28 November 2003

SPEECH BY MR THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM, ACTING MINISTER FOR EDUCATION, AT THE VALEDICTORY DINNER FOR GRADUATING STUDENTS OF THE NUS PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAMME AT RITZ-CARLTON HOTEL ON FRIDAY, 28 NOVEMBER 2003 AT 7.15 PM

It is my pleasure and privilege to be speaking to you today, at this occasion that marks the successful passage of 43 talented individuals from the Master of Public Management and Master of Public Policy programmes at the National University of Singapore.

2 First of all, I wish to extend my congratulations to each and every graduand. You have good reason to be proud of your achievement, having negotiated the academic rigours of your course. However, the real test for you, and for the Programme, will come as you return to serve your respective countries or organizations, and face the real-life challenges and issues that you will encounter as public administrators and policy-makers.

3 Public policy education, perhaps more than any other discipline, is an inherently open-ended, practice-driven enterprise. It is not an academic pursuit, but one a process of continuous exploration and continuous learning from practice, in our own countries and in other settings.

4 Sound public policy is grounded in tested principles, derived from past experience, the trials and errors as well as the relative successes of past policymaking. But it is rare to find a policy problem for which past experience provides an easy or formulaic guide. There is never certainty even in the best public policy making, only reasonable calculations of how each policy move might play out, how the markets will react or how the citizenry will respond.

5 And there will be challenges from time to time which have no precedent in recent history. The challenges faced by the transitional economies in the 1980s, of moving from command economies to market economies, are one major example. The wide range of approaches followed by the transitional economies, with widely ranging degrees of success - in some cases a failure by any honest measure - has now given governments valuable lessons on what to avoid.

6 More recently, in the public health domain, several Asian governments have had to respond to SARS, which has ushered in a new era of infectious diseases. The SARS crisis illustrated a key task of public policy, which is to win trust, mobilize citizens and give them confidence in situations where much remains unknown.

7 A good public policy education, as I am sure you have received, therefore teaches you not to be paralysed by the uncertainties inherent in public policy making. It does not seek to provide you with a formula for success, but an approach to help you learn from experience elsewhere, keep an open mind, consider the interests of all parties affected, and act on a judgement of what is in the best interests of the country as a whole. It teaches you to recognize what can go wrong, and how to change course when things do not pan out the way you expected. It teaches you not about how to be popular all the time, but how to preserve citizens' confidence in the future.

8 The Public Policy Programme has, since its inception in 1992, been committed to the endeavour of creating an environment for practitioners in public policy and administration to come together to expand their knowledge and perspectives, while forging bonds of mutual understanding and respect. Over the years, the Programme has taught, and learnt from, students hailing from some 25 countries. They have come from the whole gamut of government Ministries and agencies from defence to health, research institutes, non-government organisations (NGOs) and international organizations like United Nations agencies.

9 I urge you to preserve the contacts and camaraderie you have acquired with your fellow-coursemates. In a world where the concerns of different countries and organisations are becoming increasingly enmeshed, it is ever more important for there to be mutual understanding across institutional and national borders, and personal contacts amongst administrators and policy-makers.

10 Today, thanks to the untiring efforts of the Director and the Programme's faculty, the Public Policy Programme has matured and come of age. It is poised to enter a new phase of development. We intend to transform the Programme into a full-fledged School, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. This new School will strive to become a centre of excellence and global reference point for the study of public policy, particularly concerning Asian societies and the challenges of developing, transitional and newly industrialized economies.

11 The success of this transformation rests not on how we design the "hardware" and the "software" of the School, but on the community that comprises the School - the quality, verve and experience of its faculty and students. It will depend also on the support of those who have walked through the doors of the institution. In other words, you, as alumni, will be key players in the transformation of the school. It is faculty, students and alumni who will define the spirit of the School and enable it to enrich future generations.

12 I am therefore heartened to hear that a good number of you here at this Valedictory Dinner are alumni members who have graduated a while ago. Your presence is an indication that you value your association with the Public Policy Programme and want to be able to contribute in some way. I urge the Public Policy Programme and later the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy to tap into this illustrious network, leverage on their contacts and continue to involve them in its teaching and learning of public policy.

13 On this note, let me conclude with the sincere hope that, while this might be a valedictory dinner, there will be no parting of ways. I wish you the very best in your continued service to your country and your organisation.