<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD>Copyright 2009 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
All Rights Reserved
The Straits Times (Singapore)
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=10></TD></TR><TR><TD>August 8, 2009 Saturday
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=10></TD></TR><TR><TD>422 words
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=10></TD></TR><TR><TD height=10></TD></TR><TR><TD>Building a nation: S'pore tips for Afghans;
Kabul seeks to create nation from scratch on limited resources</TD></TR><TR><TD height=10></TD></TR><TR><TD>Tan Weizhen
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=10></TD></TR><TR><TD>
WAR-RAVAGED Afghanistan wants to learn from the experience of another country in creating a nation from scratch on limited resources. And it has chosen Singapore.
For 10 days, 34 senior government officials from the central Asian country visited government agencies such as the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras), the Urban Redevelopment Authority, National Parks and Singapore General Hospital.
The officials, from Afghanistan's ministries of finance, interior-counter narcotics, education and others also wanted to see how a small city-state, with a variety of races and religions, managed to keep socially cohesive.
Visiting under the aegis of Unitar, the training arm of the United Nations, the Afghan officials were hosted by volunteers and staff from the Singapore International Foundation, some of them civil servants.
They even wanted to learn how to keep a country clean.
'We are impressed by how Singapore has managed to keep everything so clean, with so many trees, given your limited resources and land,' said Mr Modammad Yama Shams, adviser to the Ministry of Public Works.
His country, while big, battles air pollution as most people rely on dirty diesel generators for power, he said.
Trainers and volunteers held training sessions for the Afghans on organisational development and management; some, outside the classroom.
Volunteer Ernest Lee invited them to his HDB flat, and showed them common spaces like the void decks. He also led them on a tour of Iras, where he works, and showed them the finer points of Singapore's taxation system and its history.
In particular, the Afghans were so intrigued by Singapore's Central Provident Fund, the national retirement savings system, that they might consider a similar system for their own citizens.
The group also hopes to build on the fond attachments already forged over meals, shopping and tours, and strengthen ties with the Singapore Government.
Mr Lee, too, has gained much.
'If not for the programme, I doubt I would have got to know anyone from Afghanistan in my lifetime,' he said.
The Afghans, on their part, have much to chew on.
'Singapore has a very unique development experience, having built so much up in just 40 or so years,' observed Dr Waheedullah Popalzai, the National Budget and Finance Adviser.
'Not every Singaporean practice may work in our country, but the process of reaching that goal is what we can learn from.
'I think Singapore is the city of dreams. You had plans, and they were implemented. That's what we want to do,' he added.
[email protected]
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=10></TD></TR><TR><TD>August 7, 2009
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
All Rights Reserved
The Straits Times (Singapore)
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=10></TD></TR><TR><TD>August 8, 2009 Saturday
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=10></TD></TR><TR><TD>422 words
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=10></TD></TR><TR><TD height=10></TD></TR><TR><TD>Building a nation: S'pore tips for Afghans;
Kabul seeks to create nation from scratch on limited resources</TD></TR><TR><TD height=10></TD></TR><TR><TD>Tan Weizhen
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=10></TD></TR><TR><TD>
WAR-RAVAGED Afghanistan wants to learn from the experience of another country in creating a nation from scratch on limited resources. And it has chosen Singapore.
For 10 days, 34 senior government officials from the central Asian country visited government agencies such as the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras), the Urban Redevelopment Authority, National Parks and Singapore General Hospital.
The officials, from Afghanistan's ministries of finance, interior-counter narcotics, education and others also wanted to see how a small city-state, with a variety of races and religions, managed to keep socially cohesive.
Visiting under the aegis of Unitar, the training arm of the United Nations, the Afghan officials were hosted by volunteers and staff from the Singapore International Foundation, some of them civil servants.
They even wanted to learn how to keep a country clean.
'We are impressed by how Singapore has managed to keep everything so clean, with so many trees, given your limited resources and land,' said Mr Modammad Yama Shams, adviser to the Ministry of Public Works.
His country, while big, battles air pollution as most people rely on dirty diesel generators for power, he said.
Trainers and volunteers held training sessions for the Afghans on organisational development and management; some, outside the classroom.
Volunteer Ernest Lee invited them to his HDB flat, and showed them common spaces like the void decks. He also led them on a tour of Iras, where he works, and showed them the finer points of Singapore's taxation system and its history.
In particular, the Afghans were so intrigued by Singapore's Central Provident Fund, the national retirement savings system, that they might consider a similar system for their own citizens.
The group also hopes to build on the fond attachments already forged over meals, shopping and tours, and strengthen ties with the Singapore Government.
Mr Lee, too, has gained much.
'If not for the programme, I doubt I would have got to know anyone from Afghanistan in my lifetime,' he said.
The Afghans, on their part, have much to chew on.
'Singapore has a very unique development experience, having built so much up in just 40 or so years,' observed Dr Waheedullah Popalzai, the National Budget and Finance Adviser.
'Not every Singaporean practice may work in our country, but the process of reaching that goal is what we can learn from.
'I think Singapore is the city of dreams. You had plans, and they were implemented. That's what we want to do,' he added.
[email protected]
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=10></TD></TR><TR><TD>August 7, 2009
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
