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Dec 18, 2010
'PAP absent everywhere, present everywhere'
Mr Lee Yi Shyan was head of PAP's external relations sub-committee from 2008 to this year. The committee hosts visits by foreign delegations. Here are excerpts from an interview with him.
By Cai Haoxiang
-- ST FILE PHOTO
# What is the proportion of party visits to PAP HQ from China?
About 80 per cent of party visits come from China, the other 20 per cent from all over the world - Malaysia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, South Africa. Every year, about 50 party delegations visit the PAP HQ in Bedok.
# Why are the Chinese looking at the PAP model?
In Minister of the Central Organisation Department Li Yuanchao's words, both CCP (Chinese Communist Party) and PAP have ruled continuously for 50 years or more.
CCP has its own reasons for its longevity but it wants to know why PAP can 'make it' every five years when elections are called.
We are an Asian society, a majority Chinese society, and somehow have assimilated Chinese culture with Western practices.
They think that if we can succeed, maybe it is a road forward for them. Each time, a more senior leader comes, pointing to the strength of our organisation, our involvement with people, our understanding of the frontline issues... Mr Li is senior enough to send signals.
# What questions do the Chinese usually raise with the PAP?
Generally the questions are about how we develop our leadership, how we spot and groom talent for renewal, how we stamp out corruption, what kind of training we conduct, how we organise ourselves, what kind of components do we have, youth wing, women's wing, and how we reach out to different groups in society.
But I think their underlying interest is to figure out what China should do to make their party relevant so they have the legitimacy to rule the country.
# What answers did you give them?
We share our experience and practices. For instance, they are quite impressed by the fact that we have Meet-the-People sessions and go to heartland events, have many community functions over the weekends and evenings, and ordinary residents of the constituency can tell us problems and shake hands with us.
In their system they have many layers of government, it is very hard for central government officials to go down to the grassroots level.
They have a system of xiang shang bao gao (reporting to the top) but we have a system of xiang shang bao gao xiang xia fu zhe (reporting to the top and being responsible for the bottom).
# What do you think the CCP takes away from the PAP's organisation and structure?
They were very amazed that PAP is absent everywhere but present everywhere.
In China, the Communist Party will typically have a very dominant or prominent building in every city. But in Singapore, you cannot find the party building.
Even our party headquarters is a modest structure co-located with a childcare kindergarten. But they realise that the party's manifesto and value system are operationalised in every part of the Government and society.
For instance, you can see this in the concept of financial prudence, in saving, no budget deficit for a sustained period, not spending more than we are earning, building up our nest egg for the future.
# What lessons did the PAP draw from the CCP during the Jiangsu visit?
One big lesson is that we are trying to solve very similar problems in society.
We visited their residential committee, what we call an RC (residents' committee) in the Singapore context. The party secretary was discussing concerns and requests from his residents.
The topic was how to help the ageing population, whether they could build lifts. They said funding was an issue and discussed how to and whom they should ask for so much money.
I think we have a different organisation, a different system. We know that we are solving the problems of a society, we're getting in touch with the grassroots, but we don't hardwire it, say that it must be the party that should do it, or via the Constitution to say that the PAP should lead the country.
The bottom line is really that if the party is not in touch with the majority, the grassroots any more, then it will risk being irrelevant.
To be relevant and to be able to continue to have the mandate to lead, you must be in touch with the ground and work for the interests of the majority of the people.
The CCP faces a lot of internal challenges in the sense that while it has brought economic benefits and social progress to the country, it faces issues of uneven growth, a small part of the party abusing power, corruption, nepotism.
In some specific locations, this had actually discredited the party, such that people start to question its authority to lead.
# What do you expect to see as a result of this heightened relationship with CCP?
Government-to-government ties are already significant but party-to party ties symbolise a deeper level of engagement.
It's just like friends. If I know you superficially, you won't be telling me, in my home, my brother is not studying very well, is there anything you can do to help me?
Previously, we can talk about the Monetary Authority of Singapore in managing reserves, or the Central Provident Fund in building a social security system. This is government at the executive level.
But now, we talk about how we decide what Singapore should be in the next two years, what's the structure... These are things that cannot be answered at the operational level.
We don't pretend that the things that we do here will be perfectly relevant to them but the facts speak for themselves, in the sense that we have 50 years of self rule and party rule and the PAP remains relevant.
So we ourselves want to be in touch with the ground and hope that our renewal will contribute to the sustained growth of Singapore.
QUIET BUT ALL PERVASIVE
'They were very amazed that PAP is absent everywhere but present everywhere. In China, the Communist Party will typically have a very dominant or prominent building in every city. But in Singapore, you cannot find the party building... But they realise that the party's manifesto and value system are operationalised in every part of the Government and society.'
Mr Lee Yi Shyan
'PAP absent everywhere, present everywhere'
Mr Lee Yi Shyan was head of PAP's external relations sub-committee from 2008 to this year. The committee hosts visits by foreign delegations. Here are excerpts from an interview with him.
By Cai Haoxiang
-- ST FILE PHOTO
# What is the proportion of party visits to PAP HQ from China?
About 80 per cent of party visits come from China, the other 20 per cent from all over the world - Malaysia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, South Africa. Every year, about 50 party delegations visit the PAP HQ in Bedok.
# Why are the Chinese looking at the PAP model?
In Minister of the Central Organisation Department Li Yuanchao's words, both CCP (Chinese Communist Party) and PAP have ruled continuously for 50 years or more.
CCP has its own reasons for its longevity but it wants to know why PAP can 'make it' every five years when elections are called.
We are an Asian society, a majority Chinese society, and somehow have assimilated Chinese culture with Western practices.
They think that if we can succeed, maybe it is a road forward for them. Each time, a more senior leader comes, pointing to the strength of our organisation, our involvement with people, our understanding of the frontline issues... Mr Li is senior enough to send signals.
# What questions do the Chinese usually raise with the PAP?
Generally the questions are about how we develop our leadership, how we spot and groom talent for renewal, how we stamp out corruption, what kind of training we conduct, how we organise ourselves, what kind of components do we have, youth wing, women's wing, and how we reach out to different groups in society.
But I think their underlying interest is to figure out what China should do to make their party relevant so they have the legitimacy to rule the country.
# What answers did you give them?
We share our experience and practices. For instance, they are quite impressed by the fact that we have Meet-the-People sessions and go to heartland events, have many community functions over the weekends and evenings, and ordinary residents of the constituency can tell us problems and shake hands with us.
In their system they have many layers of government, it is very hard for central government officials to go down to the grassroots level.
They have a system of xiang shang bao gao (reporting to the top) but we have a system of xiang shang bao gao xiang xia fu zhe (reporting to the top and being responsible for the bottom).
# What do you think the CCP takes away from the PAP's organisation and structure?
They were very amazed that PAP is absent everywhere but present everywhere.
In China, the Communist Party will typically have a very dominant or prominent building in every city. But in Singapore, you cannot find the party building.
Even our party headquarters is a modest structure co-located with a childcare kindergarten. But they realise that the party's manifesto and value system are operationalised in every part of the Government and society.
For instance, you can see this in the concept of financial prudence, in saving, no budget deficit for a sustained period, not spending more than we are earning, building up our nest egg for the future.
# What lessons did the PAP draw from the CCP during the Jiangsu visit?
One big lesson is that we are trying to solve very similar problems in society.
We visited their residential committee, what we call an RC (residents' committee) in the Singapore context. The party secretary was discussing concerns and requests from his residents.
The topic was how to help the ageing population, whether they could build lifts. They said funding was an issue and discussed how to and whom they should ask for so much money.
I think we have a different organisation, a different system. We know that we are solving the problems of a society, we're getting in touch with the grassroots, but we don't hardwire it, say that it must be the party that should do it, or via the Constitution to say that the PAP should lead the country.
The bottom line is really that if the party is not in touch with the majority, the grassroots any more, then it will risk being irrelevant.
To be relevant and to be able to continue to have the mandate to lead, you must be in touch with the ground and work for the interests of the majority of the people.
The CCP faces a lot of internal challenges in the sense that while it has brought economic benefits and social progress to the country, it faces issues of uneven growth, a small part of the party abusing power, corruption, nepotism.
In some specific locations, this had actually discredited the party, such that people start to question its authority to lead.
# What do you expect to see as a result of this heightened relationship with CCP?
Government-to-government ties are already significant but party-to party ties symbolise a deeper level of engagement.
It's just like friends. If I know you superficially, you won't be telling me, in my home, my brother is not studying very well, is there anything you can do to help me?
Previously, we can talk about the Monetary Authority of Singapore in managing reserves, or the Central Provident Fund in building a social security system. This is government at the executive level.
But now, we talk about how we decide what Singapore should be in the next two years, what's the structure... These are things that cannot be answered at the operational level.
We don't pretend that the things that we do here will be perfectly relevant to them but the facts speak for themselves, in the sense that we have 50 years of self rule and party rule and the PAP remains relevant.
So we ourselves want to be in touch with the ground and hope that our renewal will contribute to the sustained growth of Singapore.
QUIET BUT ALL PERVASIVE
'They were very amazed that PAP is absent everywhere but present everywhere. In China, the Communist Party will typically have a very dominant or prominent building in every city. But in Singapore, you cannot find the party building... But they realise that the party's manifesto and value system are operationalised in every part of the Government and society.'
Mr Lee Yi Shyan
