With most his countrymen not, well, reproducing, Leong is an anomaly. To maintain population levels, Singaporean families need to be producing an average of 2.1 children. They're currently managing just 1.48.

The trend can be traced back to the mid-1960s when the government sought to check population growth on the tiny island. By the early 80s, it was clear the government had been too successful, so it reversed course, launching an intermittent series of campaigns to promote fertility. The latest vigorous effort, launched in early August by Premier Goh Chok Tong, promises lavish cash incentives for families who go forth and multiply.

Low birth rates are typical of developed societies the world over, and are a major contributor to ageing populations. That's certainly true in Singapore, where the median age has risen from 29 a decade ago to 34 today. And, while just 7 percent of people are currently aged over 62 (the retirement age), "by 2030, we estimate that nearly one in five Singaporeans will be retirees," says Yap Mui Teng, a researcher at the government-linked Institute of Policy Studies. "We don't know how that will impact health costs or workforce productivity."

But anxiety over the birth rate also illustrates some of Singapore's particular characteristics, notably its propensity for social engineering and its fear of upsetting the ethnic balance--a sensitive subject in this multiracial society.

The current balance--77 percent Chinese, 14 percent Malay, 8 percent Indians and 1 percent others--is threatened by differing fertility rates among the ethnic groups. Chinese have an average of 1.3 children and Indian 1.6, but Malays boast a rate of 2.4. For a place that sees itself as a "Chinese island in a Malay sea," that's a worrying trend. However it may be one that sorts itself out, as the Malays catch up economically with the rest of the population, which should lead to a decline in the birth rate.

But it's not just the overall low birth rate that's causing concern. According to Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, increasing globalization is luring up to 10 percent of the republic's "better educated" population overseas each year.

So what to do? Among the incentives announced by Goh are "baby bonuses." For a second child, the government will contribute S$500 (US$290) a year to a special account, and up to S$1000 a year if parents match the contributions. The pay-outs will double for the third child, and will continue until the child turns six. Other measures include improved maternity leave.

The measures are for all Singaporeans and carry none of the controversial "designer-gene" arguments advanced by Lee in the early 1980s, when he urged graduates to marry each other and so ensure smart children.

Goh struck no such chord, saying the government couldn't order people to get married or dictate the size of families. Even so, later proposals threw a sop at elitism: a government committee "on marriage and procreation" announced, among other ideas, plans for more co-ed university hostels in the hope of encouraging romance among the better educated.

As well as baby incentives, Singapore will also continue trying to attract foreign, especially ethnic-Chinese, talent, to help attain the government's stated policy of maintaining the country's racial balance.

And there's always the good old-fashioned solution to baby shortages - sex, which appears increasingly to be viewed in almost patriotic terms. The day after Goh's speech, a columnist in the normally staid Straits Times asked her readers coyly if they had heeded Goh's implicit call to do "it" the night before.

As if that wasn't enough, the paper also came out with what many teenagers might consider sound advice. In a later article, it suggested that couples lacking privacy in homes shared with parents might consider trying "it" in their cars.