They are not coping with our current population size
of 5.4 million. And you don’t have to gaze into the crystal ball to predict that
they will not do so either with a 6.9 million population.
Our healthcare, transport and
housing are still struggling to this day. And it is only the infrastructure that they have
been trying hard to address. Having quality life goes beyond just the
infrastructure.
Devastating
to know that our healthcare has advanced to the stage of war-torn
countries where patients could be housed in tents. For transport, it has also advanced
to the dismal state of even more frequent train disruptions since 2011. Issues
of over-crowdedness, insufficient air-conditioning for the crowd size on trains
and long waits for buses remain unresolved. Housing pressure seems to
have eased after KBW whined about his sleepless nights. COVs may have come down
but did the prices for new BTOs do so? They are still growing upwards
unfortunately. Already seriously priced beyond the affordability of our median
income and with the persistent upward climb of the public housing prices, it will soon be priced at the median income
of our ministers when the time for our younger generations come.
Creating band-aid solutions to tide over
to the next GE
There
has been a lot of drumming on their actions of corrective measures on these
three areas. More housing units, more hospitals, more trains and buses
targeting are coming along our way to allay the current crunch. SMRT and LTA are
seen spending more efforts in putting up conspicuous posters in blue and yellow
trumpeting about the future harmony as a result of their effects than effecting genuine improvements on our
trains’ unreliability and overcrowded issues.
This is the same with our healthcare and housing
too.
Because
the intention of magnifying all their efforts is to create the perception that they are addressing the problems, to build
up the anticipation on the future which neither the PAP nor us can secure. Luring voters to bet their faith on the
future that is yet to materialize. Btw,
they didn’t know that they will have to upsize their original target of having 4
million population by 2010 to 5 million and by 2010, we found ourselves to be
swarmed by additional 1, 000, 000 people
on this tiny little red dot. That was not
the future which we were being promised.
People
need to be convinced that the discomfort that we are enduring right now is only short-term….although
it has been a decade-long discomfort but the future will be bright. However, the
future is full of changes. Even LKY did not imagine that he will get to see the day when two casinos were
introduced. The grandeur of plans may turn out to be expensive cosmetic
procedures that address merely skin deep issues. And by the way, whose future are
they referring to? Ours or theirs? Having a line up of the most modern hardware
doesn’t warrant efficiency at all as proven by the overturned/burnt police cars
in Little India or the barriers at the Customs. We need the software which is precisely
what is seriously lacking.
Many band-aid measures and schemes were introduced but
only scratch the surface of the issues. The band-aid adhesive bandages prove futile to a
cancerous tumor and therefore not surprising that our transport, healthcare and
housing are still moving backwards three years after GE 2011. Even in the most
positive note, these are attempts, only attempts mind you and not
solutions, which are long overdue, that should have addressed the consequence of
last decade’s mindless population expansion and therefore, should not be even
considered as a form of preparation for our future population target. And still, they fail to
assuage the yester-years’ problems at our current population size.
-Transport
New
trains/buses or wooden sleepers themselves can’t perform the necessary magic to
put a stop to the train disruptions or unpredictable bus arrivals. Most
importantly, unable to absorb the growing crowds which is the main culprit for overcrowding.
Even new trains at Circle line can stall or a bus captain on a new bus can lose
his way in the traffic or forced to inch through congested roads. Hardware
alone does not ensure an efficient public transport system automatically.
How
would these new purchases and sleepers manage the 50 000 additional people (20K new citizens and 30K PRs) imported stubbornly each year who will
further strain our public transport and roads? And for Pete’s sake, that costly
intelligent Bus management system may be intelligent but it cannot
reduce the waiting-time for buses which is the main grouse about buses.
The additional new train lines will bring about increased ridership which will serve
to further complicate the current system and will those involved be competent enough
to manage? Especially when it is a downright profit-oriented public transport system.
- Healthcare
What
next after building 10 community hospitals? How are they going to account for
the shortage of healthcare workers? Are they planning to import planeloads of
healthcare workers on top of the 50 000 new citizens and PRs to nurse the
expanded population? Are we then to plan for additional transport and housing
needs for these healthcare workers on top
of the original human import target? Where will this madness of instant
human imports lead our country to?
- Housing
Public housing debt eats into retirement funds. The
pricing of our public housing is a killer. But KBW is sleeping well again.
While
clearly still struggling to contain the infrastructure shortage and creating
the false impression that they have the situation under control, this is at best, only clearing the backlog of
our old problems, they still have not yet, or with no intention at all to
address the future issues that arise from a population expansion. On the other hand, they remain dead right
on the target of importing 20 000 new citizens and 30 000 PRs annually as
cited in their Population White Paper to attain their sacred target of 6.9
million.
Beyond the
infrastructure
Naïve to assume that having more residential units,
expanded train lines and more hospitals will automatically quantify for quality
living. That is the myth that they are trying to sell to the voters. We can
have more of every of these and yet could be hard-hit by high inflation, sardine-packed
condition even on off-peak trains at a higher fare, even longer wait for even
costlier medical attention, recurring outbreak of TB or measles or SARS, more social
conflicts and crime activities, compromised hygiene level, continual influx of
cheaper labour across all industries (except the political domain) and mid-income
levels ….
What I am trying to say here is that to build a proper
country, not just building a city, requires more than housing, healthcare and
transport.
The level of security
is no longer the same as it was ten years ago. The growing population and
the range of nationalities imported into the country have created a whole new
range of crime on top of our local “traditional” crime. No doubt the crime rate
has statistically gone down, despite a bigger population, the actual crime rate
on the ground do not. Some forms of “crime” have been re-defined and no longer
be considered a criminal case. And you do not need any confirmation from the
SPF to know that there is a shortage of law enforcers on the ground.
The increasing population density will also subject
the population to infectious diseases.
There is no surprise at all to see a recurrence of TB and measles or some other
new forms of contagious diseases. More will come.
Higher population density will also increase the
challenges of containing an outbreak. We experienced SARS outbreak in the early
2000s. Dedicated medical staff at the frontline made sacrifices to save lives. That
was the time when our medical staff was predominantly local. If SARS was to
occur now, it would be on a greater scale given the bigger population and at a
point when local medical staff is the minority. Would our software competent
enough to contain the outbreak? Recall the recent poor handling of haze and how
the authorities fumbled on a simple and crucial matter of N95 masks distribution.
Does that instill confidence? Do you seriously think they will be able to
manage SARS the second time round?
Will they lack the 20/20 hindsight again when tackling matters that concern human lives, I mean our lives?
Will they be interested to deal with the issues beyond
healthcare, transport and housing?
Last but not least, the sense of belonging matters to
a nation. But when citizenship could be monetized and exchanged cheaply for their
personal GDP growth, it does not come as a surprise to witness the same people
who blatantly make the citizens of this country the minority.
To round it up, if
they aren’t interested in tackling the REAL problems at a 5.4 million
population, they won’t be interested to deal with the accompanying problems of
a 6.9 population size. Even when political stake is involved, they are merely
making a pretentious effort of being interested. The honest fact is, whether
6.9 or 9.6 million are of little importance to them because they are anyway
insulated against the detriments since they are the biggest benefiter of a
bigger population.
We used to be an island with no resources and limited
land we were being repeatedly told. The imminent 6.9 population plan has miraculously
unleashed the abundance of resources and our
land space for the newcomers.
