Aging Population? Lets Bring in more people!

I’ll be commenting on the issue of how Singapore is becoming a aging population. In light of that, the government decides to open its doors and plans to bring in more foreigners. Their purpose is to have enough people to keep the economy of Singapore going. With a aging population, lesser young people have to support more older people, resulting in a decrease in economic growth as there is less people working in the society. Thus the government brings in people to “help” us.

Singapore is a very stressed society. Since young Singaporeans are forced to compete and do well academically, fighting for that limited number of space in the better schools, from primary school all the way to university. We are forced to go through a structured education system which kills creativity. On top of that we have to face a huge number of foreign talents to compete with us. The government’s stand is to prepare us for the global workplace, to reduce tension from the stress of supporting a aging population. However these actions have a backlash in conservation. We are causing overpopulation.

The issue of foreign talents coming to Singapore has been a problem deep rooted into Singapore’s society. With many people complaining why the government is spending so much money to give them scholarships while forcing students in Singapore to go into debt just to get a education, this battle seems to be never-ending.

I feel that the problem should not be that the people are complaining against the government that there are too many foreign talents taking away their jobs, spaces in schools and houses, but rather the focus should be on the environmental stress it creates through the influx of people. This issue is merely a by product of the true terror which would harm all humans of all countries. People’s mindset are too narrow and micro to notice that If we continue to overpopulate the earth, More resources would be consumed, more pollution would occur, and ultimately, the earth would die out on us. As long as we are fixated in these micro issues of lack of jobs, lack of houses, we will never see the big picture which is slowly but surely killing us all. It would not matter if you are the richest man on earth or a poor man living in poverty, when the earth is destroyed, everyone goes with it. That should be the worry. That should be the focus.

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.

Why is overpopulation in Singapore a conservation issue?

Being a blog on conservation psychology, I would hope to bring the theme of conservation to readers out there. However, Singapore is facing a big issue with regards to conservation. It is not targeting issues of conservation pertaining to overpopulation.

Despite the government’s efforts to try to go green via movements like Earth Hour and Having Zoos and Organizations like NParks take care of the nature of Singapore, Overpopulation is a conservation issue that is hidden from the general public. It is a flaw in the system which I think they wish to hide.

To readers who are unsure of why overpopulation is an issue to conservation, let me give you a simple illustration. Singapore is a country without natural resource. In a conservation sense we are not self-sustaining and require other countries to survive. examples would be water from Malaysia, Oil from Indonesia, etc. However, not only do we not keep our population levels low so that we do not use so much of these limited resources the earth has, we continue to grow and increase our population to its current amount of 5 Million. With such a huge amount of people, think of the electricity we consume, the amount of food we take, the amount of water we use, and then the fact that we do not have enough of these resources to sustain on our own. That is the issue of overpopulation.

Looking at only Singapore is a small scale. If you look at a broader picture, Earth is facing a overpopulation crisis as well. More and more forests has to be cut down to make space for agriculture. All to create food to keep the population of humans alive and growing. If you think of Mother Earth as a species, then it is “infected” with humans, a disease that seeks out and drains the resources out of its host.

But looking back at Singapore. I would like to stand my stand on several issues pertaining to overpopulation which i feel is very salient to me. Some of my other blog posts will talk about these issues. Do note that this is just my personal opinion and not representative of any organization.

Blog Error!

I found a very nice flash map showing the different countries and their population densities.

However the wordpress and school platform prevents me from using it. What should I do?

Hopefully Yew Boon can reply me soon with a solution on how to bypass the system so that i can use the plugin. I did research that states that wordpress.org allows plugins but must be done via the administrator, and i do not have such access rights. so my interactive flash map is a no go for now. Oh Well, =(

Start of a new blog!

This is my first post in my blog on conversation psychology. My topic would be on population governance in Singapore. This will reflect my story of discovery, and learning about how the past affects our present and how our present will affect the future. As i go along I will include more things in my blog. From timelines of the population of Singapore, to issues of how the population issue in Singapore affects the earth. and its relation to conservation.