Unless you are shut off from Internet, you probably heard or read about the following comment by Josephine Teo, the Senior Minister of State for the Prime Minister’s Office:

“You need a very small space to have sex.”

Teo has since responded to this remark on her Facebook page.

The quote was originally made in an extensive Straits Times interview about marriage and parenthood. It was to address views about the Parenthood Priority Scheme, which provides priority allocation to first-timer married couples with a citizen child below the age of 16 (including those expecting a child) for BTO/SBF flats.

Basically, she said on her Facebook post that social media may not be totally accurate in interpreting what she said.

And she wanted to switch the conversation to how young Singaporeans can be ready for families in small spaces Singapore.

In her commentary in The Straits Times, she argued that Singapore should get ready for millennial families "by taking bold collective actions in the three key areas of housing, pre-school services, and workplace and community support".

One of the key things she mentioned is the need for a "fresh perspective" on marriage and parenthood.

The conventional wisdom is for one to wait until one's career is firmly established, while a fresh perspective is to redefine career and family aspirations and have them as "priorities earlier rather than later in life".

It's refreshing to hear a senior politician addressing social media criticisms in a "let's agree to disagree with the interpretation" without ignoring it (if the interpretation is largely accurate) or resorting to legal means (if the interpretation is largely inaccurate).

Teo then proceeded to an Ask Me Anything format on her Facebook, which proves to be quite rewarding because:

She immediately found herself a spokesperson.

And persuaded a person to be less pessimistic about the attitudes of the millennials.

She found someone she can agree with.

And we learnt that she grew up in a small space too.

She did not manage to convince everyone though.

And she learnt the latest news regarding the adverse consequences of a lonely heart in a big space.

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Top photo from Josephine Teo Facebook

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