The productivity of the MCYS.

Since the Singapore Budget 2010 (and perhaps even before that), ‘productivity‘ has been a big buzzword in this island nation. “Our workers need to be more productive!” “Productivity is the way to go for economic growth!” “The key goal is to grow productivity by 2% to 3% a year over the next decade!” Etcetera, etcetera.

There has been a lot of talk about increasing workers’ productivity in Singapore. However, today I am more concerned with the productivity of the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, especially in relation to the homelessness issue.

On the 5th of April 2010, Al-Jazeera English posted the above video on their YouTube channel. The video, entitled ‘Singapore policies force some onto streets’, focused on the issue of homelessness in Singapore, and how the rigidity of certain policies made it impossible for some people to get housing. The story featured a couple who had been homeless for two years, and had to live in a tent. After it was made available online, the video was linked and posted on numerous blogs, websites, Facebook walls and Twitter feeds.

On the 27th of April 2010, Channel NewsAsia published an article entitled ‘Govt takes Al Jazeera to task for misreporting on homelessness cases‘. In the report, they quoted Dr Vivian Balakrishnan’s comments on the Al-Jazeera report. He accused Al-Jazeera of failing to “ascertain the facts”, as well as claiming that “irresponsible websites” had been circulating falsehoods on the homelessness issue. He revealed certain details about the couple in the video; for example, that the man “had made a tidy sum of over S$220,000 from the sale of three flats” and that the woman still owned a resale flat with her ex-husband. He also stated that they were getting financial aid and had turned down an offer of shelter.

He then goes on to say: “Homelessness or potential homelessness is a universal threat all over the world. The question is how best to fix this.“

Yes, that is the question. How are we going to fix this situation? And this is where my concern with the MCYS’ productivity comes in.

To refute Al-Jazeera’s story, the MCYS had to watch the video and try to figure out who the couple were. They then had to track down this couple and investigate their case. All this takes time, energy and resources in terms of manpower, but it was necessary. It was also the right thing to do; as the ministry responsible for the welfare of the Singaporean community, it is their job to do their best to find out about these homeless cases. Although I protest at their methods of investigation (more on this later), I will admit that it was necessary for them to find out about the couple in the Al-Jazeera report. It is what happened next that really gets me.

Yes, the MCYS put out their feelers to find out more about the couple. However, they only seemed to have found out enough to provide Minister Balakrishnan with ammunition to discredit Al-Jazeera and the online media, and – worse of all – to write off the couple as a genuine case worthy of MCYS attention and aid.

Now, I’m not a President’s Scholar, a doctor or a politician, so maybe I’m too small-fry to understand. But I have difficulty comprehending this situation:
Upon seeing the Al-Jazeera story, the MCYS identified the couple, tracked them down, dug up some vague background information… and then the Minister went to Parliament and announced personal details of the couple, which then got splashed all over the mainstream media (none of which bothered to contact the couple themselves for a response). Dr Balakrishnan also challenged “those who have been propagating these falsehoods [to] have the courage and the honesty to set the record straight.” This has since sparked off plenty of discussion online, as well as prompting responses from both Al-Jazeera and TheOnlineCitizen. Bloggers have also not been silent on the issue, and ironically the Al-Jazeera video is getting posted (or re-posted) on even more blogs and websites. Dr Balakrishnan now has to speak up for both himself and his ministry, and seeing that the information he presented on the couple in Parliament was nowhere near the full story, it’s going to be a toughie. This could go on… and on… and on…

Surely it would have been a lot less time-consuming, a lot less troublesome, a lot more productive, to have investigated properly the first time ’round and given the couple interim housing?

Yes, it would probably have taken a little more time for the MCYS to fully investigate the couple’s case; Dr Balakrishnan might not have been able to have presented all those “facts” in Parliament. But if they had just taken that time to properly investigate, delve deeper and even speak directly to the couple (which they still haven’t done), they would have been able to clarify any doubts they had about the legitimacy of the case, and seen that the problems this couple are facing are, in fact, genuine. They could then have provided the couple with interim housing. THEN Dr Balakrishnan could speak in Parliament and announce that they had taken action on the Al-Jazeera story by verifying this couple’s case to “put things right”, and that the couple were now relatively comfortably sheltered. The mainstream media would have exploded in raptures about the efficiency and compassion of the MCYS and Dr Balakrishnan, the volunteers working on the couple’s case would have been satisfied about how things had turned out, the couple themselves would have been extremely relieved at not having to sleep in a tent anymore, and everyone would have seen the MCYS as the good guys. And it’s more or less happily ever after (for this specific case, anyway).

Or, if after digging deeply they actually found that the couple were really freeloaders hiding in a tent with a pot of gold wrapped in their sleeping bags, they could then legitimately say that the case was invalid because of said pot of gold, and have the evidence to back them up. Although they would still have to do something about getting the couple off the streets, no one would be able to say that they had not done their due diligence, because everything presented was well-substantiated.

However, to stand up in Parliament and present facts about the couple’s case that are not only unsubstantiated but also oversimplified and misleading, and then challenging “irresponsible” sources to have “the courage and the honesty to set the record straight”, Dr Balakrishnan is simply shooting himself in the foot and asking for the backlash that he is getting. Because now, not only has this controversy led to more people seeking out and sharing the Al-Jazeera story, clarifications made by Al-Jazeera and TOC are pointing out the glaring inadequacies of his statements and – to speak frankly – making him look kind of dumb. This whole debacle, contrasted with past statements he has made (such as the infamous ‘meals on wheels‘ promise and the Straits Times article ‘Tell me if someone needs help‘), can only serve to undermine the people’s faith in both the minister and his ministry. None of this is helping his reputation, and is only directing even more traffic to the “irresponsible websites” he tried to discredit.

As I said, I’m probably not as clever as a Minister, but it seems to me a lot like generating unnecessary trouble and public disillusionment. And now he has to spend time cracking his head thinking about how to reply, how to present the case, how to salvage this situation. Time which could probably have been used on helping more homeless cases. And guess what? The couple in question are still homeless. It’s certainly not very productive, is it?

“The question is how best to fix this.” Yes, Dr Balakrishnan, that is a good question. A great question. The crucial question. Unfortunately for him, this time he decided the answer was to publicly humiliate a defenseless couple and challenge those who had done good deal more research than he had. Now he’s got grade-A egg all over his face.

So perhaps instead of being worried about the productivity of the average Singaporean, we should be more concerned about the wisdom and productivity of Dr Balakrishnan, who plays a crucial part in our nation’s social welfare system? After all, people’s lives and lifestyles are depending on him.

What other bloggers are saying:
- Diary of a Singaporean Mind: ‘Minister Balakrishnan scolds Al-Jazeera and bloggers‘
- Sgpolitics.net: ‘No lack of sophistry from the government concerning the homeless‘
- Want some tau huay?: ‘Come on, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, what’s the real story?‘
- TheOnlineCitizen: ‘TOC’s response to remarks by MCYS minister – Part One‘
- TheOnlineCitizen: ‘TOC’s response (Part Two) – A “tidy sum”?‘

I will be constantly updating these links. If you’ve blogged about this issue and would like to be linked, let me know!

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