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LKY’s attention to detail helped ensure clean toilets at Changi Airport

SINGAPORE — Former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew once wanted weekly reports on the state of cleanliness of the toilets in Changi Airport from then Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore Director-General Wong Woon Liong.

SINGAPORE — Former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew once wanted weekly reports on the state of cleanliness of the toilets in Changi Airport from then Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore Director-General Wong Woon Liong.

“Since (Mr Lee) wanted a weekly one, Mr Wong wanted a daily report. And since he wanted a daily report, the Director of Operations, guess what, wanted an hourly report. So that’s why we have clean toilets at Changi Airport,” said Permanent Secretary in the Public Service Division Yong Ying-I yesterday, as she spoke on the lasting impact of Mr Lee’s personal values on the civil service.

“This whole attention to detail by the boss matters … when the boss cares, everybody up and down the line cares. If the boss doesn’t care, standards will begin to slip,” said Ms Yong, who is also Chairman of the Civil Service College, at a panel discussion on governance at a conference organised by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy to commemorate Mr Lee’s 90th birthday.

Other values he passed on included “technocratic excellence”, a “pragmatic approach to policy making”, an “ethos of frugality and value for money” and “integrity and sense of stewardship”, Ms Yong said.

Mr Lee also believed in paying competitive salaries for all jobs in the public service, which has allowed the Government “to professionalise jobs across the whole public service” and “to fight and eliminate systemic corruption”.

Recounting a speech Mr Lee made in 2005, Ms Yong said: “Paying civil servants salaries close, not equal or below, but close to what their equivalents earn in the private sector has enabled them to live according to their station in society without extra sources of illicit income.” Amir Hussain

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