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Singapore Practises Good Governance, Has Strong Leadership
By Zakaria Abdul Wahab
SINGAPORE, Dec 7 (Bernama) - Good governance and strong leadership are the critical elements which underpins how the Singapore government steers its future forward, an Asia summit heard Monday.
Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng said over the years the Singapore government has distilled a set of principles on governance and leadership to guide its decision and policy-making.
He listed five principles that the island republic applied successfully to run the city-state, namely, "Good, Clean Governance", "Integrity and Meritocracy", "Anticipate Change and Stay Relevant", "Do What is Right, Not What is Popular" and the final one is "Leadership is Key."
Speaking at the 5th Asia Economic Summit here, Wong who is also Home Affairs Minister, said good governance and strong leadership were critical elements in the best of times, and in uncertain times as now, they were even more imperative.
He said good governance inspired confidence in stakeholders, that the course undertaken was charted, with their best interest in mind.
Singapore's government operating model was based on a firm commitment to good and clean governance, the minister said.
Wong said "we have always eschewed corruption in Singapore", and in the recent Transparency International survey, Singapore was ranked the world's third least corrupt nation after New Zealand and Denmark.
He said Singapore had also been consistently ranked among the top five least corrupt nations the past few years, and the scores in the survey were the result of a systematic effort by the government over the past 50 years, to weed out corruption.
" Over the years, we have built a culture that rejects and is intolerant of corruption at all levels. We put in place tough laws tackling corruption and enforced these strictly," he said.
The minister said a clean government that made decisions in the public interest and not to enrich its leaders earned the trust of the people.
It provided certainty to investors, who knew that the rules of the game were laid down in law and more importantly, adhered to, he said, adding that they could not be changed arbitrarily based on personal favours or relationships.
Wong also said while rules and regulations were important, the integrity and ethical standards of both government and corporate leaders were just as, if not more, important.
The notions of "Integrity and Meritocracy" and "Good, Clean Governance" were closely intertwined, he said, adding that in Singapore, public officers were promoted based on merit, not because of their connections or the favours they could extend in return.
The minister also said doing what was right, not what was popular required leadership and political will.
" Leaders must have the conviction to do what is necessary, even if it may not win them political points," Wong said, adding that leaders must have the conviction to push through what needed to be done, rather than what was politically expedient or populist.
-- BERNAMA
By Zakaria Abdul Wahab
SINGAPORE, Dec 7 (Bernama) - Good governance and strong leadership are the critical elements which underpins how the Singapore government steers its future forward, an Asia summit heard Monday.
Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng said over the years the Singapore government has distilled a set of principles on governance and leadership to guide its decision and policy-making.
He listed five principles that the island republic applied successfully to run the city-state, namely, "Good, Clean Governance", "Integrity and Meritocracy", "Anticipate Change and Stay Relevant", "Do What is Right, Not What is Popular" and the final one is "Leadership is Key."
Speaking at the 5th Asia Economic Summit here, Wong who is also Home Affairs Minister, said good governance and strong leadership were critical elements in the best of times, and in uncertain times as now, they were even more imperative.
He said good governance inspired confidence in stakeholders, that the course undertaken was charted, with their best interest in mind.
Singapore's government operating model was based on a firm commitment to good and clean governance, the minister said.
Wong said "we have always eschewed corruption in Singapore", and in the recent Transparency International survey, Singapore was ranked the world's third least corrupt nation after New Zealand and Denmark.
He said Singapore had also been consistently ranked among the top five least corrupt nations the past few years, and the scores in the survey were the result of a systematic effort by the government over the past 50 years, to weed out corruption.
" Over the years, we have built a culture that rejects and is intolerant of corruption at all levels. We put in place tough laws tackling corruption and enforced these strictly," he said.
The minister said a clean government that made decisions in the public interest and not to enrich its leaders earned the trust of the people.
It provided certainty to investors, who knew that the rules of the game were laid down in law and more importantly, adhered to, he said, adding that they could not be changed arbitrarily based on personal favours or relationships.
Wong also said while rules and regulations were important, the integrity and ethical standards of both government and corporate leaders were just as, if not more, important.
The notions of "Integrity and Meritocracy" and "Good, Clean Governance" were closely intertwined, he said, adding that in Singapore, public officers were promoted based on merit, not because of their connections or the favours they could extend in return.
The minister also said doing what was right, not what was popular required leadership and political will.
" Leaders must have the conviction to do what is necessary, even if it may not win them political points," Wong said, adding that leaders must have the conviction to push through what needed to be done, rather than what was politically expedient or populist.
-- BERNAMA
