A Singaporean Lesson
Last week at a dinner hosted by Darryl Lau, the eloquent Consul of the Republic of Singapore in Dhaka, I was quite taken aback by a piece of information. Singapore, a country that the rest of the world envied because of its perfection, in terms of its orderliness, squeaky cleanliness, manicured neighbourhoods and streets, not to mention its legendary religious harmony, had a problem. Apparently, their predicament is just the opposite of ours. The women of Singapore are not having as many babies as they should to keep the population at a healthy level. This means unlike Bangladesh, which has a largely young population, Singapore's population, a measly 5.5 million, with low birth rates and better healthcare, is aging. This is of course a common problem for many developed countries of the world.
Most Singaporeans, it seems, are workaholics and just keep on slogging impossible hours which no doubt is why the country is so robust economically. But this means young people, when they get home, are just too exhausted to engage in the reproduction of their species. They may instead, spend the rest of the evening back on their laptops, preparing for the next day's work with a few breaks for social media interactions on their fancy gadgets. Add to this the reluctance of Singaporean women to take breaks from successful careers for marriage and motherhood and there you have it – fewer and fewer babies.
Singapore is also one of the most expensive cities in the world and having a family can be pretty costly, yet another disincentive for young Singaporeans. But even government incentives, which include $15,000 in parental packages for each child, tax incentives and extended maternity leave, have not convinced women that motherhood is way better than wealthy, hassle-free singledom. Other countries have also tried their hand at boosting the birth rate – offering similar cash incentives, making education free, even turning off the lights in offices by 7pm on Wednesday so people can go home and get busy (South Korea), offering a free fridge if they have a baby on a national day (Russia) and a baby robot that cries, giggles and has a sniffling nose – to simulate the joys of parenthood among young Japanese(they obviously left out the multiple diaper changes and sleepless nights).
In Bangladesh studies say the fertility rate has declined quite a bit with more women in the workforce and in schools than ever. But even then one cannot help but notice the scores of infants and children running around in villages and towns, in the slums – deprived of the basic rights of a child – food, education, shelter and a chance to live a decent life. The fact is we still have almost 160 million people in this country, with the majority being poor. Child marriage is still alive and kicking.
It's all about balance as the sages would say. While Singaporeans need to slow down, relax and become more amorous, Bangladeshis need to work harder to be able to feed, clothe and educate themselves, be a little Singaporean. We cannot afford to have 48 hour or 72 hour hartals which paralyse economic activity because people are afraid to come out of their homes for work. We cannot afford taking extended leaves because a hartal is followed by a public holiday followed by a weekend. We cannot afford school days being missed or exams postponed because our politicians have decided to throw a tantrum or their younger goons have decided to rampage the university campuses.
We may have an enviable number of young people in our country, something many developed nations like Singapore, are craving for. But if we cannot provide them with proper nutrition, good education and the opportunities to learn skills and work, we will be wasting our most precious resource.
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