A more open approach to governance & No one gets left behind: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Debate on The President's Address, 20 October 2011

A more open approach to governance - PM Lee

TODAY, Tan Weizhen, 21 Oct, 2011

As Singapore embraces the "new normal" in politics, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday that his Government would take a "more open approach" to governing the country, which would include sharing more information with the public and engaging the citizenry more.

Mr Lee, who was speaking during the debate on the President's Address, noted that a more diverse population today desired a closer engagement and a different relationship with the Government. And the Internet, he acknowledged, had a role in shaping people's interactions with one another.

"So how do we respond to this new political situation? I think first of all we have to take a much more open approach to government and to governance, the way we organise ourselves, the way we conduct our affairs," Mr Lee told Parliament.



The way forward, he said, was to engage more with the various stakeholders, which included critics, and to share more information with the public - be it population trends or even investments by the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation.

While not everything could be disclosed, such as the overall size of Singapore's financial reserves or defence plans, wherever possible, the Government would "disclose more rather than less", Mr Lee said.

The Government, he said also hoped to engage Singaporeans more in decisions that affected them. This could include specific matters such as CPF; broader topics like immigration and population; or issues like animal rights or special needs children.

But even as Mr Lee spoke of the new direction that his Government would take, he reminded Singaporeans that the Government had implemented many policies whose benefits were often "not obvious".

"Everything the Government does is to benefit citizens ... But Government is complicated and very often the leap from the measures to the benefits are indirect and not obvious. So the result is anxiety, sometimes opposition, sometimes a lot of angst," Mr Lee said.

While the Government had tried hard to communicate, Mr Lee acknowledged that "we don't always do as well as we could, and we need to communicate better ..." In carrying out its tasks, Mr Lee said the Government would "be flexible on details" but it would ultimately try to "preserve core principles".

He cited the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP), which he believes is the "right thing" and "something we can't avoid doing" but recognises that it may unpopular with Singaporeans.

The Government has thus tried to improve on its implementation, such as reducing the ERP's evening operating hours along the north-bound Central Expressway (CTE) and the south-bound Singapore River Line.



Mr Lee stressed that a "capable, effective Government" remains critical for Singapore, and the country's success could easily be lost with "bad leadership".

Singapore, he added, cannot afford "gridlock or mulfunction", such as in Belgium, which has had 45 governments in 67 years, or Japan, which has changed prime ministers six times within five years.

Mr Lee also spoke on the need to strengthen and update Singapore's political institutions, noting that some Members of Parliament had suggested reviewing the Non-Constituency MPs, Nominated MPs and Elected Presidency schemes in the light of the new political landscape, which today includes a record nine Opposition MPs, including three NCMPs, in Parliament.

Mr Lee said there was a need to see how the NCMP and NMP schemes worked out before deciding whether further changes were needed.

Noting that Opposition MPs had declared that they would be responsible and constructive, Mr Lee said that the Government "will hold them to their word".

Even as he welcomed vigorous questioning and debate, Mr Lee called on the Opposition not to just criticise what the Government did but also to put up serious alternatives to be considered.

Mr Lee said: "Do not just support popular measures, like increasing social spending or building more HDB flats, or ask the Government to deliver more. Anybody can do that!

"Also, acknowledge that these measures cost money and explain how their proposals will be funded. Speak up for necessary but unpopular measures, like immigration."

He also had this message for MPs from both sides of the political divide.

"Being principled doesn't mean not being afraid to offend the Government, because the Government is not the Emperor and doesn't chop heads off," Mr Lee said, in a reference to Workers' Party MP Chen Show Mao's suggestion earlier this week that the relationship between the ruling People's Action Party and the WP could be akin to that of the enlightened Emperor Tang Taizong and his famous courtier Wei Zheng during the Tang Dynasty.

"Being principled means not being afraid to tell unpalatable truths to Singaporeans because voters are the sovereign and they can vote against you. If you have conviction, if you believe in it and passion, then persuade people to follow you. Don't lead from the rear," Mr Lee added.

PM's goal: No one gets left behind

By Janice Heng, the Straits Times, 21 Oct 2011

IN HIS first appearance before the new Parliament elected in the watershed May general election, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong pledged to make maintaining social mobility a top priority of his new government.

A society 'in which no one is left behind' was his objective, he declared, and one made particularly urgent by an apparent trend of rising social stratification.

Speaking for more than an hour before an attentive House, PM Lee set out what was needed to realise the vision of a better life for all - a vision first painted in President Tony Tan Keng Yam's address at the opening of Parliament last week.

This, he indicated, would be 'the next chapter' in the ongoing Singapore Story.

One requirement was an inclusive society in which everyone benefits from progress, 'has a say, a stake and a sense of belonging', and aspires to do better.

He placed this at the top of his list of three requirements, the other two being a vibrant economy and constructive politics.

The challenge to creating an inclusive society is income inequality, now 'starker than before', and the accompanying social stratification in which, as he noted, 'the children of successful people are doing better, the children of less successful people are doing less well'.

'Fewer children from lower-income families are rising to the top of the heap,' he observed.

Citing his own encounters at the Meet-the-People Sessions that he holds in Ang Mo Kio GRC, where he is MP, he described residents who were 'desperate, anxious, and worried about themselves'.

'But we worry more for their children,' he said. 'Because when they have no home, no place to go, studying in the void deck, how do you go from that to the kid dreaming in a lab to be the next Nobel Prize winner?

'It's a big gap. It exists in Singapore, sharper than before.'

This was a sharp contrast to a generation ago, when people were poor but many of their children went to university and became professionals.

PM Lee told the House that after the general election, he tasked Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who is now Deputy Prime Minister as well as Manpower Minister, to do a comprehensive and multi-ministry review of social issues and social policies.

One result of the review was the prioritisation of social mobility.

'The first priority we would have in dealing with (social issues) is to strive to maintain social mobility, to create the best opportunities for our people to progress, and to encourage people to make maximum efforts for themselves.'

Singapore's prosperity was based on self-reliance, and that remains the right direction, he added.

That is why the Government has put a major emphasis on education and training, from focusing on good-quality, affordable preschool education to enhancing access to higher education.

But institutions alone do not suffice. Though institutions may be in place, a 'social gap' between different strata of society will be very damaging, he said. 'So we must keep our society open, egalitarian, informal.'

Strengthening Singaporeans' ability to succeed is thus the Government's first approach towards an inclusive society.

A second, complementary approach is to strengthen social safety nets.

The Government has been doing more of this, said PM Lee. He gave the examples of Workfare and ComCare, two schemes to help the poor that were created in the past five years, and said these would be enhanced as necessary.

Mr Lee added that the Government would look into how it can help employ low-wage workers by having its agencies practise 'best-sourcing' - awarding contracts to firms with good employment practices rather than the lowest price quotation.

In addition, though the Government's focus is now on those at the bottom, it will 'extend the support beyond the low end, selectively, where it's deserved and justified, to the not-so-poor', he said.

These are lower-middle and middle-income workers who do not need regular help, but may need assistance if they run into difficulties.

Such difficulties may include the illness of elderly parents, which can be catastrophic even for middle-income families.

That is why the Government is paying attention to long-term care for the chronically ill and elderly, said PM Lee.

The Government will also make sure that public housing is affordable even for lower-income households - for home ownership is a way 'to level up the less successful and to give them a valuable asset and a retirement nest egg'.

Unfortunately, a minority of Singaporeans have not taken care of this asset, he added. Some households have sold their flats prematurely to get out of debt - ending up homeless. This is a serious problem which the Government must find some way to address, he said.

The third aspect of making an inclusive society is enabling Singaporeans to age with dignity and grace, said PM Lee, noting that the ageing problem is 'happening almost before our eyes'.

Eyeing his fellow parliamentarians, he quipped: 'I don't just mean when we look in the mirror.'

He recalled making a special effort to visit Radin Mas five years ago, when preparing for a National Day Rally speech that touched on ageing. Radin Mas had an older age profile than the national norm.

Today, he no longer has to visit Radin Mas, but can simply look at his own constituency of Ang Mo Kio. Though residents are active and happy, they are 'visibly greyer than five years ago'.

Statisticians estimate that in 2030, one in five Singaporeans will be older than 65. The Government is preparing for the 'silver tsunami' of an ageing society by helping the elderly work longer, and containing and sharing health-care costs.

Health-care services will also be built up - not just more hospitals and nursing homes, but also community and home care.

All these measures are essential to help lower-income Singaporeans, enable more of their children to do well, and prepare for an ageing society, said PM Lee.

'The trends themselves will be hard to reverse. But what we do will make a major difference and will help to ensure that nobody is left behind.'

However, even as he spelt out the Government's approach to building an inclusive society, he cautioned that programmes to achieve the goals need to be effective, as 'in social spending, it is quite possible for more money to make things worse'.

The examples of the United States health-care system and beleaguered European welfare states show that 'more spending is not always better'.

While he was confident that the Government had adequate resources to 'do what is necessary' for the next five years, 'beyond that, it will depend on how much our needs and our programmes go'.

'But I can tell you that if we do all the things which have been mooted over the last few days in this Chamber, we will not have to wait five years before you think about raising taxes,' he said, to laughter from the House.