Singaporean Spirit and Culture

The topic today is on how culture has an impact on Singaporeans in terms of aiding to overpopulation and causing harm to the environment. I’ll be relating it to my own personal experience as a typical Chinese Singaporean and how Culture has tried to persuade me and those around me to follow a trend which is detrimental to the earth and its limited resources.

Dragon Baby

In case you are not sure, I’m a dragon baby born from the traditional mindset that dragon babies bring about good fortune. I grew up in a environment where I was constantly fighting for space and power. Due to the sudden spike in the amount of babies born in the dragon year, I have a harder time competing for the limited number of places in schools, from Primary level all the way to university level. This on its own has already caused stress to us as a dragon baby. We did not ask to be fighting this way, but it is culture and tradition that paved the way for us. Is it worth straining the earth for that pride that you have a dragon baby? Many Chinese families actually have a dragon babies under the pressure of their elders, not because they can afford it or want it. This is the one of the cause of overpopulation, which I’m unfortunately a product of.

Carrying on the Family Bloodline

As a Singapore male in the family, I’m tasked with the grand job of carrying on the family bloodlines. In evolutionary terms, its simply the passing on of your genes to ensure that your particular set of genes, which are 99% similar to the rest of the world, are carried into the next generation. It is a chore which I’m thankful i can avoid because i have 2 older brothers. However, the fact remains that I have to settle down and get married as soon as possible so that i can populate the world with my children. This is something that goes against the conservation issue of overpopulation. Yet the traditional culture is what causes this to continue. I used to have my two brothers block the arrows of marriage and kids for me. But just last year, both of them got married. And now i feel the full blast of societal pressure, especially from my elders, asking me when I am getting married. This issue is actually linked to another problem of economy and rising costs of living.

Limited Space, Expensive Houses

The amount of space we have left in Singapore is getting lesser and lesser, yet we are still trying to build more and more houses. With the growth of economy, The prices of houses will continue to rise. As a person entering the working life soon, I’m plagued by many people to get a house before there is no space left to get a house. The culture of Singapore is known by many as being “Kiasu” or being afraid to lose. Thus, in order not to lose out, many try to get married just to get a house, as that is the law set up by the government to aid in plan to increase reproduction rates. I am an unfortunately individual who is caught up in the wave as societal pressure has caused my girlfriend, whose friends and colleagues around her are all getting houses, to get influenced by them and bug me constantly every other day to get a house. Aside from the absurd fact that I am only a student and cannot possibly afford a house, It goes against the issue conservation and overpopulation. I’m trying very hard to resist societal pressure to get married and have kids that early because of economic and land space factors. This is another issue many young Singaporeans are facing. Without the knowledge of how their actions can harm the environment, they are simply pawns of the society, pushed by the pressure to do what is expected of them, disregarding the conservation issue at hand.

Conclusion

So, this is but a short story of how culture has influence society and how it is affecting me as an individual. It is a real issue that has its roots deep in conservation, yet often overlooked because of environmental factors. I believe education will help shape the thoughts and behaviors of people and slowly change can be made to tune the mindset of people to be more conscious of saving the earth not just by going green but by reducing its population as a whole.