Problems of Singapore

Past challenges of Singapore:
1.Lack of national identity
After the separation Singapore needed to create a feeling of nationhood. The mixed immigrant society posed a challenge to nation building. A new national identity had to be forged and a sense of pride and belonging created so that the immigrants would give their loyalty to Singapore. The various races also had to live together harmoniously.

2.Economic growth
Singapore was young and growing rapidly. She was small and thus had no natural resources and had depended entirely on trade for her survival. There was also a high rate of unemployment. There was a constant worry of having to feed its nation’s citizens and having to worry on where they would have to get the food.

3.Security
Singapore had limited artillery and armory which places Singapore in a very dangerous position. Singapore could face potential attacks which they did not wish would happen. This also posed a problem as many of the people had just experience WWII and did not wish for it to happen again. Hence, the government was very worried about this issue, threatening Singapore’s survival.

Present Challenges of Singapore:
4. Increasing housing prices
High housing prices are increasing due to the increase of population. Singapore had little land area and lots of foreigners are coming to Singapore. The houses built were not enough to accommodate to the large number of people.

5.Low birth rate
Singaporeans want small families as cost of living is high. Fewer couples are unwilling to give birth as a result leads to low birth rate in Singapore. This means that there will be lesser people to defend Singapore.

6.Competition from foreign talents
Currently Singapore is taking in a high amount of foreign talents which leads fierce competition between foreign talents and Singaporeans. These foreigners are of higher skills and their pay is relatively lesser than Singaporeans thus employers are more keen to employ foreigners.

Future Problems Singapore might face:
7.Inability to cope with recession
Without any natural resources, Singapore will have to rely on imports for even the most basic necessities like water. With the recession, the prices of such necessities would increase. Many Singaporeans would not be able to cope with the increase of prices and hence, causing a poverty problem.

8.National Identity Crisis
Many younger Singaporeans have been going abroad to study and some of them have decided to migrate there. In addition, many youths are more apathetic about the country and this may potentially result in Singapore facing a national identity crisis, where many of its citizens are either not Singaporean or could not be bothered.

9.Unemployment
There has been an increase of foreign talents, laborers and migrants. Also, many of the local scholars have accepted scholarships to work abroad. Hence, Singapore would largely be populated by foreigners. Furthermore, companies wish to hire foreign talents as it is believed that they would enhance productivity rate. With the foreigners snatching up the available jobs, there would be a shortage of jobs and hence, unemployment.

10.Aging Population
Due to low birth rate, there will be fewer people in the workforce in the future. This will lead to an aging population in Singapore, where the people in the workforce will not be able to fully support the increasing amount of elderly. This will also result in extremely few people working for the country, affecting the economy of the country.