In dire need of people

Last Tuesday around lunchtime, I saw this odd-looking double-decker bus. It looks like a wedding bus, with the fabrics typical on wedding cars. But the design and stickers on the outside says a little different. It shows three sets of feet, one set smaller than the two indicating a child's feet. Then I noticed some words displayed above the feet, shown like balloon conversation: "Can we afford?" and something like "Is it the right time?".

Then someone whose giving fliers approached us and told us that if we're interested we can go inside the bus and take a look. She explained that they are presenting information about raising a family and persuading the public to have a child. I was like: Now this makes sense. The wedding bus, the three sets of feet and the conversation. Singapore is really in need of new citizens. They already resort to this kind of advertising, then they must be really in trouble. The government has already made some provisions for its citizens to raise a family, but not effective.

Still, many Singaporeans prefer not having a child or children because of the rising cost of living, that's why their population is in the low. I also heard that if you want to apply for PR status, sometimes they offer you to become a citizen instead or your application for PR is denied.

This brought me back to my thought of Philippines, where population is steadily increasing even if the commodity prices are high squatters are all over the place. The government is pushing for family planning, which is the opposite here in Singapore.