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Friday, January 13, 2006 

Policy Implementation in Singapore
Behind the Veil of Power

“Ten different government departments concerted their efforts over ten years to achieve this. It was not just removing the muck from the rivers. The source of pollution had to be removed permanently. First, the vision of what was possible with modern engineering was crucial. Second, we had to have the courage to implement unpopular measures and the tenacity to pursue permanent solutions… To the official, who planned the operations with thoroughness and care, and to those who implemented them with tenacity and fairness, I say “Well done.””
Former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

Singapore has gained a global reputation for effective policy implementation, even for the most unpopular of policies. Regarding policy implementation, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong once joked, “I tell you one thing we can do the Chinese cannot do. I can ban chewing gum in Singapore and make it stick. Can you do that in Tiananmen?” With little doubts, Singapore seems to be a model case study for effective implementation. The implementation of policies in Singapore has been widely regarded and assumed to be a top-down perspective approach, characterised by the hierarchical and bureaucratic process. However, contrary to public perceptions, not all policies and Ministries are implemented in a top-down approach. Even in highly bureaucratized human service organizations, policy implementation requires policy adaptation. Street-level workers, who are close to problems and the “front-line”, are likely to know what works in local environments and for particular groups.

Overview of Policy Implementation in Singapore
Singapore is a republic with a parliamentary system of government based on the Westminster System, modelled after that of United Kingdom system. This implies of Singapore as a unitary state emphasizing on political integration, centralized authority, a command operating code implemented through bureaucracy and the power of the centre to revoke decentralized power. The policies are debated in the parliament and enforced by the civil service via the 13 Ministries and 67 Statutory Boards. Similar to the British Civil Service system, the Singapore Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy that supports the Government Ministers responsible to the Parliament in administering the policies.

To see how policies are implemented in Singapore, we will use the example of the Active Aging policies implemented by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MYCS). With reference to the diagram, the Ministry can be grouped into two spheres, Policy Planning and Policy Implementation. Policy formulation is centred at the politically appointed Ministers while policy implementation is headed by the Permanent Secretaries and other civil servants. Typically, the politician provides a broad based and general policy, like improving the employability of older workers, and civil servants implement along these lines. The implementation process is overseen by the Permanent Secretary and Deputy Secretary who will assign the task a coordinating director based to one of the 15 functions. For the example of Active Aging policies, it will be handled by the Family Development Division (FDD) and more specifically, the Family Education Department (FED). Depending on the relative importance of the policies, the FED will be allocated a certain amount of financial budget and constrained by the broad based policy guidelines.

(Click on Image to View)
The implementation can be a lengthy process as the ideas and implementation have to be negotiated and “thrown back and forth” for approval within hierarchy based financial guidelines. For some Ministries, the use S$50,000 or more, for any events or implementation has to be approved by the Deputy Secretary. Any events or implementation costing below $50,000 can be approved by either the Coordinating Director or Deputy Director of the division. Each event or implementation will be judged on their relative cost and benefits before implementation. At the end of each financial year (April 05 – May 06), the division will submit their report based on the events and policies organized, reach, outcomes and budget. With the manpower cut in all Ministries (except Mindef), most of such implementation are outsourced to various NGO groups such as Fei Yue Community Services.
Characteristics of Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approach
Implementation is a process of interactions between the setting of goals and actions geared to achieve them. Implementation can be broadly categorized into Top-down approach and Bottom-up approach. Top-down models see implementations as concern with the degree to which the actions of implementing officials and target groups coincide with the goals embodied in an authoritative decision. On the other hand, Bottom-up models lay great stress on the fact that “street-level” implementers have discretion in how they apply policies. The following table (adapted from various sources) shows the contrast between the Top-down approach and Bottom-up approach to implementation.

(Click on Image to View)

In the context of policy implementation in Singapore, the Top-down approach seems to be the more appropriate fit, especially during the 1980s and 1970s. However, in recent years, the civil service has been down-sizing and mandated a fiscal budget reduction of 2% each year (with the exception of Ministry of Defence), lead to further constraints in resources. With the limited number of civil servants and manpower, it is difficult to cater to the broad scope and demands from the public in terms of implementation and functions. As such, alternative methods to implementation, such as outsourcing of some of the Ministries’ functions, are frequently used within the bureaucracy. Increasing, implementation of policies is carried out by external non-governmental organizations and service deliverers. Thus, the Bottom-up approach seems to be realistic for some policies. To compare the approaches, we will use similar policies within the same Ministry, so that we could evaluate its relative merits and shortcomings.

How to Achieve “The Singaporean Efficiency”?
In knowing the different perspectives of the Top-Down and Bottom-up Approaches, how does the Singapore Civil Service achieved such “Singaporean Efficiency”? As seen from the two perspectives, the ideal implementation (be it whether the policy is “right” of “wrong”) is when civil servants implement according to the guidelines with minimal deviation from the instruction given by their Permanent Secretaries. As such, very often the top-down approach provides better control over the implementation than being left in the hands of the front line civil servants (Bottom-up Approach eg: Teachers, Policemen..) to interpret the “law” or instructions.

One the core method is to self-select the civil servants according to their risk behaviour. Ideally, the civil servants should not be risk-taking people that would question too much over the “rightness” and “wrongness” of the policy but implement it with minimal deviation from the policy guidelines. As such, if you look at the entry requirements of all civil services you will find a common characteristic. Compared to the private sector, the civil service is much more “paper qualification” dependent. People who enter the civil service have already a very risk-averse attitude that they are promised of a certain level of the “iron rice bowl” and level of promotion based on the fixed criteria. If the civil servant doesn’t make too risky of decisions, or question his authority that much, he is quite certain on his career path of progression. Based on the incentive schemes and wage pay structure, the input of civil servants is basically self-selecting. Thus in some sense, middle and lower levels of civil servants tends to be the less risk taking individuals that would follow commands and instructions. Thinking and questioning are pretty much left to the top-level chain of commands (your scholars and political elites).

Relative Merits and Shortcomings
The shortcomings and problems of both approaches as been well-delve into, but the research on the merits of both Top-down and Bottom-up approaches are much lacking. Intuitively, the shortcoming of one approach is the merit of another and from this standpoint we can compare the two approaches relatively.

To describe the merits and shortcomings of both models, we can use the Education Policies as an example. Ever since the 1980s, Singapore has adopted the “streaming” system to group and segment the students based on their academic results. At the age of 10, the students are streamed into three different streams based on their (Primary School Leaving Examination) PSLE results. The best students were grouped into EM1, earmarked for scholarship programmes and access to better teaching facilities and schools. The bulk of the average students will fall into EM2, while academically weak students where transferred to the bottom stream, EM3. I think the details, most people are fairly knowledgeable of it.

Contrast to the streaming policy is the “Teach Less Learn More” policy launched in 2004. This is a deliberatively vague and broad policy by the Ministry of Education. The concept of this policy is to have multiple paths for students to excel and allow the schools and teachers to have the flexibility and autonomy to teach outside the prescribed syllabuses. The details and further information for both policies are stated below:

(Click on Image to View)

The streaming policy, enforced by the Ministry of Education, resembles the Top-down approach while the “Teach Less Learn More”, policy is a Bottom-up implementation approach. From this we could see and compare the relative merits of both perspectives.

Merit 1: Control and Coordination
The Bottom-up “Teach Less Learn More” policy relies heavily on the implementation by the “service-deliverers” and “street-level bureaucrats” such as the teachers. The professionals (teachers) have a key role in ensuring the performance of a policy, which implies that policy formulation process maybe skewed by policy implementation which is dominated by professionals. Each teacher has their own perception in developing methods of teaching or “implementing government policies” and will result in outcomes which are quite different to those intended or desired by policy-makers.

On the other hand, the Top-down “Streaming” policy provides the Ministry of Education (MOE) with better control and coordination of the implementation. This reduces the variation of teachings and allows MOE to have the ability to correct or fine-tune the policy implementation, if needed. The distinction between policy formulation and policy implement allows for easer identification of problems if the policy is not effective in solving the problem. Thus the Top-down approach allows for more control and corrective action, if needed, compared to the Bottom-up approach.

Another important aspect in relations to education policies implementation approach is the relative ease of changing approaches. For the Top-down approach to change to Bottom-up approach is often easier compared to the opposite. In giving autonomy and flexibility to the schools and “street-level bureaucrats”, it will difficult to retrieve the control if there is a need to implement a Top-down approach. Such change to centralize power may encounter resistance by the street-level bureaucrats and may result in future policy failure or loss of control.

Merit 2: Individual Biasness vs Responsiveness to Needs
As one of the political scientist expressed, “A public officer has discretion wherever the effective limits on his power leave him free to make a choice among possible courses of action or inaction”. In both modes of implementation, those at the front line of policy delivery have varying bands of discretion over how they choose to exercise the rules which they are employed to apply. However for the case on the education policies in Singapore, the “streaming” system minimizes the limits of individual biasness as well as the responsiveness to needs. The “Teach Less Learn More” policy, on the other hand, creates more room for individual biasness as well as to provide better responsiveness to the needs to individual students. Depending on the formulation of the policy and problem definition, there might be a need to balance or trade-off between having individual biasness or better responsiveness to needs of voters (or subjects where the policy is imposed on).

The street-level bureaucrats who are close to the problems and clients are likely to know what works in local environments and for particular groups. This would provide better responsiveness and adaptability to the local needs.

Merit 3: Efficient Use of Resources
The Top-down “Streaming” approach allows for better projection and efficient use of resources compared to the Bottom-up approach. The resources, including financial and manpower allocation, can be pre-planned in most top-down models but would be difficult and less accurate for bottom-up approaches.

For the “Streaming” policy, schools are allocated the funds based on population and the estimation of the cost for students in each of the streams. Under this policy, schools that perform better are relocated more resources to develop their facilities. In contrast, the “Teach Less Learn More” policy has too many variables for the allocation of funds and resources. As such, they are distributed based on vague projections, resulting in some schools being under-funded while others have inefficient usage of the resources.

Merit 4: Flexibility and Innovations
One of the main merits of the Bottom-up approach is the flexibility it allows compared to the top-down approach. The “Teach Less Learn More” model allows teachers the flexibility of teaching as well as for students to learn at their own pace and the modules that they are interested in. In such environment, innovation and creativity are likely to thrive better than the rigid hierarchical structure.

Inherently, each human (students in this example) is different and special in their own ways. By having a single tracked policy to cater to multitude of personalities and characters would sometimes be ineffective or inefficient. For the example of education policies, some degree of flexibility can be conducive for innovation and learning.

Merit 5: Democracy vs Implementation of “Unpopular” Policies
Implementation is a policy/action continuum in which an interactive and negative process is taking place over time between those seeking to put policy into effect and those upon whom actions depends. Occasionally, “unpopular” measures are implemented for the good of the society. One such example in Singapore is the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP).

Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) is an electronic system of road pricing based on a pay-as-you-use principle. It is designed to be a fair system as motorists are charged when they use the road during peak hours. When it was implemented in 1999, there was much criticism from the general public due to rise in cost of owning a car. However, the fact is that the ERP proves to be an effective policy to ease the heavy traffic conditions during peak hours as well as a vital source for government revenues. Should this be left to the street-level bureaucrats to implement, the implementation might not be possible due to the self-interest of each bureaucrat. Prior to the electronic gantry to detect the vehicles passing through, traffic officers were place at the junctions to manually record the carplate numbers of cars which did not purchase entry passes to the roads. Very often, the officer will not be able to record all carplate numbers that did not purchase the entry passes due to the volume of entry. This is an ambiguous process that allows for much room for error and individual judgement.

This highlights two merits of the top-down approach: enable to implementation of difficult and unpopular policies, and more consistent interpretation of the law.


Conclusion
In reality, implementation is a process which is structured by conflicts, bargaining, negotiation and deal making. All implementation processes involved a certain degree to top-down and bottom-up approach. While it is impossible and unrealistic to assume one form of approach is better than the other we can observe the various merits and shortcomings of each perspective to better see how policies succeed or fail. And for Singapore to achieve such “Blind Efficiency” (as one Permanent Secretary calls it), it may not be an absolute boon or bane for politics in Singapore. With over 20,000 civil servants in Singapore (hardly constitutes a Single-Member Constituency (SMC)), they are the backbone and unsung players of the politics in Singapore.

By the way, sorry for this lengthy article! And note that all sources are available via public domains and nothing here that the "Official Secrecy Act" will be interested in. :P

I happen to think that policy discussions are not that sensitive except for maybe defence, other than that, the process of policy formulation, implementation and evaluation is fair game.

Will comment more later, it is indeed a long article, short of references this article reads like a academic essay. hehe.

Hi trasy, I think u made a mistake. children are stream into EM1, EM2 and EM3 during the primary 4 (10 yrs old) streaming examinations not PSLE.

Hi at82

Thanks for the correction. This shows how old I was when it affected me! Hahaha...Yes, this is a long long article to say the least. Anyway, I'm not expect many to get through reading this!

Cheers!
T

ya la ur article so long wana strain my old eyes isit. wait i c doc u pay ar? lol joking streaming goes bk a long way bk 2 dr goh again of cos there r many critics but it allows many ppl 2 learn @ their own pace or rather @ a pace they most comfortable in i dun deny it take a longer route eg via ite/vitb route but it does produce results i knew of ppl who finally end up in universities n making a contribution 2 society maybe 2 pap 2 lol

ministers provide overall leadership, direction n guidance but its civil svts who get things done behind e scenes in the past 1st generation pap leaders relied on men like ngiam tong dow sim kee boon joe pilay once again dunno how many young sporeans knew them. ngaim was a perm sec @ age 33 while sim was described by lky as the shrewdest of all his ps

We must not dismiss the fact that one reason why policy implementation is more straightforward in Spore compared to other countries is because of our small size and population. Control and coordination is more manageable. Our leaders indiscriminately bragging that things are rolled out at the snap of fingers? That is so uncool. All things equal, it is easier to clean up and tidy a HDB 3-room flat efficiently and effectively than a bungalow with big grounds.

Hi "Void Deck"

Yes, I agree that we are small and manageable which makes policy easy to implement.

But comparing size to size as well, we do have a better civil service than our comparables, such as Hong Kong and other developed parts of Europe. Or at least that is what the foreign media says abou us.

Cheers!
T

wellll i dun deny tht deng xiaoping told lky " onli if i hv shanghai but i got the whole of china"

c i do agree with u ppl arrrr lol

but hving said tht capable means capable la goon doo means gon doo lol so wad if some1 is the son of the former PM if u r his son but goooon dooooo wad can u do? even if u r nt his son u r capable u can rise up goh c t 1 gd eg

maybe if u r nt his son rise up even faster dun hv 2 carry the burden of so n so son ppl talking behind u nt realising ur full potential lol

can c void deck v pro opp la lol noe where he coming from but luckily as i said b4 this forum here got reasonable men like Thrasymachus who believe in giving credit when due unlike .........

if opp so gd get them 2 win the nxt election form the govt la implement policies u c wad policies they implement c how long they last c if they bankrupt spore anot dun believe me try lor of cos sporeans wont be foolish 2 change govt jus 4 e sake of it lol

wahhhh Thrasymachus so fast read my comments? no prob rite? can post rite? lol u nothing 2 do? din go patoh? go chinatown with gf la c lights v pretti like ur gf lol

Hi Wolong

Whether if anyone is Pro-Opposition or Pro-PAP, I still believe that they are for the good of Singapore, just that they differ in the method and style.

Yes, I've brought my gf to Chinatown today, but crowd is really not my cup of tea...haha...Maybe you should bring your wife there too..LOL...

Cheers!
T

welllll then u tel me who r the gd 1 then besides the few i name we laofu laoqi dun need go patoh unlike u youngsters go where errr i heard wad clubbing lol dunno wad it means nt ur generation paiseh.

r u sure pro opp is 4 e gd of spore ? wad policies they propose? u think they wk? wana abolish isa? u think feasible? how 2 nab terrorists then? sad 2 say u ppl hv nt lived thru those days c how communists worked c they mobilised ground support, their tatcics etc of cos finally we in the pap prevail or they wldnt be modern spore. no modern spore where u think present opp wld be? lol ask them

Thrasymachus and at82 i hope u dun mind i say u ppl r still v young n green besides posting comments here u ppl hv nt seen how they wk. i'm nt saying u ppl r young n idealistic (for once i was like this) but u hv 2 get 2 the real world n c the real things. 2day parliament in session, u ppl went down? listen to wad teo c h says abt draft dodgers watch e news later.

c how hard charles chong wked to get buangkok station opened. find me another opp guy willing 2 wk tht hard. i dare 2 say if 2day charles chong is in a single seat, few opp candidates dare 2 challenge him. u ask opp guys 2 wk so hard they wld rather sell papers, hold forums, engage in big talk ask them how many ppl they help how many hardship cases they knew n helped how often they dig deeply in2 their pockets to help ppl how many letters they written to the authorities i'm afraid the ans u get is.........

of cos i nt saying all opp guys r all this of cos chiam stood out from the rest if nt wont be elected 5 times lol

how bought WP manifesto? read it? how? lol

TO Wolong:

Hmmm... so got mandatory jail sentence or not? if so that will be great lol... but really if even the jehovah witness ppl have to go DB for 3 yrs for their beliefs. I dun think any draft dodgers (din do NS at all) should expected anything lighter.

By the way u got buy WP manifesto meh?

do u think i wld buy?

let me tell u ltk big talk contest in AMK nxt life also dun hv let me tell u WP dare 2 come they will suffer a CRUSHING defeat @ our hands. lol

u simply take @ look @ WP how many they hv? contest 4 GRCs and 3 SMCs? can anot? let me tel u even if the whole WP is here we r nt afraid of them. sporeans hv endorsed pap since 59 n will continue 2 do so. how the 2 of u endorsing pap? lol

maybe if they allow some nt so prominent mbrs maybe yes

but let me say this even if u 2 dun endorse us we will nt lose either lol we win hands down!!!!!

allow me 2 further add we hv taken on more formidable opponents in the past 2 us they r .........

Hi Wolong

Maybe you read too much into our comments. Supporting opposition doesn't mean they are unpatrotic nor is supporting PAP meaning patrotic. There are no absolutes. If I would to say the biggest problem facing PAP now is complacency. Presently, the oppositions can't really threaten the mandate of the PAP, but PAP itself should not be a subject of complacency.

Having past and present support doesn't mean it will last forever (even LKY believes so). But it is important that the constitution and system is prudent and resilent enough to sustain our future sucess. China is probably the best example that even the most sagely rule will not last forever. Past and present PAP leaders maybe good, capable and uncorruptable. But in the future, who knows? But the constitution must have enough check and balances to curb excessive power.

Beside, one of the present Minister (which I will not name) even said that oppositions are need to keep the government in check. We can't simply make sweeping statements that oppositions do not make any concret policies as such they are not needed. They are needed to keep the system and ruling party in check. Besides Chiam and LTK, even oppositions like JBJ did contribute to the parliament when he was a MP. (his parliamentary speeches is only available in paper version in NLB)

Just a thought, nothing more!

Cheers!
T

to wolong:

ehhh relac leh... u ask trasy gt buy or not so i am juz curious u gt buy or not loh. maybe u buy to debunk their proposal leh. u can't debunk something if u dun have concret understanding of the matter wat. gd eg is dr chee on health cost.

halo is incorruptible or
uncorruptible nt uncorruptable k i onli got sec 2 u got wad undergrad rite lol

ehhhhhh did i make sweeping statements ? lol u din read i credit chaim 2 lol jbj 4get it even he fell out with his own party wad hv u got 2 say? lol onli tht lady lawyer pity him. he deserves no pity. let me tel u y opp dun wan defamation suits they wana get away with wad they say understand? y they dun wan high election deposits so tht any monkey n donkey can stand 4 election. u r still green n naive as i said if i can c thru communist tactics u think i cant c thru them ? lol young boi u got much 2 learn lol but i dun blame u as u hv nvr seen e real world lol

i hv been in this bis way b4 u r born i got no concrete understanding? hell of a bullshit!!! u ask ltk sending a team 2 amk anot tel him 2 c us there k?

no denial power has 2 be checked? but checked by who? u noe i noe i shall nt name them. lol

checked by ppl who wana make the most out of an issue n in the process make the most political capital out of it? then i think shld be pap checking on them rite?

Thrasymachus u seem v emotional end ur comment with a ! i so provocative huh lol relax as i often said i find u 2 v reasonable its my sincere hope tht yongsters like u wld step fwd and be counted 4 as one (4get all the minor obstacles facing opp)i can assure u wadever unhappiness u hv can be resolved within e pap.

paiseh arrrrrr if provoke u ppl 2 much buy u kopi 1 of these days nt starbucks horrrrr old men no $$$$$ kopitiam can? lol

Hi Wolong

Maybe you wouldn't know this. The Remaking Singapore committee even consulted opposition parties and even JBJ on the election deposit. Result: even the opposition doesn't want the lowering of deposit because it dilutes the opposition votes. You stay in AMK?

What I wrote about is based on political science perspectives. The critical problem facing PAP is that people (especially youths) these days, don't vote for PAP not because they are no good or that opposition are good. Basically, there is a clash of ideology. "Simply not voting PAP because they don't want the incumbent to win" Not that PAP can't provide economic goods to them, or the opposition is better.

No worries, we are just having a good dialogue. :P

Cheers!
T

i stay in the western part of spore

oh isit then y opp keep saying deposits 2 high? lol

HI Wolong

Those are the younger opposition members that harp on issues just to oppose. If they think further, lowering the deposit will only force a 3-way fight and fighting against other oppositions as well. It will only eat into their own share of votes and further risk losing their full deposit.

to wolong:

err... if u know everything abt their manifesto then tell us why they are unworkable loh.

Then i will be convince that u have concrete understanding of what they are proposing and that u pt of view is correct.

I think u will agree that this is a reasonable way to demo ur understanding of WP's platform and why it is unworkable and thus cannot match PAP's proposal. ;)

ever since when they can match us if they can wld hv form e govt long ago way bk in 59 let me tel u WP was formed in 57 3 yrs younger than pap only!!!

Dear wolong,

you are quick to critisize other forummers but fail to understand that a good debate needs needs input from both ends of the arguement.

you are so brain-washed by the PAP controlled local media and have fallen entirely for their propaganda. Please do yourself a favour, be more politically aware and read up on YOUR pap in foreign publications and websites like Singabloodypore, singaporedemocrat.org and even Amnesty International.

Even Saddam Hussein had elections in Iraq which he won all the time by a margin that even the pap would be proud of. Does it say anything about his policies or competency?

Singapore is not a democratic country. Read Melanie Chew's interview with Rajaratnam found in this website. Rajaratnam clearly states that LKY didnt want a democratic singapore.

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The Idealist

  • Thrasymachus
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    Which Election Candidate do you prefer?
    Low Thia Khiang (WP)
    Chiam See Tong (SDA)
    Sylvia Lim (WP)
    Chee Soon Juan (SDP)
    J.B. Jeyaratnam (Formerly WP)
    Lee Hsien Loong (PAP)
    Dr Ng Eng Hen (PAP)
    Sitoh Yih Pin (PAP)
    Eric Low (PAP)
    Current results


    How do you rate PM Lee Hsien Loong's Performance (as Prime Minister) so far?
    Excellent
    Very Good
    Above Expectation
    Average
    Poor ("I can even do better!")
    Very Poor
    Current results


    Do you have confidence in PM Lee Hsien Loong's leadership and his team of Ministers?
    Yes
    No
    Too early to tell...
    Any one but them!
    Current results


    Do you think Lee Hsien Loong became Prime Minister on his own merits?
    Yes!
    Yes! ("He was the best candidate")
    No! ("He has obvious backing from LKY")
    No! ("There wasn't any alternative candidate to challenge him in the first place")
    Current results


    Which of the (Junior) Minister to you wish to see him/her step down? (Part III)
    Raymond Lim
    Balaji Sadasivan
    Ho Peng Kee
    Chan Soo Sen
    Lim Hwee Hua
    Heng Chee How
    Gan Kim Yong
    Yu-Foo Yee Shoon
    Zainul Abidin
    Current results


    Which Minister do you wish to see him step down? (Part I)
    Lee Hsien Loong
    Goh Chok Tong
    Lee Kuan Yew
    Lim Boon Heng
    Lee Boon Yang
    Yeo Cheow Tong
    Mah Bow Tan
    George Yeo
    Teo Chee Hean
    Current results


    Which Minister do you wish to see him step down? (Part II)
    Lim Hng Kiang
    Wong Kan Seng
    S Jayakumar
    Tharman Shanmuguratnam
    Lim Swee Say
    Ng Eng Hen
    Vivian Balakrishnan
    Khaw Boon Wan
    Yaacob Ibrahim
    Current results


    What is your utmost concern for the coming General Elections?
    "Bread & Butter" issues - Jobs, economy, salary, etc
    Freedom of Speech - or lack of
    HDB issues - upgrading, high housing cost, etc
    International Issues - govt's handling of foreign relationships
    Transport issues - LTA, NEL, MRT
    Change of Leadership - from SM Goh to PM Lee
    All of the above
    I'll vote any party except PAP!
    I'll only vote for PAP!
    Current results


    Which is your favourite Minister?
    PM Lee Hsien Loong
    SM Goh Chok Tong
    MM Lee Kuan Yew
    DPM Jayakumar
    Dr Vivian Balakrishnan
    Teo Chee Hean
    George Yeo
    Tharman S.
    I Hate of them!
    Current results

Faces of Singapore

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    Thrasymachus' photos More of Thrasymachus' photos

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    The author of this blog bears no responsibility for any misinterpretation, libel, defamation, injury and death as a result of reading this blog. Contents are high subjective and readers should read with caution. All readers should be 18 years and above, with half a decent brain to judge the validity of the articles.

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