Virtual Local Government in Practice: * The Case of Town Councils in Singapore Brian Dollery School of Economics University of New England ARMIDALE NSW 2351 Wai Ho Leong Lin Crase Barclays Capital School of Business Level 28, One Raffles Quay La Trobe University South Tower WODONGA VIC 3689 SINGAPORE 048583 Scholars of governance have long sought to develop taxonomic systems of local government that encompass all conceivable institutional arrangements for delivering local goods and services under democratic oversight. A complete typology of this kind would include not only observable real-world municipal models, but also theoretically feasible prototypes not yet in existence. However, despite a growing literature in the area, no universally accepted taxonomy has yet been developed. Notwithstanding this gap in the conceptual literature, existing typological schema have nevertheless proved valuable for both the examination of the characteristics of actual local government systems as well as for comparative studies of different municipal institutional arrangements. For instance, Dollery and Johnson’s (2005) taxonomy of Australian local government has formed the basis of an embryonic literature that seeks to locate the many new municipal * Brian Dollery acknowledges the financial support provided by Australian Research Council Discovery Grant DP0770520. The authors would like to thank Mr Chong Weng Yong of the Singapore Housing and Development Board for his kind and valuable assistance in the research for this paper. The views expressed in the paper are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not represent the views of any organization. © Canadian Journal of Regional Science/Revue canadienne des sciences régionales, XXXI: 2 (Summer/Été 2008), 289-304. ISSN: 0705-4580 Printed in Canada/Imprimé au Canada 290 DOLLERY, LEONG AND CRASE service delivery models that are springing up across Australia. However, two of the seven models identified by Dollery and Johnson (2005) have no real-world counterparts in Australian local governance. Virtual local government is the most interesting of these two absent models since it not only has its own small literature, but also appears practically feasible. The question thus naturally arises as to whether an actual local government system exists in any other country that approximates the theoretical model of virtual municipal councils. Fortunately, the unique Singaporean system of town councils comes close to the conceptual model of virtual local governance advanced by Percy Allan (2001, 2003) and other scholars. An examination of local government in Singapore would thus throw light on both the robustness of the theoretical model itself and the characteristics of Singaporean municipal arrangements. This represents the aim of the present article. The article is divided into five main parts. First, there is a synoptic description of local government in Singapore. Then, a review is given of the various taxonomic classificatory systems for local government systems and municipal models. This is followed by an outline of the theoretical basis for Allan’s (2001, 2003) model of virtual local government. A separate section is devoted to an evaluation of Singaporean town councils in terms of the Allan model. Finally, we end with some brief concluding comments which seeks to generalize the discussion for local government systems in other jurisdictions. Local Government in Singapore The origins of the present system of local governance in Singapore can be traced back to the increasing complexities involved in the provision of public housing that accommodates a substantial majority of citizens. On 1 February 1960, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) was established as a statutory board of the Ministry of National Development to improve on the hitherto unsatisfactory rate of large-scale public housing construction. The HDB was established with two primary purposes in mind: to provide adequate housing for lower and middle- income households, largely in the form of apartments, and to provide management services for public housing (Wong and Yeh 1985). However, with around half a million flats provided in the first 25 years of operation of the HDB, the provision of adequate management services had become increasingly complex. Despite advantages accruing to a single large organization generating these services, it was argued that this had given rise to “a lack of opportunities for public housing residents to participate in the management of their own estates and to establish a sense of belonging and identity” (Lim Lan 1996: 2). Accordingly, it was decided to institute a system of town councils each of which would manage their own estates. The rationale for the establishment of town councils thus appears to have been two-fold, with the twin aims of “‘educating’ public housing residents and inculcating more responsibility among voters as well as an effort at decentralizing the management of public housing estates” (Ooi 1990: 4). On 1 September 1984, three pilot town councils were created. Their success VIRTUAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN PRACTICE 291 led directly to the Town Councils Act (TCA) of 1988 that formed the legislative basis for a fully-fledged system of town councils across Singapore. The new system emerged in three distinct phases: 9 Phase I councils were created in November 1988; 9 Phase II councils came into being in July 1989; and 9 Phase III councils materialized in July 1990. By March 1991, town councils had assumed management of all public housing estates (Ooi 1997). However, by 1997, the number of councils had been pared back to 16 (Ooi 2003: 167). A town council can be established for a single national Parliamentary constituency or for a multiple Parliamentary constituency (GRC). It consists of a Chairman (who must be an MP) and not more than ten appointed members for each elected MP to a maximum of thirty members. The Chairman appoints and dismisses all appointed councilors, presides over meetings, and signs annual financial statements. Town councils appoint committees to deal with defined tasks and they enjoy the delegated powers of a town council and operate under Town Council Financial Rules. Committee functions include obtaining feedback on residents and business, promoting council activities, providing maintenance services, improving the physical environment, and handling budgetary matters. With respect to the implementation and operation of council policy, each town council is a body corporate and appoints a Town Council Secretary to assume responsibility for the administration and management of its affairs. A council is empowered to employ staff directly or appoint a managing agent. In practice, town councils typically hire a managing agent to conduct their business, generally one of two estate management firms originally established by the HDB (Ooi 2003: 163). The process of competitive tendering by prospective managing agents is closely circumscribed by legislation. Under Section 32(2), the TCA empowers any given town council to delegate to any managing agent all or any of the powers, functions and duties prescribed by the Act or any other Act vested in the town council. Furthermore, any power, function or duty so delegated may be exercised or performed by this agent in the name and on behalf of the town council in question. In addition, any delegation of power, function or duty under Section 32(2) of the TCA by a town council must be consistent with the Town Councils Financial Rules (TCFR). Rule 74 of the TCFR lays down the procedure for tenders if a town council wants to invite tender for the services of a managing agent to carry out its powers, functions and duties under the TCA. The actual period of any managing agent contract will depend on the how the term is specified in the contract itself or upon dissolution of the town council. If the performance of a contracted managing agent is deemed to be unacceptably bad, then the provision of the managing agent contract could be invoked that enables the town council to take the appropriate action against the managing agent concerned. In addition, under Section 50 of the TCA, the Minister may appoint any person to exercise or perform certain powers, and so forth, where the Minister is satisfied that a town council has failed to keep or maintain any part of the common property in the housing estates of the HDB within the town ‘in a state of good and serviceable repair or in a proper and clean condition or that any duty of a Town Council must be carried out urgently in order to remove any 292 DOLLERY, LEONG AND CRASE imminent danger to the health or safety of residents of the housing estates’. Finally, the issue of how often town councils change managing agents depends on the terms in the managing agent contract with the town council in question and can thus vary. Singaporean town councils are charged with controlling, managing, maintaining and improving the common areas and common facilities of the residential and commercial premises within their jurisdiction. Common areas embrace public zones and common facilities incorporate recreational and community facilities, including common areas of residential buildings, such as elevators, corridors, service installations and fire systems. In order to finance these activities, town councils can levy fees and charges, borrow funds and invest any surplus monies. Apartment owners must pay monthly ‘service and conservancy’ charges based on such characteristics as their flat type, citizenship and