1. Term 1 Week 1
Governance in Singapore (Part 2)
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2. Recap!
★ Nation vs. State
e.g. e.g.
Nation
Palestine; common State Singapore(?);
Tibet identity self-governing Hong Kong;
among political entities
its people Vatican City
Nation-States
e.g.
Japan; France; Germany
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3. Recap!
★ Role of a government
• Establish a stable government
• Nation- building
• Meeting the needs of its people
• Maintain sovereignty
★ System of governance
• Legislative
• Executive
• Judiciary
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4. Lesson Objectives
✦ Singapore’s FOUR guiding principles of
governance
• Leadership: ‘Leadership is Key’
• Forward-Looking: ‘Anticipate Change and
Stay Relevant’
• Meritocracy: ‘Reward for work and Work
for Reward’
• Inclusiveness: ‘A Stake for Everyone,
Opportunities for All’
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5. Leadership: ‘Leadership
is Key’
✴Leaders must be...
• Honest/ incorrupt/ morally upright
• have the integrity to do what is right
• win the trust and respect of Singaporeans
• Capable
• maintain stability in the government
• do what is right and not what is popular
with the people
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6. Leadership: ‘Leadership
is Key’
✴ Careful selection and special grooming of potential
leaders
✴ Examples
• Ong Teng Cheong, who was persuaded by Lee Kuan Yew to join
the PAP in 1976
• Liu Thai Ker, former chairman of the National Arts Council
• Helped the Singapore arts scene to progress as he
provided more opportunities for local talent to
participate in international collaborations and co-
productions, such as the Singapore’s Writer’s Festival and
Singapore Arts Festival
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7. Ong Teng Cheong,
5th President of
Singapore Singapore’s Arts Singapore’s
(1993- 1999 Festival, Writers Festival,
2010 2011
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8. Forward-Looking: ‘Anticipate
Change and Stay Relevant’
✴ Need to be forward looking in
order to make decisions in
anticipation of future challenges
✴ Example 1: NEWater
• Lack of water resources in
Singapore + Singapore’s water
agreement with Malaysia ending in
2061 --> Need to ensure self-
sufficiency in water supply
• Creation of NEWater and
desalinated water
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9. Forward-Looking: ‘Anticipate
Change and Stay Relevant’
• Example 2: Integrated Resorts
• Singapore’s dependency on tourism +
Competition from neighbouring countries -->
Need to improve tourist industry
• Building of IRs at Marina Bay and Sentosa from
2005
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10. Forward-Looking: ‘Anticipate
Change and Stay Relevant’
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11. Forward-Looking: ‘Anticipate
Change and Stay Relevant’
• Example 3: Creating a culture that is open to risk-
taking
• Openness to new ideas
• Willingness to take risks
• Providing opportunities for students to stretch
their creativity potential, such as the Tan Kah Kee
Young Inventors Competition
• Ensures that Singaporeans constantly upgrade
their knowledge and skills so that they can
contribute to the country’s economic growth
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12. Meritocracy: ‘Reward for Work
and Work for Reward’
✴ Rewarding of hard work and talent so that people are
encouraged to do well
✴ Helps to give everybody in society an equal
opportunity to achieve their best, regardless of race,
religion or socio-economic background
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13. Meritocracy: ‘Reward for Work
and Work for Reward’
✴ Examples
• Edusave Scholarship
and Merit Bursary
Schemes to reward
the top 10% and 25%
of students in schools
respectively
• Annual ‘Grow and Share’ Progress Package in which
surplus from Singapore’s growth shared among as
Singaporeans as a form of reward for their hard work
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14. Inclusiveness: ‘A Stake for
Everyone, Opportunities for All’
✴ Giving Singaporeans a say in decision-making
✴ Helps to develop a greater sense of belonging
to the country
✴ Some avenues for feedback include:
• Straits’ Times Forum Page
• REACH (http://www.reach.gov.sg/)
• Meet-the-MP Sessions
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15. Inclusiveness: ‘A Stake for
Everyone, Opportunities for All’
✴ Example: Issue of casinos in IRs
• Government consulted
Singaporeans on the issue
• Singaporeans voiced their
concerns
• Government decided to go
ahead with the setting up of
casinos in the IRs, but promised
to impose stringent social
safeguards for the casinos
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16. National Council on Problem Gambling Problem Gambling Forum 2012
Question:*The*government*not*only*went*ahead*with*the*idea*of*having*a*
casino*despite*negative*public*feedback;*it*even*proposed*two*Integrated*
Resorts*with*casinos.*Does*this*mean*that*it*is*even*pointless*for*the*public*to*
provide*feedback*to*the*government? *
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