SINGAPORE: While the Republic must maintain a "carefully calibrated" number of new citizens to augment the ageing population, the right balance must be struck to ensure Singaporeans “do not feel crowded out”, Mr Teo Chee Hean, Minister-In-Charge of the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD), said on Wednesday (Jan 20).
"Singapore has one of the most rapidly ageing populations in the world, with the number of seniors projected to double to 900,000 by 2030. While we encourage marriage and parenthood, we will need a carefully calibrated number of new citizens to keep our citizen population stable. We will also need foreigners to complement our Singaporean workforce in areas where we are short," said the Deputy Prime Minister in his addenda to President Tony Tan Keng Yam's address at the opening of Parliament last Friday.
"But we cannot grow our population indefinitely. We will strike a careful balance, so that Singaporeans do not feel crowded out, and we can meet the needs of our ageing citizen population and workforce. We have slowed the growth of our foreign workforce substantially, and as a result, our total population growth rate last year was the slowest in more than a decade."
The NPTD said that it would continue to tap on "a global blend of people and ideas to move Singapore ahead and in doing so, create more opportunities for Singaporeans".
The Government encourages Singaporeans to gain experience overseas, and will continue to engage them when abroad and facilitate their transition back to Singapore when they choose to return, Mr Teo said.
He added: "Our population challenges are complex and multi-faceted. There are many needs to be fulfilled, and we will strive to strike the right balance. We will take an open and consultative approach in our population strategies to ensure that all views are heard. This is critical in achieving the balance we strive for.