population growth can be attained as quickly as possible to stabilize the population.

Hnece, population control became one of the primary goals of the city-state’s in order to spur its socio-economic development. In 1966, the National Family Planning Campaign was launched and the government embarked on a Stop-At-Two children policy with the slogan - “Girl or Boy, Two is enough.

This slogan appeared in a total of 8 different posters in four different languages, namely English, Chinese, Bahasa Melayu and Tamil from 1974 - 1983. Of these 8 posters, 6 emphasized simply on the given message, which is aimed specifically at married couples aged 30 - 44, who usually are primary school leavers and post WWII baby-boomers while the remaining 2 were targeted towards school going youths and educated* young adults aged 16 - 22. *Educated - A minimum of 4 GCE O Level Passes and above.

Evidently, this campaign was created in a bid to re-engineer her society's behavior, attitudes and values over the benefits of family planning, especially on the advantages of having smaller families and how it could be achieved with family planning. Advertisements emphasized strongly on the visuals of a small and happy family, usually with the child being a girl due to the fact that Singapore is a predominantly Chinese society whereby boys are favored over girls as they pass on their family's name even after marriage. Also, the tone used for the above mentioned 8 posters were simple, straight-foward with the actual message being directly targeted right at the individual.

It was only during the 1970s we witness an influx of other anti-natalist policies - the 1969 Abortion Act, voluntary sterilization and other eugenic measures to ensure total effectiveness in their Family Planning Program.

Therefore, as a result of its anti-population campaign and henceforth, eugenic policies, Singapore’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) dropped significantly from 4.66 in 1965 to 2.1 in 1975. Replacement level was attained sooner than expected.