tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539995.post113826236822811623..comments2023-11-05T17:53:13.405+08:00Comments on Singabloodypore: 2005 Birth rates: Slight increase or rebound?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539995.post-1138385676263765162006-01-28T02:14:00.000+08:002006-01-28T02:14:00.000+08:00MM Lee once said this, "We can top up. There is Ch...MM Lee once said this, "We can top up. There is China, there is India". <BR/>So Singapore, do not fear nor despair. Singapore will still be prosperous.bornappleThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14693867819955110023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539995.post-1138367136665399232006-01-27T21:05:00.000+08:002006-01-27T21:05:00.000+08:00Anon (12:29pm) brought up the fact that the number...Anon (12:29pm) brought up the fact that the number of foreigners are just going to keep increasing. I know i'm going off topic but i'm thinking about National Service - should the burden of NS falls squarely only on S'porean males' shoulders? In years to come the number would be increasingly disproportionate. If NS is that crucial as the govt makes it out to be why are we still having Gurkhas stationed here? What really is the true purpose of having Gurkhas? Is it our soldiers can't be trusted enough to protect you-know-who?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539995.post-1138356267743990922006-01-27T18:04:00.000+08:002006-01-27T18:04:00.000+08:00the report did not mention the no. of deliveries i...the report did not mention the no. of deliveries in either KK nor NUH; instead it mentioned some other nos. that did go up; presumably the increases did not translate into deliveries<BR/><BR/>it seems to be a typical case of giving out good news only; show how sensitive some people must be towards not so good newsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539995.post-1138347445375599662006-01-27T15:37:00.000+08:002006-01-27T15:37:00.000+08:00Perhaps that 3% was a spike and then throughout th...<I>Perhaps that 3% was a spike and then throughout the rest of the year, the increase was actually far less</I><BR/><BR/>That would mean Minilee's new and improved baby bonus was a failure, wasn't it?<BR/><BR/><I>of course then there is the argument that the figure might be revised upwards</I><BR/><BR/>There might be this really off-off-chance that 90% of the babies born in 2005 were born in December, and their parents haven't registered their births yet. Otherwise, I don't see a huge change to the 1.13% figure. However, one can still hope? =Dakikonomuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05750460516384317828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539995.post-1138336149078434512006-01-27T12:29:00.000+08:002006-01-27T12:29:00.000+08:00The rate this is going, the only way s'pore is gon...The rate this is going, the only way s'pore is gonna retain a sizeable population is if they start bring in more foreigners (not like it's not already). I think one-third of the people in s'pore are actually foreigners and this figure is only gonna increase to offset the low birth rate. How's that gonna affect our culture and social system? So much for national identity...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539995.post-1138335443927169152006-01-27T12:17:00.000+08:002006-01-27T12:17:00.000+08:00i think point 2 makes the most sense. the article ...i think point 2 makes the most sense. the article in Today is ambiguous. what do they mean by most hospitals say that they have seen an increase of 10 to 20 percent? what does most mean? does that include the major hospitals? the figure quoted for SGH is only an increase of 9%. <BR/><BR/>and notice that no figures for the percentage increase in births was quoted for KK (where i believe would have the most number of births).<BR/><BR/>as to how to square the increase between may and july of 3% with an annual increase of only 1.13%, well... perhaps that 3% was a spike and then throughout the rest of the year, the increase was actually far less. it works out that for the numbers to be squared, the increase in babies registered for the other 3 quarters would have to be about 0.5%. that is based on the assumption that the number of births is uniformly distributed over the 4 quarters of the year.<BR/><BR/>of course then there is the argument that the figure might be revised upwards, which would make things slightly more possible.rench00https://www.blogger.com/profile/08945837600494918295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539995.post-1138332400426813872006-01-27T11:26:00.000+08:002006-01-27T11:26:00.000+08:00Looks like we're getting closer to solving the pro...Looks like we're getting closer to solving the problem!<BR/><BR/>1. Reports of increased hospital deliveries is offset by high infant mortality (Ellia Diodati's solution)<BR/>This would probably be in combination with an increase in deliveries at home, I presume. However, according to the info Dept of Statistics gives us, Singapore's infant mortality rate is a very low 2.0 in 1000 live births for 2004.<BR/><BR/>2. Hospitals reporting 20% increases in deliveries were massively offset by plunges in deliveries in bigger hospitals (anonymous 27 Jan 6am)<BR/>This would make much statistical and logical sense. "According to checks done by Today, most hospitals in Singapore have seen an increase in the number of babies born since 2004" - doesn't tell us the size of these hospitals. The few hospitals that did see a decrease could be the bigger ones, and those are the ones that matter - not Thomson Medical Centre, not KK (both hospitals mentioned in Today's article). That KK might not be a major childbirth hospital that affects birth rate statistics is... rather odd, though.<BR/><BR/>3. Reports of increased hospital deliveries includes non-citizen deliveries, while statistics on birth rate only measure citizen births.<BR/><BR/>This could work as well as (2), but it'll be very tricky. Note that the spokesman from Thomson says "We feel that the increase in the number of deliveries at Thomson Medical Centre is attributable in part to the Baby Bonus package," among other "hmmmmm" things. If (3) is true, then the hospital spokesman is either intellectual dishonest or outright lying (hospitals would KNOW the difference between citizens and PRs!).<BR/><BR/>In addition the MSM would be guilty of the same thing as well, since they've played up the "hospital delivery bookings boom" story 2-3 times since last August.<BR/><BR/>Anymore speculations or alternate theories? I, for one, am puzzled at how ST gets it this time, while TODAY is still trying to spin the figures.akikonomuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05750460516384317828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539995.post-1138329550752789822006-01-27T10:39:00.000+08:002006-01-27T10:39:00.000+08:00hi akikonomu,you raised good questions. there are ...hi akikonomu,<BR/><BR/>you raised good questions. there are many info that we lack to understand the data completely. for example, I am aware of many foreigners who give birth in local hospitals. therefore, the increase in number of deliveries in hospitals might not translate to increase in birth rate.<BR/><BR/>anyway, there is also another set of data that is important but completely missing. I have noticed there is a great increase in number of people from PRCs in Singapore. if we have the number of people migrating from and to Singapore, we should have a better idea of how the goverment is trying to tackle the low birth rate problem.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539995.post-1138325878187638652006-01-27T09:37:00.000+08:002006-01-27T09:37:00.000+08:00Decreasing or negative birthrates are a problem fo...Decreasing or negative birthrates are a problem for many first world nations, many of which have very good benefits and monetary incentives for couples to give birth. So I think throwing money at the problem will achieve limited benefits. <BR/><BR/>It's something that's pretty inevitable, because people just don't feel that having a huge brood is necessarily a good thing anymore.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539995.post-1138321810754601112006-01-27T08:30:00.000+08:002006-01-27T08:30:00.000+08:00The only possible way for the birth rate to increa...The only possible way for the birth rate to increase is if men stopped expecting women to carry the burden by themselves. My mother's generation grew up with the belief that they had to be supermums, balancing career AND family. The younger generation looks at them, and realises they don't want to do the same.<BR/><BR/>Decreasing cost of education would help tremendously, but that is a pipe dream.pleinelunehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08697809221403163673noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539995.post-1138312862587877692006-01-27T06:01:00.000+08:002006-01-27T06:01:00.000+08:00and incorrect; the nos. simply mean that some othe...and incorrect; the nos. simply mean that some other hospitals have fewer deliveries; maybe they closed their maternity wards because of slow business<BR/><BR/>about the incentives: they should be happy the no. did not drop further, so the incentives did helpAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5539995.post-1138307636232124852006-01-27T04:33:00.000+08:002006-01-27T04:33:00.000+08:00Somehow the logical deduction of massive infant mo...Somehow the logical deduction of massive infant mortality is rather scary...Elia Diodatihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03834465156174945738noreply@blogger.com