Policy Unpacked: Rethinking the Social Contract
About this episode
The episode discusses Singapore's journey from uncertainty at independence to success through strategic policy and leadership.
In the first episode of our newly launched podcast series, “Policy Unpacked”, we explore Singapore’s “small nation, big journey,” featuring Terence Ho, Adjunct Associate Professor in Practice at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and author of “How Singapore Beat the Odds.” The conversation explores why Singapore’s survival was uncertain at independence - small population, high unemployment, reliance on British bases - and how it built success through ideas and institutions rather than luck. Ho highlights the pivotal role of first-generation leaders like Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Keng Swee, long-term planning, strong inter-agency coordination, and empowering capable people - principals, commanders, and civil servants - through mechanisms like block budgeting. A core theme is Singapore’s pragmatic synthesis: drawing from both left and right (compassion and self-reliance), combining market forces with judicious state intervention, and adapting global best practices to local context. Policy evolution, such as shifting from streaming to subject-based banding, illustrates continuous recalibration to reduce stigma while keeping…
More episodes of Foreseeable: A Podcast Series by Global-is-Asian
- Policy Unpacked: ASEAN at the Crossroads - Rethinking Economic Security
- Policy Unpacked: Reimagining Regional Resilience - Emerging Orders & Institutions
- ASEAN Amidst US-China Tensions
- Policy Unpacked: Work, AI, and the Role of Public Policy
- Foreseeable Podcast: The United Nations at 80: Power, Peace and a Changing World Order
- Foreseeable Podcast: The choice to be honest: Behavioural nudges in policy design
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