HIDDEN_ADDENDA, PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (NATIONAL POPULATION SECRETARIAT)

PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (NATIONAL POPULATION SECRETARIAT): MR WONG KAN SENG
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs

At the heart of every successful society is a core of dedicated and committed people, who stay and move ahead together. This is especially vital for a small city state like Singapore. Our people are our critical and only resource. For Singapore to continue to thrive and succeed, we will need a core of Singaporeans who will form our social, political and economic foundation, and drive the nation forward.

The National Population Committee (NPC) was set up following the announcement of the parenthood package in August 2004 to deal with the wide range and multi-faceted challenges of population issues. A full-time National Population Secretariat (NPS) was established in the Prime Minister’s Office in June 2006 to support the NPC and coordinate the work of Ministries in key areas such as promoting marriage and parenthood, engaging overseas-based Singaporeans, and encouraging naturalisation.

Increased number of births

While all the schemes in the parenthood package announced in August 2004 have been fully implemented, it is still too early to assess the effectiveness of the measures. The declining fertility rate has reached a plateau in 2005 at 1.24 (the same as in 2004), although the number of births has increased slightly from 35,135 in 2004 to 35,528 in 2005, a positive reversal after four years of consecutive declines. The number of registered births in the first eight months of 2006 (23,516) is also higher than that in the corresponding period in 2005 (23,065). We are, however, still a long way from the replacement level of 2.1.

Encouraging naturalisation

It is not realistic to expect local fertility to significantly reverse in the near future, much less to return to the replacement level, which was last recorded in 1976. As such, in addition to raising local fertility, we would also need to raise immigration and the subsequent naturalisation of suitable immigrants in our efforts to enlarge our population stock so that we could grow our workforce in both size and vibrancy to sustain a viable economy. The Citizenship and Population Unit (CPU) has been set up under the NPS to coordinate and drive the efforts of the relevant Government agencies in this area.

The CPU has recently identified three broad strategies to encourage naturalisation, viz. (a) eliminating and reducing process hindrances, (b) enhancing outreach to foreigners, permanent residents (PR) and new citizens, and (c) more effective branding of Singapore overseas. By making Singapore a more attractive place to global talent to live, work, study and play, this three-pronged approach aims to encourage and enable more suitable foreigners and permanent residents to consider taking up permanent residency and citizenship respectively. The infusion of new residents and citizens will bring greater diversity of ideas, experiences and skills to Singapore. This will make for a more vibrant and robust society, one that is able to spot and seize opportunities in a time of rapid change and intense competition.

Engaging overseas Singaporeans to foster an inclusive society

Besides augmenting Singapore’s population, the NPC also seeks to foster an inclusive society by helping Singaporeans working and studying overseas to stay connected with one another and with Singapore. The Overseas Singaporean Unit (OSU) was launched in March 2006 for this purpose. Since then, it has held a number of introductory roadshows to reach out to overseas Singaporeans in major cities such as London, New York, Beijing and Sydney, to seek feedback on the services and information Overseas Singaporeans wish to receive from Singapore. Underpinning this effort is the Government’s belief that every Singaporean matters. The OSU’s vision is to facilitate the development of an interconnected Singaporean diaspora with Singapore the global city at the heart of this vibrant and diverse network.

In August 2006, the OSU launched a website, www.overseassingaporean.sg , which serves as a one-stop information, e-services and community-building portal for Overseas Singaporeans. For Singaporeans who wish to return, they will be able to find links to useful information such as job and internship opportunities in Singapore and the region, and the latest school admission policies for their children.

The OSU has also been working closely with the private sector to better engage Overseas Singaporean students and professionals. To provide Overseas Singaporeans with first-hand information on the economic opportunities in Singapore and the region, the OSU has held dialogues and networking sessions bringing together corporate leaders, professionals and students, and set up internship and job-link programmes. At the community level, the OSU also encourages and facilitates the various Overseas Singaporean associations, clubs and organisations to network and link up with each other.

Future direction

Going forward, the NPC, supported by its full-time Secretariat, will continue to find ways to augment our population stock while engaging Overseas Singaporeans and work towards a Singaporean society that is not limited by geographical bounds.