Ex-minister Lim Hwee Hua launches book about government in business

FORMER Cabinet minister Lim Hwee Hua has launched a book on government's involvement in business, including her take on the Singapore Sports Hub, MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) disruptions, and why home-sharing via Airbnb has met an impasse here.

Titled Government In Business: Leading Or Lagging?, the book features 64 case studies from around the world, including Singapore. Among other things, the book discusses governments' struggles to strike the right balance in regulating businesses amid rapid technological change - such as e-payments, aerial drones, e-cigarettes and more.

On home-sharing, for example, the book delves into residents' concerns, the government's public housing objectives and enforcement difficulties - factors that have impeded Airbnb from taking off in Singapore.

Another example concerns Singapore's decision to corporatise the Public Works Department in 1999, which diminished the government's pool of competent engineers. Just over a decade later, the MRT system was hit with massive breakdowns in December 2011.

Mrs Lim - who was Second Minister for Transport until May 2011 - writes that the "obvious hole to plug" at the time was the lack of engineering expertise at both the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the SMRT.

The book also delves into public-private partnerships, including the Singapore Sports Hub - where "the outcome was unfortunately not quite up to expectations", she wrote. The S$1.33 billion facility suffered from teething defects in its facilities, uncompetitive rental fees and three chief executives' departures within five years of its 2014 opening.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

Mrs Lim noted that a KPMG audit had concluded that the interests of the project's stakeholders were misaligned. Statutory board Sport Singapore placed more emphasis on community events, while its private-sector partners were profit-driven. There were also competing interests among the businesses in the consortium.

Speaking at the launch of the book on Thursday, Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing said the government's goal as a regulator was "not to play catch-up", but to be a "proactive enabler" of innovation and growth, with regulatory agility as key.

He added: "If the market is unable to deliver a fair and just outcome to allow our businesses and people to fulfil their potential, then a responsible government must step in to balance the social and economic objectives."

He also affirmed the importance of collaboration between the public, private and people sectors to find common ground and solutions to problems of the day.

In his remarks, Mr Chan said the case studies in the book show that theory often sees unexpected deviations in practice, even with the best of intentions.

"Ultimately, there is no secret formula," he said. "Governance is about applying what is the most appropriate, in context."

He added: "We are always undergirded by immutable principles, which are our commitment to transparency, consistency and accountability."

Government In Business: Leading Or Lagging? retails at S$28 in paperback and S$56 in hardback (before GST) at major bookstores and online.