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Analysts of government have frequently noted how Singapore's policies are grounded in rigorous economics thinking. Policies are designed to be economically efficient even if they are not always popular. This pioneering book takes a different approach. It aims to demonstrate how successful policies in Singapore have integrated conventional economic principles with insights from the emerging field of behavioural economics even before the latter became popular. Using examples from various policy domains, it shows how good policy design often requires a synthesis of insights from economics and psychology. Policies should not only be compatible with economic incentives, but should also be sensitive to the cognitive abilities, limitations and biases of citizens. Written by policy practitioners in the Singapore government, this book is an important introduction to how behavioural economics and the findings from cognitive psychology can be intelligently applied to the design of public policies. As one of the few books written on the subject, it promises to stimulate wider interest in the subject among researchers, policymakers and anyone interested in the design of effective public policies.

Dr Goh Keng Swee was Singapore's first Minister for Finance from 1959 to 1965 who initiated Singapore's first industrial estate now known as Jurong Town. He was also the first and longest serving Defence Minister after Singapore became independent in 1965, responsible for building up the Singapore Armed Forces from scratch. Later he became Minister for Education in 1981 and revamped the education system to what it is today. Dr Goh was also concurrently Deputy Prime Minister from 1973 to 1984 during which time he set up the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Dr. Goh Keng Swee's extensive career as a public servant was dynamic as well as distinguished, in many ways decisively instrumental in the making of the Republic of Singapore. This distinctive collection of essays attempts an assessment of the long-term influence and significance of Dr. Goh's major contributions. Envisaged as a companion volume to Goh Keng Swee: A Public Career Remembered, this volume brings together an exceptional team of Singaporean scholars whose interdisciplinary expertise and cross-generational perspectives offer a balanced analysis and nuanced appraisal of Dr. Goh's lifetime of public service. The book's contributors argue that Dr. Goh's past endeavours bequeathed an enduring legacy, meriting fresh examination and careful evaluation in order to appreciate the heroic scale of such achievement.

This book details the findings of a large-scale survey on the values and lifestyles of 1500 Singapore residents in 2001. Semi-structured interviews with elderly and young adult Singaporeans were also conducted. This comprehensive study provides insights into Singaporeans' value orientations, personal values, aspirations, satisfaction with life and living in Singapore, media habits, leisure activities, Internet usage, how Singaporeans are similar to or differ from one another, etc.

In a world of uncertainty and change, current achievements are no guarantee for future survival. Even if the initial chosen set of principles, policies and practices are good, static efficiency and governance would eventually lead to stagnation and decay. No amount of careful planning can assure a government of continual relevance and effectiveness if there is no capacity for learning, innovation and change in the face of ever new challenges in a volatile and unpredictable global environment. This book provides an in-depth look at dynamic governance, the key to success in a world of rapid, increasing globalization and unrelenting technological advancements. If bureaucratic public institutions can evolve and embed the culture and capabilities that enable continuous learning and change, their contributions to a country's socio-economic progress and prosperity would be enormous. The lessons from their efforts in institutionalizing culture, capabilities and change could provide meaningful and valuable insights for transforming organizations in other contexts.

The Singapore Perspectives series is a yearly publication that provides critical analysis of emerging trends and issues Singapore faces in terms of social, economic and political development. It is a quick and essential reference for understanding the broad policy discussions that animate thought leaders, policy-makers and the public in the country during the immediate period or that are likely to do so in the short and medium term.

The Singapore Perspectives series is a yearly publication that provides critical analysis of emerging trends and issues Singapore faces in terms of social, economic and political development. It is a quick and essential reference for understanding the broad policy discussions that animate thought leaders, policy-makers and the public in the country during the immediate period or that are likely to do so in the short and medium term.

This volume is conceptualised around the notion by Raymond Williams, a cultural theorist, that any cultural system comprises fragments of the past and the emergent alongside the dominant. The book focuses on 'governance' or how a society governs itself across the state, business and civic sectors in Singapore and how it might evolve over the next decade. Its first section looks at how Singapore's political history has shaped today's political institutions and culture and why these might change. Three scenarios of Singapore's political future are proffered. The authors argue how there are and must be nevertheless some fundamental values that underpin Singapore's governance system that are unchanging. In the second section, the authors discuss how the relationship among the key elements of the governance equation have changed to adapt to current conditions, and must continue to change to respond to internal demands and external conditions. The first paper describes how the relationship between government and business, or state and market have adapted to achieve strategic national imperatives but also to ensure that citizens benefit from the most efficient and effective ways of providing important public goods. The second paper argues for institutionalised dissent and policy experimentation as disciplines needed in the public sector to make it innovative and resilient. The third section offers views on emerging trends in political culture and the relationship between the government and civil society, business and other political parties. These are based on findings of an IPS survey, and opinions of civic leaders and a leader of the political opposition in Singapore. The final section comprises an edited transcript of a dialogue session with the Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Lee Hsien Loong on the same theme of 'governance'. The authors are thought-leaders and political leaders in Singapore. This book serves as a pathfinder to emerging political trends in the country.