Asia Times: Wanted: a dose of spontaneity



	June 05, 1999	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Wanted: a dose of spontaneity
By Ivan Gan

SINGAPORE - A few years back, government officialshere decided that Singaporeans lacked manners and were becomingrude to one another - and promptly launched a courtesy campaign.

An unwavering resolve to imbue Singapore's 3.5 million citizens withdesirable habits has prompted the government to undertakeextensive campaigns. Recent installments have included eye-catching 1997 posters thatpromoted the speaking of Mandarin and 1998 sloganeering on the theme: ''Showthem you care. Help them stop smoking."

The rich city-state was often derided for lacking soul. Solution? Make people more carefree by putting in place a ''smile'' campaign.

When chewing-gum stuck to subway and bus seats became aproblem, Singapore's response was to ban the sale and use ofgum. And of course there are the well-known fines for littering,and for smoking or urinating in elevators.

Now officials are at it again. This month the chairman of the National Healthy LifestyleCampaign committee, Tan Kin Lian, zeroed in on the eating habitsof Singaporeans and their penchant for wasting food at banquets.

Appealing to the ''good sense'' of Singaporeans by asking them toserve less at Chinese banquets and buffets, Tan said: ''The riskof undereating is better. I believe the time is right to go oneating less."

Alarming health statistics have prompted this latest crusade toguide citizens on the path to physical well-being. Anational health survey revealed that 25 percent of Singaporeanssuffer from high cholesterol.

Many say state involvement in areas of public life isone of the strengths of Singapore, but what is often seenas a boon may well be a bane as well. While appreciating the good intentions behind such campaigning, some say it helps preserve the attitude that it's natural to rely on the government for far more than just roads, schools, defense and the other basic functions of governments elsewhere.

Indeed, the missing ingredient in many public campaigns in Singapore is a major role for ordinary taxpayers in initiating them; usually the government takes the lead.

Critics add that these campaigns sometimes are not ubiquitous enough: They miss the some of the bigger problems seen in society - for example, the juveniledelinquency that was thrust into the limelight by the highincidence of teen violence in 1997. The problem was largely left in the hands of the police forceand social workers.

Recently, the government has been wishing that the country had more ofa civil society playing an active role in community affairs.

So what did the government do? Why, of course it launched a campaign, this time called Singapore21.

Although the campaign began April 24, that was not the first salvo. As far back as August 1997,Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong launched the Singapore 21 Committeeto strengthen the ''heartware'' of Singapore in preparationfor the 21st century. This includes encouraging a more active rolefor citizens in national and social issues.

''Things change so swiftly, and the task of governing Singaporehas become so complex, that no small team of ministers or civilservants can know it all, or react quickly enough to stay ahead ofthe game,'' said the prime minister in a 1997 National Day rallyspeech.

The Singapore 21 Committee was chaired by Rear-Admiral Teo CheeHean, the minister foreducation and the second minister for defense.

In less than two years, the committee - made up of 83 membersfrom all walks of life - conducted more than 80 fora, carriedout surveys and set up a Web site to garner the views ofcitizens on the pressing issues facing Singapore. A total of6,000 citizens participated in the Singapore 21 process.

Two of the key concepts listed by the committee - ''the SingaporeHeartbeat'' and ''active citizens'' - are related to the inculcationof a sense of commitment to the nation and civic-consciousness, deemed essential to enable non-officials totake the initiative in addressing national problems.

The subject committee report on ''active citizenship'' also came to arevealing conclusion: ''The public sector believed it has amonopoly of wisdom in the formulation of public policies."

Officialdom ''should view an active people sector as an asset in nationbuilding, and should look at consultation as a process to build upan active people sector with a greater sense of ownership,'' thereport added.

But the government's efforts to build an active civil society donot such a sector make - and some Singaporeans themselves are notsurprised at this.

''Singaporeans are well-known for their 'kiasu-ism', and thathas a lot to do with initiative,'' lamented Arthur Puah, a younginformation technology specialist here. He used a popular term coined from the Hokkienword ''kiasu,'' which means fear of losing out. It refers to thetypical materialistic Singaporean's fear of failure in the pursuit of the five Cs:cash, car, credit card, condominium and career.

(Inter Press Service)

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©1999 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd.

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