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The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy was launched in
Singapore yesterday.
Collaborations with renowned institutions like the Kennedy
School of Government at Harvard University and the Woodrow
Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Columbia
University are in the pipeline.
For more on the programmes offered, Yvonne Gomez spoke to
Caroline Brassard from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy
at the National University of Singapore.
Caroline is currently completing a Ph.D in economics, and
has been a member of faculty at NUS for two years now.
CB: The Public Policy programme started in 1992. There was
always the intention of eventually becoming an independent
school. So it is now the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy,
which is part of the National University of Singapore but
independent of any faculty. Before, the programme was part
of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
From the transition from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
to the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, can you describe
the success of the existing programmes so far, the Master
of Public Policy and Master in Public Management?
CB: Well as you know, the School was just launched yesterday
on August 16, but the programmes have been running for 12
years. We have actually got in touch with our alumni and we
have seen that everybody who has gone through either the Master
of Public Policy and Master in Public Management has been
able to make a significant contribution when they go back
to their Ministries, armed with the knowledge and tools, experience
and exposure to different countries. And we’ve seen that
they were able to grow, which they themselves have told us
about over the years.
While we may have an established track record, as a country,
Singapore is still very young, and our political system is
still evolving. In this sense, how can the School benefit
its students?
CB: Singapore may be a young country but it has always been
fast-moving and fast to adapt, and remaking itself, as it
calls it. And what we find is that, through the exposure to
the different organizations in Singapore, as part of our programme,
especially the Masters in Public Management students are attached
to Singapore agencies, and learn from their experience. I’ll
give you some examples – we have people working right
now, on implementation of intellectual property like law,
in Singapore. We have the role of the Singapore Tourism Board
in promoting tourism. We have people studying the role of
governmental systems of innovation and good governance. We
have all sorts of different topics which the students can
choose themselves, like which agency with which they can cooperate
very closely. And we find that this is a very winning strategy
to have.
Staying on the point…some of the international schools
involved in tie-ups with the School are highly-respected and
established institutions. What do they stand to gain from
us?
CB: We’ve always thought that, being based in Singapore,
offers a strategic location, not only regionally, but so as
to be able to understand multicultural issues. This is what
I think the school can offer. It’s comparative advantage
is its location and its affiliation with neighbouring institutions,
as well as the students coming from the region itself.
I understand the School wants to attract top academic talent
to conduct high-level research, as well as promising executives
and administrators with leadership potential. With these demands,
is the school at risk of becoming too elitist?
CB: Actually, we don’t make any apologies for wanting
to be the best part of a large body, which I believe is the
definition of ‘elite’. We do want to be a global
reference point, for the study of public policy and public
management. We do have a rigorous selection process, but it’s
based on the capabilities and professional integrity of the
candidates. So I don’t think that we’ll become too
elitist but if ‘elitist’ means being the best, then
that’s what we’re aiming for.
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