'Singapore needs to accept immigrants'

'Singapore needs to accept immigrants'
Former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has cautioned that the nation's diminishing population will "slow down" the economy.

Urging Singaporeans to accept immigrants, Mr Lee said that the biggest challenge the nation faces is in increasing its population as birth rates continue to fall.

Last year, the fertility rate stood at 1.08 for Chinese, 1.09 for Indians and 1.64 for Malays.

The replacement rate is 2.1.

"In other words the population of Chinese Singaporeans in the next generation, 18 to 20 years, will half," said Mr Lee, who was speaking at the Tanjong Pagar GRC and Radin Mas SMC Chinese New Year celebration dinner.

S'poreans have to understand need for immigrants: LKY
He said Japan also faces a similar problem, and their decision not to take in immigrants and to remain a homogeneous society has resulted in a stagnant economy.

However, unlike Japan, Singapore does not have reserves large enough to withstand slow growth for a long time.

"Like it or not, unless we have more babies, we need to accept immigrants," he said.


Shrinking population will hurt economy, says Lee Kuan Yew
Calling the task of increasing the country's population its 'biggest challenge', he said that when he became prime minister in 1959, more than 62,000 babies were born in that year, from a population half Singapore's current size.

The population now stands at 5.18 million, with citizens forming 3.26 million.

But last year, only about 36,000 babies were born.

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