The Family Planning Association (FPA) of Singapore was formed on 22 July 1949 to introduce family planning services to the general public.[1]
The idea to provide organised, large-scale family planning services was conceived in response to dire postwar conditions, particularly food and housing shortages amid a population boom.[2] At the time, the Social Welfare Department ran feeding centres to alleviate undernourishment among children, but it became apparent that the root of the problem lay in parents having more children than they could afford, and family planning was thus seen as the solution.[3]
In May 1949, then Secretary of Social Welfare T. P. F. McNeice, municipal lady-health officer Mary Tan, and the wife of H. B. Amstutz, a senior missionary, proposed to make family planning advice available at municipal infant welfare clinics.[4] Approval to provide the service was obtained by a majority vote of 12 to 10 in the Municipal Commission on 27 May.[5] The new service was, however, inadequate for the task, as it was limited to weekly sessions at three out of the five welfare clinics, and available only upon request.[6]
A group of doctors, social workers and concerned individuals, therefore, decided to establish the FPA with the immediate aim of extending family planning services to areas outside the reach of municipal clinics.[7] McNeice was elected the association’s first president.[8] The FPA worked to improve the welfare of families and the health of mothers and their children on an individual basis.[9] Its objectives were threefold: to (a) “advocate the provision of facilities for scientific contraception to mitigate the evils of ill-health and overcrowding”; (b) “advocate and promote the establishment of family planning centres”; and (c) “encourage the production of healthy children who are an asset to the nation”.[10]
In November 1949, the association’s first three clinics were opened on South Bridge Road, Geylang Road and North Bridge Road.[11] By the end of its first year, the FPA had disseminated information on family planning and contraception from a total of 11 urban and rural clinics.[12]
The FPA operated until 1966 when the Singapore government took over the responsibility of providing family planning-related services to the people with the establishment of the Singapore Family Planning and Population Board.[13]
References
1. Family Planning Assn. formed. (1949, July 23). The Singapore Free Press, p. 5. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Chang, C.-T. (1974). Fertility transition in Singapore (p. 119). Singapore: Singapore University Press. Call no.: RSING 301.32109595 CHA.
2. Saw, S.-H. (2005). Population policies and programmes in Singapore (p. 7). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Call no.: RSING 363.96095957 SAW.
3. Chang, 1974, p. 119.
4. Saw, 2005, p. 8. [Note: The three had just concluded a series of lectures on birth control at the Young Women’s Christian Association, which saw some 60 women pledge support for the creation of a voluntary family planning association. See 60 women vote for family planning. (1949, May 17). The Straits Times, p. 8. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.]
5. 12-10 vote for birth control. (1949, May 28). The Singapore Free Press, p. 6. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
6. Saw, 2005, p. 8.
7. Saw, 2005, p. 8.
8. The Straits Times, 23 Jul 1949, p. 5.
9. Chang, 1974, p. 119.
10. Family Planning Assn. formed. (1949, July 23). The Straits Times, p. 7. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
11. First FPA clinic is opened. (1949, November 5). The Straits Times, p. 5. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
12. Chang, 1974, p. 120.
13. Chang, 1974, p. 145; Family board inaugurated. (1966, January 12). The Straits Times, p. 6. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
The information in this article is valid as at 2015 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.