<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>S'pore not the only dragon that scores well in public policy
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->IN HIS commentary last Wednesday ("The Republic of Common Sense"), Professor Kishore Mahbubani compared the PUB's 99.9 per cent water delivery record with the problem of irregular maintenance of hundreds of miles of water pipes in the United States to illustrate Singapore's superior public policies.
But the US is so much bigger with so many more pipes to maintain. The US infrastructure is also much older. The recent stink about the Pasir Ris coast being contaminated by old, leaking sewerage pipes shows just how difficult it is to tackle the problem of aged infrastructure.
Singapore may often be cited as one of the models of development, but that does not mean Singapore is unique in and of its own in its rapid development. What is often forgotten is that Singapore is merely one of four East Asian dragons and much of the success of our policies and institutions is rooted in who we are - East Asians.
It would be good indeed if the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, which Prof Mahbubani heads, can help raise the level of reflection and questioning in Singapore.
Ng Kok Lim
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->IN HIS commentary last Wednesday ("The Republic of Common Sense"), Professor Kishore Mahbubani compared the PUB's 99.9 per cent water delivery record with the problem of irregular maintenance of hundreds of miles of water pipes in the United States to illustrate Singapore's superior public policies.
But the US is so much bigger with so many more pipes to maintain. The US infrastructure is also much older. The recent stink about the Pasir Ris coast being contaminated by old, leaking sewerage pipes shows just how difficult it is to tackle the problem of aged infrastructure.
Singapore may often be cited as one of the models of development, but that does not mean Singapore is unique in and of its own in its rapid development. What is often forgotten is that Singapore is merely one of four East Asian dragons and much of the success of our policies and institutions is rooted in who we are - East Asians.
It would be good indeed if the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, which Prof Mahbubani heads, can help raise the level of reflection and questioning in Singapore.
Ng Kok Lim
