HPB Voices Reloaded
September - October 2007
They are the giants of the new economy, at times even political forces in carving the new social-political landscape. Their emergence might seem recent, but China and India both boast rich cultures that have lasted over thousand of years. It is this rich tapestry of history and heritage that have propelled the two nations to such great heights. This bears an important lesson for a comparatively infant nation like Singapore. As suggested by former CEO of HDB and URA and Chairman of the National Arts Council, Mr Liu Thai Ker, “The arts and culture is the key to our next big leap”. In his presentation to HPB senior management on 31 Aug, Mr Liu shared the lessons that he had learnt in his current role as Director of RSP Architects Planners & Engineers.
He started his charismatic presentation, by sharing several amusing anecdotes of his initial experience in the public sector. He described the change of roles as akin to a move from a “gold cage” to a “wild jungle”. He recounted the Civil Service environment where he used to enjoy the stable “regular feeding”, compared to the “feast” and “famine” atmosphere in the private sector, where extreme rewards or failures were more commonly experienced. He also found the attitude and mindset changes a refreshing welcome and realised the importance of subtle differences in management skills such as delegation and control in both environments. Another significant difference was the geography of the operations. It was through the experience in managing projects across the world that he learnt the limitations and strengths of Singapore as a modern single-city country.
Mr Liu captured the audience’s attention through his visually driven anecdotes. He described the great opportunities and daunting challenges facing Singapore through the use of his collection of photos amassed during his exploits in the region. The beautiful pictures of the giant urban projects in the Middle East, China and South East Asia was an exhilarating motivation for Singapore companies to spread their wings in the region, but also provided a humbling reminder of how these project easily dwarfed our local urban planning achievements. He showcased his intimate knowledge of China and the Middle East by describing the key attitudinal and cultural differences between the two regions. He illustrated the key difference through the fact that while “the money was in search of projects and people” in the Middle East, the opposite was true in China.
He shared his enthusiasm on the road ahead for Singapore by highlighting the bold steps taken in adopting long term perspectives on tackling economic and social issues. Another significant step that he hoped to see is for greater investment in the arts. A strong advocate for the arts, Mr Liu saw the role of the arts as the bedrock in shaping our culture. He believed that culture is imperative for a small country like Singapore as a means to expand and deepen our limited heritage. His presentation ended off with words of encouragement for HPB staff to adopt more independent thinking and to strive for more breakthroughs rather than being satisfied with the status quo.
The talk was certainly very well-received, as shown by the upbeat feedback obtained from some of the participants:
Dr Chow Khuan Yew, NDRO
“Mr Liu's sharing session was inspiring and enlightening. I learnt that we need to strengthen the HPB culture, encourage our staff to stretch our imagination and nurture the passion for health promotion and disease prevention.”
Foo Wei Lin, Human Resource Dept
“What struck me most, is his ability to stay focused on his passion and love for his work and art without compromising on his values system. Perhaps that's why he was so convincing as a successful leader.”
Elamaaran Balakrishnan, Youth Community Outreach Dept
“A city can be built overnight, but "culture" takes time to develop. Singapore is a modern city built from its roots as an immigrant society; but what is its culture? I guess the learning point here is that the "maturity" of a country could be linked with how culturally developed we are.”
Caroline Ding, Data and Knowledge Management Dept
“I learned the need to extend our outlook beyond Singapore, to learn from others and be genuinely humble - we should NOT be like the frog at the bottom of the well, satisfied with the small piece of sky above our heads. Yes, we should be proud of our past achievements but let’s not rest on our laurels.”