Coordinating Ministers in Govt is a good move: S Jayakumar

SINGAPORE — Former cabinet minister S Jayakumar says having more Coordinating Ministers in Government is a good move, given the cross-cutting issues the country’s leadership has to deal with.

Professor Jayakumar was the Coordinating Minister for National Security between 2005 and 2010.

In an exclusive interview with Channel NewsAsia, he said agencies and ministries cannot operate as independent silos. They need good coordination, with everyone pulling together.

Professor Jayakumar said the challenge is in coordinating the different Government agencies and ensuring they do not lose sight of the overall national interest. Even without an official appointment, there had always been a senior Cabinet member informally tasked with the role, he added.

“PM Lee has always stressed this need of whole-of-government approach,” he said. “So even without appointing formally Coordinating Ministers before, he has designated different ministers from time to time, to ensure coordination in certain areas.

“I give you an example: Climate change. It involves so many aspects - economic aspects, environmental aspect, legal aspects and foreign affairs - and he wanted me to coordinate all the different agencies without a formal appointment of Coordinating Minister. And after I stepped down, DPM Teo Chee Hean continued to play that role. So you see there are many issues which require coordination.”