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Opinion 28
Ravi Veloo is an
award-winning
journalist who
has worked on
television, radio
and newspapers in Singapore
and Australia. He was on the
Boston University Journalism
Faculty as a visiting Fulbright
scholar and has won numerous
awards including the Press
Foundation of Asia’s Journalist
of the Year. He is currently
Managing Director of The
Media Campus, which conducts
media skills workshops for
spokespersons and
journalism workshops
for news organisations.
He can be reached at
ravi@themediacampus.com
UP TO NOW, SINGAPOREANS HAVE
BEEN EXPERIENCING WHOLE-OF-
GOVERNMENT IN THREE WAYS.
One is when we write a letter to
the press. Unlike most countries
on the planet, the government here
actually responds to published
feedback, especially criticism. And it
responds in one voice, having sorted
out the jurisdiction internally if the
issue involves multiple agencies.
Another is the Meet the People’s
Session. You talk to one Member of
Parliament and that should be enough for
your issue to be jockeyed to a resolution.
The third way is the one some
are abusing: The police emergency
number. It’s meant to be a Whole-of-
Government response to any security
issue, yet people call it for anything
from lost pets to their pet issues.
But now we have a more ambitious
target, the Whole-of-Government
initiative. What does it mean,
really, for the man-in-the-street?
It seems in different countries,
it means different things.
In Singapore, the focus is about
creating a more responsive government
machinery as the Public Service
Division says in its website:
“To the public, the Government is
one whole… So while each agency
is accountable for its very defi ned
and focused role, cross-agency
issues are addressed as a networked
government to provide solutions
from the customer perspective.”
Is that just about removing red tape?
The case studies featured in this issue
of Challenge showcase more than that.
Take the efforts by different agencies
on the Volvo Ocean Race, which for the
fi rst time came to Singapore this year.
They went beyond just removing red tape.
Especially the effort by the Maritime and
Port Authority of Singapore to clear the
Eastern Anchorage for the In-port Race.
There was an impressive sense of
mission there to make Singapore look
good on its fi rst outing on one of the
most prestigious international platforms
in the world. In some Western countries,
Whole-of-Government efforts include
producing a type of budget that makes
it easier for the public to digest and
discuss in the interests of democracy.
New Zealand put in a law 20 years
ago called the Public Finance Act
1989, which demands a “Whole-of-
Government account”, a unifi ed budget
for all the government departments.
Britain produced its fi rst “Whole-of-
Government accounts” a few years ago.
So you can say that “Wholeof-Government”
is basically a
conceptual tool, which doesn’t
OneGovernment,OneBill
carry only one single meaning.
That means it would help manage
expectations here if someone
were to draw a clear outline of
what’s in and what’s out.
Would it mean, for example, that the
Government would even be willing to
restructure certain agencies to achieve
effi ciencies? Or that it would be willing
to open that to public debate?
Just imagine how much we could
save on printing and postage to
hundreds of thousands of households
– not to mention carbon emissions,
and what have you – if, for example,
the television licensing authority was
redefi ned as a utility provider and
moved to the Public Utilities Board
and its next bill incorporated into the
power bill as just a couple of lines.
That’s just one thought. Four
million Singaporeans may have
many more on the subject. Who
do we talk to about this?