The Singapore Public Service and National Development
The Singapore Public Service and National Development
The Singapore Public Service and National Development
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was an important ingredient in <strong>Singapore</strong>’s development experience <strong>and</strong> in our<br />
success thus far.<br />
7. As our first priority, we had to eradicate that which is antithetical to good<br />
governance, specifically corruption. <strong>Singapore</strong> did this with strong political will,<br />
credible legislation <strong>and</strong> effective enforcement. At the same time, we built up<br />
institutional <strong>and</strong> human resource capacity building to ensure that our model of<br />
governance is forward-looking. PS21, or our <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Service</strong> in the 21 st century<br />
initiative, sought to build up a public service that was proactive rather than reactive.<br />
It tapped on the creativity of public servants <strong>and</strong> exhorted them to be responsive<br />
<strong>and</strong> to serve with excellence. We also invested heavily in building our anticipatory<br />
capacity, from our early efforts in scenario planning to the more recent setting up of<br />
the Centre for Strategic Futures: all these are aimed at developing public service<br />
capabilities in preparing for the future, in order to better address emerging strategic<br />
challenges <strong>and</strong> opportunities.<br />
8. While all these served us well, we cannot be complacent. Good governance<br />
requires that we constantly seek out ways to improve ourselves, upgrade our<br />
capabilities <strong>and</strong> better serve the needs of the people.<br />
9. <strong>The</strong> public sector could achieve greater outcomes by focusing on improving<br />
the quality of its relationship with the public. This goes beyond delivering public<br />
services in a timely <strong>and</strong> efficient manner. We can do more by investing in greater<br />
consultation <strong>and</strong> engagement with the public, as well as by involving the public more<br />
in public policy making <strong>and</strong> implementation. This will engender a greater sense of<br />
ownership by the public over issues that are close to their hearts. This consultative<br />
<strong>and</strong> collaborative approach will be more time consuming <strong>and</strong> requires greater effort<br />
to forge consensus. This is the trade-off that we must balance.<br />
10. As <strong>Singapore</strong>ans become more affluent <strong>and</strong> global in orientation, the<br />
dem<strong>and</strong>s on the public sector will change. <strong>The</strong> public sector needs to embrace the<br />
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