Ethos Issue 6, Jul 2009

Crisis-proof Governance
Featuring: Mr Sa Bali Abas (Permanent Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office, Brunei); Mr Sabir Said Al-Harbi (Director General, Economics Statistics, Ministry of National Economy, Oman); Mr Solomon Molebat si Sekwakwa (Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance & Development Planning, Botswana)

SEKWAKWA: I see some red lights: for instance, bringing in immigrants may slow down population decline, but if not managed properly, it will have negative effects. The other challenge that I think Singapore needs to be mindful of, is that when you are at the top, you have no one ahead to pace yourself with, so you have to run faster and outdo yourself or risk becoming complacent. Other countries are catching up, and even as you develop, people’s expectations will change. So you cannot depend on your past success to determine future growth.

When looking at policy issues, you need to have a broad enough mind to see from design through to implementation. It is one thing to come up with a good policy but quite another to execute it. In that respect, I have been impressed with the level of professionalism of your political leadership.

The ETHOS Roundtable was conducted by ETHOS Editor Alvin Pang in March 2009. Mr Sa Bali, Mr Sabir and Mr Sekwakwa were participants in the 2nd Leaders in Governance Programme (LGP), organised by the Singapore Civil Service College from 16 to 24 March 2009. Drawing from Singapore’s development experience, the LGP offered practical insights into the fundamentals of good governance effective policy implementation for sustainable development and social cohesion. Over the seven-day programme, participants interacted with senior government officials and thought leaders, and visited key government agencies to understand their operating philosophies and systems.

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