Intentional Public Engagement
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Intentional Public Engagement: Making Public Policy Relevant for The Next Phase of Bicultural Families in Singapore Government- Citizen Relations Paulin Tay Straughan & ISSUE Yeoh Chee Yan Kharina Zainal Narratives and the The Nature of Public Trust 15 J Institutional Imagination in Government U 6 NE 201 Catherine Fieschi A Conversation with Paul Light 2 / ETHOS is a biannual publication of the Civil Service College, Singapore. It aims to provide thought leadership, insight and context on a wide range of public policy issues of interest to Singapore. ETHOS is circulated to the policymaking community in Singapore as well as to a select international readership. It is also available online at: www.cscollege.gov.sg/ethos We welcome contributions, suggestions and Letters to the Editor. The editorial team reserves the right to select, edit and publish articles according to its editorial policy. All correspondence should be directed to: The Editor-in-Chief, ETHOS Civil Service College, Singapore 31 North Buona Vista Road Singapore 275983 Fax: +65 6775 8207 Email: [email protected] EDITORIAL TEAM Alvin Pang – Editor-in-Chief | Sheila Ng, Liza Lee – Editors ©2016 Civil Service College, Singapore The mission of the Civil Service College (CSC) Singapore is to develop people for a first-class Public Service. CSC was inaugurated as a statutory board under the Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office, in October 2001. As the public sector’s core institution for training, learning, research and staff development, CSC builds strategic capacity in governance, leadership, public administration and management for a networked government in Singapore. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Editor-in-Chief, ETHOS. The opinions and views expressed in ETHOS are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Civil Service College or the Public Service Division. ISSN: 1793-3773 ETHOS / 1 Contents Issue 15, June 2016 4 Editorial 38 Public Communication and Engagement in China: 7 Intentional Public Engagement: Lessons for Singapore The Next Phase of Tan Li San & Lim Chee Kia Government-Citizen Relations Yeoh Chee Yan 44 The Challenge of Public Communications 13 Engaging Citizens in the Review of James Button’s Speechless: Digital Age A Year in My Father’s Business Cindy Tan By Vernie Oliveiro 22 When the Government 48 Narratives and the Goes Online Institutional Imagination Bertha Henson Catherine Fieschi 29 Communicating to Our 53 Race ... or Erase? Pioneer Generation Ngiam Siew Ying Lai Szu Hao 58 Making Public Policy Relevant for Bicultural Families in Singapore Paulin Tay Straughan & Kharina Zainal 2 / 63 The Nature of Public Trust 82 Uniquely Singapore, Uniquely CPF in Government Heidi Chan, Eng Soon Khai & Laura Lim An Interview with Paul Light 91 Risk-Ready Leadership 69 Survey of Fairness Perceptions in The ETHOS Roundtable with Mr Nikhil Seth, Singapore Public Policy Ms Stephanie Foster and Mr Said Faisal Khanh Do & Sharon Tham ETHOS / 3 EDITORIAL f the key constituents of society, the commercial environment, for example, O public sector is the most directly that we can become accustomed to accountable, through the various the latest advancements in global institutions of state and the political communication — including Gmail, process, to the people and the national YouTube, Facebook, Twitter — and now good. Yet by popular reckoning it has find our own time-honoured domestic also been slowest to adapt to the shifting systems perhaps sluggish in comparison. pulse of a modern, diverse polity as Public impatience is not necessarily well as to the emerging technologies bad: it can, for example, spur greater that have enabled sweeping changes in effort and hence higher standards of the marketplace and other spheres. In service, or point to areas that warrant Singapore, this criticism may be less greater attention. At the same time, than fair — bound since the earliest it is the public sector’s accountability years of independence by the necessities that often stays its hand: it must be of nation-building and survival, our more circumspect about due process, people and their government have privacy, security and equity than profit- co-evolved an intimate and intricate, oriented corporations, for instance. Is it mutually reinforcing relationship often reasonable to expect a more educated, described as familial. empowered public, less dependent on On its part, Singapore’s public government direction than in past sector has been at the forefront of decades, to appreciate the constraints laying the groundwork — in terms of under which the public sector must infrastructure, education and other long- operate, and to parley accordingly? As term investments — that has enabled our a young nation, Singapore has yet to citizens to thrive and better determine fully cultivate the social apparatus for their own lives. It has gone about this civil public discourse that many other with characteristic purpose, yet with a developed nations have taken centuries relatively light touch: Singapore’s lively to nurture. Yet as an open society and online culture today testifies to this. globalised economy, we find ourselves It is in part because we have been able in circumstances as complex as those to support a world-class network and faced by any global city, if not more so: 4 / Editorial we must therefore be quick learners, and risk to professional integrity (p. 22). find new ways to relate to each other It may be more useful for the public civilly, productively and meaningfully sector to serve as referee, ensuring fair as a nation. and safe interaction, rather than try to Remarkably for an institution that has determine the flow of discourse, which played such a leading role in national life has grown increasingly kaleidoscopic. for decades, the public sector is taking But engagement should not be firmer steps towards more purposeful confined to the savvier, more assertive engagement and collaboration, seeking cohort of Singaporeans alone: the launch to fold the public into the governance of the Pioneer Generation Package has process in intentional and integrated demonstrated that the public sector is ways that may demand core changes still best placed to convene and scale up in the way it operates (p. 7). There efforts to reach the less well-connected is a tendency for the public sector to but no less valued members of society; it presume it knows best what is in the can also help bring different segments of broad national interest: although it often society together (in this case, different has the clearest grasp of the big picture, generations), in effective yet deeply agreement about the most pressing personal ways (p. 29). A maturing issues, or what is to be done about them, society that becomes more diverse cannot readily be assumed in society and complex can grow more robust, at large. Instead, consensus has to be if its sense of shared destiny can sought and built upon. In this, the tone accommodate these various personal and tenure of interactions will matter stories (p. 48). The challenge is to — McLuhan’s adage, that the medium do so without overgeneralising for is the message, is still worth heeding. administrative convenience: just as the While digital channels have come to Pioneer Generation is not homogenous, the fore in recent years, it still behoves neither are our ethnic communities, government agencies to pay attention families, or households (p. 53 and p. 58). to all points of contact they have with Meaningful participation generates its the public, whether online or offline, own commitment. When individual transactional or deliberative, in routine or citizens feel that their unique needs exceptional circumstances (p. 13). When and aspirations are acknowledged, the goal is to engender goodwill and that they have a place in society, they trust, particularly in realms where the are more likely to feel a stake in the government is not the primary arbiter national wellbeing, and more prepared of behaviour, transparency, humility and to contribute to the common weal. good humour seem appropriate, at little ETHOS / 5 Other articles in this issue explore the nature of public trust in government — and why Singapore should value the broad respect its institutions enjoy (p. 63), as well as perceptions of fairness in public policy, suggesting that there are many implicit, unspoken assumptions, beyond the measurable indicators, that may influence and inform public opinion, depending on whose view is asked (p. 69). The good news is that our national relations remain strong: the higher expectations placed on our Public Service reflect an underlying confidence in its capability, trustworthiness, impartiality and excellence; for the people of Singapore, ours is a government worth engaging with. This should never be taken for granted. I wish you an insightful read. Alvin Pang Editor-in-Chief ETHOS 6 / Editorial Intentional Public Engagement: The Next Phase of Government-Citizen Relations Public engagement in Singapore should become more purposeful, meaningful and integrated across traditional institutional and sectoral boundaries. BY Yeoh Chee Yan is Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. She chairs the Committee on Citizen Engagement under the PS21 Executive Committee, which provides strategic YEOH CHEE YAN guidance and coordination on whole-of-government engagement issues. ETHOS / 7 The case for more effective public for public engagement, information on engagement is clear. A government that best practices in public engagement, and has a good relationship with the public is a range of relevant tools. Singapore’s better able to formulate better policies, Civil Service College has also developed deliver better services, and achieve better a Public Engagement Competency Model outcomes for society. Well-designed to guide practitioners’ capability public engagement can help a government development, and has implemented several draw on the knowledge and wisdom of a training courses for public officers.