Anda di halaman 1dari 1

THE

SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS,


WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6 2010 A21 NEWS CENTRE, 1000 Toa Payoh North, Podium Level 2, 318994
SPH Chief Executive Officer Alan Chan Heng Loon Senior Executive Vice-President (Marketing) Leslie Fong
Editor-In-Chief (English & Malay Newspapers Division) Senior Executive Vice-President (Newspaper Services &
Patrick Daniel Chinese Newspapers) Robin Hu
Editor Han Fook Kwang
Deputy Editor Zuraidah Ibrahim Deputy Editor Alan John
Associate Editors Digital Media Editor Felix Soh
Ivan Fernandez Political Editor Chua Lee Hoong
Bertha Henson News Editors
Janadas Devan Sumiko Tan
Foreign Editor Carl Skadian Ignatius Low
Life! Editor Helen Chia Money Editor Lee Su Shyan
Picture Editor Michael Sargent Art Editor Angelina Choy
Straitstimes.com Editor Joanne Lee Sports Editor Mathew Pereira
Forum Editor Yap Koon Hong

Progress Brazilian style

B
RAZIL has emerged in recent years as dent. The electoral battle will fortify eight years, continue to bring political Familia, which dispenses grants to help
an economic powerhouse along with her right to govern in her own right. stability, steady economic growth and parents keep children in school. More
China and India, but not everything can It enhances Brazil’s maturing democ- much-needed social improvement? skilled workers are needed as the coun-
be taken for granted in this South Ameri- racy that Mr da Silva is not only vacat- Thanks to the foundation he built, the try continues to industrialise at a rapid
can nation. Despite the enormous popu- ing office to observe the constitutional outlook is bright, but there has to be not pace. Infrastructure development has to
larity he won for reducing poverty and limit of two presidential terms, but also only perseverance of effort, but also at- keep up with economic growth or ex-
putting Brazil on the world stage, Presi- allowing voters an essentially free tention to lagging and neglected sec- ports will begin to suffer. Revenues
dent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva did not choice among candidates, albeit one tors. While 20 million people in a popu- from vast offshore oil fields promise to
have his choice as successor, Ms Dilma that he obviously hopes is based on his lation of 193 million were lifted out of provide some of the funding for develop-
Rousseff, win outright in Sunday’s elec- Workers’ Party government’s impres- poverty during his tenure, income dis- ment, but this is likely only with the
tion. Falling short of 50 per cent of the sive record. There being no automatic parity remains a source of concern. right government policy. And environ-
vote, she is in for what will likely be a walkover, the new administration Even as the middle class expands, the mental degradation needs to be avoid-
bruising second round at the end of the should be all the more responsive to the poor continue to face discrimination ed. Not much, then, can be taken for
month against runner-up Jose Serra of electorate. Whoever takes over from Lu- and abuse. granted, but with a new government
the Social Democratic Party. But she la, as he is affectionately called, has out- Education access and quality remain poised more for continuity than change,
will more than likely prevail and be- sized shoes to fill. a key to social mobility. There is a need Brazil can look forward to further
come the country’s first woman presi- Will his successor, like him in the last to reinforce such programmes as Bolsa progress.

THINK-TANK

Take holistic
approach to
public policy
“limb” (to use a medical analogy) of our
transportation works well, from the MRT
system to Electronic Road Pricing (ERP).
BY KISHORE But even 18 years ago, when I was dean of
MAHBUBANI the Civil Service College, one principle of
our transportation system puzzled me. It
was then a holy article of faith that each
“limb” of the transportation system had
to pay for itself. Hence, the surplus reve-

I
F MY mother were alive today, she
would be surprised to read this arti- nue from ERP, say, cannot be used to
cle. From a young age, I absorbed “subsidise” the public bus system. In-
from her a profound respect for deed, the word “subsidy” was taboo.
Western medicine. After all, it In our own human body, however,
saved my life as an infant when diarrhoea there are “subsidies” everywhere. Not all
led some doctors to declare that my pros- parts of our body are equally strong. The carbon footprints of each mode of trans- that a comprehensive review of Singa- gapore. And if we want Singapore to sur-
pects were “hopeless”. Western medicine strong parts compensate for the weak. portation. The Chinese also proudly dis- pore’s education should look not only at vive and thrive over the long run, the fun-
gave me a second life. The critical thing is not whether the right played the electric cars they had manufac- the $8.037 billion that the Government damental question we should ask is whe-
As I get older, I have also come to be- arm is as strong as the left but whether tured. Indeed, they had an all-electric spends on public education, but also at ther “holistically” our policies are
lieve that Western medicine – which of- the body as a whole is working well. bus fleet on the Expo grounds. the additional $820 million that Singapo- strengthening or undermining the “soul”
ten treats our body as a collection of This is why I wonder what our conclu- I wondered why we could not afford to rean parents spend on private tuition. of Singapore.
parts that can be repaired separately – sions would be if we viewed our transpor- have an all-electric bus network in Singa- She did not use any medical analogies but Transportation, education, environ-
can be complemented with Chinese medi- tation system holistically. Each “limb” of pore. In the short term, there is no doubt the image of the parasitical limb of pri- mental and so on, are different systems
cine, which generally treats our body as a our system may be working well. But it would cost more than the current die- vate education undermining the main within a larger Singaporean body. These
holistic system that must be treated as a does the system as a whole deliver the sel-driven bus system. But there would body of public education occurred to me. systems – like the respiratory, circulato-
whole, linking both the physical body and best results? Equally importantly, what be many other public policy benefits that Shouldn’t we look at both when we evalu- ry, digestive and reproductive systems of
the soul or spirit. Good science also needs criteria should we apply to assess the would compensate for these higher finan- ate the state of education in Singapore? the human body – are interrelated and
to be complemented with good intuition. “best results”? Should we give priority to cial costs – including cleaner air and be- I firmly believe that a “holistic” analy- must be treated as a whole.
I begin with these analogies because I “efficiency” considerations? Or should ing seen to be an environmentally respon- sis of our public policies will eventually Singapore has made enormous
have come to believe that the principles we add in environmental considerations? sible global citizen. It is little things like create a better Singapore. Why? When progress in the first 50 years by success-
of Chinese medicine can be applied to And who should “pay” for these addition- that that root people to their soil. we do a holistic analysis, we have to fac- fully finding the right answers to the ur-
public policies in Singapore. There is no al considerations? I should emphasise that I have chosen tor in non-material considerations of eth- gent questions we faced in our early days.
doubt that Singapore has done exception- All these thoughts came rushing into transportation only as an illustrative ex- ics and values, as well as social considera- Over the next 50 years, we should try to
ally well with its public policies; our body my head when I visited the truly impres- ample. This principle of “holistic” analy- tions. Simply relying on economic princi- find the right questions to ask before we
is not sick. But we have not achieved per- sive Chinese pavilion at the Shanghai Ex- sis can be applied to all other public poli- ples or on the forces of the market would begin trying to find the right answers.
fection. No state has. But as an eternal op- po. Of course, the most impressive visual cy sectors. be incomplete, if not downright wrong. The writer is the dean of the Lee Kuan Yew
timist, I believe that there is scope for im- display was the long video mural depict- Take education: In a brilliant op-ed Hence, in our public policies, we must School of Public Policy, National University of
provement everywhere. ing street life in the Song dynasty. But piece in The Business Times last month, a give increasing weight to the intangible. Singapore. Think-Tank is a weekly column rotated
Take the case of transportation. There the exhibits that really impressed me PhD student at the Lee Kuan Yew School A greater infusion of ethical considera- among eight leading figures in Singapore’s
is little doubt we have done well. Each were the ones that tried to measure the of Public Policy, Ms Leong Ching, argued tions will also strengthen the soul of Sin- tertiary and research institutions.

cratic nations acted in time. Indeed, ar-

Are democracies less able to act in time? gued the dean, “democracies are clearly
capable of doing remarkable things partly
because the leader has the credibility and
the accountability that democracy
brings”.
tendency to focus on the here and now, in- former student at the Kennedy School, On why Singapore’s leaders are for-
So what can politicians do to imple-
stead of the long-term good. has on two separate occasions spoken of ward-looking, he said: “It’s because we
BY LI XUEYING ment long-term solutions without com-
For politicians to take pre-emptive ac- Prof Ellwood’s struggles to bring about care, but it’s also because we know that if mitting political kamikaze? Theory holds
POLITICAL tion to avoid a pain that society does not welfare reform when he was assistant sec- we screw up, in five or 10 years’ time, that democracies should create independ-
CORRESPONDENT as yet feel would involve expending both retary for planning and evaluation in the there’s a high chance that a lot of us are ent institutions with long-term perspec-
financial and political capital. Better to Clinton administration in the 1990s. But still going to be here to pick up the mess tives. Most notably, the civil service, the
leave it to the next government to deal he had only 2.5 years to put his policies in- and we don’t want to make a mess for our-
to action, before the next administration judiciary and the central bank are vital in
with the problem. selves.” keeping the government focused on
took over.

A
RE liberal democracies less “Confronting looming crises is bad pol- So democracies where power is regular- non-partisan considerations.
adept at tackling long-term itics,” declared Prof Ellwood. This is par- Speaking at a rally during the 2006
general election, Mr Lee said: “In Singa- ly rotated are clearly handicapped when The media and academia could also be
problems head-on? ticularly so in the context of multi-party it comes to looking after a country’s helpful, suggested Prof Ellwood. What is
That was a question that democracies where partisan politics de- pore, 2.5 years, I’m just starting to think
whether the person is good enough or long-term interests. There is a natural key is to find “strange bedfellows”. An en-
arose during a lively session mand short time-frames when crafting tendency by the powers of the day not to ergetic leader should find allies with the
hosted by the dean of Harvard Universi- policies. not. But for (Prof Ellwood), that was his
one chance.” bring to the electorate “the bad news” of same long-term interests.
ty’s Kennedy School of Government, Pro- A government, with its eye on the next the need to solve long-term problems. And then, get creative. After all, it is
The PAP’s dominance, Mr Lee said, al-
fessor David Ellwood, when he was in election, may not wish to take painful but the job of a politician to sell his policies
lowed its own ministers to plan for the But it would clearly be simplistic to
town recently. necessary action. Who knows whether it and make long-term problems vivid.
next 30 years or so, and focus on long- conclude that all “highly democratic” sys-
In a lecture entitled Acting In Time at would still be in power by the time the term issues. This has been critical to the Of course, none of these ideas is fool-
the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Poli- policy reaps dividends? The policy might tems lead to short-sighted partisan poli-
ruling party’s ability to implement unpop- proof. For one thing, how much responsi-
cy, he dissected deftly that strange ani- even benefit – horror of horrors – one’s cies; or conversely, that systems with
ular policies. This is a key part of Singa- bility does one want to lay at the door of
mal that governments sometimes evolve political rivals. long-entrenched parties result in enlight- unelected representatives such as civil
pore’s model of governance: a “paranoid ened policies.
into – the ostrich. It was a variation on a familiar theme government” that worries all the time, servants? But the ideas may be worth con-
Why do they choose to stick their for the Singaporeans in the audience. Long-term leadership certainly helps. sidering when the downside of the alterna-
looking over the horizon for dark clouds,
heads in the sand even though they can Does this mean that democracies are ill- But it is neither a prerequisite nor suffi- tive is this: Even when long-term leaders
and thus is able to act in time.
see catastrophes – whether it is climate equipped to deal with long-term prob- Expanding on this theme a year later, cient in tackling long-term challenges. As do have the country’s concerns at heart,
change, the widening income gap, nucle- lems, asked a member of the audience, to during a parliamentary debate on the peg- the dean pointed out later in an interview how do we prevent people from feeling
ar proliferation, or changing demograph- knowing laughter. ging of ministerial salaries to private sec- with The Straits Times, there are also they are mere clients of the state and not
ics – looming? Why can’t they muster The People’s Action Party (PAP) has tor pay, Mr Lee spoke candidly of how “many places with long-term leaders” its vital actors?
the will to act in time to avert a disaster long cited its dominance in government the “human tendency” that Prof Ellwood but no long-term vision. North Korea and That, in itself, may be another Acting
before it bludgeons them? as key to Singapore’s strength. Indeed, worries about is subverted in Singapore’s Myanmar come to mind. In Time challenge.
Prof Ellwood put it down to the human Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, a system. And there are instances where demo- xueying@sph.com.sg

Anda mungkin juga menyukai