DURING an interview with the Financial Times on May 29, 2018, Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was quoted as saying: "I think the people of Singapore, like the people in Malaysia, must be tired of having the same government, the same party since independence". It is perhaps in his character to express such a view.

Two key factors are critical for the successful development of any economy: an effective leadership supported by an efficient civil service and a sustainable budgetary process that is capable of financing strategic economic policies and social development initiatives.

Singapore has successfully transformed itself from the third to the first world within a few decades. Singapore's achievements can be attributed to the "DNA" of its public policy formulation which was pioneered by the country's old guard under the leadership of Lee Kuan Yew. This "DNA" can be summarised in the following five tenets: