Singapore: Do we want to be No 1 for population density?

Letter from John Lucas, Today Online 5 Jan 08;

I am bewildered why people do not express their concern at the push for a bigger population. The financials that will come with a population of 6 million people may be sound, but the cost to the quality of life may not make that justifiable.

With a population of 4.48 million people, Singapore is ranked fourth in the world for population density, and this is only slightly less than Hong Kong's.

Almost everyone will agree that overcrowding degrades the quality of life.

Waiting in line for a long time, waiting in traffic, or not being able to find a place to park do not add to the quality of life. In the past couple of years, it has become almost impossible to find a parking space at any shopping centre in Singapore during the weekend. The same is true at the East Coast Park, Botanic Gardens and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

Take a stroll through West Mall on a weekend, and you will see the extent of overcrowding. Once the casino, hotels and private homes are finished on Sentosa Island, VivoCity will be also be filled to the brim.

Buses and the MRT are jammed with commuters for hours during the morning and evening peak hours, and car traffic is already very heavy.

Can you imagine what it will be like when the population increases to 6 million people? All these problems will worsen, but it will be too late then, and the result will be some very undesirable conditions.

I am bewildered why people do not express their concern at the push for a bigger population. The financials that will come with a population of 6 million people may be sound, but the cost to the quality of life may not make that justifiable.

Singapore is already breaking financial records worldwide, so does it really need to push harder? Do we really want to be number one for population density?