Governance for Development: the Case of Singapore

According to the United Nations Development Programme, governance is the “exercise of economic, political, and administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all levels.” Those who know how to govern themselves in an efficient manner have created prosperous societies.What determines the success of a country’s development path is not what is has in terms of natural resources but how it manages itself. Few countries with almost no natural resources have a highly transformed and advanced economy while many others with huge natural resources are suffering due to bad governance.
The World Bank states that good governance is “epitomised by predictable, open and enlightened policy making; a bureaucracy imbued with a professional ethos; an executive arm of government accountable for its actions; and a strong civil society participating in public affairs; and all behaving under the rule of law.” The widely used indicators of good governance include participation and accountability, institutional stability and continuity, effectiveness, regulatory and service quality, rule of law and control of corruption.
These are important principles to know but are daunting to institutionalise at every level of government. They can be realised in various constitutional and institutional configurations, reflecting national contexts. Hence, the institutionalisation of good governance is not a one-size-fits-all process.
Good governance has been an important component in the economic success of developed countries. But it may be more important for poor countries, as it could determine their success or failure to meet the legitimate quest of their citizens for political, economic and social development.
According to the 2009 United Nations Least Developed Countries Report, poor countries “should aspire to a kind of good governance which delivers developmental outcomes, such as growing income per capita, achieving structural transformation, expanding employment opportunities in line with the increasing labour force and reducing poverty.” Though good governance is a right of citizens and a crucial end by itself, its ultimate outcomes – such as job creation and poverty reduction – are what make it almost existentially vital for developing countries.
One country that has been hailed as a successful example of good developmental governance is Singapore. Numerous global reports appreciate its achievements and that nation ranks at the top in most reports that gage good governance.
According to the World Bank Doing Business 2015 Report, Singapore ranks first as the easiest place in the world to do business, partly due to transparency and the hassle-free way in which administrative matters are managed. For instance, the process of establishing a company is simplified and can be done online. Forms for construction permits, new workplace safety and healthcare regulations can also be completed online. Additionally, Singapore has eased property registration by improving its computerised system.
Similarly, in the 2015/16 Global Competitiveness Report by the World Economic Forum, Singapore ranked second in the world and the best in Asia in terms of lack of corruption and high government efficiency. Its competitiveness is enhanced by a policy that prioritises quality education to provide its citizens with the knowledge and skills needed for a rapidly changing global economy of the 21st century. This has produced one of the finest civil service systems in the world.
The report also recognises Singapore as a country with sound policy-making processes, leading to its ranking as the most transparent country in Asia that enjoys a stable business environment. By most metrics, Singapore is the least corrupt country in the Asia region because transparency is highly valued, resulting from clear and strict laws that govern business interactions.
Located in Southeast Asia as a city-state with a population of 5.6 million, Singapore is one of the Asians Tigers that has registered an economic miracle by implementing a developmental state model. With an estimated per capita income of USD60,000, the nation has transformed itself into an economic success story.
With almost no natural resources, the nation’s founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, who died in 2015, was not sure about the economic viability of his newly independent state. With committed leadership that pursued developmental state policies, Lee and his colleagues “wanted to build a prosperous nation in a sea of poverty.”
Good governance has been a central pillar of Singapore’s transformational agenda. From the beginning, Lee was determined to establish a clean and effective government. In 1959, corruption was endemic throughout all sectors of public service. Lee deeply understood that as a tiny city-state, its comparative advantage to attract foreign investment and to be a regional trade and financial hub, Singapore must possess first-class public services. Lee took legislative measures that brought effective enforcement and adjudication. Consequently, there was a saying that the cost for corruption was too high to corrupt money.
Corruption control has become a strategic tenet for the governance system. Singapore is not only known as one of the least corrupted states but also this has benefited the whole country attracting investment and even protecting Singapore as a favourable destination for global capital. According to The Economist’s Intelligence Unit, the country was ranked the most attractive as an investment location, both regionally and globally, in 2014.
As a result, some experts argue to the extent that honesty in government also helped Singapore avoid nepotism and that was a key factor in the country’s survival of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Lee mentioned this in his memoir, arguing “when the countries of East Asia were devastated by the financial crisis in 1997, corruption and cronyism aggravated their woes. Singapore weathered the crisis better because there was no corruption and cronyism that had cost the other countries billions in losses.”
Singapore has also harnessed the power of information communications technologies (ICT) to create transparent and efficient government services. The role of technology in this digital era is a central element in smart governance structures. Singapore’s vision of a “Smart Nation” is one “where people live meaningful and fulfilled lives, enabled seamlessly by technology, offering exciting opportunities for all.”
Moreover, people’s integrity and trust lie at the centre of a full functioning system of good governance. Ultimately, ICT is an enabler and human capability remains its core. Singapore has continued to prioritise quality education that remains ahead of the curve in addressing practical development challenges and charting the way forward in a dynamic and interconnected global village. In his memoir, Lee wrote “talent is a country’s most precious asset. For a small, resource poor country [such as] Singapore…it is the defining factor.” As a result, the “Singapore Brand” remains highly appreciated by global business, which enables the city-state to attract multinational companies.
Ivan Tselechtchev and Philippe Debroux, who wrote a book on Asia’s dynamic economies, underscored that the public sector was the key factor in Singapore`s transformation. At the core of Singapore’s economic and national governance system is its “very efficient, non-corrupt and business-oriented government bureaucracy, whose key priority is to make a tiny city-state highly competitive in the global economic arena.” They argued that the top leadership emphasised that competent and well-paid bureaucracy was “a prerequisite of efficient and corruption-free national governance, which in turn was indispensable for the country’s economic success and its citizens’ well-being.”
Developmental good governance must align with national goals and societal needs. Singapore has followed certain principles that suit its specific situation. The most important ingredient of good governance is committed leadership at all levels. Starting from Lee Kuan Yew, the leadership in Singapore has been determined to pursue the agenda of good governance as a key element in their structural transformation process.
Another principle is to “anticipate change and stay relevant.” We live in a fast-paced, competitive global economy. Leaders and public institutions should be open to change and be resilient and pragmatic in developing a competitive advantage. Singapore is good at being “open to new ideas, and to keep questioning old assumptions, and never be trapped in the past.” Singapore is always looking for ideas that solve societal challenges.
The third principle is “reward for work, and work for reward”. Over time, this has become part of the value fabric of not only public institutions but also the public at large. In other words, the system rewards value creators.
The fourth principle of the Singaporean good governance system is to create “a stake for everyone and opportunities for all”. The ultimate objective of developmental governance is not institutional building. It is improving the well-being of every citizen and creating a nation where everyone develops a sense of belongingness and ownership.
Bad governance creates a sense of discrimination and resentment. The end product of good governance is an inclusive and fair society. This is indeed easier said than done. But it could be possible to draw some lessons from Singapore that has registered a remarkable success and still continues to further strengthen a smart nation.
The Ethiopian government has rightly recognised lack of good governance as a critical challenge facing the country to realise its full potential for fair and fast development. The prevalence of good governance is highly vital for an Ethiopian state that is engaged not only in regulatory service but also in developmental projects with the vision of structural transformation.