Graduate School of Public Policy

1. Mr. Lim Siong Guan, you were the head of the Singapore Civil Service. What was the main thing that you enjoyed about your work?

What I enjoyed most was the ability to influence the direction for Singapore going into the future. It is helping to create vision and strategy for future generations of Singaporeans to find Singapore as the place where they have the opportunity to be the best they can be.

2. The theme of the first seminar is “Leading Change in the Public Sector.” What is the biggest challenge in introducing changes in civil service? What are the key topics you are going to cover during the seminar?

There are two basic challenges to introducing change in the civil service. The first is to be able to convince civil servants of the need for change. And the second is to provide them the means and the opportunity to bring about change.
I do not know the situation in Kazakhstan well enough to be able to offer any advice on what approaches and methods for change may work best for Kazakhstan. What I will do is to share what I have learnt from more than 40 years working in the public sector in Singapore, and let the senior officials in Kazakhstan to pick out and adapt what they think would make good sense for Kazakhstan.
The one-day program for senior officials from Kazakhstan’s Corps A will propose that they should see themselves as having the privilege and responsibility for bringing about change in the public sector for the long-term good of the country. The program will introduce the senior officials to practical ideas in leading change, managing for excellence, and effective implementation. It will draw heavily from my experience in leading Singapore’s public sector reforms in areas such as:
– Using scenario planning as a tool to anticipate change and imagine the future;
– Fostering a civil service culture that embraces change;
– Harnessing e-Government to execute change;
– Delighting the customer in public services; and
– Superior stewardship of the country’s resources.

3. In your opinion, what does the term “policy entrepreneur” mean?

An entrepreneur is someone who sets up a business, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit. The essential idea is to start something new in the belief that customers will pay adequately for the product or the service so that the business may make a suitable profit and thereby survive and grow. The risk in setting up the business lies in not getting enough customers who are happy enough to pay to keep the business going.
Government similarly needs “policy entrepreneurs”, people who think out new policies in the belief they will be good for the well-being of the people. The risk, however, is that the people may not agree that the new policy is a good idea, in which case the people may withdraw their support for the government. Managing the risk lies in formulating good policies, communicating them well to the people, and implementing the policies efficiently and effectively.

4. How should the evolution of the civil servant take place in a modern developing country?

Government is a complex undertaking. And the speed of change in the world, driven especially by technology, means that the civil servant needs to be clear what is the strategic vision for the country, and the various arms of government need to formulate and implement policies which are well coordinated and integrated to achieve the strategic goal. The need for strategic clarity and the urgency to effect change is much more demanding now than ever in the past.

5. Based on your experience, how important are sound principles in affecting the well-being of citizens of a country?

Sound principles are essential for clarity and consistency in the formulation and implementation of policies. Methods and practices may have to be adjusted according to individual situations, but if there are no sound principles underlying the policies, what we will get is confusion and distrust.

6. What is the gist of what you want participants to take away from the seminar?

At the end of the program, participants would learn about Singapore’s experience in public sector reforms and think about how these may be useful in Kazakhstan’s context. They would also reflect on the role of public servants as policy entrepreneurs and innovators in influencing the strategic direction for the country’s development.

7. The program of the second seminar identifies the most important challenges of Kazakhstan: industrial development and economic diversification. Who is the target audience for your program? What are the topics in your seminar that will be, particularly, relevant for Kazakhstan?

As with the first program, I will share Singapore’s thinking and experience in economic development, and encourage the participants to decide what would be good and relevant for Kazakhstan. The program would be relevant for all who are thinking through economic and industrial policy for Kazakhstan, and who are responsible for attracting foreign investment and nurturing successful business.

8. What will participants learn in the end of the seminar?

Participants would learn how Singapore had approached industrialization and investment promotion, and adjusted its approaches as circumstances change in global and regional economics. They would then reflect on what ideas could be useful for Kazakhstan and what changes are necessary.