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Civil Service can play bigger role in fostering forward-looking culture

I refer to the report “Good politics, policies must go together for S’pore’s success: PM Lee” (April 27), where Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke of how politics and policies have worked together constructively all these years.

I refer to the report “Good politics, policies must go together for S’pore’s success: PM Lee” (April 27), where Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke of how politics and policies have worked together constructively all these years.

Credit must be given to our Civil Service’s high standards of efficiency, sense of responsibility, incorruptibility and fairness in implementing policies.

With the environment becoming more complex, and taking into account rising aspirations, the Civil Service has to seek new approaches to better serve the nation and its people.

Our “whole-of-government” capabilities must be improved on to tackle certain issues such as the low birth rate and the ageing population. Efficiency and productivity would greatly improve if more synergy could be attained among the ministries and government agencies.

Four years ago, we had the Population White Paper, which brought together policymakers to consider demographic challenges. Not only that, citizens were engaged by the issue, and debated more deeply as a society as well.

Perhaps we could see more of such projections from the Civil Service, such as for manpower and the economy, or the security threats to the nation.

The Civil Service may also need a central planning body to coordinate all fronts of development.

We have to foster a forward-looking culture to survive as a nation, and the Civil Service can play a crucial role here.

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