SINGAPORE - How to get Singaporeans to have more babies has become a major part of the debate about this country's future, and the government is encouraging people to speak out on the issue.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in his national day speech on Aug. 26, assured this nation of four million people that the government would make "the most important long-term investments in our people" by increasing spending on pre-school and university education.
His pledge to boost public spending on education, especially at the pre-school level, is in response to concerns that Singapore's fertility rate has dropped alarmingly in the past two decades as the country has progressed economically. At 1.2 births per woman it is well below 2.1, the figure needed to keep Singapore's population from shrinking. Full story
