Saturday, May 14, 2011

Prepare for an increase in population

On the plane to Sydney, I saw an article in The Australian newspaper. There was some discussion about a proposal to increase the population of Australia. The government did not specify a numerical target but stated that the increase in population should be built based on the capacity of communities to cope with a larger population, i.e. the housing, schooling, medical and other facilities.

This is a different approach taken from Singapore - where the floodgates were opened and the inadequate facilities became evident caught the leaders by surprise. We should replace our old style of governance, which is based on behind the door planning by a small group of elites, who are out of touch with what is happening on the ground. We need to change our system of governance to be more open, transparent and participative. It will lead to better planning for the future, and reduce the negative impacts of bad planning.

Tan Kin Lian
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2 comments:

Jamesneo said...

It is foolish for singapore to increase our population to more than 5 million. How secure is our food supplies? Have they secured our natural gas for our power generation? If the oil supplies become tighter this coming decade and more countries rely on natural gas(or LPG) for their electricity or vehicle transport, can we outbid the countries like china and india?

May 15, 2011 10:57 PM
yujuan said...

If the population in Singapore is increased to target 6m, PAP Govt will jump on this excuse to build
nuclear power stations on our tiny soil.
We are on the way to self-sufficiency
for water needs, now they are targeting the energy sector. Why do you think Temasek Holdings selling off our power stations to foreigners.
When a concerned citizen wrote to the Forum Editor of Straits Times to query the sale, the Govt kept very silent and refused to answer.
They DARE not answer. This is called engaging and interacting with the citizens, they just refuse to see the writing on the wall, and act blur, act blind and act deaf.
Engineers involved in the recent study on nuclear power in Singapore just before the Election,
have been going round telling their close associates that our PAP
Govt is serious going nuclear. They fear what would happen if the Indonesians suddenly turn off the natural gas pipes, out of some price disputes. Singapore has been putting all the energy eggs in one basket i.e. Natural Gas from Indonesia. They think it's high time to think of alternative sources, i.e. NUCLEAR.

May 16, 2011 11:46 AM

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