12/11/2014

Desiring 10m pop is not a hunger pang


Liu Thai Ker ‘urges city planners to adopt a long term perspective to find solutions for the nation’s requirement to house the 10 million…“The voices that I hear from social circles, newspapers, is to look at limitations first. ‘We don’t have land, so how can we look at population?’ If that’s the case, would people say since we don’t have money, we don’t eat tonight? But eating is the priority.”
 

What a stupid analogy! Would one die from not having 10m pop? What kind of stupid comparison? Do we need 10m pop? Why is there an urge to want 10m pop? We know that 10m pop will come with 10m problems. Why do we want or desire to have 10m problems when we have a choice not to live with the problems?
 

Are we asking for trouble, desiring for more problems so that we can prepare for it? Do we have other options? 10m is not an irresistible sexpot that is a must have by lusty old men. 10m pop is an excruciating pain in the arse. It is not just about building more flats, more roads, more trains and car parks and infrastructure. It is about more electricity and power, more water, more schools, hospitals, more food, more mouths to feed, more jobs to create, more human problems, more social problems and diseases and more people to live and to die. The problem is compounded when all these factors work against one another and work together. There would be the race and religion problems, the rich and poor divide, the class struggles. The bigger the population, the more diverse and heterogenous the pop, the more complex and complicated things would be. And I am only scratching the surface of these known and many unknown problems.
 

A simple mind like an architect would not be able to perceive the consequences and permutations of the problems that would be created. Liu Thai Ker should not overrate himself that he has the solution and could see it all. He did not see the problems of 5m population today for sure. Even a multi disciplinary team of experts would not be able to tell with any accuracy what it would be like.
 

What is so sexy about having 10m pop that die die must have? For those thinking green, it is wasteful thoughts, consuming and wasting natural resources. What the fuck does one gain by building every square inch of land available to stuff more people into it? Is that progress? Is that necessary? Is that a life and death option? Why ask for trouble when there is no need for it?
 

The simple question, What for? Has any seen the game when they tried to stuff as many bodies as possible into a Mini Cooper?

Kopi Level - Blue, thank you.

28 comments:

  1. "Liu Thai Ker should not overrate himself that he has the solution and could see it all."
    RB

    RB, cannot say like that, since u are not an architect.

    Because I think Liu Thai Ker has the credentials lah, being an architect and also past CEO of the agency in charge of Sinkie pigeonholes.

    And talking about pigeonholes, anything is possible, u know. Even 20M population also can, by building 100 storey pigeonholes lah. The sky is the limit, literary.

    And politically, since the Sinkie opposition is also not ready to be govt, PAP should not worry too much about its effects on GE outcome lah.

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  2. As long as the opposition is not ready to be govt, anything PAP want also can lah.

    Tio bo, u say lah?

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  3. LTK is over rated. Same for all the present and past PAP officers.

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  4. As an architect he is more knowledgeable in architecture but not in the other disciplines. 10m population is not an architecture issue. It encompassed the whole spectrum of living, social, economic, political and many other areas. He can only talk about architecture to some depth but not the others.

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  5. Liu is the same hack who was in the HDB when that miserable Teh Cheang Wan went to Parliament to explain(using charts and all) why the population cannot go beyond 4million due to land constraints and why flats cannot be more than 30 storeys high. He is obviously trying to defend the PAP's failed immigration policy. Disgusting.

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  6. It encompassed the whole spectrum of living, social, economic, political and many other areas.
    RB 9:52 am

    Tiok. But the political area is already taken cared of by the Sinkie opposition not ready to be govt and the 60% what.

    If political area OK, everything will also be OK (for PAP lah), no?

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  7. The increased population is not to take advantage of the uptick in global economy as the government would have us believe. It was part of a deliberate plan to increase the population, in the mistaken belief that to have a viable economy, you need to have a population base of 5 to 10 million (that was during the time when the population of Singapore was around 3 million). A huge coffee-table book was produced - The Next Lap - detailing the milestones of the projected population increase to the year 20X0. [The Next Lap was launched on 22 Feb 1991 - population 3 million]

    They probably looked at these countries for reference:
    Denmark pop 5.56m, land 43,000 sqkm
    Finland pop 5.27m, land 338,000 sqkm
    Norway pop 5.15m, land 323,000 sqkm
    Sweden pop 9.72m, land 450,000 sqkm
    N Zealand pop 4.40m, land 268,000 sqkm
    Singapore pop 5.57m, land 697 sqkm

    These are successful countries with the best living conditions and among the lowest corruption indices. With relatively small populations, they are able to have world class inventions and some with Nobel Laureates.

    Hence, the plan to ramp up Singapore's population from 3m to 5-10 million. What the planners forgot is the physical size of Singapore. Even the smallest of the above countries, Denmark, has a land mass 61 times greater than Singapore.

    Sure, Singapore can accommodate 10 million people, or even 20 million. But it will be like packing rats into a small cage - they will start to attack each other and even cannibalize each other. We already start seeing unhappiness against aliens due to the dense population AND the inadequate infrastructure. But then again, if citizens voice out their unhappiness, they will be labelled as racists of xenophobes. As usual, the citizens get blamed for the policy failures of the government.



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  8. You should say political area taken care of by the super super talents in the PAP.

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  9. during the 6.9 million discussion when everyone was losing their shit, I did mention 10-15 million souls in Singapore, according to my friends in the planning, engineering and construction industries.

    So finally someone with the balls has come out to say what many already knew, but many more refused to accept.

    Of course there are going to be challenges, and problems too. But in typical redbean style of "fear mongering", there are also "unknown" benefits, plus the known benefits form the development of new technologies to deal with super-dense populations to ensure that people can not only live, but live well.

    Who knows? Future Singapore might end up as the paradigm of what a top-notch globalised smart city should be, and have every other cuntree rushing to emulate yet another one of Singapore's successes.

    But I doubt if people of redbean's ilk can ever be "happy". They'll try to find fault--even make up stories if faults don't exist. Fortunately we have scientists and skeptics who will TEST the claims of naysayers by extracting information from REAL DATA, thus decreasing the need for emotionally-based, negatively-fixated opinion based on nothing but personal fears and closed-minded views.

    For example, redeban reckons that architects ar dunces when it comes to "social issues" etc. This displays a STUNNING misunderstanding of architectural philosophy and practice. For silly, uninformed or misinformed non-evidential based commentary, redbean never fails to disappoint :-)

    Got science?

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  10. How many people in a piece of land, like how many people in a room or flat, is a matter of choice. There are circumstances when there is no choice.

    When there is choice, why would people want to squeeze 20 people in a 3 rm flat? Why not a family of 4 or 6 in a 10,000 sq ft house?

    Why is this craze for more people in a small piece of rock? I can understand Matilah's fetish craze for tight corners. Not everyone want to squeeze with him. Not everyone loves to squeeze in a jam pack train or a jam road.

    Why would stupid people want to sacrifice more space for more people?

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  11. @ fail to qualify his claims Redbean:

    >> There are circumstances when there is no choice.

    What circumstances might that be?

    Oh what? None?

    Please lah, you ALWAYS have a choice. Grow the fuck up, uncle.

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  12. If my income is a $1m, I have plenty of choices.

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  13. So if you know what's what, then why are you complaining?

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  14. Maybe Liu Thai Ker has aspirations & potential to be the next Millionaire-Minister of National Development?

    Singapore to be divided into 5 cities of 2 million each.
    Which fits nicely into PAP's current crop of 5 mayors.

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  15. I am not complaining about myself. I feel so sorry for the daft who cannot see what is hitting them and the worst is yet to be. And also those who think they are very clever to take advantage of the system without knowing that the party is going to be over.

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  16. I was talking to one FT.
    Once she has settled into Singapore.
    Her plan is to bring her elderly parents to stay in Singapore too.
    ------------
    I'm not complaining about this FT.
    I applaud her filial piety in wanting to look after her elderly parents.
    My point is that immigration does not automatically "solve" and ageing population.

    A 10 million population today.
    This just means we will have 10 million old people 30 years down the road.

    It's not the population size.
    It's the entire process of how a country organizes its resources to renew itself.
    PAP is like a little boy with a peanut brain.
    Singapore population getting old.
    So solution is to import more people.
    WTF.
    This type of thinking standard also dare to ask for million dollar salary.

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  17. This type of thinking standard also dare to ask for million dollar salary.
    Anon 2:15 pm

    As long as the opposition is not ready to be govt, anything PAP want they also dare to ask lah.

    Because the 60% dare not vote PAP out mah.

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  18. And also those who think they are very clever to take advantage of the system without knowing that the party is going to be over.
    RB 1:53 pm

    In that case, the party should already be over before 2011 what, which were in worse times for daft Sinkies and under a worse PAP than now.

    But how come it wasn't? Or was it party over or not also like that?

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  19. Party is over already, but I am still surviving. So is RB.

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  20. There are upside economic gains for landowners versus downside risks for others.
    Nevertheless, a likely disease-epidemic will take care of the debate.

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  21. Anon 6:09pm
    concludes it best.
    The Day will come.

    patriot

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  22. As for Liu Thai Ker who is in architect service, the bigger the Population the better his business, there is big money for him to make.
    He may have many self designed beautiful villas and mansions in other countries. Who knows some in his family are domiciled overseas.

    Why should Liu cares about the wellbeing of others?

    Who knows the One who put many rats in a cage is not doing it to enjoy watching them fight each others? Chinese emperors in the past did that with crickets and Rb probably had done it with spiders. Me did.

    patriot

    patriot

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  23. Like it or not Liu Thai Ker's vision of 10 m population will be accepted by Singaporeans in a few years when enough have been written and reported in the ST. Later when this idea has been ingrained in the minds of all Singaporeans, they will come up with a target of 9 m. That day everyone will be sooooo happy that the 10 m figure has not been adopted. Right RB??

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  24. @ negative spirit redbean & his flock of fellow Sheeple:

    I disagree. We haven't seen the best yet. Singapore has loads of potential, to be a thriving, pumping, first-class, A Number One modern, smart global city.

    You can't imagine it, because you're scared and living in fear all the time.

    Your life is a wonderful thing to waste. So please, carry on, you're doing GREAT! ;-)

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  25. Golf courses are the good life. Car ownerships are the good life.

    Fuck they are telling you no car is good life. Convert the golf courses to HDB estates so that more people can squeeze into this island. That is good.

    I say, fuck you and your numbskull.

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  26. This PAP Dog Liu has got no credibility at all.

    1) He's a wife-stealer; while he was still married to his Hungarian wife, he committed adultery by fucking LKY apple- polisher Kishore's wife (Gretchan)behind his back.

    2) He's promoting 10m population for his self-interest. He has got a huge stake in Peter Lim's public listed company, Rowsley which is developing 7000 to 8000 units of houses and condominiums across the Tuas causeway in JB.

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  27. As the old saying goes, "greed knows no bounds". From 6.9m to 10m to 20 or 30m lah. The more the better for these greedy people. They will not be affected because they are not living within. If Brunei or Lux can function with just half million people, why Sg cannot do that? Because the rulers super greedy loh.

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  28. maybe sg should annex johor? or johor split from the matland and join sg federation. Got vote independence?

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