Inception Point: The Use of Learning and Development to Reform the Singapore Public Service fills a gap in current literature on Singapore's modernisation. While the political leadership of the late Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and his People's Action Party (PAP) government were key to Singapore's modernisation, the role of policy implementation was one shouldered by the Singapore Public Service, a story thus far neglected in literature.Inception Point argues that the Singapore Public Service used executive development and training to introduce reforms across the bureaucracy. In so doing, the bureaucracy constantly adjusted itself to help modernise Singapore. In the 40 years between decolonisation in 1959 and 2001, when the training arm of the bureaucracy became a statutory board, training had been used firstly, to socialise the bureaucracy away from its colonial-era organisational culture to prepare it for the tasks of nation-building. Subsequently, civil servants were mobilised into an 'economic general staff' through training and development, to lead the Singapore developmental state in the 1970s and the 1980s. The Public Service for the 21st Century (PS21) reforms in the 1990s was the epitome in harnessing development and training for reforms across the bureaucracy.

To stay ahead of the competition, the public sector has to ensure an effective talent management strategy to attract, develop and retain talents. Effective talent management is about aligning the organisation’s approach to talent with the strategic aims and purpose of the organisation. This book adopts a comparative country analysis, which takes into account the institutional emphasis, organisational configuration and unique characteristics of the public sector. Against the backdrop of three major stages of administrative development, i.e., the colonial, postcolonial and modern periods, this book unpacks how the talent schemes have been shaped by the reforms, experiences, cross-country knowledge transfers and evolved over time responding to globalisation and digitalisation in Southeast Asia. This book will be of great interest to scholars and public managers working on public administration and civil service reforms in Asia towards developing a contextualised understanding of talent management and leadership development in the region.

It is said that the duty of public servants is to 'speak truth to power' — to give honest, sound and sometimes unpopular advice to political leaders. Underneath the narrative of the Singapore story, as personified by Lee Kuan Yew and the first-generation leaders, lie the lesser-known tales of dedicated public servants in the nation-building process. Singapore's development cannot be fully understood without considering the role of those in public service during the transition to independence from the 1950s to 60s.Featuring oral history interviews from the National Archives of Singapore with 11 pioneer public servants, Speaking Truth to Power: Singapore's Pioneer Public Servants reveals first-hand, personal accounts of the civil service's transition from the colonial era, their relationship with the political leaders, and how Singapore's economic development was driven by sound public administration in those critical years. The annotated interviews make for an easily readable format for researchers and general audiences alike.Some of Singapore's pioneer public servants featured in the book include:Wee Chong Jin, The First Local Chief JusticeGoh Koh Pui, Chairman of the PSAAbdul Wahab Ghows, Solicitor-General and High Court JudgeHedwig Anuar, Director of the National LibraryKwa Soon Bee, Pioneer of Singapore's Healthcare SystemAlan Choe, HDB's First Architect-Planner, and Founder of the URAChan Chin Bock, Chairman of the EDBJ. Y. Pillay, The Man Behind Singapore AirlinesNgiam Tong Dow, The Maverick Perm SecTommy Koh, Singapore's Representative at the United NationsWinston Choo, The First Chief of Defence Force

This book compares contemporary civil service systems across East and Southeast Asia, a dynamic region of greater diversity in local administrative tradition, imported models of modern administration, and the character of prevailing political institutions. Featuring chapters on Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines, this book provides a detailed analysis of key aspects of the civil service system, including centralization, recruitment, classification, openness of positions, performance assessment, promotion, training, and senior civil service. It distinguishes four modes of public employment, namely, bureaucratization, professionalization, politicization, and marketization, to develop a conceptual framework for comparing the civil service system at the operational level. The region’s contemporary civil service systems appear to be hybrid systems that combine, at varying degree, these modes of public employment, responding to administrative reform pressures. The patterns of public employment across East and Southeast Asia reflect local administrative traditions, imported Western models of administration, and the relative timing of democratization and bureaucratization. With contributions from leading local experts across the region, this book will be invaluable to students, scholars, and practitioners interested in Asian public administration, especially civil service systems.

India 2018 - A Reference Annual is a comprehensive digest of country's progress in different fields. The book deal with all aspects of development-from rural to urban, industry to infrastructure, science and technology, art and culture, economy, health, defence, education and mass communication. The sections on general knowledge, current affairs, sports and important events, are a must read for comprehensive understanding of these fields. With its authenticity of facts and data, the book is a treasure for students, researchers and academicians.

The OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) conducts periodic reviews of the individual development co-operation efforts of DAC members. This is the review of the United States.