White Paper - Alex Au comes up with an even more unworkable suggestion

Short intro -

Many gays complain that the majority non-LGBT population does not empathize with gay issues and that's why society, run by majority non-LGBTs, come up with policies that are not gay friendly or policies that don't work for the gay community.

By the same argument, it can also be said that when a gay speaks about issues concerning areas where gays are not familiar with, they will come up with ideas that won't work in the straight world either. Alex Au's article on the recent White Paper released by PAP is a case example.


Alex makes suggestion from a gay's perspective -

Here is Alex Au's take. See how naive he is, venturing into a world he doesn't have empathy for in the first place. Population White Paper should be about children, not about GDP

Starting NOW, we have to insist that every adult citizen (male and female) reaching age 30, raise 1.5 children before age 40. Marriage should not be a pre-condition. Married or single, everybody has to raise 1.5 children. We may have to re-shape our taxation policies to ensure that taxes are so heavy that it becomes plain that the only way to neutralise the penalty is to have children and claw back the tax and subsidy incentives related to child-rearing. Make it obvious that it is better to raise children and take the incentives than to do without kids and pay the penalties.

Of course, it is easier said than done. It means a massive reshaping of values and economic expectations.

It’s time we recognise that to expect a two-parent household to raise 3 children, one parent shouldn’t be expected to work in the formal sector for about ten years. That means the family has to be able to live on only one income for ten years.

A one-parent household, expected to raise 1.5 children, has to be allowed to opt out of the workforce for about five to six years.

Only gays and pro-LGBT groups would even think about accepting the above suggestion. Raising kids without marriage? Single parents as the norm for society? Forced parenthood? Eh? That's ironical. Gays are hell bent on marriage that are "forced", but we now have a gay that is forcing parenthood?


Alex's simple mindedness of the gay dreamworld superimposed on real straight world -

That kind of suggestion by gay activist Alex Au may be well received in Europe or America. Definitely not Singapore. For Alex to even make such a suggestion here is like an Orthodox Muslim trying to suggest that the Sharia be made the constitution of America. I take that readers get my point.

Alex reasons (if you can call that reasoning) that if a two parent family is expected to raise 3 children, then by simple math, a one parent family is expected to raise 1.5. He further extends his reasoning (again, if you can call that reasoning) that if a two parent family has one parent out of work for ten years, the equivalent for a one parent family should be half of that, which means the single parent should be allowed to be away from work for five to 6 years.

Alex does not tell us how he is going to address the drop in income for the family, if we were to take his suggestion which would see a parent not working for such a long period. He simply implies that's the "govt's job".

Now here's the spanner that's going to be thrown into Alex's make believe world. In a two parent family, one parent can work while the other can raise the child for as long as the child needs to be financially supported. There is no time limit for this workout. In a one parent family, if the parent stops working, the income stops immediately. There would be a time the parent would be forced back to work.

Alex's simplistic math workout is not feasible. His unrealistic idea of halving the responsibility and/or benefit for a one parent family, based on the needs and economic production of a two parent family, is terribly and obviously faulty. This is the kind of lack of empathy I highlighted that a gay, living in Singapore, finds it hard to fit into the shoes of the majority non-LGBT community.


Conclusion -

Many gays and other LGBTs complain that policies run by non-LGBTs are not gay friendly because they cannot empathize the gay community. The other end of the argument is neither can gays empathize what the non-LGBT community goes through.

Family raising is definitely not the forte or area of the LGBTs. Not in Singapore. Gay activists like Alex Au should just stick to areas of his concern, like how to reduce the HIV stats among gay men, instead of trying to be a hero, believing he can solve issues faced exclusively by non-LGBTs in Singapore.

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PS - Isn't his idea of taxation on adults who don't have children more draconian than any law in the history of Singapore, ever? And this is the gay activist freedom-of-expression fighter the gay community is so proud of?

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