governance in singapore

Governance in Singapore

2. Governance in Singapore

• Ensures stability in the government

• Builds a nation

• Meet’s people’s needs

• Maintains sovereignty

System of Government

• Representative Democracy

• Elections held once every 5 years

• People vote for their candidate

• Candidates with the most votes serves as a Member of Parliament (MP)

• Leader of the party with the most MPs is invited to be Prime Minister

• Prime Minister forms government

3. How does the Government work?

• Legislature– Consists of MPs and President– Makes laws

• Executive– Consists of President and Cabinet– Executes laws made by Parliament– Administers government policies

3. How does the Government work?

• Judiciary– Consists of various judges and law courts– Ensures that laws are justly carried out– Ensures laws passed do not breach the

Constitution

3.1 The Legislature

• Process of Law-making:– First Reading: Proposal– Second Reading: Reasons for the Bill– Third Reading: Bill is passed by Parliament– Submission to Presidential Council for

Minority Rights– Bill is sent to the President– Presidential Approval

3.2 The Executive

• Feedback process to Executive– Community gives feedback– MP raises the issue to respective Ministry– Ministry justifies actions or proposes

alternatives

3.3 The Judiciary

• Composition of the Judiciary– Chief Justice– Judges in law courts

• Duties of the Judiciary– Makes judgements independently– Not influenced by political leaders

4. Guiding Principles of Governance

• 4.1 Leadership is Key

• 4.2 Anticipate Change and Stay Relevant

• 4.3 Reward for Work and Work for Reward

• 4.4 A Stake for Everyone, Opportunities for All

4.1 Leadership is Key

• Honest and capable leaders needed

• Good leaders make the right decisions for the country

• Good leaders must have moral courage and integrity

• Good leaders do what is right and not what is popular


• Good leadership and governance do not occur by chance

• Potential leaders are selected and groomed

• Leaders also selected based on good character


• Honesty is highly valued in a leader

• Leaders must be incorruptible

• Incorruptible leaders win the confidence and respect of the people

• The law deals with leaders guilty of dishonest behaviour


• Good leadership needed in every segment of Singapore society

• For Example, former chairman of the National Arts Council (NAC) Mr. Liu Thai Ker– Created more opportunities for local talents– More Arts events were organised

4.2 Anticipate Change and Stay Relevant

• Need for government to be forward looking

• NEWater– Ensure self-sufficiency in water supply– Presently, Singapore depends on Malaysia– Agreements with M’sia end in 2011 and 2061– Singapore found alternative water supplies– Government communicated that NEWater

was safe


• Integrated Resorts– Tourism has always been important for

S’pore’s economy– Recently, Tourism faces more competition– More Asian countries developing tourist

attractions– Singapore needs to improve the tourist

industry– In April 2005, the government decided to build

two Integrated Resorts


• Taking Risks– Singapore has to be open to new ideas– Singapore needs to be willing to take risks– Students can come up with creative and

innovative ideas– Every Singaporean needs to upgrade

knowledge and skills to stay employable

4.3 Reward for Work and Work for Reward

• Meritocracy is key to this principle• Meritocracy is a system which rewards hard

work and talent• Reward encourages people to do well• Example: Exceptional students are rewarded • Meritocracy given an equal opportunity to all to

achieve their best• Surplus from Singapore’s growth has also been

shared as a reward for hard work

4.4 A Stake for Everyone, Opportunities for All

• A greater sense of belonging is created when people have a say in decision-making

• More opportunities have been created to involve people in decision-making

• Example: Consultation with the people on having a casino

5.1 Measures to control the flow of Traffic

• Area Licensing Scheme– 1970s Singapore experienced rapid growth– Traffic volume was especially high during

peak hours– Government made plans to manage traffic

before it became too serious


• Area Licensing Scheme– Area Licensing Scheme (ALS) introduced– Motorists had to pay for use of certain roads– Roads bounded within areas designated as

Restricted Zones– Gantries set up to monitor motorists


• Area Licensing Scheme– To support ALS, other measure introduced

• Improving bus services• Increasing cost of parking city areas• Providing park-and-ride facilities

– When ALS started, motorists were unhappy– However ALS reduced the number of cars– Overall, ALS was successful in ensuring

smooth traffic flow


• Electronic Road Pricing– ALS successful but room for improvement– Improved technology = more efficient ways of

monitoring and regulating– Technology enabled transport system to stay

relevant– Inconvenient & labour-intensive ALS replaced

by Electronic Road Pricing (ERP)– ERP more efficient and effective


• Park-and-Ride Scheme– Introduced at same time as ALS– Motorists park vehicles at specific car parks

outside the CBD– Motorists would use public transport from the

car parks– Fewer vehicles in the CBD


• Park-and-Ride Scheme– Seemed like a good idea but not successful– What went wrong?– Motorists switched to public transport or drove

in before 7.30am– Not worthwhile for motorists to leave cars

parked outside city all day


• Park-and-Ride Scheme– Serious oversight– Millions of dollars invested– Land allocated for car park not used– Shuttle bus companies set up for this scheme

not able to survive– However, scheme still used today– Needs of people change and what did not

work in the past may work today


• Vehicle Quota System (VQS)– Sharp increase in car ownership in 1990s– Urgent need to control car population– Land Transport Authority (LTA) determined

the number of new vehicles allowed for registration

– One of the ways to administer VQS was through the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) system


• Vehicle Quota System (VQS)– Specific number of new cars are issued based on a

quota by LTA– Car buyers must bid for COE before purchase of a car– LTA sets the quota for the month and quota premium

based on bids received– Successful bidders will pay for the COE– COE entitles vehicle ownership for 10 years– COE must be renewed after 10 years if owner still

wants to use the car

6.2 Why was there a need to promote population growth?

• Declining birth rate from the 1980s– By 1980, fertility rate hit 1.82 children per

woman (replacement level is 2.1)– Family planning policy to reduce birth rate

worked– Other factors affecting birth rate include

• Increasing costs of living• People marrying later


• Declining birth rate from the 1980s– More jobs created in industries and larger

workforce needed– Manpower also needed for national defence– Number of babies born was below

replacement value– Need to re-examine the population policy

because of potential problems of a small population


• Unattractive to Multinational companies– With a small population, Singapore not able to

produce enough talent– Talented people needed to sustain

development– Multinational corporations (MNCs) would find

it difficult and expensive to recruit Singaporeans compared to China

– Singapore would also be less attractive because of smaller consumer market


• Ageing Population– Fewer babies means fewer young people.– Number of older people becomes

proportionately larger– Country will face an ageing population– More resources would have to used to take

care of senior citizens

6.3 How did the government promote population growth?

• The Graduate Mothers Scheme– PM Lee felt that female graduates should have more

children– Graduate Mothers Scheme introduced in 1984– Scheme sparked debate and unhappiness– Less-educated were unhappy as they felt neglected.– Not all government policies win the support of the

people– Scheme was withdrawn on year later


• Three or more if you can afford it– Changes made to population policy in 1987– Aimed to bring replacement level to 2.1– Parents encouraged to have three or more

children if they could afford it– Government adopted a cautious approach

because of recession in 1985– If too many babies were born, serious

problems might arise if families could not cope financially


• Three or more if you can afford it– To relieve financial burden, government introduced

certain measures such as• Allowing use of Medisave to pay for delivery charges

– However some people felt the assistance wasn’t enough

– Measures had limited success– Despite publicity campaigns, many married couples

continued to have only one or two children– Many Singaporeans still married later or remain

unmarried


• Other pro-family measures– Equalised medical benefits– Grandparent caregiver relief– 5-day work week for Civil Service– Extended maternity leave


• Attracting foreign talent– Need to enhance competitiveness– Foreign Talent (FT) helps boost quality of

manpower– FT helps create more jobs and boost creativity– Govt relaxed immigration policy in 1989– Easier entry, subsidised housing and

attractive education package offered to FT


• Attracting foreign talent– Govt hoped that more FTs would take up

permanent residence or citizenship– With more FTs, Singapore has become more

cosmopolitan– Different nationalities living in Singapore have

enriched Singapore’s culture

7.1 How will an ageing population impact Singapore?

Demand for more healthcare and social services

Ageing of population

Reduction in competitiveness Strain on working population

Smaller security force

7.2 Meeting the challenges of an ageing population

• Senior citizens as assets to society– By 2030, 19% of Singaporeans will be over 65

years old– Challenge to ensure that seniors citizens

remain contributing members of society– Senior citizens have valuable skills,

knowledge, talent and work experience– They can add value to public and private

organisations and boost family life


• ‘Many Helping Hands’ Approach– Everyone has a part to play in helping prepare for an

ageing population– Individual, family and community have roles– Complement govt’s efforts– Sharing of responsibility reduces govt’s burden– Govt can rely less on increasing taxes to care for

elderly– With shared responsibility, resources are saved to

meet other needs of the nation


• Individual responsibility– Individual ensures that he ages gracefully

through lifelong planning– Maintaining a healthy lifestyle by watching

diet and exercising regularly– Be financially prepared for life in old age– Attending talks and reading relevant materials

to plan for retirement


• Family support– Strong, stable families bring social stability– Family is main source of emotional, social and

financial support– Govt introduced measures to strengthen family bonds– Senior Citizens’ Week held annually in Nov– Encourages elderly to stay active– Promotes positive attitude towards ageing– Grandparents’ Day also held in Nov– Bring families together to show appreciation for

elderly


• Community Help– Community can give social and emotional

support and provide healthcare and social services

– Govt provides subsidies to voluntary welfare organisations who help senior citizens

– Example: Home Nursing Foundation for Elders

– These organisations involve members of the community to help look after needs of elderly


• Community Help– Some community organisations also offer free

health checks and organise recreational activities

– These services and activities help senior citizens remain physically, mentally and socially active


• Government Support– Tribunal for the Maintenance of Parents– Tax Relief– Central Provident Fund (CPF)– Public Housing Schemes

governance in singapore

Documents

keygood leadership

government work

countrygood leaders

integritygood leaders

chancepotential leaders

law courtsduties

law courtsensures

cabinetexecutes laws