SELF-CREATED NOTES KEY PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNANCE

- Leadership is Key- Meritocracy- Anticipate change and stay relevant(forward-looking)- A stake for everyone, opportunities for all

Leadership is Key

A good leader must be morally upright and capable of leading the country. One important value among leaders is honesty. An honest and capable leader will earn the respect of people and people will be confident in the leader’s ability. However, leaders are hard to come by. Potential leaders are selected based on their ability, talent and good character and then groomed to become future leaders. One example of a good leader is Mr Liu Thai Ker, the former chairman of the National Arts Council(NAC). Under his leadership, local talents had more opportunities to take part in international co-productions and collaborations. Events like Singapore Art Festival were organized for better appreciation of arts in Singapore.

If the leaders are corrupt, they can embezzle funds and increase taxes to an unreasonable price for people. They will have a bias attitude towards people and many people will not get as many benefits as the others. Singapore will be in chaos and riots will break out. Hence, good leadership is very important. Leaders must also do what is right rather than what is popular. For example, many people did not like Newater as they were uncomfortable drinking processed sewage water. But the government still implemented Newater as Singapore needed a reliable and steady water source for everybody.

Anticipate Change and stay relevant

The government needs to be forward-looking in their decisions. For example, NEWater was implemented because the water trade agreements Singapore signed with Malaysia will expire in the near future and they had to find a steady and reliable water source. Many people disliked NEWater as they were uncomfortable with drinking processed sewage water. The government convinced the public that NEWater was safe for drinking through channels like the newspaper and the internet. Another example is the integrated resorts. Tourism is an important part of Singapore’s economy and the tourist industry in Singapore has faced harsh competition from other countries with major tourist attractions. Hence, the government decided to build 2 integrated resorts at Marina Bay and Sentosa in 2005. Singapore has to be open to new ideas and take risks. For example, students have to think of creative ideas and upgrade their knowledge and skills to stay employable and contribute to the nation.

Meritocracy

Meritocracy is a system that rewards hard work and talent. When people are rewarded for their abilities, they are encouraged to do well. For example, students who perform well in co-curricular activities and studies are rewarded. Edusave scholarships and bursaries reward the top ten percent of the school cohort. Meritocracy gives everyone an equal opportunity to achieve their best and be rewarded for their performance. Surplus from Singapore’s growth is also shared among Singaporeans as a reward for their hard work. For example, the Progress Package in 2006 helped lower income individuals with living expenses and rewarded low-wage workers for their hard work. This ensures that Singapore will always have talents. If meritocracy is not implemented, then people will have a bias attitude and some will not have equal opportunities to succeed. Some people may also have to work hard as slaves for the rest of the freeloaders for their living expenses.

A stake for everyone, opportunities for all

This makes people have a sense of belonging to the country as they are involved in decision-making that concerns Singapore’s development. For example, the government wanted the public’s opinions on the issue of casinos in integrated resorts. Some liked it as the tourism industry will get a boost and some disliked it as it can cause negative social impact like having bad gambling habits. The government considered their opinions and came up with a solution to solve their concerns, like having a national framework to deal with gambling. This makes the people feel important to the country and they will want to contribute more to the nation. However, decisions by the government still have to be made based on the principles of governance. If this principle was not implemented, the government will keep making new laws/buildings without caring about the people’s opinions. Over time, the people will start feeling unhappy and ignored and will be inclined to contribute less to nation.

TRAFFICArea Licensing Scheme(ALS)

This is a measure introduced to manage traffic flow. Motorists had to pay for the use of certain roads in Singapore and these roads were in areas designated as Restricted Zones. Gantries were set up to monitor motorists who drove into the Restricted Zones. When ALS first started, many were unhappy about the increased costs of driving into the Central Business District (CBD). However, it was quite successful in ensuring smooth traffic flow in CBD and people eventually supported this scheme. This scheme was later replaced by Electronic Road Pricing(ERP) as ALS was labour-intensive and the person monitoring the motorists may not be able to spot all the motorists entering the restricted zones if they are travelling too fast and stop those without the ALS label. These motorists could slip past the gantry without paying to enter the Restricted Zone.

Electronic Road Pricing(ERP)

As technology became advanced, the transport system also needed to use up-to-date technology, hence, ERP was formed. ERP was very convenient as it was automated and it encouraged people to plan routes and take other roads to reach their destination. This was effective in deterring people from entering CBD. However, it cannot be placed everywhere to control traffic as people will start to complain about the prices they have to pay every day. If everyone is willing to pay the small fee to get into CBD, then the ERP will become useless. Hence, COE(Vehicle Quota System) was introduced.

Park –and- Ride Scheme

This was the most unsuccessful scheme to control traffic in CBD. Under this scheme, motorists can park their vehicles at specific carparks which were just outside CBD and from then, they can take public transport to enter CBD. It was unsuccessful as it was a waste of time, effort and money. Motorists could just take the public transport straight from their starting point to the CBD, instead of parking their vehicles in the carparks and then taking public transport. This scheme was a serious mistake as a lot of money has been invested in this and land allocated for the specific carparks were wasted and the shuttle buses involved in this scheme had little passengers.

Vehicle Quota System(VQS) and Certificate of Entitlement(COE)

There was a sharp increase in ownership of cars during the 1990s as people could afford to buy cars. Hence, VQS determined the number of new motor vehicles allowed for registration. One of the ways to administer VQS was implementing COE. A specific number of new cars are issued based on the quota set by Land Transport Authority(LTA) and this limited the amount of cars purchased. Buyers must first bid for the COE before they buy the car. LTA sets the quota for the month and the quota premium based on the bids received. Successful bidders will pay the quota premium before they can purchase the car. The COE will last for 10 years and it has to be renewed if the owner still wants the car.

SINGAPORE’S POPULATION POLICYWhy did Singapore’s population grow rapidly in 1950s & 60s?

It was the period of the post war ‘baby boom’ and Singapore was peaceful. People were confident in their future and decided to have a bigger family of about 6-7 children. Having more children was also believed to be security in old age. Population grew too rapidly and policies had to be introduced to curb it before it imposed too many problems.

Problems of rapid population growth

There was a high rate of unemployment. There was not enough education and healthcare facilities for everyone. There was also a shortage of housing.

Policies to control population growth

From 1966-1981, 3 five year plans were implemented. The first plan emphasized the need for smaller families. The second plan wanted couples to ‘stop at 2’ children. The third plan was to maintain the replacement level of 2.1 children. More measures were taken to control number of children. No more paid maternity leaves were given to the 3rd and subsequent children. No priority will be given to large families in allocation of flats. No income tax relief will be given for 4th and subsequent children. Delivery charges in hospitals increased with each child.

A need to promote population growth from 1980s onwards

There was a declining birth rate by 1980. There were increased costs for living and people married at a later age as they were busy with their jobs. More jobs were available for people and there was a need for a larger workforce to assist in Singapore’s development. The replacement value was very small and a small population will surface, causing many problems. A small population results in lesser talents. This will not be attractive to multinational companies as they may need to pay more to recruit Singaporeans compared to the large labour market in other countries like China. Singapore will also be less attractive as it will have a small consumer market. Ageing population will surface and more resources have to be used to take care of them. There will also be less men to recruit for National Service and this will weaken Singapore’s security force.

Government policies after 1980s to promote population growth

The Graduate’s Mother Scheme was introduced as the then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew felt that the education level of the parents directly influenced the performance of their children in school. He wanted more graduates to have children such that the future workforce will be more educated. However it received negative response from the less-educated people. They felt discriminated against the policy. Many parents complained as there were examples of ministers who came from less-educated families and the less educated parents often needed more incentives than the graduate mothers who could support themselves.

The 3 or more if you can afford it scheme encouraged people to have larger families if they can afford the expenses. Medisave could be used to pay for delivery charges of the first 3 children. However, there were still many problems. The cost of bringing up children is very high as there is an increase in tuition fees, school fees. Medical care is also very expensive and the Medisave accounts will be used up easily after just 1 or 2 hospitalisations. Singaporeans tended to stay single or have small families so that they have more money to spend. More children were born in 1988 as it was the year of the dragon which Chineses deem it as an auspicious year. The fertility rate fell after 1988. This scheme had limited success.

Other pro-family measures were available. Equalised medical benefits were available, meaning that both parents can make medical claims from their employers. Maternity leave was extended from 8 weeks to 12 weeks. An income tax relief of $3000 was given if a grandparent was helping the couple take care of their child. A 5 day work week for the Civil Service is implements to allow for better work life balance.

Attracting foreign talent was a way of enhancing Singapore’s competitiveness while it waited for the pro-family measures show positive results. In 1989, the immigration policy was less strict and immigrants could enter Singapore more easily as they had subsidized housing, good education package for immigrants’ children. Hence foreigners will like staying in the nation and start to become permanent residents.