Hong Kong should take its cue from Singapore for a sound population policy
Paul Yip says Singapore’s attempt to reverse the trend of its greying, shrinking working population should be an example to a Hong Kong government dragging its heels while facing similar challenges
Both Singapore and Hong Kong share very similar population characteristics: a rapidly ageing population and very low fertility rates. Both worry about the negative impact of a shrinking workforce with an ageing society.
However, the way the two governments are responding to the challenges is very different. Singapore has been trying to divert the course of its population development to a desirable direction whereas Hong Kong's last administration just wasted time so that society is ill-prepared. Right now, Hong Kong is still wrestling with the problem of milk powder supplies and parallel traders, and we have yet to develop an integrated approach to enable our population to grow stronger and better.
The Singapore government recently released a white paper on a sustainable population. It gives clear goals and directions with measurable, specific tasks to make Singapore a liveable, lively city. Officials there understand the importance of the family as the basic block to build a healthy and harmonious society. They have fostered a pro-family culture by investing resources with the support of community stakeholders, so that starting and raising a family is easier for the younger generation than it is in Hong Kong.
The Parenthood Priority Scheme gives priority allocation for government housing to eligible married couples with children. There are also measures to help working couples balance work and family commitments. Fathers will get one week of government-paid paternity leave, compared to the three days in Hong Kong that the business sector is still somewhat reluctant to accept. Singapore also provides six days of paid child-care leave per year per parent with a child under the age of seven.
The Singaporean method has been criticised as unhelpful, given that its fertility rate still remains low. However, it would probably be even lower without these measures. In fact, the number of children per married woman in Singapore - two - is higher than that of Hong Kong, for which the figure is 1.6.
The Singaporean government also realises the importance of building a strong, high-quality workforce. It has pledged that, by 2030, two-thirds of Singaporean workers will hold professional, managerial, executive or technical positions, up from half at present. Young people will have more opportunities and choices; the aim is to increase the percentage of young people with publicly funded university entry places each year from the current 27 per cent to 40 per cent in 2020. The figure is only 18 per cent in Hong Kong, and the recent policy address made no mention of any increase.
Singapore is also strategic in identifying potential migrants who can contribute to the economy. It provides scholarships to promising students from other countries. It has also diversified its industry, developing high-value-added emerging sectors, for example, in biomedicine, advanced electronics and green energy. Hong Kong remains complacent with its high growth in gross domestic product, milking an unsustainable property market and a very unbalanced tourist industry, with the majority of visitors coming from the mainland.