Dons should 'critique policies': Ngiam Tong Dow

Ngiam Tong Dow says civil servants tend to focus on output rather than outcome

By Lisabel Ting, The Straits Times, 9 Nov 2012

THE civil service has a tendency to focus on output and not on outcome, former permanent secretary Ngiam Tong Dow said yesterday.

This can lead to difficulty dealing with issues such as immigration, which requires "sustainable growth, and not just numbers" of people coming in, he told reporters. Mr Ngiam used this example to illustrate why universities should play a role in critiquing public policies and analysing their long-term consequences.

In a speech at the third China-India-Singapore Dialogue on Higher Education, he told a 160-strong crowd: "Unlike the civil service, university dons are detached from routine administration. They would have the time to ask what I call 'What if we succeed?' type of questions."

Citing family planning programmes of the 1960s, Mr Ngiam said: "Within two decades, our rate of birth plunged from a high of 3.6 to 1.2 today, well below the replacement level. So, from a situation of having too many mouths to feed, we now have too few young people to support the old who are living longer."

The best way to reverse this trend is to "appeal to the innate love for children which exists in all of us", added Mr Ngiam, who is the pro-chancellor of the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Immigration is not the answer, he said, adding: "Knowing the Singapore psyche, I fear that we will resort to rapid massive immigration to make up for our declining birth rates. We may succeed beyond our wildest dreams and wake up to a nightmare instead."

Speaking to reporters after his speech, Mr Ngiam said: "The civil service is paid for output, and not for outcome... There is a difference. What we want is sustainable growth and not just numbers."

He also warned the country to be careful not to produce more university graduates than it needs. He said: "I think we are now going overboard, frankly speaking. In the past, we were short of university graduates. During my time, only under 5 per cent of us went to university. Now, it's gone up to about 40 per cent."

Yesterday's event featured two speakers from Singapore, two from China and two from India. One of the speakers from Singapore, NUS vice-president of university and global relations Lily Kong, said Singapore's students must be "broadly educated and globally prepared". She also emphasised the importance of a liberal arts programme.

She said: "In the context of the United States, and the West generally, a liberal arts education is often the cornerstone of broad-based education."

Thinkers 'should join conversation'
Former top civil servant Ngiam urges academics to 'help the State ask the right questions'
by Ng Jing Yng, TODAY, 9 Nov 2012

Known for speaking his mind on national policies after his retirement from the Civil Service, former Permanent Secretary Ngiam Tong Dow yesterday called on academics in tertiary institutions here to join the fray on public discourse.

Speaking at the 3rd China-India-Singapore dialogue on higher education hosted by the National University of Singapore (NUS), the NUS Pro-Chancellor challenged the Singapore-based academics among the 160-strong audience - which included academics from overseas institutions - to "help the State to ask the right questions".

Mr Ngiam, 75, argued that this is key to the Republic achieving sustainable economic growth.

Rather than boosting population numbers, what Singapore needs to do is to increase its knowledge base - and, in that regard, universities have to do more than just teach "skills and technical knowledge".

Urging university faculty members to offer views on national issues, Mr Ngiam noted that "unlike the Civil Service, university dons are detached from the Executive".

Said Mr Ngiam: "By elucidating different dimensions of a national problem, our thinkers in ivory towers can indeed enlighten the legislature to make (better) decisions for Singapore."

Speaking to reporters later, Mr Ngiam reiterated that with academics participating in the national discourse, the process could eventually lead to a "more sensible conclusion".

While he acknowledged that some academics may be worried about speaking out on national policies, he stressed that "there is a difference between critiquing and criticising" - the former means looking at things in a different way, he said.

Citing the example of Shanghai, where top brains across disciplines come together to study a local issue, Mr Ngiam said universities here should not research for its own sake.

Citing Singapore's family planning challenges, Mr Ngiam suggested that apart from sociologists, other thought leaders could provide their views, possibly resulting in an inter-disciplinary solution.

University professors TODAY spoke to agreed with Mr Ngiam that academia has a role to play in spurring public discussion.

Nanyang Technological University sociologist Kwok Kian Woon reiterated that faculty members can raise wider and deeper questions, and contribute informed and non-partisan views.

Singapore Management University (SMU) law lecturer Eugene Tan, who has commented extensively on public issues, cited the fear factor as a possible deterrent for academics to speak out.

But, he pointed out: "Precisely because tax-payers contribute substantively to the funding of the autonomous universities here, there is the need for universities and academics not to be stuck in the proverbial ivory towers."

Also, some academics would be uncomfortable with putting forward their views when they do not have all the facts and figures, Asst Prof Tan said. At the same time, some senior faculty "frown upon their colleagues being involved", he said. "They regard such involvement as purely non-academic and not in keeping with the academic norms," he added.

NUS transport analyst Lee Der-Horng, who has also spoken out regularly on transport issues, said he found it strange that compared to other countries, academics here are not necessarily thought leaders who drive discussion on public issues.

Dr Lee, who is born in Taiwan, said he did not feel that his status as a foreigner hampered his ability to contribute to Singapore's national discourse. "People have posted nasty comments online … but I say what I feel and think before I make the comment," he said.

SMU political science lecturer Bridget Welsh felt that "there has not been enough signals that there is acceptance of different points of view".

She suggested that the Ministry of Education assess universities based on their contributions to policies, and facilitate more exchanges between faculty members and bureaucrats.

Outcomes, numbers not incompatible

MR NGIAM Tong Dow's speech ("Dons should 'critique policies'"; Nov 9) reportedly stated that civil servants tend to focus on outputs rather than outcomes.

In my years of public service, I know that we have always tried to see beyond mere inputs and outputs to real outcomes.

Hence, in technical education, it was not about the numbers of students graduating, but the dignity that well-paying and fulfilling jobs conferred on them.

It is not by chance that Singapore's youth unemployment is among the lowest in the world and there is no tumult of frustrated young people on the streets.

In libraries, it was not about the number of items borrowed, but about creating knowledgeable and well-informed citizens who can participate fully in civil society. This was emphasised repeatedly to staff so that they understood why their jobs were important.

Public servants I worked with were continually challenged to look at the big picture and define the outcomes that mattered most.

Even so, outcomes still need to be measured. Good governance is an outcome, but how do we know we have it?

Safety is an outcome, but we still need to measure it to make progress. National security and sustainable growth are also outcomes, but what do they mean in concrete terms? Data still needs to be collected and analysed.

Even the ultimate outcome, happiness, has been deconstructed by the Bhutanese into nine domains and 33 indicators. So outcomes and numbers are not incompatible.

However, I would agree with Mr Ngiam that university professors, especially in the social sciences, must build and stake their reputations by taking independent positions on areas of national interest. Their research and publications have to be forward-looking and not merely analyses or records of the past.

N. Varaprasad (Dr)
ST Forum, 17 Nov 2012