Hong Kong Seeking Singapore’s Advice

Hong Kong has begun to learn from Singapore, another city-country in Asia.

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Donald Tsang (photo) paid a 3-day visit to Singapore starting from July 15 to meet Prime Minister Lee Hsein Loong and former Prime Ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong.

His visit to the country comes amid heated debates that Hong Kong will be reduced from a center of international finance to a remote city of China with the rapid emergence of China and arguments from the Chinese government and the Hong Kong people about adopting direct elections for the chief executive and legislature.

Tsang first paid attention to Singapore’s talent system, in which the country finds talent in the private sector to hold public posts. Praising the Singaporean government’s efficiency, he said, “Hong Kong has a lot to learn from Singapore.”

In the long term, Singapore plans to establish a network in businesses and the military to tab talent in their early 40s for the public sector. To this end, the government pays high-ranking officials as much as corporate executives. About 40 percent of high-ranking officials, including ministers, in Singapore are former corporate executives.

Ministerial-level officials in Singapore receive 270 million to 550 million won in annual salary and 280 million to 440 million won in incentives. By contrast, their counterparts in Hong Kong are paid 440 million to 490 million won in annual salary without incentives. The wages of Singaporean public officials are much higher than those of other industrialized nations, including the U.K., Canada, the U.S., and Australia, other than Hong Kong.

Tsang was also briefed about the process of coordinating different opinions on building casinos in Singapore and the country’s education policy. He said that, when carrying out major policies, Singapore focuses on efficiency in the reviewing process and tries to execute them as promptly as possible.