By Cheong Suk-wai, The Straits Times, 2 Jun 2014
SINGAPORE - Politicians who give "goodies" away to win votes, with little thought of how they would pay for such goodies, risk not only insolvency, but turning citizens cynical against politics, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said on Monday.
"Democracy of that manner must lead to insolvency and eventually political cynicism," he said, underscoring an important principle the Government held to even as it tried to make Singapore cleaner, greener and more comfortable for all.
He added that the three other principles that helped the Government achieve all that were: spending within one's means and saving when times were good; staying open to trade, talent and ideas; and enabling more citizens to be educated and trained to be employable in a fast-changing world.
He said all this during a discussion with two other international leaders on shaping quality city living, as part of three summits here on managing cities, water and environmental hygiene.
The three summits are World Cities Summit, Singapore International Water Week and CleanEnviro Summit Singapore.
The two other leaders mulling the challenges of city living were Mexican thinker Angel Gurria, who is secretary-general of the developed world body the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and Frenchman Jean-Louis Chaussade, the chief executive of water and waste management specialists Suez Environment.
When Singapore's ambassador-at-large Tommy Koh, the discussion'[s moderator, asked Mr Khaw what he thought of the view that Singapore was paradise on Earth, the minister said: "As a government, we take a more practical approach; we dare not promise paradise.
"We try to make Singapore an enduring home for all Singaporeans."
Strong leaders, clear vision 'key to shaping cities'
Factors for liveability, sustainability highlighted at 3 environment forums
By Cheong Suk-wai And Grace Chua, The Straits Times, 3 Jun 2014
LEADERS who are transparent and have strong political will, good financing and a long-term vision are key to the success of shaping cities that are liveable and sustainable, said local and global thought leaders at three key environment forums yesterday.
But cities, especially fast-rising ones in Asia, also grow so rapidly that they generate a lot of waste and change the climate for the worse, sometimes irrevocably.
Their main challenge, of course, is how to tackle all these fallouts without slowing their rapid growth; cities today account for as much as 70 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP).
If cities do not manage their waste, for instance, they could "stifle themselves under the load of their own pollution", warned Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan. He was speaking at the Clean Environment Leaders plenary session, held as part of the CleanEnviro Summit at Marina Bay Sands.
The summit runs alongside the World Cities Summit and Singapore International Water Week. The Straits Times is the media partner for all three events.
Dr Balakrishnan said that how a city manages its environment determines the trajectory of its growth, as "people vote with their feet" and will flock to a city that is "attractive, sustainable, vibrant, as opposed to stifled, polluted, dangerous".
"In Singapore, we've had the advantage of being so small that we had no choice but to be environmentally conscious from the moment of our conception," he said.
For example, he added, it converted its mainland landfill to a park next to a freshwater reservoir.
But governments should take a long-term view in raising the quality of life, and not pander to the populace for short-term gains, said National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan yesterday.
For one thing, he warned, politicians who give voters "goodies" to win elections risk going bankrupt and souring everyone's view of politics.
"Democracy of that manner must lead to insolvency and eventually political cynicism," he said, as he underscored an important principle held by the Government, of creating policies for the greater good even as it tried to make Singapore cleaner, greener and more comfortable for all.
Mr Khaw's remarks resonated with many other thinkers at the World Cities Summit yesterday, who noted strong, honest leadership was the only way to ensure that city dwellers would keep their cities clean, green and peaceful.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Secretary-General Angel Gurria said new projections by his organisation suggest that climate change could dampen world GDP by 2.5 per cent.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) administrator Helen Clark agreed. Green growth is far from a rich-country luxury, she noted; rather, it is essential to lift people's living standards.
Asia should look to environmental protections to grow. "I believe that green growth can be a huge source of innovation, of new jobs, of development of new sources of exports," she said.
Don't turn elections into auction of "goodies" says Minister Khaw Boon Wan
By Saifulbahri Ismail, Channel NewsAsia, 2 Jun 2014
National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan on Monday (June 2) warned against turning elections into an auction between political parties promising voters as much "goodies" as they can, with as low taxes as possible.
He made this point during a dialogue at the joint World Cities Summit, Singapore International Water Week and CleanEnviro Summit. The topic of financing rapid urbanisation came up. Mr Angel Gurria, the Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development had raised that a common way of financing urban growth is through taxes such as consumption tax, property taxes, or green taxes. Mr Khaw said it is natural for people to want more, but not want to pay higher taxes for it. He said political parties should not take advantage of this.
"In all honesty, we must acknowledge most of our people would always want more, but would never want to pay more in taxes, and it's incumbent upon our part to be honest with our voters, because if every election is a mere auction between political parties to give as much goodies as they can with as little taxes they need to pay, I think democracy of that manner must lead to insolvency and eventually, political cynicism."
Mr Khaw added there is no shortage of money to finance the development of infrastructure - the problem is a lack of sustainable good ideas which will benefit all sectors in a country. He said, as long as projects are bankable, there will be no shortage of funding. However, it is inevitable that governments may need to help finance some projects in order to help the poorer segments of the population.
Mr Khaw also shared with delegates some lessons that Singapore has learnt. One is the importance of keeping the economy open. He stressed that protectionism has no place in Singapore. This is because in the case of Singapore, its domestic market is too small.
Still, some observers say being small may have its advantages.
Said CEO of Suez Environment Company, Mr Jean-Louis Chaussade: “Small cities are much easier to manage than very big cities where the problems are really complex due to the size. It's less in terms of technology; it's easier in terms of human resources, and human cooperation."
However, Singapore faces additional challenges because it is a city-state.
"Because the state consists of only one city, if the city fails, the country fails. So, for example, Detroit may be bankrupt but there are many other American cities can continue to prosper and America remains a major global power," explained Mr Khaw.
Mr Khaw added that as a small city state without a natural hinterland, Singapore will feel the impact of globalisation more acutely.