Health Minister Ong Ye Kung’s comments at the Singapore Perspectives conference on Jan 13, 2022 made waves.
Chief of which was his comment on how “ownself check ownself is a virtue”.
For context, Minister Ong was replying to a question from a Professor Tan Ern Ser on whether he believed a strong state is compatible with having a strong opposition or even possibly a two-party system.
Here, we summarise his full four-minute reply.
A fairly effective, functioning state – opposition included
Minister Ong addressed the concern about the possibility of a government turning rogue.
“That’s a legitimate concern and therefore there will always be a role for different kinds of institutions for checks and balances and ensure that the executive branch is always accountable to the people.”
The institutions include a non-politicised civil service, CPIB (Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau), AGO (Auditor General’s Office) among others.
The ability to self check is a basic prerequisite, he added.
“CPIB, AGO, organs of state within the system or departments within the system that constantly check that the system is clean and functioning well. People can say ‘ownself check ownself’ but it is a virtue. I see it always as a virtue. If ownself cannot check ownself, you are in big trouble. That’s the basic prerequisite.”
Minister Ong also acknowledged the presence of the opposition in Parliament and that the government must take their points of view seriously.
“And of course, presence of opposition in Parliament that constantly will also raise other points of views that you need to debate, you need to take it seriously. So all these add together, I think we can have a fairly effective, functioning state that serves the people well.”
A two-party system in Singapore?
A two-party system will not work in Singapore because of its status as a city-state, he opined.
“So as a city state, if Singaporeans are unhappy with one policy the government can change, east to west. It just sweeps across the whole city. If government does a good job and people are happy and it just spreads throughout the island as well.”
Unlike big countries like the UK or US, which consist of different regions and populace who think differently, people in Singapore worry about similar issues and precisely because of its size, fundamental views may only differ from person to person but not regions.
“For us, between Jurong and Changi, people equally worried about cost of living, people equally worried about Covid-19,” he said.
The role of the ruling party
The PAP government must continue the good work of earlier generations and make sure it remains an accountable government that serves the people, said Minister Ong.
“No policy will please everyone but weigh the pros and cons and move in the direction that the great majority can accept and that it is for the good of the long-term and maintain trust with the people. If we can do that I think we can continue a good path and I feel that this is the role of my party,” he said.
Here’s the full transcript
“I’d argue that maybe we have a two-party system already, maybe more. But I always also am realistic that we are unlike UK or we are unlike US which are such a big polity. So between the east and west of US, someone in Alaska thinks very differently from someone in Massachusetts or New York City. Likewise in the UK, someone way up in Scotland thinks very differently from someone living in London. And because of the great difference in views and perspectives and aspirations, and that view can shift, so you can have naturally political parties that cater to different populations segments that are vastly different. And over time, depending on the weight of the support, government switches with each election. And I think this is just logical outcome.
For us between Jurong and Changi, people equally worried about cost of living, people equally worried about Covid-19. I think in terms of fundamental views it may differ from person to person but not between regions. So as a city state, if Singaporeans are unhappy with one policy, the government can change, east to west – it just sweeps across the whole city. If government does a good job and people are happy and it just spreads throughout the island as well. So because of that, I don’t think the same two-party system will happen in Singapore because of geography, because of the reality of what we are as a city-state.
So we are now the ruling party, we can never take for granted this will be the case but I think therefore as ruling party, it’s our job to ensure that we continue the good work of earlier generations, make sure our policies, make sure whatever we do, we are an accountable government: meaning what we do is to serve the people and the policies must on the whole make sense. No policy will please everyone but weigh the pros and cons and move in the direction that the great majority can accept and that it is for the good of the long-term and maintain trust with the people. If we can do that I think we can continue a good path and I feel that this is the role of my party.
Of course, it is the great desire of people that even a small country you need a strong state to do long-term difficult things. What’s the check against you going rogue? And that’s a legitimate concern and therefore there will always be a role for different kinds of institutions for checks and balances and ensure that the executive branch is always accountable to the people. So civil service, we are quite unlike some system where a political party takes over, layers of civil servants change. Ours, permanent secretary downwards is neutral, non-politicised civil service; a PSC (Public Service Commission) that appoints the top appointments; rule of law – upheld by a judicial system that does its work very seriously; CPIB, AGO, organs of state within the system or departments within the system that constantly check that the system is clean and functioning well. People can say ‘ownself check ownself’ but it is a virtue. I see it always as a virtue. If ownself cannot check ownself, you are in big trouble. That’s the basic prerequisite. And of course, presence of opposition in Parliament that constantly will also raise other points of views that you need to debate, you need to take it seriously. So all these add together, I think we can have a fairly effective, functioning state that serves the people well.”
