REACH website hit 1.5 million page views in 2008

07 January 2009 (CNA)

SINGAPORE: Singapore government's feedback-gathering website hit 1.5 million page views in 2008. There was also a 30 per cent increase in number of postings to 12,000 on the REACH discussion forum in 2008.

Speaking at an appreciation lunch for REACH contributors on Wednesday, REACH chairman Amy Khor, who is also Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Environment and Water Resources, named and thanked a few active participants who sent in feedback, even from overseas.

She said that all the views sent in have been channelled to relevant agencies and the process has led to several policy changes.

Some of the hot-button topics were the Marriage and Parenthood Package, and means testing in public hospitals. Government policies on these issues have been reshaped by feedback sent to REACH.

Five new feedback facilitators have also been appointed at the appreciation lunch. They will work towards engaging heartlanders, not just through online and digital means, but also with face-to-face dialogues.

A new website that is aptly dubbed "Youth Vibes" was also launched to encourage greater youth participation in shaping policies.

Soh Yi Da, a REACH contributor, said: "I think the cost of transport takes up a significant portion of my monthly allowance and I believe it's the same for many other Singaporeans.

"If the government can do something about it – come up with some subsidies and stop increasing fares, it could help many Singaporeans tide over this recent economic downturn."

Dr Khor said: "Even if you come with feedback that may not be what the government might want to hear, we still want to hear them because this valuable feedback will help us refine policies."

Natural for citizens to criticise, as well as praise govt: George Yeo

By Nazry Bahrawi, TODAY
17 August 2007

SINGAPORE: They don't always see eye to eye with the Government.

But political commentators, including bloggers, do have their place in Singapore, according to Foreign Minister George Yeo.

"It is natural that citizens should criticise the Government. It is also natural that citizens should praise the Government for doing good. This is how a healthy relationship is established between the individual and the collective," said Mr Yeo to students from Raffles Institution at a live dialogue session organised by the school yesterday.

Many of the questions centred on political discourse, censorship and democracy. Asked what he thought of political commentators such as Mr Brown, Mr Yeo said he enjoyed some of the well-known blogger's work.

"They are not all fair, but then it won't be funny if there isn't a little (of the) unfair in order to exaggerate a point. It is part of the creative industry, which we are trying to promote in Singapore," he added, citing creativity in blogs, theatre and cartoons.

But what of some Members of Parliament who feel that mr brown was too harsh on government policies? "No, no. In fact, he had even invited me to appear on his blogsite. Maybe one day I will, but I have been quite busy," responded Mr Yeo, who also blogs.

But Mr Yeo did note that some commentators may take things too far. "Sometimes there could be malice in the humour. And if you, as an individual, feel that your reputation is harmed ... then you may have to take action.

"Most of the time, if it is just funny or satirical, I think we should just have a laugh at ourselves. It will build a healthy society and it will make it into a more vibrant city."

To a question on democracy, Mr Yeo said the model differs from country to country. "Whatever form of democracy that we evolve in Singapore, it must do two things: Make us secure and ensure that our economic chances are maximised."

But for a country to work, an active citizenry is crucial.

"We need a good government, and we need a government that does things, but we also need citizens that would do things for themselves and one another," he said.

Singling out the income divide between the haves and have-nots here, Mr Yeo said: "What we need in Singapore is for the people who are more successful to always keep an eye out for those who are less successful and to help them … Whatever the Government does, it is no substitute for the good that we do to each other."

'Be humble and willing to share'

Given the rough patches in Singapore's relations with some of its neighbours recently, some students wanted to know if the Republic's development was a sore point with them.

While Mr Yeo hoped this was not so, he noted: "It is always important to us not to be emotional, be humble and willing to share with others. Accepting that even when we do all these things, sometimes we get criticised for all kinds of things, but we take it in our stride."

Asked about the unhappiness over Singapore's stake in Indosat, Indonesia's second largest mobile phone operator, Mr Yeo said: "The general principles we adopt is be a good corporate citizen, add value where you are, do good to the community yet make a profit … Always observe the local law. That is very important.

"It may be that because we are a little red dot, there is resentment … That is what I meant, that in these countries where we are not very welcome, we should restrain ourselves. - TODAY/fa

Bus interchanges the most littered places in Singapore: survey

By Lynda Hong, Channel NewsAsia
27 July 2007 1844 hrs

SINGAPORE: About 53.7 percent of Singaporeans who were surveyed by the National Environment Agency (NEA) said littering was not a serious problem here.

The study also found that 39.2 percent of the respondents were not concerned about littering and 20.3 percent did not take pride in keeping Singapore litter-free.

In addition to that, 13.6 percent of the respondents thought littering was a socially acceptable behaviour while 8.6 percent said littering would not lead to hygiene problems.

Of those surveyed, 7.5 percent did not think litter was harmful to the environment.

Results of the NEA Littering Behaviour Study, conducted over a period of six months, were released on Friday at the launch of the Litter-Free Bus Services Programme at the Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange.

The programme, which was launched by Minister of State for Transport and Finance Lim Hwee Hua, aims to encourage Singaporeans not to litter.

The NEA study showed that bus interchanges were considered the most littered public places in Singapore.

Besides displaying posters and banners on this programme in 21 bus interchanges and more than 3,650 buses, this litter-free initiative also involves the concerted efforts of stakeholders such as bus operators, commuters, cleaners, bus captains and shop tenants.

Mrs Lim hopes the new programme will remind Singaporeans to take ownership for the cleanliness of their environment.

She said: "From time to time, we need to raise awareness; we need to remind people again that it takes everyone's efforts to make this work and to sustain this on an ongoing basis, because litter will not just disappear by itself. Litter will have to be carefully and properly disposed (of)."

Good governance, but where's the voice?

By Loh Chee Kong, TODAY
12 July 2007

First, the good news: Singapore continues to rank among the best in five out of six areas in the World Bank's latest worldwide governance indicator report.

In particular, it received almost perfect scores in corruption control and government effectiveness.

But the bad news is that in the category of "voice and accountability", which measures political, civil and human rights, the Republic's score hit its lowest since 1996 and it was placed in the bottom half of the 212 countries and territories surveyed.

While Singapore led Southeast Asia in all the governance indicators, it ranked behind Asian countries such as Hong Kong and India when it came to voice and accountability.

According to the World Bank, the latest report — which covers the decade from 1996 — revised the bank's earlier scores after five new data sources, such as the Gallup World Poll and the Open Budget Index, were added. These revisions in "virtually all cases result in minor changes in our earlier estimates", the report stated.

However, the revisions saw Singapore move up dramatically in voice and accountability for 2005.

Last year's edition of the report had placed Singapore in the 38th percentile for that year. After the revision, the Republic was placed near the 56th percentile.

In the latest report, Singapore was placed below 114 other countries, at the 46.6 percentile, in 2006. After the latest revisions, the only time the Republic fared worse was in 1996 (when it was placed at the 46.4 percentile) when the World Bank started the report.

Nevertheless, Singapore registered year-on-year improvements in the other indicators, where it was ranked among the best-managed 16 or so countries.

Singapore's rankings in the survey showed the country to be "one of the best-managed business environments in the world", said the World Bank.

Its representative in Singapore, Mr Peter Stephens, noted that the Republic had emerged relatively unscathed in an eventful decade and it was "easy to see why business has such confidence in Singapore as a place to invest and a location for major operations".

Said Mr Stephens: "Singapore has weathered the collapse of the technology boom, the emergence and competitive pressure of China, Sars and the advent of terrorism. Its systems of governance allow it to make decisions and implement them in ways that not only produce high-quality results, but which businesses can trust."

On the global front, the report showed emerging economies catching up with the rich nations. More than a dozen countries, most of them from the former Eastern Europe communist bloc, scored higher on key measures of governance than countries such as Greece and Italy.

China has improved its anti-corruption stand and the rule of law, but civil freedoms and political stability declined, the World Bank found.

In the region, Thailand — which is undergoing political transition following a military coup last year — experienced significant dips in the areas of political stability, and voice and accountability. In the former category, it was placed near the 16th percentile, ranking it just above 35 or so of the countries in the report. In the voice and accountability area, it was rated 32.2, down from 51.4 in 2005.

Malaysia was placed in the upper half of the rankings in all of the indicators except voice and accountability, where it was ranked in the 38th percentile.

It also registered a 4.3-percentile-point drop — to 58.7 — in political stability.


- TODAY/so

New web portal launched to promote community engagement efforts

By Wong Siew Ying, Channel NewsAsia
24 March 2007

SINGAPORE : Community engagement in Singapore is going into cyberspace, with the launch of a web portal called Singapore United.

It was launched by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng at the National Seminar on the Community Engagement Programme (CEP) on Saturday.

Recent surveys have shown that Singaporeans respect each other's faiths, beliefs and practices.

But Mr Wong said this was not static or permanent.

Addressing religious leaders and representatives from the media, businesses, schools and grassroots organisations, Mr Wong reiterated the need to guard against terrorist threats.

One way was to keep everyone informed and connected.

Hence, the launch of Singapore United, a platform to share ideas and check out a host of community engagement activities.

Mr Wong said that the name Singapore United was inspired by comments and suggestions from members of the media.

The website may also serve as an avenue to disseminate information in times of crisis or to educate the young.

Abdul Mutalif Hashim, Chairman, Inter-Racial Confidence Circle, Choa Chua Kang RC, said, "The young, they like to surf. A lot of these websites, there's no limitation, there's a lot of negative element in these websites. So if you have this portal, we try to portray the positive side, balance their thinking."

Mr Wong noted that many people have volunteered to help since the CEP was launched a year ago.

Although he was heartened by what has been achieved, he stressed that maintaining good communal relations was always a work in progress.

Mr Wong said that on the whole, Singaporeans of all races and religions behaved responsibly and acted with restraint, ensuring that conflicts outside of Singapore do not trigger insensitive actions here.

While it is not possible to isolate the community from such conflicts, Mr Wong emphasised that there is a line that must not be crossed.

He added, "And the line is simple - our priority is to our own society and the safety and security of Singaporeans, regardless of their race and religion. We may offer aid or comfort to the victims of violence. We could do so openly and through responsible channels so that our efforts will not be subverted. We must not cross the line to support radical organisations preaching religious hatred of others or participate in terrorist acts of violence against others."

The priority, Mr Wong said, must be the safety and security of Singaporeans

But the people must recognise that the city-state could be hit by terrorists - and this was why they must be prepared to prevent reckless behaviour on the ground.

Sebastian Chua, Chairman, Inter-Racial Confidence Circle, Punggol South RC, said, "We could have more community-bonding activities. At the same time, we are planning to fulfil our role basically as an ambassador or counsellor in the event of any tension. Of course this inter-faith platform will also go a long way to diffuse any crisis."

At a closed door dialogue later, participants agreed that grassroots leaders needed to be more pro-active, and work with schools to reach out to the young. - CNA/ms

PUB receives feedback on how to transform drains, reservoirs

19 March 2007 (CNA)

SINGAPORE : The Public Utilities Board (PUB) has received feedback from more than 1,500 people on how to transform Singapore's drains, canals and reservoirs.

The PUB said many of the suggestions for the "Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters projects" revolved around what it was like in the old kampung days, where children used to play by the drains and canals.

Some also wanted to see more cultural activities along the banks, nature trails, boardwalks by the water, and more water sports.

Another idea - a permanent exhibition to educate the public, especially the younger generation, on important issues such as keeping the waters clean and how to have fun safely.

The campaign, which plans to transform Singapore's drains, canals and reservoirs into streams, rivers and lakes, was launched last month at the Asian Civilisation Museum.

More than 100 spots have been identified by the PUB as potential sites for the projects.

The PUB said it would implement more than 20 projects over the next five years. - CNA /ls

Public gives Budget feedback at REACH website

By Satish Cheney, Channel NewsAsia
16 February 2007 2208 hrs

SINGAPORE: Members of the public have been logging on to the REACH website to air their views on the Budget.

Minister of State for Finance and Transport Lim Hwee Hua and Chairman of the REACH panel Dr Amy Khor were on hand to answer queries real-time online.

It is the first time REACH has organised a townhall meeting online.

But the response was quite muted, with only 11 registered users logging on to air their views and ask questions.

Ms Lim Hwee Hua said: "To be fair, this is the first time we're doing it. It's an experience we have to learn from, whether it's in the area of publicising this to more people and to get more participation or whether it's the right time of the day, bearing in mind it's pretty close to Chinese New Year as well."

Among the key points discussed were whether enough is being done for the middle income group and if the non-English speaking Singaporeans have avenues to air their views on the Budget.

Dr Amy Khor said: "We are also using other means to reach out to the non-English speaking population, for instance through our ministerial dialogues that can be conducted in Mandarin."

More of these interactive townhall meetings will be planned later in the year for upcoming issues of interest. - CNA/ir