Marriage and motherhood in Singapore Monogamy — no two ways about it!

Press, 26 February 1987, Page 9

Marriage and motherhood in Singapore Monogamy — no two ways about it!

By

Ching Poh Tiong

Mr Lee Kuan Yew does not need irresponsible journalists to make him sound sensational. The Singapore prime minister is quite capable of doing it all by himself.

In a recent address to undergraduates, Mr Lee opined that when Singapore introduced monogamy when it became independent in 1985, it was wrong.

“It was stupid,” the Cambridge-trained lawyer insisted.

Mr Lee, Singapore’s first and only Prime Minister to date, was but returning to his favourite topic — unmarried graduate women — a phenomenon he has persistently labelled a problem. According to the 63-year-old leader, Singapore would face disastrous consequences in 20 years if the Chinese, who represent about 75 per cent of the 2.57 m population, do not do more to reproduce themselves. Never mind the Malays, Indians, and Eurasians who are replacing their numbers. Always at home with charts and statistics (it is noteworthy that the ad-

dress was given in a lecture theatre), the prime minister informed that based on projected figures, Singapore in 1986 would have experienced ”... a horrendous deficit of some 15,000 missing (Chinese) babies.” Mr Lee then proceeded to give Singaporeans the benefit of his wisdom, a piece of his mind, you may say. According to the prime minister, polygamy allows, “... the physically and mentally more vibrant and vital to reproduce.”

As back-up evidence he enlisted the example of former Japanese Premier Mr Tanaka, whom Mr Lee revealed to everyone, has a wife and mistress and children from both women.

“And the more Tanakas there are in Japan, I have no doubt the more dynamic will be Japanese society,” the Singapore Prime . Minister concluded.

Why Mr Lee would want to praise Mr Tanaka, who was sentenced to four years in prison in 1983 for taking bribes in the Lockheed scandal, is anybody’s guess. As for the former premier, Mr Tanaka must be seriously re-evaluating his friendship with Mr Lee, after having had his private life exposed to the Singapore public.

It is to be noted also that the Tanaka saga is actually more radical than Mr Lee’s original polygamy proposition. The Singapore • leader endorsed the former Premier’s added contribution even though they were from a mistress and not a legally recognised wife.

Mr Lee’s knee-jerk recommendation to solve, as he puts it, “Singapore’s population problem,” has also found his foot landing in his mouth. Most Singaporeans, male and female alike, have been wondering if their ears have not been playing up lately.

Mr Lee himself also seems to have sensed the groundswell of feelings against his remarks. Indeed, in an interview with the. “New York Times” recently the Prime Minister switched his position to say that it would not be possible to introduce polygamy to Singapore. But not content to leave matters there, Mr Lee proceeded to afford yet more of his analysis.

In the same interview he said that a new phenomenon of single-parent families will now emerge in Singapore. This is to be the logical next step, “... so long as the problem of

unmarried graduate women remains unsolved.”

The way Mr Lee sees it, he does not think such women would want to lead “lonely, sterile lives.” Understandably, many Singaporeans are now thoroughly confused. The truth is they have been for some time. For after all Mr Lee is, or was, the architect of Singapore’s very successful family planning programme of the ’7os, when he had urged everyone to “Stop At Two.”

Today, it would seem that “Three is Best, More if You can afford It” (children that is). But according to the Singapore leader, not everyone should be breeding so much. Only those with higher education should be so indulgent, since in the Prime Minister’s view, they tend to produce the brighter children. Perhaps Mr Lee should stop trying to social engineer people’s private lives and leave things to their own devices. This after all is the Year of the Rabbit. And coincidentally, the three-year cycle is yielding an extra month this Lunar New Year (which began on January 29.) Sadly though, not every Singaporean woman will be able to take advantage of the bonus. Indeed, many cannot produce any more. As a result of the government’s all-out population control programme of the ’7os, when it had promised housing and other incentives to women who could prove they were “Stopping At Two,” more than 100,000 women had themselves sterilised.