Daily Lessons from Life 07-08 February 2013 - Parliament endorses Population White Paper

"Parliament endorses Population White Paper - TODAY 8 February 2013

SINGAPORE: After five days of intense debate, Parliament on Friday passed the amended motion to endorse the White Paper on Population with 77 ayes and 13 nays. Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Eugene Tan abstained from the vote.

Other than opposition MPs, who all voted against the motion, NMPs Faizah Jamal, Janice Koh and Laurence Lian also voted 'no'.

The amendment, proposed by MP Liang Eng Hwa and passed by MPs, among other things, explicitly states that the White Paper "supports maintaining a strong Singaporean core by encouraging more Singaporeans to get married and have children, supplemented by a calibrated pace of immigration to prevent the citizen population from shrinking".

"Although the Amended Motion captures some of the Workers' Party concerns about the White Paper, fundamentally the White Paper still forms the basis of the roadmap forward to 2030, which the House was asked to endorse," said WP chairman Sylvia Lim in a statement.

She said the party "believes that the path proposed by the White Paper will further dilute the Singaporean core and weaken our national identity" and lead the Republic to "require unsustainable population injections in the future".

Earlier, both Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean addressed the House.

Speaking on a range of topics, Mr Lee pledged that Singaporeans would not be "overwhelmed" by a flood of foreigners and sought to assure Singaporeans that their interests are at the centre of all the government's plans, and economic growth and population policies are just a means to improving citizens' well-being.

Over the next few years, the conversation on population will continue, said Mr Lee. He listed three areas for discussion: marriage & parenthood, the economy and the Singapore identity."

It is OVER. The result is unsurprising though the NMPs' 'No' votes are welcome bonuses.

Lessons for me are:
1. approach to communicate such a 'bet the country' motion can be better in that: State WHAT the White Plan is trying to achieve? Explain WHY it is the right thing to do through SOLID research, be prepared to be questioned on the basis of assumptions, LISTEN to concerns and critical feedback 'why it should change and ask for the specific so actions can be taken', follow through with demonstrable actions for ALL to see, be prepared to accept the backlash if things do not go as promised!;

2. it is STILL just a piece of the OVERALL PUZZLE that the government and Singaporeans need to solve - What type of Singapore do Singaporeans want in 2030? Thought this is the Horse and the Population White Paper is part of the Cart. By releasing the Population White Paper 1st (due to time consideration since the National Conversation is still going on) is like 'putting the Cart before the Horse';

3. this 'adopted Population 2030 White Paper' will be QUITE meaningless IF the government CANNOT resolve many of the current issues by GE2016 as there will be further erosion of confidence on WHAT the government can deliver on their promises and one never know how frustrated voters will vote when that happened;

4. there are DISAGREEMENT even by some of the ruling party's MPs. This is a good sign, depending on how you look at it, as it means some MPs are really exercising their own critical thinking and analysis and making their own judgement IF the party's position is correct or not. Though they still have to vote for it alone the party's line, there may be a time when they feel SO STRONGLY about certain critical issues that they may REVOLT. If the party's leadership take this positively, it can only enrich the discussion and improve the quality of the final product!


Finally, I DO LIKE to see the Parliament REPORTS to the PEOPLE on a quarterly basis on HOW Singapore is executing against this 'adopted Population 2030 White Paper'. It would be the BEST present for the Lunar New Year - the Year of the Snake - for Singaporeans!!