Who Wants A Densely Packed Singapore?

We are talking about living in cosmopolitan Singapore with an ever increasing population (now standing about 5 million).

A recent visiting professor Edward Glaeser's short-sighted and highly flawed opinion that a population of 6.5 million would be essentially beneficial for Singapore. He also mentioned that a city with high density would also serve people's needs but he has conveniently forgotten that the basic human need of privacy, comfort and space would be severely compromised in public spaces if the population hit 6.5 million. His notion that there is nothing unhealthy about living in skyscrapers does not take into consideration that many Singaporeans who wish Singapore would lose its tag as a concrete jungle and focus on creating a city with more "green spaces".

He also welcomes the addition of more "smart people", whom he defined as a typical man in his 40s with children, without considering whether these individuals would be able to assimilate into Singapore culture with no accompanying problems which are already plaguing many immigrants here. Streets in many HDB are dirtier now with more littering and vandalism is on the rise. Part of this are contributes to a lot about foreigner's bad habits of throwing rubbish and spitting everywhere they seen as convenient. Crimes will also be on an increase with the rise in numbers of the population and the unemployed.

As it is, many of my peers have expressed a sincere wish to emigrate, not because of the high cost of living or the stressful lifestyle. It is primarily because they appalled by how Singapore has been transformed into a city where it is difficult to find a seat on the MRT on a weekday afternoon, or seek peace and solace even in the suburbs, when Sembawang Mall is now as crowded as Plaza Singapura. Homes are getting smaller and more expensive, and people feel blessed to secure a seat in a food court at any time of the day. Despite the high COE's and ERP's, road traffics are jammed to a crawling speed with more cars than ever.

Prof Glaeser's comments are certainly not representative of most Singaporeans who seriously wish for a less crowded living environment. Singapore is classified as the third most populated country in the world. With 6.5 million people, it will definitely be the number one most populated country in the world. Do we want to be number one in this too?

Singaporeans welcome and need foreign talents but without the need to over populate it and thus affecting our sedan lifestyles and compromising our children's security in the long run.

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