Singapore needs young immigrants to save its economy from long-term decline as a result of a falling birth rate, elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew said in remarks published Wednesday.

“At these low birth rates, we will rapidly age and shrink,” the 87-year-old Lee said in comments released to the local media after the government disclosed that the city-state’s birth rate fell to a record low in 2010.

 

“So we need young immigrants. Otherwise our economy will slow down, like the Japanese economy. We will have a less dynamic and less thriving Singapore. This is not the future for our children and grandchildren,” he said.

 

Lee’s defense of immigration came amid increasing criticism in web forums and local media directed at foreigners, who now make up more than 20% of the population of five million.

 

Most of the foreign workers and immigrants come from China, Southeast Asia and India, reflecting Singapore’s own ethnic mix.