TFR (2025) PLUMMETED to 0.87!

 Repost - Part 1

"Leo81June 14, 2026 6:19 am
"Earlier this year in parliament, DPM GKY spoke about Sg facing an "existential problem" ...

TFR (2025) PLUMMETED to 0.87!

In 2013, our beloved founding PM LKY（国父李光耀）published his last book (One Man's View of the World). In the Singapore chapter, founding PM LKY lamented that our Singaporean core will be halved in one generation if our TFR remains unchanged (in 2013, Sg's TFR was about 1.21). At that time PM3 was in charge (and his "personal TFR" was 4.0) holding helm for almost 21 years in all (Aug 2004 - May 2024).

PM4 now in his 3rd year is facing an existential Sg threat of 0.87 TFR ... (NOT sure what is PM4's "personal TFR", anybody knows?) ...

Have you ever wonder assuming PM4 serves as long as PM3 at the top, by 2043, what would Sg's TFR be?

If this problem is NOT serious ("事情大条”），what is?"


Uncle RB: "Or is it a case of not seeing the elephants in the room?"

In terms of Sg's low TFR (0.87) in 2025, probably YES ... Policy makers likely missed out "the elephants in the room" when attempting to solve Sg's TFR problems ...

The solution may lie in two terms or phrases, one in Chinese and the other in English.

Let's start with the English term first which is "cognitive ambidexterity"
(as the cohort in RB's following are mostly "Jiak Cunt Tongue" [potato aka french fries lovers], ie, mostly 英哥lish speaking elites) .

The Chinese has a term with similar meaning "辨证思维” 。。。

The TFR issue is NOT unlike an extremely complex, highly integrated structural system of myriad nodes and intricate links that need to be optimised at the micro as well as macro level, forming a huge social supply chain tied up with external environment and with many components exhibiting enthropic characteristic which need to be managed not as a social tax but a fuel to engender healthy TFR.

In the Chinese term "辨证思维", the first variable that one must understand in order to tackle a problem is "the situation" ... what (actually) are you dealing with (NOT what you see or think you are dealing with which in Chinese its meaning is embodied in the opposite term aka ”形式思维”）。

Uncle RB: "...barking up the wrong
tree?"

Likely yes because if one tries to address Sg's low TFR issue using ”形式思维”, then history is the best judge with each passing year's TFR worst than the year before ...

If one is suffering from say high blood sugar and being treated with say high bp medication, obviously the outcome could be like Sg's TFR and end up "disastriously". Hence, when they missed the elephants in the room in terms of Sg's TFR problem and barked up the wrong tree, the end result is the 0.87 TFR (2025)?

To put it bluntly, how does a potential Sg young mother say working in the financial sector view parenthood?

1) A child is NOT a hedgable liability?

2) It is 100% illiquid?

3) It is (at least) a 20+ years voluntary penalty?

When a policy maker sees the TFR issue in the wrong light, she/ he is hoping the players make a wrong move and go into parenthood which highly rational and intelligent Sg females understanding the efficient economic and business environment they are in would choose NOT to play the game?

If someone identifies the problem wrongly, the remedies will be incorrect and the problem remained unresolved. Period.

Hence the phrase "cognitive ambidexterity" ... (Chinese equivalent "辨证思维")."

Repost - Part 2

"Next, how to identify the solutions?

a) ASFR (32-39);

If one is a (senior) policy maker, likely she/ he has NEVER work in the PRIVATE SECTOR before? True? So they probably never work in any marketing position or how to achieve high revenue year in year out etc?

So what is the (possible) solution?

The hint(s) already given above. (Don't be "lazy", go figure out. Aren't you already paid humongously every month with fat bonuses every year?)

b) ASFR (15-25 and 40-49) likely near zero ...

c) 辨证思维 - 情况明， 方法对，决心大 - GO!

You use ”形式思维”, it is akin to what was incorrectly attributed to Einstein aka: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.""

Leo81