Letters | Hong Kong’s public hospitals, unlike Singapore’s, have no underlying population agenda

In your article on Singapore’s in vitro fertilisation drive (“Baby Blues”, October 13), a researcher is quoted as saying: “The more important message is that the government is trying to do the best it can to support fertility growth.”

When I worked at a major maternity hospital in Singapore from 2012 to 2013, I was surprised there were sterilisation operations being offered to women of low income, often in the 25-30 age bracket, who had two children. This was related to the HOPE Scheme, under which families with two children are eligible for subsidised home ownership and bursaries for studies. A webpage about the scheme specifically mentions “low-income families who choose to keep their families small”.

As in Hong Kong, Chinese women in Singapore often put off childbearing until later in life and then seem to be happy with one child. This is no criticism of the cultural differences at work. However, I do believe the Singaporean government prefers to keep the ethnic mix, including the Malay population, as it is, hence the apparent opacity of the HOPE scheme.