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abt last wk, saw a news headline by SM about alternate ways of increasing birth rate... then last sunday on zaobao, saw the report on Russia. Imposing tax on those couple who dont have kids. 6% tax impose on their monthly salary.. See liao.. i was wondering whether this is what they mean by alternate ways...

Japan is not quite the outlier it is often assumed to be. True, its fertility rate – at 1.41 births per woman – is well below the 2.1 needed to replenish a population. However, according to George Magnus, author of The Age of Aging, fully 62 countries, home to nearly half the world’s population, including Britain, have fertility rates below replacement level. Japan is by no means the world’s least fecund country. Below it come the likes of the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia, Belarus, Bosnia, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Germany, Italy, Greece and Hungary all have almost exactly the same fertility rate as Japan. China, at about 1.5, is in danger of growing old before it becomes rich. Singapore produces the lowest number of babies in the world – at just 0.79 per woman. “The key feature of today’s low fertility rates,” says Magnus, “is that they are pretty much universal.” full article: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/07d4c8a8-7e45-11e3-b409-00144feabdc0.html#slide0 huat! world number 1 again.

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/02/09/asia/japan-zoo-gibbon-pregnancy-mystery-intl-hnk/index.html A gibbon who lived alone in her cage had a baby. Japanese zookeepers finally know how By Xiaofei Xu, Philip Wang and Junko Ogura, CNN Updated 2:36 AM EST, Fri February 10, 2023 CNN — Japanese zookeepers believe they have solved the mystery of how a gibbon became pregnant despite living alone in her cage. Momo, a 12-year-old white-handed gibbon, shocked her keepers at the Kujukushima Zoo and Botanical Garden in Nagasaki in February 2021 when she gave birth despite having no male companionship. Now two years later, following a DNA test on her baby, the zoo has worked out who the father is – and even has a theory about how the gibbons mated. The test showed the father to be Itō, a 34-year-old agile gibbon, who was in an adjacent enclosure to Momo around the time she became pregnant. The zoo told CNN on Friday it believed that Momo and Itō had managed to mate through a small hole in a steel plate between their enclosures. The hole measured about 9 millimeters (0.3 inch) in diameter. Momo the gibbon and her baby at the Kujukushima Zoo. The baby ape – who is yet to be named – now weighs around 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) and is “growing healthily” under Momo’s loving attention, the zoo said. “It is a precious life born into the world, we will continue to take good care of him and hope that he will live a healthy long life,” said Hideki Hisano, deputy director of the zoo. Gibbons are among the smallest apes, but they have loud singing voices that have developed into an elaborate language, and can swing from branch to branch at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. There are dozens of gibbon species that are native to parts of Asia, ranging from northeastern India to China and all the way to the Borneo archipelago. The population of agile gibbons in the wild has been decreasing and they have been listed as an endangered species in the International Union for Conservation of Nature, because their habitat is threatened by human activities such as deforestation, mining and road construction.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/The-Big-Story/The-new-population-bomb?utm_campaign=GL_JP_update&utm_medium=email&utm_source=NA_newsletter&utm_content=article_link&del_type=4&pub_date=20210922090000&seq_num=2&si=44594 The world's population is on the precipice of decline and possible extinction. The new population bomb For the first time, humanity is on the verge of long-term decline KAZUO YANASE, YOHEI MATSUO, EUGENE LANG and ERI SUGIURA, Nikkei staff writersSeptember 22, 2021 06:06 JST TOKYO -- For the past 200 years, a rapidly rising population has consumed the earth's resources, ruined the environment, and started wars. But humanity is about to trade one population bomb for another, and now scientists and policymakers are waking up to a new reality: The world is on the precipice of decline, and possible extinction. The twin forces of economic development and women's empowerment are combining to end the age brought on by the Industrial Revolution, in which economic growth was buoyed by a growing population, and vice versa. Since the early 19th century, the rising tide of humanity has provoked many dire predictions: English economist Thomas Malthus argued as early as 1798 that population would grow so fast it would outstrip food production and lead to famine. In 1972, the Club of Rome warned that humanity would reach the "limits to growth" within 100 years, driven by a relentless rise in the global population and environmental pollution. Today the world's population, which stood as 1 billion in 1800, is now 7.8 billion, and the strain on the planet is clear. But scientists and policymakers are slowly waking up to the new numbers: The population growth rate reached a peak of 2.09% in the late 1960s, but it will fall below 1% in 2023, according to a study by the University of Washington, published last year. In 2017, the growth rate of people aged 15 to 64 -- the working-age population -- fell below 1%. The working-age population has already begun to drop in about a quarter of countries around the world. By 2050, 151 of the world's 195 countries and regions will experience depopulation. Ultimately, the study forecasts that the global population will peak at 9.7 billion in 2064 and then start declining. Over the approximately 300,000 years of human history, cold-weather periods and epidemics have caused temporary drops in population. But now humanity will enter a period of sustained decline for the first time ever, according to Hiroshi Kito, a historical demographer and former president of the University of Shizuoka. South Korea’s total fertility rate was 1.11, Taiwan’s was 1.15 and Japan’s 1.37 was from 2015 to 2020, according to the United Nations "World Population Prospects 2019." © Reuters East Asia is one region that already faces the world's most acute baby bust -- led by South Korea's total fertility rate of 1.11, Taiwan's 1.15 and Japan's 1.37 average from 2015 to 2020, according to the United Nations publication "World Population Prospects 2019." A country's population begins to drop when fertility falls below the so-called replacement rate of 2.1. This has led to labor shortages, pension fund crises and the obsolescence of old economic models. Southeast Asia, which has powered global growth as a part of the "Asian Miracle," is also at a critical juncture. Thailand once had a total fertility rate of more than 6, but it is now 1.53, coming closer to Japan. In 2019, the working-age population began to decline, and the economic growth rate was around 2.4%. That is roughly one-third the 7.5% economic growth the country experienced in the 1970s. Vietnam, meanwhile, became an aging society in 2017. In January the government began raising the retirement age for men and women [now 60 and 55, respectively], in an effort to head off a pension crisis. It will reach 62 for men by 2028 and 60 for women by 2035. Women in Ho Chi Minh City: Vietnam became an aging society in 2017. (Photo by Doc Lap Nguyen) But the biggest force behind the "degrowth" trend is China. The University of Washington predicts that its population will begin to drop from next year, and that by 2100 it will plummet to 730 million from the current 1.41 billion. By that same year, 23 countries, including Japan, will see their populations shrink to half their current levels or less, according to Christopher Murray, head of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, who has focused much of his career on improving global health. The University of Washington study comes as a corrective to previous estimates that saw the global population continuing to grow through this century. "World Population Prospects" in 2019 estimated that the population is likely to continue to grow, reaching 10.9 billion by 2100. But new projections show the birthrate in developing countries falling faster than expected. Murray believes global fertility will converge at around 1.5, and likely lower in some countries. "This also means that humanity will eventually disappear in the next hundreds of years," he said. The new reality will create new dynamics -- already visible in some cases -- in areas from monetary policy to pension systems to real estate prices, to the structure of capitalism as a whole. As global population approaches its peak, many governments are increasingly under pressure to rethink their policies, which have so far relied mostly on demographic expansion for their economic growth and geopolitical power. If there are fewer workers, the growth model of the past will no longer function. Social security, such as pensions and public insurance, is premised on a growing population, and it will experience distortions. Falling populations may solve some of the chronic environmental and social problems faced throughout the world. But new challenges await in the era of depopulation: to transform society in such a way that it does not rely on population growth. "This is a turning point for the next system of civilization," said Kito. "It will be the difference between survival and failure." Scientists argue that humanity must now find a new formula for prosperity and that aggregate economic growth is no longer something that can be assumed. Baby bust "If we didn't have children, we could live more freely," said a 41-year-old manager at a major South Korean entertainment company. She has decided not to have children after discussing it with her husband when they married in 2015. Although she likes children, the cost of schooling in South Korea, a society that puts a premium on education, is climbing. Soaring real estate prices and tough employment conditions also make it more difficult to raise children. Many people around her are not even getting married, she said, adding that her sister, an elementary school teacher, has declared she will not wed. South Korea had about 272,400 births in 2020, and its total fertility rate was only 0.84 that year, the lowest in the world. If a country's TFR stays under 1.5 for a long time, it becomes almost impossible to raise it. The growing ranks of educated women explain much of the variation in fertility. In Thailand, 58% of women go on to college or university, a much higher share than men, at 41%. The country's fertility rate was 1.53 in 2020, representing a huge decline over the last few decades. According to a February 2021 report by HSBC, a bank, there is no country with a high fertility rate where the majority of women go on to higher education. "Of course [women having education and access to reproductive health] is a right thing" said Murray, "It is important to think about what to do about fertility so that people don't do wrong things." He added that it would be a "terrible thing" were a country to think of reversing educational opportunities for women in an effort to raise fertility. Commuters head to work in Bangkok on May 21, 2020: The Southeast Asian country has seen its birthrate fall sharply since the 1960s. © AP Efforts to expand social welfare systems such as day care and parental leave don't seem to have much effect on birthrates. Finland, for example, has one of the most comprehensive social welfare systems for mothers and children in the world, yet the country's fertility rate has declined sharply. At 1.37 in 2020, it is nearly as low as Japan's rate of 1.34 for the same year. "There is no definitive answer to why the fertility rate has declined over the past decade," said Venla Berg, a research director at the Family Federation of Finland, a nongovernmental organization that provides advice on family planning policies. While currently nearly one in four people in their 20s in Finland say that they don't want children, "there are also people who usually have less children than they wish for," said Berg. "If people would have the number of children they want, that would bring up fertility to around 1.6 to 1.8," she said. "This would still result in population decline, but the pace would be gradual [and] make it possible to maintain the social welfare system," Berg added. The coronavirus pandemic has further dented population growth. The number of births in Japan in 2020 was the lowest on record, down 3% from the previous year, while U.S. births were down 4% from the previous year, the lowest in 41 years. Many people decided not to have children because of concerns about employment and medical care. According to the Brookings Institution, a U.S. think tank, a 1 percentage point increase in the unemployment rate leads to a 1% fall in the birthrate. The COVID-19 pandemic has further dented population growth, with many couples putting off having children due to fears about their job prospects. © AP The "Japan disease" "The U.S. and Europe are more or less following the same path as the Japanese one," said former Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa in April before a select committee in the House of Lords in the British Parliament. He was referring to an economic and monetary phenomenon that has steadily gained attention in the U.S. and Europe, where aggressive monetary easing has not led to higher growth rates, nor ignited major price inflation. The cause may be demographic: Stagnation and deflation appeared to come with a shrinking population. When Shirakawa described Japan's declining and aging population, some members of parliament voiced concerns about "Japanification." “The U.S. and Europe are more or less following the same path as the Japanese one,” former Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa told the House of Lords in April. (File photo by Masayuki Kozono) In the 1960s, Japan experienced high economic growth rates of over 10%. However, when the working-age population began to decline in the late 1990s, the growth rate slowed to the mid-1% range. It has remained low since then and nearly immune to two decades of efforts to stimulate the economy. The same dynamics may be at work in Europe as early as next year: The population will begin to drop in 2022, according to "World Population Prospects 2019." The European Central Bank believes inflation in 2023 will be far short of its 2% goal. According to an index by Dutch financial giant ING, the eurozone has been showing signs of Japanification since 2013. The most overheated period for the global economy was in the early 1970s, when the global population was growing by 2% per year. Economic growth averaged about 4%, and inflation was 10% per year. This was the "golden age of welfare," when developed countries expanded their social safety nets one after another. But cracks are appearing in a system premised on high growth and high inflation. Global population growth has slowed to 1%, and economic growth and inflation have both slowed to between 2% and 3%. Interest rates have fallen to historic lows, casting doubts over the sustainability of pension systems. In its 2020 report, "Shrinkanomics (the economics of a shrinking population)," the International Monetary Fund noted that a falling population can "impinge on the effectiveness of monetary policy," citing Japan as an example. Even with low-interest rates, capital investment will not increase if companies do not expect the economy to grow. The government can increase public investment, but this will only lead to an increase in government debt if the investments are not put to use. Continued stimulus measures probably won't make up for the effects of a declining population, said Daniel Groh of the Center for European Policy Studies. To overcome the Japanese disease, it is essential to invest in growth sectors to reverse shrinking demand. Digital transformation and upskilling of workers will raise productivity, while innovation is needed to meet the challenge of an aging population. Traditional economic policies need to be fundamentally rethought. Advancement and uncertainty "A few years ago, we would get three times more recruits than we could accept," observed an employee with a staffing company in Vietnam that recruits workers for Japan's Technical Intern Training Program. "These days, we can barely get twice as many. Within five years, the number of people working away from home may start to drop." Many Asian economies have experienced this phenomenon already, known in economics as the Lewis turning point, after British economist W. Arthur Lewis. Workers migrate from rural areas to cities, supporting economic growth by working for low wages. Eventually, growth stops because of rising wages and a shrinking labor force. The answer, in many cases has been immigrants, which have contributed to growth in developed countries after population growth slowed. According to the U.N., there were 281 million international migrants in 2020, 1.6 times more than roughly 20 years earlier. Border restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted how dependent some countries have become on foreign workers. In the U.K. after Brexit, the combination of immigration restrictions and the pandemic has led to a severe labor shortage. Before the pandemic, 12% of heavy truck drivers were from the European Union. © AP Without immigration, many advanced economies already cannot sustain their labor pool. In the U.K. after Brexit, the combination of immigration restrictions and the pandemic has led to a severe labor shortage. Before the pandemic, 12% of heavy truck drivers were from the European Union. However, drivers can no longer be hired from outside the country under the U.K.'s new standards. According to the British Road Haulage Association, the country faces a shortage of more than 100,000 commercial heavy truck drivers. Logistics companies are becoming desperate, raising hourly wages by 30%. The lack of immigration may not be a temporary phenomenon. The countries with the most outbound immigrants are seeing their young populations decline. The number of Indians between the ages of 15 and 29 will peak in 2025. In China that cohort will drop by about 20% in the next 30 years. The Philippines, one of the biggest labor-exporting countries in the world, where about 10% of the population is thought to work abroad, is also showing signs of reversing course to focus on domestic production. The country is increasing the amount of domestic contract work, such as call centers. The incoming amount of overseas remittances grew by over 7% year-on-year in the first half of the 2010s, but that slowed to 3% in 2018. Some countries have already started trying to secure workers. Germany increased its acceptance of non-EU workers in 2020. In 2019, Australia increased the maximum length of working holidays from two years to three, on the condition that people work for a set period of time in sectors where there is a labor shortage, such as agriculture. Japan also is bringing in more foreign workers through the "specified skilled worker" system. Economic forces may drive a new competition among nations for immigrants. One key is to become a "country of choice." "A policy of actively accepting immigrants means it is important to expand the options for foreign workers to settle and live in a country permanently," said Keizo Yamawaki, a professor at Meiji University in Tokyo who specializes in immigration policy. Getting old before getting rich Asia's baby boomers are reaching retirement age, and the population as a whole is growing older, and governments have experienced a rapid increase in social security spending, including for pensions and medical care. With an over-65 population of more than 21% and a per capita gross domestic product of above $44,000, Japan has become a "super-aged society." When the working-age population and companies can no longer support the social security system, government funding becomes the only option. In China, the number of births skyrocketed after the Great Chinese Famine of 1959 to 1961, and the total population increased by about 190 million in the following decade. China's baby boom generation, which is 1.5 times the size of Japan's total population, will begin to reach the retirement age of 60 next year. The burden of this mass retirement will fall on a society of the "unwealthy elderly," who will grow old before they become wealthy. China faces the prospect of growing old before it becomes wealthy enough to pay for the pensions of the coming wave of elderly retirees. © AP "It's a hard life," said Chen, 59, who lives in a farming village in China's eastern Jiangsu Province. He works as a plasterer, building brick houses. Chen suffers from a chronic illness, but with no pension he does not plan on retiring when he turns 60 this year. He stayed in the village instead of moving to a city so he could take care of his parents. China's transition to a market economy since the 1980s sent migrant workers streaming to cities. Families in rural areas are increasingly unable to support their elderly relatives. Just over 70% of the population has joined the pension system that was set up in 2009. Its benefits are about 10% the average income of the working-age population. An insurance system for elderly care, like that of Japan, is still in the trial stage. Reforms to make it easier for people to work, regardless of age, are also lagging in Asia. In South Korea, about 8 million people born between 1955 and 1963 are entering retirement. The country urgently needs to raise the retirement age, currently 60, but the debate is not making progress. Raising the retirement age would make it more difficult for young people, already struggling, to find work. Young Koreans are already skeptical of the administration of President Moon Jae-in, and making the labor market more perilous could lead to an even greater backlash. Companies concerned about growing labor costs also oppose lifting the retirement age. In Taiwan, the average retirement age is 56. Over 40% of those aged 55 to 59 are no longer working. Many married couples in Taiwan who both work full time retire early to take responsibility for raising their grandchildren. This division of labor has long supported the economy, but the declining birthrate will disrupt this model of early retirement, too. The "Labor Insurance" system, a pension system, now faces the possibility of financial collapse in 2026. Even developed countries that have grown rich before growing old are not immune to these challenges. The social security systems in Japan, Canada and European countries are based on the principle of intergenerational support, in which the working-age population supports retirees. With the birthrate declining, the only way to sustain pensions without increasing the burden on the public is to increase investment returns. However, a shrinking population also weakens the economy's ability to grow, creating a vicious cycle that has spurred historic drops in interest rates. The only way to maintain social security in an era of declining populations is to keep the economy growing by raising labor productivity. Only those countries and regions that take on these reforms will be able to ensure security in old age for their citizens. Shifting power and shared values Paul Morland of St Antony's College, Oxford University, argues in his 2019 book "The Human Tide," that many of the wars of the last two centuries were triggered by the threat of growing populations in neighboring countries. In the approach to World War I, for example, the British and French were particularly nervous about Germany's industrial and demographic might. The Germans, meanwhile, were constantly looking at the enormous size of Russia, which was starting to industrialize very quickly, Morland writes. But "by itself, demography does not create power," Morland points out. For instance, China has always been the most populous country in the world. But it was powerless before Europe and Japan in the early 20th century. "However demography is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for power. Without its great population, China would not have been able to become a great power once it roused itself organizationally and industrially." China, whose rise has been largely supported by its massive workforce, could face a turning point in the coming decades as its population faces a sharp drop. Beijing published its national population census in May, which showed the average annual growth rate at 0.53% over the past 10 years, the slowest pace in decades. [img]https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%253A%252F%252Fs3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com%252Fpsh-ex-ftnikkei-3937bb4%252Fimages%252F_aliases%252Farticleimage%252F6%252F5%252F8%252F9%252F36509856-1-eng-GB%252F%25E5%2590%258D%25E7%25A7%25B0%25E6%259C%25AA%25E8%25A8%25AD%25E5%25AE%259A%252012.jpg?source=nar-cms[/img] Paul Morland of Oxford University says demography is necessary, but not sufficient, for geopolitical heft; Yi Fuxian a scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison says China overstates its population. Yi Fuxian, a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, believes China's demographic constraints will deal a heavy blow to its economy. "China's current GDP per capita is only 16% that of the U.S. In the future, China is facing an economic recession due to aging," he said. "Without an increase in the number of births, the economic growth rate cannot be raised and the country can never surpass the U.S. in terms of GDP in the future," he added. A longtime critic of China's one-child policy, Yi thinks that China's population has been in decline since 2018. While the official population figure in 2020 stood at 1.41 billion, he thinks it was actually 1.28 billion, or around 130 million "surplus" people. "India's population should already be larger than China's," which would make it the world's most populous country, he said. The authorities' announcement of population growth comes as "they probably have judged that they would face unprecedented political upheaval if they published it in a proper way," Yi said. In a country where the idea of having only one child is taken for granted, "the number of births will continue to decline," he stressed. Although the Asian superpower scrapped its decades-old one-child policy in 2015, replacing it with a two-child limit, it struggles to sustain a surge in births. Beijing recently mandated a three-child limit just weeks after publishing the census. The political agenda behind the official Chinese data is clear. Admitting that the population has suddenly dropped would mean laying bare past policy failures. Multiple research organizations estimate that China's GDP will surpass that of the U.S. around 2030, but Yi believes that China's population data overestimate the actual number of people by more than 100 million, thus the U.S. and China will not trade places in their GDP ranking. Although China scrapped the one-child policy in 2016, replacing it with a two-child limit, it has not seen a sharp rise in births as a result of the change. © Reuters The authorities have banned Yi's book, "Big Country With an Empty Nest" in China. In response to Western media reports that "China is facing a population crisis," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said: "China's population continues to grow, and is larger than that of the U.S. and Europe combined." China is not the only large country whose geopolitical heft is threatened by demographics. According to the U.N., Russia's population will drop by about 20 million by 2100. Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared this to be a crisis: "Our historic duty is to respond to this challenge," Putin said in 2020 television address. "Russia's fate and its historic prospects depend on how many of us there are." The U.S. will also enter a period of demographic decline which will have massive economic consequences. U.S. economic growth has slowed, and wealth has become more unevenly distributed, unleashing a wave of "America First" populism and nationalism. Military power has also shifted. Rather than being a numbers game of troops, tanks, ships and planes, military power is now a contest of quality. The era when population was directly linked to military and economic power has passed. Just as democracy and capitalism won the Cold War through the superiority of their systems, nations are now competing to construct a framework that can achieve prosperity without relying on sheer numbers of people. The future will belong to those societies that can restructure to face decline before it is too late.

Hi to all clubbers of mcf, some news to share..... http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSSIN13347020080625 http://www.topnews.in/foreigners-producing-badly-needed-babies-singapore-249297

62-year-old retiree is oldest woman to give birth in Taiwan It's easy to mistake the newborn in Madam Wu's arms for her grandson, but the 62-year-old retiree had actually given birth to him on Feb 25. The 2.93kg baby boy was born in a Taipei hospital and shares a birthday with a sister who is 36 years his senior. This makes Wu the oldest mum to deliver a baby in the country, Apple Daily Taiwan reported. And her family couldn't be happier to welcome their newest member. Wu's husband said they often felt lonely after their daughter got married. So the couple decided to try for a second child while they're financially stable and in good health. Their son was conceived via assisted fertility treatment and delivered naturally after just 66 minutes of labour. At a press conference on Wednesday (March 7), Dr Hsiao, Wu's attending obstetrician at Taipei Chang Gung Memorial Hospital said that it was a high-risk pregnancy given her advanced age. 29 weeks into her pregnancy, Wu developed gestational hypertension and diabetes. She also had a low placenta and her foetus' position was abnormal. Dr Hsiao said that pregnant women who are 35 and older are twice as likely to experience complications such as premature births, delayed foetal development, and stillbirths. He also advised older mums to closely monitor their pregnancies with advice from medical professionals. The oldest person to give birth is a woman from India who delivered a baby via Cesarean section at the age of 72. http://www.asiaone.com/health/62-year-old-taiwanese-woman-gives-birth-naturally-second-child

Thai wedding interrupted as guest gives birth Feb 25, 2018 BANGKOK - A baby girl sprang a surprise on guests at a wedding in northeast Thailand when she was delivered during the ceremony on Saturday (Feb 24). Her mother, Ms Nattaporn Tesrit, who was a friend of the bride Mayuree Kumchanteuk, was nearly nine months pregnant when she attended the ceremony in Nakhon Ratchasima city's Sikhiu district. As the bride was waiting for the arrival of the dowry procession, Ms Nattaporn went into labour. Though shocked, guests sprang into action to help Ms Nattaporn and moved her under a tree. Rescue workers were called in to transfer her to a nearby hospital. But by the time they arrived, Ms Nattaporn was already in the process of giving birth. With the help of medical officers, Ms Nattaporn gave birth to a healthy baby girl weighing 3.2kg in the shade of the tree. The bride congratulated Ms Nattaporn and took a picture with the baby. Ms Nattaporn was later taken to a hospital for further medical care. Although the wedding ceremony was interrupted by the newborn, guests said they were happy to be present at the event. The birth of a healthy baby is seen as an auspicious sign in Thailand. http://www.asiaone.com/asia/thai-wedding-interrupted-guest-gives-birth?xtor=EREC-16-4[Emarsys_Newsletter]-20180226&extid=6934d0cfb7b252f1ae9f0dbddf5ff88ca8637e77

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1932275/woman-northern-china-gives-birth-son-father-law-her-infertile?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=Outbrain-SG-currentaffair&utm_campaign=px2016&utm_term=56570869 A woman in northern China had a boy with her father-in-law to give her infertile husband a son, a local television station reports. The woman’s mother-in-law allegedly forced her to have sex with male strangers after they found out that her husband was infertile in 2010, Hubei Television reported. The woman refused and left Hubei for the country’s south to escape the arrangement. Her father-in-law, who also opposed the arrangement of his wife, came to her workplace in Guangdong province to take her home with a promise that she would not be forced to sleep with strangers any more. However, at a hostel near a train station the old man raped her and made her pregnant, the woman said. But the father-in-law said he was seduced by the woman who told him that she was willing to bring a grandson to the family. They had sex repeatedly in the following years, the father-in-law said. The family members decided to go to the court to settle the dispute.

I lost my birth certificate and need to get a replacement. Do I need to make a police report (like IC)? How long does it take to get a new copy? Mine was the old type-written version and was issued more than 30 years ago. Do they keep my birth info. in ICA? Would appreciate inputs from people who have been in such a situation.

http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/more-parents-opting-give-birth-home-20140224 newspostPurchase this article for republication photobankBuy SPH photos Dr Teoh Ren Shang and his wife Victoria with their son Xavier, who was born in the master bedroom of their HDB flat. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN By Linette Lai Four weeks ago, Xavier Teoh was born in the master bedroom of his parents' Housing Board flat. Not because it was an emergency. His parents chose to have their first-born at home. "Why should we make something natural, unnatural?" said his father, Dr Teoh Ren Shang, a senior resident physician at Ang Mo Kio Community Hospital. "Hospitals are not as intimate and familiar as the home, where you are in control of the atmosphere." BACKGROUND STORY PRICELESS EXPERIENCE He caught the baby. He cut the cord. It was priceless. - Mrs Victoria Teoh, on how her husband, Dr Teoh Ren Shang, was involved in welcoming their son, Xavier HOSPITAL IS SAFEST We believe that a safe delivery should not be taken for granted, and is best conducted in a hospital with access to emergency care should the need arise. - Dr Shephali Tagore of the KK Women's and Children's Hospital TO READ THE FULL STORY... Log in Subscribe NEXT STORY: Government 'considering' lease buyback for bigger HDB flats

From CNA: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin...1236698/1/.html SAF uses technology to counter lower birth rate & ageing population By Imelda Saad | Posted: 12 November 2012 1429 hrs SINGAPORE: The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has been affected by Singapore's declining birth rates and ageing population. National Service (NS) enlistees are drawn from eligible male Singapore citizens and permanent residents. In a reply to Parliament, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said in the 1990s, about 15,000 NS men were enlisted into the SAF each year. From the year 2000, Singapore experienced higher numbers as children given birth by cohorts of baby-boomers came of enlistment age, including those born in the 1988 Dragon year. As a result, SAF enlistments increased and reached a peak of about 21,000 in 2011. But going forward, due to an ageing population and declining fertility trends, SAF enlistments are expected to gradually taper and revert to levels in the 1990s, of about 15,000 each year. But even with these enlistment numbers, Dr Ng said Singapore's long-term projections till 2040 indicate that the SAF will still be able to mobilise about 300,000 soldiers from regulars, full time national servicemen (NSFs) and operationally ready NS men (ORNS), if needed. Dr Ng added the SAF has taken into account its manpower requirements over the long term through its transformation towards a 3rd-generation SAF. That is, through advances in technology and with more effective systems and platforms, which require fewer men to operate. Dr Ng said: "Beyond investing in technologically advanced platforms, we also leverage technology to network our platforms together to provide us greater synergy in training and operations. "So one example is the recently inaugurated community for command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence. Another important factor driving up the overall capability and productivity of the SAF lies in the rising quality of our servicemen." "As a whole, the higher quality of our NS men combined with the advanced platforms and effective use of technology to network our systems, will ensure that the SAF continues to be an effective military force and a strong deterrent against any aggression," he added. - CNA/xq

From Yahoo:Fries and chips during pregnancy can cause lower birth weights: study By Jordana Divon | Shine On

It is the truth wat, 25dec is celebrate virgin birth of Christ. Lidat also lock thread

This One SP famous! Celebrate every 25 Dec

Quite a mystery why Stomper never noticed her maid is preggers as well. Nevertheless, I also wonder what all the maid levy is for when at the first sign of trouble, the authorities straight away bo wa eh tai ji. Employer's horror: She has to bear medical expenses after maid gives birth STOMPer Sabrina was appalled after she got saddled with medical bills and repatriation costs for her maid who gave birth within three months of employment. The STOMPer wonders how the maid got through the medical check-ups without the pregnancy setting off any alarm. The STOMPer wrote: "I employed an Indonesian maid to look after my mother (not living with me) in February this year but returned her to the maid agency last Friday (May 04) and got an alarming piece of news yesterday (May 08) -- that she has given birth to a healthy baby boy in the office of the maid agency! "How can this be possible since she was only in Singapore for less than three months. Now, the maid agency says that according to MOM's (Ministry of Manpower) rules and regulations, the employer is to bear all the medical fees and costs for repatriating the maid and the baby. "In the first place, the maid should be at least 6 months pregnant when she arrived in Singapore -- how could she have passed the full medical check-up? "Furthermore, the medical check-up is handled by the maid agency, not me! "As such, shouldn't the maid agency be responsible for the costs or go after the doctor who did the medical check-up? "I checked through the contract that I signed with the maid agency -- under clause 15, it's stated that 'in the event FDW (Foreign Domestic Worker) falls ills or suffers personal injury...employer shall bear all the medical costs'. "Can an 'unexpected' birth be classified as an illness or injury? "The agency is going to discharge the maid and the baby from NUH today (May 09). "Is there any of you out there who has a similar story to share? Is there any immediate action I should take to protect my rights? "I am very very sad. Staff from MOM called me up yesterday too and surprisingly, she told me that they are not going to mediate the matter involving. "She advised me to settle the bill and send the maid back as soon as possible and said 'it has nothing to do with MOM as the ministry issued work permits based on medical reports'. "Who should I turn to then?"

The policy makers are going bananas over the present low birth rate or the total fertility rate (TFR) of 1.2 amongst us which is well below the replacement rate of 2.1. As such, they are advocating bringing in immigrants of 25,000/yr to be on the safe side. Of course this is an emotive issue which does not really go down well with many citizens... Anyway having children to me is mainly a personal choice and I dare say many parents are not thinking of the BIG picture of having kids for the sake of the future of Singapore. I have friends or relatives who are mostly having at least 2 kids so the TFR of 1.2 is not prevalent amongst folks I know. In fact there are 4 young couples I know of having 3 kids each and tellingly they are affluent, with three of them staying in landed properties and with in-laws and maids helping out in the care-giving. There are of course couples I know who are adamant about not having kids and wanting to enjoy living out the DINKs aka 二人世界 lifestyle. To them personal freedom and enjoying their undisturbed lifesyle beats the h*ll outa having to have babies and painstakingly nurturing them to adulthood. Then there are those singles who does not even habour the thought of settling down or whom have not met the right one and like the DINK couples are earning their keeps and enjoy singlehood life as they know how. For us, we have two naughty chewren and is the best thing that has happened to us and though we are not staying in swanky condos or driving big cars, we are happy and contented with the HDB living and having a beat-up B&B car for transport. Life is not luxurious but we get by. Holidays are short family getaways to Malaysia and Thailand. What about you? For those who are married or cohabiting, care to share why you have kids or do not wish to have one? How is it affecting your lifestyle?

Having a relationship , wedding bells to making babies are the standard route which most of us will choose to take of cos there are some under certain circumstances , stayed single. Parenthood and having babies is never easy . I have witnessed couples of modern days society taking the pleasures of making babies but having no accountability in actions taken. I'm a father of 1 with both my wife and myself working , we jiggle time taking turns to look after our little angel but like any average family of both working parties , my mum volunteered to look after our baby in the daytime alternate days . Strictly no maids but I gotten wife a nanny during first few months after birth to help wife a first timer mum cope. My brother in law whose wife is, my wife's elder sister given birth to a second child a couple of months ago . First child hardly see them taking care , fancy leaving with in law . Reason was they are both working . Yah ... As if they are the only ones ???? Maid came in when first child was a few month old until there were some issues that maid was being rude n she was fired . Now second child arrived and again claimed cannot cope , first and second was brought into in laws care alternate days . Brother in law wife was not working at that moment juz for extra info. We were visiting in laws house with our baby and my wife seeing her mother so tired taking care of the babies volunteered to stayed and help out as it was the beginning of her block leave . Me and baby went home first and my wife was still awake 3am in the morning when I SMS her at my own home. Brother in law n wife was happily on a oversea trip at that period. WTF???? My wife as filial to her family and responsible and so she deserve to be your part time nanny???? Tho it was voluntary but how can anyone bear seeing own mother Soooo tired ???? As tittle is written. Making babies anyone down to a 12 yr old can do it. Taking care and making accountability is another story. Having both working parties isn't a reason NOT to. If you are not ready to sacrfic , dun give birth . Wear a farking condom!!!!! Having babies is just like buying car , no one force u to buy however if bought , gotto support n feed it lo. Simple as that .

if the 1.2 replacement birthdate is too low from the locals, and one solution is to keep importing ready FT to make up the short fall. I am puzzled, these FT are middle age mostly, say above 30s. Will these FT have the 2.1 birth rate to keep Singapore population young? So when we reach 7million with these FT, ten years later these FT will also grow old to become the aged in Singapore. By that time where will the 2.1 replacement rate come from? We need NEWborn at the rate of 2.1 to maintain a healthy population n society. I think importing FT is only delaying the issues for another ~10 years, by that time it will be a bigger issues! Therefor I think the simplistic argument that we need Import FT is unsustainable. Unless these FT will sumpar to produce 2.1 babies in order to become PR/citizens, else it's a time bomb just waiting to explode sooner or later!

Thu, Jun 24, 2010 The Star/Asia News Network GEORGE TOWN: The authorities are investigating a vernacular newspaper report that a Year Three schoolgirl gave birth to a baby boy after she allegedly had an affair with her 14-year-old neighbour. State Health, Welfare and Caring Society Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said he was shocked to read the news in a Chinese daily yesterday. "I have since alerted all departments concerned under my portfolio to investigate the matter. This is a very serious matter. Having sexual intercourse with a minor is considered statutory rape," he said. Phee added that they only had sketchy reports with not much information, adding that his office had referred the matter to the police. "Any medical practitioner who delivered the baby boy must alert the state Health Department as the mother is said to be a nine-year-old. Those hiding information or abetting the crime will be charged. I appeal to those with information to come forward," he said. Penang deputy police chief Senior Asst Comm (I) Datuk Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah said police had not received any report on the case. State Education Department director Ibrahim Mohamad said he had checked with all the school principals and they claimed there was no such case in their schools. "But I have been informed by my officer that there is a schoolgirl who had taken numerous MCs (medical certificates) before dropping out of school recently. I cannot ascertain whether the case is related. We will, however, investigate the matter," he said. According to the Chinese daily, the girl, who comes from a broken home, gave birth at a private hospital some time last month. The girl, the paper claimed, seemed mature for her age as she was big compared with other girls of her age. The report claimed that the boy's affair with the girl started when she was eight. The baby is said to be taken care of by the girl's grandmother, who disclosed the case to a non-governmental organisation that alerted the paper about it. -The Star/Asia News Network

Link to Story Dun noe which is more weird, 27 months of pregnancy or the baby's corpse.

I lost my birth cert during moving house lately, how to replace?

http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Sto...ory_280424.html I am amused and have a hard time believing the nonsensical request from Mr Tan. I can empathise with him being upset. But to bring the matter to a newspaper and hope to appeal? He describe himself as being horrified and agonised. and that number reversed his joy of having a child To me it is just a number. If a birthcert no do lay a auspicious path, then ICA should assign auspicious number to coincide with the new born bazhi. this will ensure our newborn are all auspicious and contribute the max to Singapore. Before anyone says I do not truly empathised, My daughter also have 444 as the last number of her BC. I didn't think a thing of it until i read ah tan letter. My girl have been our source of joy. we wish for her too to have an auspicious life. but believed that it is our duty to equipped her with skills to do that and do not think her 'fate' outcome has anything to do with a number from a piece of paper. What would you do if your kid is issued with the no 444?

For effective result, the cost of bring up these new babies must be totally born by the government. From womb to at least complete Polytechnics education. Since all other previous methods and policies had gone into waste, I feel our leaders must be bold and firm to carry out these new initiatives generously and without reservations. Do not talk and talk and no action or take the easy way out by importing new citizens from other countries. These new imported citizens come easy go also easy and they also bring along with them many social illnesses. Besides social illnesses, they also cause a lot of unhappiness among our families and social cohesiveness.

wah... this one defy the act of god... http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/...ory_254436.html

Is everyone waiting for the re-birth of the Fiat Icon called Fiat 500? Checkout here: http://www.tuningpowa.com/english/articles...aystothe500.htm There's a webby dedicated to all mothers for the re-birth of this baby boom..... Checkout here: http://www.fiat500.com/eng/index.asp?intro_nick=