This has always been pare for the course. GKS did that when he disagreed with the proposal to build MRT. He called for another consultancy review from Harvard I think. They recommended an all bus public transport infrastructure. Thankfully the cabinet disagreed and went with the first report.
In another case, the wife of the principal consultant from the UK engaged by the Civil Service to restructure a major department as a courtesy was shown around the Singapore's Tourist sites by a senior department female staff over a few days. The wife near the end shared with her the expected findings that the Perm Sec was looking for which the husband told the wife. The wife has no idea that it was not supposed to be the case. And this was the very first week of their 6 mths consultancy work. The staff shared what she heard with some of her colleagues and it was exactly what the wife said.
It is also something that you see in the private sector and around the World. The senior executive already has a vision and does not have the time to flesh it out and does not have the capacity to conduct the review. It also useful when sensitive decisions have to be made about key personnel and the consultants become the hatchet man.
A friend's daughter left McKinsey in the US when she realised that billings hours were singular main KPIs and the reviews are seldom independent. Apparently she struggle to sleep because of it.
