The minimum could be half a million, but such a country would be overdependent on “externals”. The survival of the country would become more sustainable if the population approaches 10M. I can understand the PAP gov is hoping to grow Sg population beyond the current 5M.

Citizens making more babies — is better (than immigration) in terms of loyalty.

Skill-based immigration — is better in terms of gene improvement in the implicit global competition.

For a small national population (like 700,000), internal unity is extremely important. One element is racial harmony.

— unskilled national population .. Some subset of the national population would be low-skilled. If left to their devices, a portion of them could become a dead weight. Dead weight is heavier to a small nation than a big nation like Australia.

The government need to encourage them to upskill, get their children educated, and still provide jobs for them, so they don’t become dead weight — unemployed and reliant on welfare.