- Joined
- Dec 30, 2010
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My contention is that good governance is possible in the new normal, but that this requires the government to accommodate, and adapt to, the new socio-political and economic realities of Singapore. In particular, I believe the Singapore government needs to rethink its current model of governance in at least three ways.
First, the state needs to broaden its basis of legitimacy. For more than forty years, the PAP regime secured broad-based support on the basis of superior performance. This is now changing. Increasingly, Singaporeans care also about the fairness of our political system and about having checks and balances on government. Trust in government can no longer be assumed. Instead, it has to be earned through transparency and fair processes.
Second, the government needs to rethink the narratives and practices of elite governance. The review of ministerial salaries is important in this regard but is not sufficient. Singapore’s elite has become more fragmented and diverse, and less cohesive ideologically and politically. The constant drumbeat on how vulnerable Singapore is , how this justifies our system of governance, and how important it is for the country to be governed by a carefully-selected elite, even if true, alienates many educated Singaporeans.
Finally, Singapore needs a new social compact. The current social compact was appropriate for an era characterised by youthful demographics, rising incomes across-the-board, and the need to achieve exceptional rates of GDP growth. In such a context, policies which emphasised individual responsibility, high national savings, relatively weak social safety nets, and public housing as the de facto instrument of redistribution were successful in ensuring growth with equity. This created a relatively benign political environment which gave government the space to pursue long-term, growth-oriented policies with minimal political constraints.
Read the complete well-thought out article here -
http://www.facebook.com/notes/donal...-what-it-means-for-governance/256722237695091
First, the state needs to broaden its basis of legitimacy. For more than forty years, the PAP regime secured broad-based support on the basis of superior performance. This is now changing. Increasingly, Singaporeans care also about the fairness of our political system and about having checks and balances on government. Trust in government can no longer be assumed. Instead, it has to be earned through transparency and fair processes.
Second, the government needs to rethink the narratives and practices of elite governance. The review of ministerial salaries is important in this regard but is not sufficient. Singapore’s elite has become more fragmented and diverse, and less cohesive ideologically and politically. The constant drumbeat on how vulnerable Singapore is , how this justifies our system of governance, and how important it is for the country to be governed by a carefully-selected elite, even if true, alienates many educated Singaporeans.
Finally, Singapore needs a new social compact. The current social compact was appropriate for an era characterised by youthful demographics, rising incomes across-the-board, and the need to achieve exceptional rates of GDP growth. In such a context, policies which emphasised individual responsibility, high national savings, relatively weak social safety nets, and public housing as the de facto instrument of redistribution were successful in ensuring growth with equity. This created a relatively benign political environment which gave government the space to pursue long-term, growth-oriented policies with minimal political constraints.
Read the complete well-thought out article here -
http://www.facebook.com/notes/donal...-what-it-means-for-governance/256722237695091
