FAMILY PLANNING IN SINGAPORE: FROM PLANNING FAMILIES TO PLANNING POPULATION, 1949-66

Abstract

Most people in Singapore have heard about the government's family planning programmes such as the "Stop at Two" Campaign in the 1970s implemented after Singapore gained independence. However, few know about the Singapore Family Planning Association (hereafter SFPA), a voluntary welfare organisation established in 1949, or its contributions to family planning in Singapore. This thesis traces the development of family planning in Singapore from 1949-66. It studies the work of the SFPA, the sole organisation in charge of family planning from 1949-65 until the government took over in 1966. The thesis shows that the emphasis of family planning changed when the government provided family planning services: family planning was not so much about helping individuals but more of a way to control population growth. The thesis begins by studying how the SFPA was initiated by a group of elite women in Singapore in the post-war context, and traces the growth of the association under the leadership of its pioneers, and with the assistance of others. The next chapter studies the challenges faced by the SFPA on the ground and in the public sphere, and examines how the association managed to expand despite these challenges. The SFPA called tor the government to take over the provision of family planning in 1958 but this did not materialise. However, as Chapter Three shows, the government gave more support to the SFPA from 1960-65. This ironically aided and posed challenges to the SFPA. Finally, it studies the government takeover in 1966, and analyses how the emphasis of family planning had changed after the government took over