THE STORY OF YOU

Drawing on current trends and data, as well as interviews with 19 academics and practitioners in education, technology, design and finance, The Sunday Times envisions one speculative and possible future for the first members of Generation Beta

- Teo Kai Xiang

Even before you drew your first breath, you existed in numbers.

Your parents did not conceive you until they knew they were ready: Build-To-Order (BTO) flat secured, substantial savings accrued and months spent figuring out how a newborn might upend their lives and careers.

In their early 30s, they are close to the median age of mothers at their first birth in Singapore: 31.9 years old.

Before you had a name, your foetus was fodder for platforms. Your parents documented every step of their parenting journey online - from ultrasounds and prenatal testing to gender reveal parties and baby showers.

In the lead-up to the big moment in the birthing suite, sensors monitored every one of your heartbeats and your mother's contractions. On standby was a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag for your ankle to ensure there are no baby mix-ups.

2025 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YOU

As you make your arrival, wailing your lungs out, the doctor jots down a score based on the vigour of your first respiratory effort. Your mother's heart aches with an exhaustion she does not yet realise will sink into her bones for the next decade of caring for you.

But mostly, she feels relief. Singapore's infant mortality rate — at 2.1 deaths per 1,000 live births — is among the lowest in the world. This was the hardest part.

Your official existence begins the moment your parents register your birth on the LifeSG app, which is mandatory within 42 days of birth.

This is a precondition for Baby Bonuses, more parental leave and, later, everything else you will need to survive here. The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority stopped issuing physical birth certificates in 2022.

Even at age zero, your data already lives in the cloud, flowing through the digital systems that will come to define your life trajectory.