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By Robin Chan
The Straits Times
Monday, Feb 11, 2013
SINGAPORE - As the costs of economic growth continued to come under the spotlight, the Prime Minister yesterday sought to make clear the Government's aim - growth not for its own sake, but to raise incomes, especially for those at the bottom and in the middle.
"If you are in the top 5 or 10 per cent of the population, you may say, well, I have enough. I can manage. I can live within my means," he said.
"If you are at the bottom 10 or 20 per cent of the population or even at the median - not poor, not rich - I think it would be patronising and cavalier for us to say they don't need more, that growth is unimportant."
Mr Lee Hsien Loong said that past experience has shown that when the economy grows, those on low incomes gain. When the economy crashes or slows down, the salaries of this group stagnate, while those at the top often keep rising.
He also pointed out that the best way to help Singaporeans cope with higher costs of living is to raise their incomes.
Expanding the economic pie also enables Singapore to secure the resources needed to improve education and health care, to build better homes and towns, and to invest in reliable and convenient public transportation, he added.
The question of what rate of economic growth would be ideal in the coming decades has been an issue of debate in recent months.
The Government's White Paper on Population projected 3 to 5 per cent a year from now to 2020, and 2 to 3 per cent thereafter to 2030.
This is tied to a population planning parameter of 6.5 million to 6.9 million by 2030.
The Workers' Party, in its alternative proposal, suggested growth of 2.5 to 3.5 per cent a year from now to 2020, and 1.5 to 2.5 per cent a year thereafter to 2030, with a population of 5.6 million to 5.8 million by 2030.
Yesterday, Mr Lee said: "We're not pursuing growth at all costs. We're trying to juggle many different objectives, including population, including cohesion... Growth is not for its sake. But growth is not unimportant."
The Government, he added, is trading off growth by reducing immigration and foreign worker inflows, to slow down the economy significantly and achieve a better quality of life.
"We accept this because we want the growth to be sustainable," he said. "We want high-quality growth and we want workers and families to benefit."
But he also added: "One of the things we must not forget is we need to make a living for ourselves."
Mr Lee said economic growth is part of a multi-faceted problem concerning population, which goes beyond getting the numbers right on babies and workers, to matters of identity. The challenge is complicated because Singapore needs both vibrancy and openness, and a sense of identity and belonging among citizens, he said.
It is not like Japan or China, where the population is relatively homogenous. But neither is it like cosmopolitan cities such as New York or London, as it is a nation.
It requires a very difficult combination, noted the PM - to be cohesive without being closed, to identify with one another and not be xenophobic, and to be open and yet not be diluted and dissolved.
"But that is our karma and we have to keep a balance between the two," he said.
[email protected]
The Straits Times
Monday, Feb 11, 2013
SINGAPORE - As the costs of economic growth continued to come under the spotlight, the Prime Minister yesterday sought to make clear the Government's aim - growth not for its own sake, but to raise incomes, especially for those at the bottom and in the middle.
"If you are in the top 5 or 10 per cent of the population, you may say, well, I have enough. I can manage. I can live within my means," he said.
"If you are at the bottom 10 or 20 per cent of the population or even at the median - not poor, not rich - I think it would be patronising and cavalier for us to say they don't need more, that growth is unimportant."
Mr Lee Hsien Loong said that past experience has shown that when the economy grows, those on low incomes gain. When the economy crashes or slows down, the salaries of this group stagnate, while those at the top often keep rising.
He also pointed out that the best way to help Singaporeans cope with higher costs of living is to raise their incomes.
Expanding the economic pie also enables Singapore to secure the resources needed to improve education and health care, to build better homes and towns, and to invest in reliable and convenient public transportation, he added.
The question of what rate of economic growth would be ideal in the coming decades has been an issue of debate in recent months.
The Government's White Paper on Population projected 3 to 5 per cent a year from now to 2020, and 2 to 3 per cent thereafter to 2030.
This is tied to a population planning parameter of 6.5 million to 6.9 million by 2030.
The Workers' Party, in its alternative proposal, suggested growth of 2.5 to 3.5 per cent a year from now to 2020, and 1.5 to 2.5 per cent a year thereafter to 2030, with a population of 5.6 million to 5.8 million by 2030.
Yesterday, Mr Lee said: "We're not pursuing growth at all costs. We're trying to juggle many different objectives, including population, including cohesion... Growth is not for its sake. But growth is not unimportant."
The Government, he added, is trading off growth by reducing immigration and foreign worker inflows, to slow down the economy significantly and achieve a better quality of life.
"We accept this because we want the growth to be sustainable," he said. "We want high-quality growth and we want workers and families to benefit."
But he also added: "One of the things we must not forget is we need to make a living for ourselves."
Mr Lee said economic growth is part of a multi-faceted problem concerning population, which goes beyond getting the numbers right on babies and workers, to matters of identity. The challenge is complicated because Singapore needs both vibrancy and openness, and a sense of identity and belonging among citizens, he said.
It is not like Japan or China, where the population is relatively homogenous. But neither is it like cosmopolitan cities such as New York or London, as it is a nation.
It requires a very difficult combination, noted the PM - to be cohesive without being closed, to identify with one another and not be xenophobic, and to be open and yet not be diluted and dissolved.
"But that is our karma and we have to keep a balance between the two," he said.
[email protected]
