Dear TRS,
These days I wonder if Singapore is the same one that I had used to know when I was younger. In the past the Singapore Government was competent and had a sense of urgency to reply to queries or letters written about governmental services. The Government officials of the past ensured that it did not look incompetent and promptly addressed concerns of the public. Most queries or complaints were looked into with a sense of urgency. This was a laudable achivement that was even admired by other countries. However, this fundamental aspect of our government has since deteriorated drastically. Even those organizations which are supposedly providing services to the people like LTA, MOH and others simply ignore letters that require a reply.
This does not bode well for a government that claims to be first-class and which commands huge salaries that even government officials from other countries envy. The government of our founding fathers like Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Mr Goh Keng Swee, Mr Rajaratnam and their other comrades took great pride in serving the people. That meant that government officers would be taken to task if they do not reply to public queries or letters promptly. The current goverment does not think it necessary to be immediate in answering or simply does not bother at all.There is no point in having a feedback unit when even letters to the main stream media like The Straits Times forum page go unanswered. I have noticed that there is a serious malaise and disregard to letters which question the unreliabilty of services that are provided by the goverment organisations or their affiliates. Or perhaps it is a way to deflect criticism and let the complaints vanish into thin air!
I wonder if our current Ministers are really serious in addressing the concerns of the public with this attitude. After all, they were elected by the people to be of service to them and when the officials do not think it is a matter of their concern, it would be the right of the people to make that wrong right. This will come back to bite the government when the people feel that their voices are no longer heard and that they are irrelvant. Brushing aside the peoples opinions, feedback and concerns is the root cause of the fall of many governments and with the way things are going, it may as well be the beginning of the end of PAP.
Regards.
RSS
TRS Contributor