In spite of a series of measures to encourage Singaporeans to go forth and multiply, there are still no signs of a rebound in the fertility rate. In my view, this is hardly surprising.
Many young Singaporeans who have been exposed to Western culture have become rather self-centred and place money and freedom above everything else. The prevalence of such values has made boosting the national birthrate seem an unachievable goal.
No government incentive, no matter how attractive, will have any impact on someone who cares only about raking in money or career advancement. He or she would not be moved even if the government offered to pay for all the expenses needed to bring up a child. The reason is simple. A newborn requires lots of care and attention, which means less time for the accumulation of wealth and for climbing the corporate ladder.
For someone whose top priority is freedom, children will obviously get in the way. A child requires much care and guidance during the growing-up years. It is easy, for example, for a teenager to be led astray by bad company and misbehave. If he breaks the law, the parents are likely to be blamed too for allowing him to get out of hand.
Very often, couples who can no longer get along stop short of taking their irreconcilable differences to court for the sake of their children. To some, it is obvious that the birth of a baby will be at the expense of their freedom.
Few will disagree that younger Singaporeans have become more open. Some have even become rather casual about relationships. They have many boyfriends or girlfriends and break up just as quickly as they fall in love. Without a sense of commitment in a relationship, can we expect them to settle down and start a family？
In the past, the head of a big household was well respected as only the rich could afford a big family. Now, many will wonder why some people have four or five children. To them, only fools would want to be burdened with so many children.
If we cannot get Singaporeans to change the values underlying their thinking and behaviour, efforts by the government to encourage marriage and procreation are likely to be futile.
Married couples should not see a bundle of joy as a bundle of trouble. It is a delight to hear a toddler utter his first unclear sound of “Papa” or “Mama”。 It is an even greater joy to watch him grow.
It does not matter whether you believe in traditional values or subscribe to Western ideas——getting hitched and having children is a duty for every adult. This is a precondition for the continuity of the human race. When a whole generation of people chooses to reject marriage and reproduction, human race will vanish from the face of earth with the demise of that generation.
There are many ways to contain population growth. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about measures to raise the fertility rate. When people equate childlessness to happiness, when they care more about freedom, money and themselves, few incentives will be good enough to make them change their mind.
We are likely to reverse the declining fertility rate only if people adopt a new and responsible attitude towards marriage and procreation.
（The writer is a Junior College student. Translated by Yap Gee Poh）
新加坡政府頒布一系列優(yōu)惠措施,鼓勵(lì)國(guó)民多生育。雖然開出的配套頗誘人,生育率仍沒有回彈的跡象。在我看來(lái),這實(shí)在不是怪事。
年輕一代的新加坡國(guó)民,很多受西方思想的熏陶,視個(gè)人為中心、金錢為一切、自由為上帝。也正因?yàn)檫@種價(jià)值觀念,使得人口增長(zhǎng)成了一個(gè)遙不可及的目標(biāo)。
如果我金錢掛帥或事業(yè)至上,那么,無(wú)論政府所公布的措施有多吸引人,我都不會(huì)為之動(dòng)心。即使政府能為我支付養(yǎng)育孩子的一切費(fèi)用,我也不會(huì)為此而養(yǎng)育孩子。很明顯,孩子一出世就需有人照料；也就是說,我賺錢的時(shí)間大大減少了,花在事業(yè)上的時(shí)間也少了。
如果我視自由為上帝,那么,孩子將是我追求自由的障礙。孩子呱呱墜地后,我就得好好照顧他。長(zhǎng)大后,我也得指引他。稍微不留意,孩子便有可能誤入歧途,做出一些為社會(huì)所不容的事。一旦孩子做出大逆不道的事,我便要受別人的指指點(diǎn)點(diǎn)。
有些時(shí)候,一些水火不容的夫婦沒能鬧上法庭,完全是因?yàn)楹⒆拥木壒?。很明顯,孩子的到來(lái)是對(duì)自由的約束。
無(wú)置可否,現(xiàn)代的人思想越來(lái)越開放,對(duì)男女關(guān)系也沒有前人那般看重?！芭f的不去,新的不來(lái)”,“天涯何處無(wú)芳草,何必單戀一枝花”。這種隨便放縱的態(tài)度,使得越來(lái)越多的情侶翻臉比翻書還快,最后不了了之。連相處都顯得困難重重,又何來(lái)結(jié)婚生子。
以前的人,對(duì)一些大家庭的當(dāng)家人心存敬意,因?yàn)橹挥懈挥械娜瞬胖蔚闷鹨粋€(gè)大家庭的龐大開支。到了現(xiàn)在,很多人是會(huì)譏笑那些養(yǎng)育四五兒女的家長(zhǎng)。在他們的眼里,只有傻瓜才會(huì)去養(yǎng)育那么多的孩子。
如果現(xiàn)有的價(jià)值觀念無(wú)法得到修正,那么,政府的一切努力將只是徒勞罷了。 當(dāng)然,孩子的降臨不是來(lái)破壞一個(gè)家庭、不是來(lái)讓人煩憂?？粗⒆右惶煲惶扉L(zhǎng)大,聽他叫一生含糊不清的“爸爸”、“媽媽”都是讓人歡喜的事。
不管你是西方思想的擁護(hù)者,還是傳統(tǒng)的東方女性,結(jié)婚生子對(duì)每個(gè)人來(lái)說都是一種責(zé)任。生兒育女是人類得以延續(xù)的前提條件。當(dāng)一代人都選擇不結(jié)婚、不生子時(shí),人類將隨著那代人的消逝而永遠(yuǎn)消失于地球。
要人口下降,方法可謂繁多。要生育率回升,方法似乎不多。當(dāng)人們把少孩子多幸福當(dāng)作一種不變的事實(shí)時(shí),當(dāng)人們考慮更多的是自由、金錢、個(gè)人時(shí),所有的優(yōu)惠措施將在這些思想觀念面前顯得蒼白無(wú)力。
只有思想觀念得以改變,明白身為人類一員所應(yīng)承擔(dān)的責(zé)任時(shí),生育率回彈才能成為一種可能。
Many young Singaporeans who have been exposed to Western culture have become rather self-centred and place money and freedom above everything else. The prevalence of such values has made boosting the national birthrate seem an unachievable goal.
No government incentive, no matter how attractive, will have any impact on someone who cares only about raking in money or career advancement. He or she would not be moved even if the government offered to pay for all the expenses needed to bring up a child. The reason is simple. A newborn requires lots of care and attention, which means less time for the accumulation of wealth and for climbing the corporate ladder.
For someone whose top priority is freedom, children will obviously get in the way. A child requires much care and guidance during the growing-up years. It is easy, for example, for a teenager to be led astray by bad company and misbehave. If he breaks the law, the parents are likely to be blamed too for allowing him to get out of hand.
Very often, couples who can no longer get along stop short of taking their irreconcilable differences to court for the sake of their children. To some, it is obvious that the birth of a baby will be at the expense of their freedom.
Few will disagree that younger Singaporeans have become more open. Some have even become rather casual about relationships. They have many boyfriends or girlfriends and break up just as quickly as they fall in love. Without a sense of commitment in a relationship, can we expect them to settle down and start a family？
In the past, the head of a big household was well respected as only the rich could afford a big family. Now, many will wonder why some people have four or five children. To them, only fools would want to be burdened with so many children.
If we cannot get Singaporeans to change the values underlying their thinking and behaviour, efforts by the government to encourage marriage and procreation are likely to be futile.
Married couples should not see a bundle of joy as a bundle of trouble. It is a delight to hear a toddler utter his first unclear sound of “Papa” or “Mama”。 It is an even greater joy to watch him grow.
It does not matter whether you believe in traditional values or subscribe to Western ideas——getting hitched and having children is a duty for every adult. This is a precondition for the continuity of the human race. When a whole generation of people chooses to reject marriage and reproduction, human race will vanish from the face of earth with the demise of that generation.
There are many ways to contain population growth. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about measures to raise the fertility rate. When people equate childlessness to happiness, when they care more about freedom, money and themselves, few incentives will be good enough to make them change their mind.
We are likely to reverse the declining fertility rate only if people adopt a new and responsible attitude towards marriage and procreation.
（The writer is a Junior College student. Translated by Yap Gee Poh）
新加坡政府頒布一系列優(yōu)惠措施,鼓勵(lì)國(guó)民多生育。雖然開出的配套頗誘人,生育率仍沒有回彈的跡象。在我看來(lái),這實(shí)在不是怪事。
年輕一代的新加坡國(guó)民,很多受西方思想的熏陶,視個(gè)人為中心、金錢為一切、自由為上帝。也正因?yàn)檫@種價(jià)值觀念,使得人口增長(zhǎng)成了一個(gè)遙不可及的目標(biāo)。
如果我金錢掛帥或事業(yè)至上,那么,無(wú)論政府所公布的措施有多吸引人,我都不會(huì)為之動(dòng)心。即使政府能為我支付養(yǎng)育孩子的一切費(fèi)用,我也不會(huì)為此而養(yǎng)育孩子。很明顯,孩子一出世就需有人照料；也就是說,我賺錢的時(shí)間大大減少了,花在事業(yè)上的時(shí)間也少了。
如果我視自由為上帝,那么,孩子將是我追求自由的障礙。孩子呱呱墜地后,我就得好好照顧他。長(zhǎng)大后,我也得指引他。稍微不留意,孩子便有可能誤入歧途,做出一些為社會(huì)所不容的事。一旦孩子做出大逆不道的事,我便要受別人的指指點(diǎn)點(diǎn)。
有些時(shí)候,一些水火不容的夫婦沒能鬧上法庭,完全是因?yàn)楹⒆拥木壒?。很明顯,孩子的到來(lái)是對(duì)自由的約束。
無(wú)置可否,現(xiàn)代的人思想越來(lái)越開放,對(duì)男女關(guān)系也沒有前人那般看重?！芭f的不去,新的不來(lái)”,“天涯何處無(wú)芳草,何必單戀一枝花”。這種隨便放縱的態(tài)度,使得越來(lái)越多的情侶翻臉比翻書還快,最后不了了之。連相處都顯得困難重重,又何來(lái)結(jié)婚生子。
以前的人,對(duì)一些大家庭的當(dāng)家人心存敬意,因?yàn)橹挥懈挥械娜瞬胖蔚闷鹨粋€(gè)大家庭的龐大開支。到了現(xiàn)在,很多人是會(huì)譏笑那些養(yǎng)育四五兒女的家長(zhǎng)。在他們的眼里,只有傻瓜才會(huì)去養(yǎng)育那么多的孩子。
如果現(xiàn)有的價(jià)值觀念無(wú)法得到修正,那么,政府的一切努力將只是徒勞罷了。 當(dāng)然,孩子的降臨不是來(lái)破壞一個(gè)家庭、不是來(lái)讓人煩憂?？粗⒆右惶煲惶扉L(zhǎng)大,聽他叫一生含糊不清的“爸爸”、“媽媽”都是讓人歡喜的事。
不管你是西方思想的擁護(hù)者,還是傳統(tǒng)的東方女性,結(jié)婚生子對(duì)每個(gè)人來(lái)說都是一種責(zé)任。生兒育女是人類得以延續(xù)的前提條件。當(dāng)一代人都選擇不結(jié)婚、不生子時(shí),人類將隨著那代人的消逝而永遠(yuǎn)消失于地球。
要人口下降,方法可謂繁多。要生育率回升,方法似乎不多。當(dāng)人們把少孩子多幸福當(dāng)作一種不變的事實(shí)時(shí),當(dāng)人們考慮更多的是自由、金錢、個(gè)人時(shí),所有的優(yōu)惠措施將在這些思想觀念面前顯得蒼白無(wú)力。
只有思想觀念得以改變,明白身為人類一員所應(yīng)承擔(dān)的責(zé)任時(shí),生育率回彈才能成為一種可能。