![[Policy Unpacked] Rethinking the Social Contract @LKYSchool](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xIItBkAqDbs/maxresdefault.jpg)
Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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 standards. The civil service complements political leadership as “intellectual equals,” increasingly communicating policies publicly, while tripartism builds trust and buy-in, countering the misconception of a purely top-down technocracy.
Associate Prof Ho outlines enduring tensions Singapore must balance: growth and equity, global openness and local identity, development and heritage. Looking ahead, he sees new “odds” in a fractured global trading system and disruptive AI, arguing for an updated success formula that layers resilience (domestic capabilities, local core) atop openness and investment in human capital. He is cautiously optimistic, citing strong institutions, societal trust, adaptability shown in COVID-19, and purposeful youth. His overarching takeaway: values - service, integrity, and evolving meritocracy - anchor Singapore’s policy playbook and continue to guide its inclusive, pragmatic path.
#GovernancefortheFuture #publicpolicy #policymatters
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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 standards. The civil service complements political leadership as “intellectual equals,” increasingly communicating policies publicly, while tripartism builds trust and buy-in, countering the misconception of a purely top-down technocracy.
Associate Prof Ho outlines enduring tensions Singapore must balance: growth and equity, global openness and local identity, development and heritage. Looking ahead, he sees new “odds” in a fractured global trading system and disruptive AI, arguing for an updated success formula that layers resilience (domestic capabilities, local core) atop openness and investment in human capital. He is cautiously optimistic, citing strong institutions, societal trust, adaptability shown in COVID-19, and purposeful youth. His overarching takeaway: values - service, integrity, and evolving meritocracy - anchor Singapore’s policy playbook and continue to guide its inclusive, pragmatic path.
#GovernancefortheFuture #publicpolicy #policymatters
================================================
Visit us
Website: http://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg
Follow us on
Facebook: facebook.com/nuslkyspp
Twitter: twitter.com/lkysch
Instagram: instagram.com/lkyspp
LinkedIn University Page: linkedin.com/edu/school?id=42060
Subscribe and click on the bell icon to be the first to watch our videos! 🔔
![[Policy Unpacked] Rethinking the Social Contract](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xIItBkAqDbs/mqdefault.jpg "[Policy Unpacked] Rethinking the Social Contract
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 standards. The civil service complements political leadership as “intellectual equals,” increasingly communicating policies publicly, while tripartism builds trust and buy-in, countering the misconception of a purely top-down technocracy.
Associate Prof Ho outlines enduring tensions Singapore must balance: growth and equity, global openness and local identity, development and heritage. Looking ahead, he sees new “odds” in a fractured global trading system and disruptive AI, arguing for an updated success formula that layers resilience (domestic capabilities, local core) atop openness and investment in human capital. He is cautiously optimistic, citing strong institutions, societal trust, adaptability shown in COVID-19, and purposeful youth. His overarching takeaway: values - service, integrity, and evolving meritocracy - anchor Singapore’s policy playbook and continue to guide its inclusive, pragmatic path.
#GovernancefortheFuture #publicpolicy #policymatters
Visit us
Website: http://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg
Follow us on
Facebook: http://facebook.com/nuslkyspp
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lkysch
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lkyspp/
LinkedIn University Page: https://www.linkedin.com/edu/school?id=42060
Subscribe and click on the bell icon to be the first to watch our videos! 🔔")
![[Foreseeable Podcast] A new era: Outcome & significance of Indonesias 2024 presidential elections](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yh9Md94ONOs/mqdefault.jpg "[Foreseeable Podcast] A new era: Outcome & significance of Indonesias 2024 presidential elections
Indonesian voters in Southeast Asia’s largest democracy elected the ticket of former military general Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka in February 2024, but not without controversy. Gibran is the son of outgoing President Joko Jokowi Widodo, who is accused of manipulating the courts to allow Gibran to run despite being below the constitutional minimum age.
There are even charges of vote rigging that are being handled by Indonesia’s Election Supervisory Agency or Bawaslu and The General Elections Commission known as KPU.
Associate Professor Suzaina Kadir is Vice Dean of Academic Affairs at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and an expert on politics in Southeast Asia. As an avid Indonesia watcher, we wanted to get her take on what the upcoming administration means for Indonesia domestically, regionally and globally.
#GovernancefortheFuture #publicpolicy #policymatters
Visit us
Website: http://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg
Follow us on
Facebook: http://facebook.com/nuslkyspp
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lkysch
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lkyspp/
LinkedIn University Page: https://www.linkedin.com/edu/school?id=42060
Subscribe and click on the bell icon to be the first to watch our videos! 🔔")
