It is time to say goodbye to Singapore. As I count my days here, it is time to count the lessons learnt. Though the little republic may not be a right comparison for the much larger and more diverse India, there are some good practices that can be borrowed.
Importing best practices is one thing we can learn from Singapore.
Water management is where technology has been imported and adapted to local needs. An integrated and centralised system works under PUB (formerly Public Utilities Board). PUB has the last word on everything related to water. Autonomous bodies such as PUB are the pillars of Singapore's success. It manages drains and reservoirs, collects and stores rainwater. It distributes water and recycles sewage.
The authorities are moving away from the policy of shooing people from going near reservoirs and canals.
Water resources minister Uma Bharati could visit Singapore before she goes about cleaning the Ganges. The efforts put in to clean the few-miles-long Singapore River would help her with the task.
The elderly have easy housing policies, medical facilities and recreational activities.
Public housing models by Housing and Development Board ensure each has a roof in the land-scarce city-state.
Singapore's corruption-free governance standards are well-known. The government's problem-solving skills and engagement with the public are worth studying. At a recent meeting, the deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam emphasised how public accountability could not be seen as an outcome of competition in politics. Though it has had a single-party rule for several decades, the country has been able to make people holding public offices accountable and also pay them well.
Financial services are the lifeblood of Singapore's economy. It has built itself as a regional hub, where companies from regional countries come for raising money and investors from across the globe come for deals. Mumbai's dream of becoming a global financial centre is still a dream due to policy and infrastructure bottlenecks. It could take a few lessons from Singapore. Why are good Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi companies not on Indian exchanges, the way Malaysian and Indonesian companies are on Singapore's bourses?
Temasek Holdings is a model our government should think about, to improve the efficiency of public sector enterprises (PSEs). A professionally managed sovereign fund, which holds Singapore government's investments in PSEs and delivers returns in the form of dividends, can keep ministers and bureaucracy from meddling with day-to-day affairs of PSEs. This structure removes bottlenecks and long procedures in the divestments process and makes realisation of value easier and quicker. Such a fund would be a great market stabilising force.
There are lessons we may not want to learn. Singapore's intolerance to criticism and dissent is legendary. Its media is widely seen as being under the influence of the government.
