SINGAPORE – Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong highlighted the importance of family as the core of Singaporean society in his traditional Lunar New Year message on Thursday (8 February), saying the Year of the Dragon is a good year to have a baby. He said that.
“One of the important elements of family life is the birth and raising of children. We bring children into this world and we watch them learn, grow, reach one milestone after another, grow year by year. “It’s a great joy for parents to see that,” he said.
Dragons are symbols of power, strength, and good fortune, and children born in the Year of the Dragon are considered especially auspicious in Chinese families. “So now is the perfect time for young couples to add a ‘little dragon’ to their family,” added PM Lee, who was also born in the Year of the Dragon.
Childcare support initiatives in Singapore
This is not the first time Prime Minister Lee has urged Singaporeans to have more children. The Prime Minister has previously acknowledged that the decision to have a child is a very personal one, but given Singapore’s declining birth rate, he has decided to make the decision to have a child a very personal one in what could be his final months as Prime Minister. continued to encourage women to give birth.
“I still hope that more Singaporean couples decide to have more children and have them sooner,” he said, adding that couples are “growing up fast as the years go by. They may not understand how difficult it will be, he added.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Indrani Raja said in Parliament in February 2023 that Singapore’s resident total fertility rate (TFR) had fallen to an all-time low of 1.05 in 2022.
This was partly due to the year of the Tiger, when births were generally low. Singapore’s TFR had increased in the previous year in 2021, but the cause was a decline in the number of women of childbearing age.
Due to declining birth rates and increasing life expectancy, the proportion of Singapore’s population aged 65 and above is expected to rise further in the coming years.
In his message, PM Lee cited recent changes to double government paid parental leave from two weeks to four weeks as part of his efforts to support marriage and parenthood, and build a “Singapore for families”. also promised. “I’m sure they will find parenthood to be a very rewarding and fulfilling journey,” he added.
The Prime Minister concluded by wishing all Singaporeans good health and a happy Lunar New Year, and said: “As we enter the Year of the Dragon, let us move forward with optimism and determination.”
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