A society in transformation, a complex country to govern
05:55 AM Aug 31, 2010
by P N Balji
One of the enduring images that emerged from the Prime Minister's speech to the nation on Sunday night was that of him flashing a map of Singapore on the big screen and pointing to where the rail transport choke points develop during peak hours.
Mr Lee Hsien Loong got down to that kind of a nitty gritty approach to tell Singaporeans that he understands the issues that are making them hot under the collar and what the Government is doing to soothe the public's pain points.
Switching from explaining to empathising to pleading, Mr Lee tackled the hot topic of immigration and foreign workers and the economic spin-offs and social spill-overs their numbers are bringing about in some depth and width.
A newbie to Singapore must have wondered: With the country snapping out of an economic crisis so quickly and looking at a sparkling annual growth of 15 per cent and the historic hosting of a mega event like the Youth Olympic Games, why was the Prime Minister not in a mood to party?
The simple answer is that the Singaporean is not in the mood to celebrate. He is concerned, sometimes even angry, about rising property prices, the uncharacteristic floods, the bus fare changes, the traffic jams and the jammed trains.
And an accusing finger has been pointed at the way in which foreigners have been allowed in.
Singapore's first Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, was in that sense fortunate. He knew his compact with the people was to deliver high growth. Despite great odds, he delivered. The Prime Minister who followed, Mr Goh Chok Tong, was fortunate, too. He rode on the economic reputation that Singapore had established; it grew by 6.4 per cent on average during his 14-year tenure. If you average out the growth for the last three years from 2008 to 2010, it will hit about 5 per cent. Moving forward, that figure might even be a stretch, said Singapore's third Prime Minister in January.
To make it more complex, growth is going to come in wild swings.
Low growth one year, negative growth another year and high growth yet another year and Singaporeans used to a comfortable and easy ride now have to tighten their seat belts for not just a bumpy ride but a roller coaster one.
Add to this the dramatic change to the social face of Singapore caused by the influx of foreign workers and immigrants and a demanding public, who said in an Institute of Policy Studies survey that they will show their unhappiness at the ballot box and not so much at dialogue sessions with the Government.
This is the kind of Singapore that Mr Lee and his team are facing. A society in transformation and a country that is becoming more complex to govern.
The announcement of the Population and Talent Division under the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to manage Singapore's immigration, talent and population policies has to be seen in this context.
Singapore's problems are becoming more complex by the day and a single ministry cannot handle them in a silo approach any more. A one-ministry solution to an issue in a complex place like Singapore can only cause more problems down the line.
Take immigration. That was seen in a narrow context of adding the cream to the economic pie. The downsides of congestion, higher property prices and social divide were not factored in.
That's why the PMO has expanded in recent times with climate change, ageing, security co-ordination, research and development and now population and talent being added to the growing list of departments coming under the Prime Minister's watch.
What the Prime Minister is trying to do is to make sure that holistic solutions are found to problems that are cropping up.
That will help for a while.
What Singapore also needs is a game changer, an intangible one, that will redefine the country for the next 45 years.
The Prime Minister tried to identify that by focusing on the Singapore Spirit, evoking the words and emotions of founding fathers S Rajaratnam and Dr Goh Keng Swee. Shared values and memories and a will to make things work and do things the right way... that's how Mr Lee identified the ingredients.
He has now got the onerous and unenviable task of moving Singapore in that direction.
The writer is the director of the Asia Journalism Fellowship, a joint initiative of Temasek Foundation and NTU.
http://www.todayonline.com/Hotnews...n-transformation,-a-complex-country-to-govern
Copyright 2010 MediaCorp Pte Ltd | All Rights Reserved
05:55 AM Aug 31, 2010
by P N Balji
One of the enduring images that emerged from the Prime Minister's speech to the nation on Sunday night was that of him flashing a map of Singapore on the big screen and pointing to where the rail transport choke points develop during peak hours.
Mr Lee Hsien Loong got down to that kind of a nitty gritty approach to tell Singaporeans that he understands the issues that are making them hot under the collar and what the Government is doing to soothe the public's pain points.
Switching from explaining to empathising to pleading, Mr Lee tackled the hot topic of immigration and foreign workers and the economic spin-offs and social spill-overs their numbers are bringing about in some depth and width.
A newbie to Singapore must have wondered: With the country snapping out of an economic crisis so quickly and looking at a sparkling annual growth of 15 per cent and the historic hosting of a mega event like the Youth Olympic Games, why was the Prime Minister not in a mood to party?
The simple answer is that the Singaporean is not in the mood to celebrate. He is concerned, sometimes even angry, about rising property prices, the uncharacteristic floods, the bus fare changes, the traffic jams and the jammed trains.
And an accusing finger has been pointed at the way in which foreigners have been allowed in.
Singapore's first Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, was in that sense fortunate. He knew his compact with the people was to deliver high growth. Despite great odds, he delivered. The Prime Minister who followed, Mr Goh Chok Tong, was fortunate, too. He rode on the economic reputation that Singapore had established; it grew by 6.4 per cent on average during his 14-year tenure. If you average out the growth for the last three years from 2008 to 2010, it will hit about 5 per cent. Moving forward, that figure might even be a stretch, said Singapore's third Prime Minister in January.
To make it more complex, growth is going to come in wild swings.
Low growth one year, negative growth another year and high growth yet another year and Singaporeans used to a comfortable and easy ride now have to tighten their seat belts for not just a bumpy ride but a roller coaster one.
Add to this the dramatic change to the social face of Singapore caused by the influx of foreign workers and immigrants and a demanding public, who said in an Institute of Policy Studies survey that they will show their unhappiness at the ballot box and not so much at dialogue sessions with the Government.
This is the kind of Singapore that Mr Lee and his team are facing. A society in transformation and a country that is becoming more complex to govern.
The announcement of the Population and Talent Division under the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to manage Singapore's immigration, talent and population policies has to be seen in this context.
Singapore's problems are becoming more complex by the day and a single ministry cannot handle them in a silo approach any more. A one-ministry solution to an issue in a complex place like Singapore can only cause more problems down the line.
Take immigration. That was seen in a narrow context of adding the cream to the economic pie. The downsides of congestion, higher property prices and social divide were not factored in.
That's why the PMO has expanded in recent times with climate change, ageing, security co-ordination, research and development and now population and talent being added to the growing list of departments coming under the Prime Minister's watch.
What the Prime Minister is trying to do is to make sure that holistic solutions are found to problems that are cropping up.
That will help for a while.
What Singapore also needs is a game changer, an intangible one, that will redefine the country for the next 45 years.
The Prime Minister tried to identify that by focusing on the Singapore Spirit, evoking the words and emotions of founding fathers S Rajaratnam and Dr Goh Keng Swee. Shared values and memories and a will to make things work and do things the right way... that's how Mr Lee identified the ingredients.
He has now got the onerous and unenviable task of moving Singapore in that direction.
The writer is the director of the Asia Journalism Fellowship, a joint initiative of Temasek Foundation and NTU.
http://www.todayonline.com/Hotnews...n-transformation,-a-complex-country-to-govern
Copyright 2010 MediaCorp Pte Ltd | All Rights Reserved
