Has the Singapore dream become harder to reach?

There is a particular kind of exhaustion that does not show up in economic data. Singapore’s GDP is healthy, employment is high and the city remains one of the most liveable in the world by almost every measurable standard. And yet some of us talk about being tired, stretched, anxious, and quietly unsure whether the life we are working toward is actually within reach.

I wanted to understand that gap between the numbers and the feeling. So I brought in two researchers who study it for a living.

In this episode of Lens on Singapore, a podcast by The Business Times,  I spoke with Professor Wei-Jun Jean Yeung, director of Social Sciences at A*STAR Institute for Human Development and Potential (A*STAR IHDP), and Associate Professor Walter Theseira from the Singapore University of Social Sciences. What followed was one of the most honest conversations I have had on this show about what might actually be driving the anxiety some Singaporeans carry quietly every day.

Why listen

• Why everyone thinks they are middle class and why that is part of the problem  Prof Theseira explains how an extraordinarily wide conception of the middle class creates pressure all the way up and down the income spectrum, and why that gap between the upper-middle and the truly wealthy makes everything feel more precarious than it should.

• Why Singapore’s falling birthrate is not just about money  Prof Yeung’s research shows young couples still want children and still want marriage. The delay is real and the point where delay becomes abandonment is closer than we think.

• Why the anxiety is not in our heads even when it feels like it is  Prof Yeung pushes back on the narrative that Singaporeans are simply driving ourselves crazy with self-imposed expectations. 

The data and the lived experience may not always tell the same story, which is why this conversation aims for a better understanding of the concerns, regardless of where you sit on the spectrum. Watch now.

Discover more episodes at bt.sg/podcasts. Got feedback? Email us at btpodcasts@sph.com.sg.

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Written and presented by: Claressa Monteiro (claremb@sph.com.sg)

With Professor Wei-Jun Jean Yeung, director of Social Sciences, A*STAR Institute for Human Development and Potential (A*STAR IHDP); and Walter Theseira, associate professor, Singapore University of Social Sciences

SEE ALSO

Is Singapore losing the world we relied on? An intelligence chief’s candid take

Executive producer: Claressa Monteiro

Producer: Nicole Teo

Coordinating producer: Chai Pei Chieh

Video production: Studio +65

A podcast by BT Podcasts, The Business Times, SPH Media

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