Statement - Role of the Government

Over the past few days, several citizens have expressed concern on the stand taken by the Singapore Police Force regarding the disposal of a bomb found in a private property. The Police had expected the owner to engage a private contractor to remove the bomb.

A few months ago, a citizen shared that he had lodged a report to the Police about the loud noise made by a specific car regularly in the early morning. Instead of dealing with the noise, the Police asked him to lodge the complaint to the Land Transport Authority (who was in charge of the roads) and if, it no action was taken, to report to the Environment Agency (for noise pollution).

A week ago, the media was abuzz with the public uproar over the high prices indicated by the private developers of the Centrale 8 DBSS project at Tampines Central. The public was particularly upset over the government's explanation that DBSS is not HDB and that pricing is the prerogative of the private developers.

Concerns of the citizens
These examples point to four major areas of concern, which I share:-

1. Fragmentation of the government duties: it seemed that some government agencies are unwilling to deal with an issue that falls on the margin and are trying to push the responsibility to another agency
2. Deterioration of standards: There will be a drop in standards, especially in security and safety, if important matters are not properly attended by the government
3. Higher cost to the citizens: When citizens are expected to engage the private sector to carry out services that could be more efficiently handled by the public sector, the total cost must increase.
4. Breach of Social Contract: Having collected taxes and levies and being elected by the people, there is the expectation that the government will deliver the appropriate services to the people, instead of pushing back to them.

Role of the Government
I echo the sentiments of the citizens and ask the Government to recognize its duty to provide the appropriate level of public service in an efficient manner and reduce the overall cost of the nation.

I also ask the various government agencies to work together in a coordinated manner to carry out these duties. Where the responsibility is not clear, it is better for the agencies to sort out the matter internally, rather than push the problem to the citizens.

Tan Kin Lian