Baby Kingdom

5 Sep 2010 - Many developed Asian countries are confronted with low birth rates, and Governments despair how to boost up the birth rate. Taiwan unveiled a new slogan on Wednesday aimed at encouraging couples to have more babies in its latest bid to boost the island's dwindling birth rate, which is among the world's lowest. "Children - our best heirloom" is the somewhat awkward choice. The slogan was chosen via an online poll after garnering nearly a third of the 31,000 responses, followed by "Happiness is very easy; baby one, two, three" and "it's good to have a child", said the Interior Ministry spokesperson. The slogan's writer will get a prize of NT 1 million (HKD 242,600) while the phrase will be printed on government literature and leaflets, it said. Taipei also plans to start paying couples NT 20,000 for every newborn from next year onwards.