PESTLE Analysis Politics The political power is extremely centralized in the government and it is a bureaucratic country. Although the elections are being held often, the offices are mostly assigned instead of elected. The government put efforts in communicating the decisions and policies to the public instead of gathering their opinion. The reason of that is after the “Depoliticize― the power structure in 1965, the government is convinced by a concept that a city state without natural resources, if keeping the political centralized and narrow, the economic and political stability are maintained. The People’s Action Party dominated the Singaporean politics since the independence from leaving the Federal of Malaysia in 1965. Singapore is classed as a “Hybrid― country by the Economist intelligent unit because Singaporean politics is a mixture of bureaucracy and democracy. Also Freedom House rank Singapore as “partly free―. Western democracies considered the Singaporean government is closer to bureaucratic instead of democratic or illiberal and procedural democratic. Some people considered Singaporean government to be social democratic that listens to the opinions and feedback on policies and lawmaking process instead of purely according to the will of government. However some of the policies consist of socialism, for example; the free education and government owned public housing. These policies help the dominance government controlled the local economics and majority of real-estate. However, Singapore is famous for its anti- corruption policies which also are an attraction to foreign investment. Singapore is ranked the least corruption country in Asia and the cleanest country in the world by the Transparent International. The World Bank’s governance indicators also ranked Singapore highly rule on laws, control of corruption and government effectiveness, however the political openness and human rights are lacking. Also there were huge questions and responses about the salaries of Prime Minister in Singapore. The Prime Minister received a rise in salaries of 60% which equals to $400,000 US Dollars higher than the United States’ President. The response from government defined this is the tool of preventing the corruption and governing efficiency to ensure Singaporean image as a world-class government. The Singaporean government is being actively involved in economy activities. Also the government has monopolized or semi-monopolized certain industries like: real estate which makes the power of government affect the profitability. Although the economy is growing rapidly and increase of opportunities of: trade, citizen education level is increased and the society is more complex and the policies so governing of PAP (People Action Party) is being questioned. The prediction of Singapore Politic will be the openness of politics should increase to the public. Because of the illiberal democratic affects the country image and the goodwill of the people and because of the mature economic and slow down of growth which is an impact on the trust worth of the government.
Economics Singaporean Economy is one of the best performers. GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has been constantly increasing since Singapore became independent. GDP in market Price of Singapore in 2007 was $161,348.8 million (US Dollars) and a growth of 7.5% after a growth of 7.9% in 2006. Also Singapore is ranked the 8th most expensive country by the Global Property Guide. As a city-country, Singapore is focusing on its economic development. Singapore has a well developed and successful free-market economy. The economy highly depends on exports, especially electronics and information technology products. However the global recession in 2001-2003 had huge impacts on the technology sector, another incident of SARS in 2003 has affected the economy of Singapore. However the internal flexibility led to the real GDP growth of 7% in average annually during 2004-2007. The government is trying to boost the share of market in global demand of information technology products. Government is attracting investments in high technological industries, such as: pharmaceuticals and medical technology production. However, Singapore’s inflation in 2007 was 3.6% and a forecast of 5% in 2008 which is the highest in 16 years and it has a huge impact on costs of food, energy and transportation and the CPI (Consumer Price Index) has been increased accordingly. One of the reasons was the increase of sales taxes from 2% to 7% in July 2007. The forecast of Singapore growth in GDP 2008 was cut down to 4%-6% because of the risks in recession due to the slowdown in United States, mainly because of the real estate crisis and the stock market. Also the evidences show the slow down of outputs from the foreign drug factories and electronic exporters but the economists believed that even if the recession is happening, Singapore will walk out very quickly, because they estimate the domestic demand can pull it through. According to Appendix 1, exports in 2007 were $450,587.4 million in current price and it increased 4.4% from 2006 which indicated that the growth is declined sharply from previous years. The growth in 2004 was 20.5%, year 2005 was 14% and year 2006 was 12.8% from previous years. The numbers are insisting of domestic exports, non-oil exports, oil exports and re-exports. Reasons of that may due to the slow down of growth in United States and Europe which affects the technology and manufacturing industries in Asia. As the important transportation port, slowing production and declining demand of shipping indicates the general decline of Asian exports. The import of Singapore was slightly increased 4.5% and it is by the petroleum products and civil engineering equipment parts. The slowdown is being experienced due to decrease in demand of electronics and technological products, so that imports are slowing down. The most competitive advantages of Singapore are: free port and free market. High as 99% of imports are duty free in Singapore. However the market in Singapore is very competitive, the exporters have to aware that the after-sell service, because of the Singaporean buying habits are sensitive and the market is competitive.
As the high technology country, Singapore is the first country to use the Electronic Data Interchange(EDI) which use for effectively exchange trading information and this system makes Singapore as an active trading partner, also explained the effective transaction and information exchange can be done on internet. This is an advance technology that implemented by the Singapore government to increase the value of Singapore as a trading center in Asia. (Statistics are retrieved from MTI- Ministry in Trade and Industry Singapore)
Social The population in Singapore is stably increasing every year and the total population in 2007 was 4,588,600 and it is ranked the second most densely populated country in the world. Singapore is an international country and it is populated by different ethnic groups. The age structure is a bell shape which concentrated in the age 15-64 years of 76.3% and followed by 0-14 years of 15.2% and the least is over 65 years of 8.5%. It explains a healthy growth of work force and increase of population. Citizens of Singapore enjoy freedom of the choice of religion and multi-language skills are considered to be a pride of Singaporean. There are different ethnic groups so Citizens of Singapore speak: Mandarin, Cantonese, Malay and over 90% of population speak English. The literacy rate is 92.5% of the population in Singapore, the high rate of literacy is due to the government free education policy and the citizen is highly educated which emphasized the work force of Singapore is qualitative. Singapore also has a strong social system which offers social benefits to its citizens, who also are obliged to contribute minimum of 10% of salaries and wages into Central Provident Fund for public pension and retirement fund. The average retire age is 55 years old which is lower than the international average of years 65. These policies indicate the attractive social system of Singapore.
Technological The main exports of Singapore are electronic and technological products so indicates that Singapore is enjoying a world-class reputation for inventing, adopting and developing new technologies. In this 21st Century, information technology is no longer a choice but a necessity. Information technology is the fundamental to strengthen a country. Singapore offers the quality workforce and the competitiveness make the international companies the confidence to invest in Singapore. The information technologies helped the country to stay ahead and protect the position. Because of Singapore is a city-state and there is no necessity of the countries nearby to use the transport-shipment or the air traffic but they do it by choice, so Singapore applied online procedures since early 1980’s, so the process of goods transporting is more effective and cheaper than the other countries in the region. Singapore has a three major strategy to become the IT city-state. The first thing they did is equipped every household, office and hotel rooms with broadband, no matter wired or
wireless. The country is required by regulation of installing broadband in every new build household. This is the first thing to get the citizen utilized the Information Technology. The second thing that the government is pushing would be education. Singapore is wellknown for the literacy of citizen in Asia and now they want the children to have better ideas about information technologies. Because the Education Ministers believed that once the people are left behind, it will become an inability and as long-term, it turns into disability. The reasons are most of the children in middle-class or above families have better access to information technologies which is unlikely for the poorer children. As the strategy is prepare all the population for the IT world, so the education department does not want anyone to miss out, so they decided to offer IT learning from first grade onwards and also prepare one computer for every two children, so the new generation will become the high-tech generation. Over 78.2% of household in Singapore own at least one computer and almost 71% enjoy access to internet which explained the Singaporean realized the importance of Information Technology. Most of the bank, factory and companies are changing the system to be more high-tech, so the employers would expect higher literacy of IT from the employees just same as the expectation of reading, writing and counting. So the message behind is the government is pushing the higher computer literacy of the population so the more competitive they would be. The third major thing Singapore doing is the electronic commerce. The development is in the stage of applying the laws and regulation to protect the contracts and enforcement. It is because the importance of protecting every parties in Cyberspace. Also there is no privacy protection, the electronic commerce can not be applied in that country, so the regulation of digital signature ensure the trustworthy of Singapore being the IT hub in Asia. In 2007, Singapore is ranked 31st of Internet host and the exports are heavily in information technological products and consumer electronic goods. The city-state attracted investment in pharmaceutical and medical technology products, so the biggest selling points of Singapore are high-tech hub and financial center in Asia. The prediction of the country is the advantage of advanced information technology and the leading position is secured. (Numerical information please refer to Appendix 1)
Legal Before Singapore become independent in 1965, it has been part of Federation of Malaysia and British colony. After independent, Singapore kept the British legal System, imported the common law and Westminster model of parliament government, although some modifies are done to suit in Singapore. The Singapore’s Constitution is a supreme written law. It indicates the basic freedoms of individual and the structure and organization of Singapore’s Executive, Legislation and Judiciary. A highlight of Singaporean Legal System is the strong anti- corruption law. In Singapore, the penalty for any person convicted in a corruption can be either receives a fine up to $100,000 or up to five year of imprisonment or both. If the incidences involved of government contracts or parliament member or a
member of public service, the penalty of imprisonment will increase to 7 years. Because of the law is well operating, so the rate of corruption is one of the lowest in the world and the country is enjoying a corruption-free environment. With the stable law system in Singapore, it is a good country to invest in.
Environmental Singaporean Government wanted to deliver and sustain a clean and healthy environment and water resources for all Singaporeans (Ministry of environment and water resources). The government is focusing on Air, Water, Land and energy/climate change. Singapore is making effort in eliminating the air pollution by setting regulation and standards of stringent emission, promotion of energy efficiency and introducing natural energy. The country achieved in “Good― range for at least 85% if the days in PSI (Pollutant Standards Index) from year 2003 to 2006 and also the pollutant level are managed to stayed within the USEPA(United States Environmental Protection Agency) standard. There are two strategies for Stationery and Mobile sectors. For the Stationery sector, the government is working on the city planning and locations of the factories to reduce the impact of air pollution to the country. For the Mobile sector, the government is reducing the emission of vehicles and applying the newest regulation of emission on diesel vehicles, so that encourage the drivers use more public transportation or using environmental friendly cars and energy then the emission will be reduced sharply. Water is a scarcity in the globe, especially in this island state, the main source of water is rainwater and the government is building more catchment to collect the rainwater. However the land used for the catchment is huge and Singapore is lack of land so the government seeks for other ways of getting potable water. The government is developing the technology of purifying and desalination of sea water. A desalination plant worth 119 million U.S dollars has been running since September 20005. The plant is capable to produce 114 million liters of potable water per day with the price of 46 US dollars a liter which wiped off the threats of price increase of Malaysia. Due to the agreement signed when Singapore is part of Federation of Malaysia that Singapore can draw 1,277 million liters water from Johor River with a price of less than 1 cent per 3,800 liters until 2011. However, Malaysia is considering either increase the price of water or forbidden Singapore drawing water from the river. If the country can use and manage the water wisely, the rainwater from catchment and the desalination is enough for the population of 4.5 million. Singapore has a most efficient solid waste management, as an island-state, Singapore is lack of land so the percentage of landfill the waste is eliminated to only 4% of the non-incinerable waste and another 45% is cinerated. Because of the land is scarce and running out, so the land for cinerate waste is becoming less and the government is trying to recycling the waste as much as possible and use other ways to solve the wastage problem and the target is zero landfill wastage and 60% of recycling by year 2012. On the other hand, the Singapore government is operating a “waste to energy― plant which uses the wastage to supply the
2%-3% electricity needs of the country in 2006. This plant resolved the problem with the land and energy which also implements the image of Singapore with green city and high-tech hub of Asia.
SWOT and PEST Analysis In this section, not only the SWOT but also the PEST (Law 2006) factors are examined to assess the current and prospective states of e-Government in Singapore by using a practical approach. SWOT analysis is employed in this article to discuss strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O) and threats (T) of e-Government in Singapore. Each of the four components of SWOT analysis is further examined according to PEST factors, referring to political (P), economic (E), social (S) and technological (T) determinants.
Strengths The strengths of Singapore to develop and maintain e-Government lie with the public policy. This is an important political determinant in the PEST model. Singapore has enjoyed political stability since independence in 1965 and the People’ s Action Party (PAP) has been in government throughout that period. Due to the oneparty government system, there has been little or no disruption of policy implementation, which has enhanced the effectiveness of the delivery mechanism of public services. This stability has created well-organized institutions that help all stakeholders to adopt e-Services. These bodies have also built up a strong legal foundation with regulations and guidelines to protect copyright and intellectual rights that create a secure online environment for users. Thus, the Singaporean government can strengthen its relationship with the public. This has been necessary for overcoming barriers in the process of building, maintaining and developing the nation.
In addition, well-defined schemes such as the light-touch or consensus approach in governing e-Commerce encourage the public and the private sectors to actively participate in e-Government (Lee 2005). The Class Licence Scheme encourages e-Businesses to classify themselves into different schemes to make itEGOVERNMENT IN SINGAPORE—A SWOTAND PESTANALYSIS 116 ASIA-PACIFIC SOCIAL SCIENCE REVIEW easier for users to know about them and for authorities to monitor them. This requires a high level of self-regulation and self-discipline. Nonetheless, some businesses may take advantage of legal loopholes to offer online products with undesirable content. Ideally, market demand and intensive competition will force businesses to be more trustworthy in order to attract new customers and retain existing customers but this cannot be guaranteed. The government has encouraged both the public and private sectors to contribute to the growth of e-Government by introducing eCitizen Helper 3P Partnership (People – Private – Public) (Government of Singapore 2005). This joint program provides the public with the means to adopt e-Services. This strategy reflects the capacity of Singapore in human capital development and capacity building. The government knows how to motivate and mobilize all stakeholders to participate in e-Services. Regarding economics, Singapore has implemented radical economic policies to assist SMEs to “tap the schemes and benefits that await them by adopting e-commerce initiatives” (Ravindran 2003). The Singapore Quality Class helps to identify businesses that have the potential to expand internationally. The government then provides incentives to these enterprises to encourage and assist them to reach overseas markets. However, political stability and appropriate policies are not enough to create an awareness of e-Government. It needs sufficient funds to finance and enhance the system. The government has allocated $1.5 billion to push for e-
Services (Tee 2000). In 2005, the Singaporean government introduced a master plan to tackle security issues. S$38m (£12.3 million) will be invested in this plan to ensure a secure online environment (Yu 2005). A strong financial foundation helps to improve both physical and social infrastructure for the development of e-Government. Physical infrastructure refers to the resources needed for the development of eportals and the operations of government agencies. Social infrastructure refers to the resources needed for training an Internet-proficient workforce. IT knowledge and skills will empower e-Users to overcome online obstacles. Not only accounting cost but also economic cost has been considered when measuring the cost and benefit of e-Government. Economic cost refers to the opportunity cost of time, effort and convenience. Time saving, convenience and actual monetary savings are the main drives to pull e-Users to e-Services. Thus, incentives such as a lucky draw, free gifts, vouchers, etc. are given to eUsers. As mentioned above, the IRAS has encouraged tax-payers to submit taxHUONG HAAND KEN COGHILL ASIA-PACIFIC SOCIAL SCIENCE REVIEW 117 declarations electronically, and has extended the deadline for those who are willing to declare their incomes electronically. People who apply for their passports online can pay a lower fee. The low cost of Internet subscription ($5 per month charged by Pacific Internet) and low cost of local phone calls (S0.1 per block of 30 seconds by SingTel Company) also lessens the burden for e-Users. Therefore, more people can afford to be connected to the Internet. The social strengths of Singapore have been demonstrated by an educational system that produces a well-educated workforce to attract foreign direct investment (FDI). Not only developing its own pool of local talents,
Singapore also recruits foreign talents to work in both the public and private sectors. Most FDI in Singapore was from Multi-national Corporations (MNCs) and foreign Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which are familiar with the operations of e-Government. Ultimately, these corporations will engage in e-Services to cut costs and to improve their operations. They need employees with IT proficiency and the ability to learn fast. A tech-savvy population and a well-educated IT labour force can participate in e-Government projects and can use these services effectively. The Singaporean government has introduced the National IT Literacy Program equipping “workers, homemakers and senior citizens” with basic computer and Internet skills (Tran 2003; Hu 2002). The e-Ambassador program has engaged celebrities to attract participants (Tran 2003). Non-IT trained civil servants can attend training sessions offered by the Civil College or the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore to acquire the necessary IT knowledge and skills to improve their performance. Nobody is excluded from this e-Project. The PC Re-use Scheme, initiated by the National Trade Union Cooperation, has provided affordable computers (either to sell or rent) to nearly 2,000 needy families in Singapore (Raoul 2001). “A network of Internet-enabled terminals at civic locations” has also been set up so that the public can easily and conveniently search the Internet (Hu 2002). Technologically, Singapore has a high-tech based economy. Wellprepared infrastructure and the latest technology contribute to the rapid development and deployment of e-Services. Government agencies can share resources and services such as “payment, authentication and data exchange” that are “built-once, reuse-always” by employing available IT applications (Faculty of Business and Economics - Research Committee 2004: 2). As mentioned previously, security issues are also received much attention from the government.E-GOVERNMENT IN SINGAPORE—A SWOTAND PESTANALYSIS
118 ASIA-PACIFIC SOCIAL SCIENCE REVIEW Last but not least, innovation cannot be omitted in a knowledge-based economy with a web-based government. It is argued that “a spirit of innovation” is the key to the success of countries as well as to organizations (PS21 Office 2001). Technology, IT, ICT or other inventions become out-of-date quickly. Thus, continual innovation and creativity for better products and processes helps organizations and countries tackle the problems of obsolete technology. Lambe comments that “Singapore’ s innovation credentials are quite sound” (2002: 3). For example, Raybould (undated) considers PS21 a product of innovation of Singapore. Another example is the eCitizen Portal which helped Singapore win the Stockholm Challenge award in 2002 for excellence in using ICT to benefit the community (Stockholm Challenge 2006). Weaknesses Singapore still faces some political weaknesses. Traditionally, the public believe that the Singaporean Government always wants to introduce new methods and new approaches to earn more from the public. This belief may cause people to hesitate in trying e-Services. Other weaknesses are the public feelings of insecurity and concern about making mistakes and being fined. These issues discourage people from tapping into e-Services. In terms of the economy, the SARS outbreak attracted much attention from the government in 2003, while combating terrorism threats has recently become the main concern. Thus, e-Government may become second on the agenda. Therefore, the resources for e-Government may be reduced in order to direct funds to prevent SARS or to fight terrorists. The SARS 6 outbreak in 2002 - 2003 also left a great impact on the economy (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
2003) as did the war in Iraq in 2002 (Kyodo News International Inc 2002). Many people lost their jobs 7 and might not be able to apply for a credit card to pay for on-line purchases 8 . This may emerge as one of hindrances. Socially, a large portion of blue-collar workers and the older generation are still computer illiterate. Others may find it difficult to follow instructions on the Internet or may be discouraged by computer-related problems. So, although the government tries to ensure “access for all” (Hu 2002), some people may not have the chance to access information on-line. They may have to go to e-stations to browse the Internet which can be an inconvenience if people want to access the Internet at night or if they have to wait for sometime to use a computer. Technologically, less IT-savvy people and the older generation are afraid of computer related problems. Some government websites are not friendly-users.HUONG HAAND KEN COGHILL ASIA-PACIFIC SOCIAL SCIENCE REVIEW 119 Thus, these websites attract few people. Time is another issue. Internet users may have to spend a lot of time on the Internet when there is heavy traffic on the Internet highway or the Internet connection is very slow. It may even take hours to download a webpage with graphics and voices. Opportunities In spite of the abovementioned shortcomings, there are many opportunities for e-Government to grow in Singapore. The political willingness of leaders in ASEAN countries to build and link countries in the region through a cyber highway creates an opportunity for governments in the region to show their commitment to
e-Government. With the support from different governments, resources (human capital, physical capital, etc.) may be pooled to develop strategies for planning, implementation, monitoring and the modification of G2G within and between countries. Concerning economics, people with IT proficiency have better opportunities for employment since computer literacy is a requirement for most industries in Singapore. Thus, people are motivated to learn computer skills. Time constraints are another motive to urge the public to adopt e-Services. Most people who use e-Services can save time and effort when shopping for public services online. The recent Free Trade Agreements signed between Singapore and the USA and between Singapore and Australia are predicted to create more opportunities for domestic suppliers to reach overseas markets. At the moment, business competition between competitors is becoming more intensive. Information and timing are important factors in bringing about success in doing business. It is the Internet that can help businesses to narrow the gaps between ordering, delivering and monitoring the flow of information. Socially, if the SARS outbreak and terrorist threats hinder economic growth, they may arouse the re-development of dot.com companies, as customers may prefer to shop online in order to avoid crowds. Thus, e-Users could eventually turn to e-Services to get information faster and to purchase public services. Finally, the introduction of Broadband enables e-Customers to connect to the Internet faster. The development of new technology applications presents opportunities for better, cheaper and more efficient e-services. Threats Currently, cyber-terrorism emerges as a threat to e-Government. For example, “terrorists’ technological capabilities have greatly advanced” and terroristsEGOVERNMENT IN SINGAPORE—A SWOTAND PESTANALYSIS
120 ASIA-PACIFIC SOCIAL SCIENCE REVIEW will use the web to “strike critical infrastructure like water systems or power plants” (Ho 2003). Singapore has not been spared from such threats. These issues are crucial to Singapore due to its small size and lack of natural resources. In addition, censorship, as the main approach in regulating the Internet, also complicates the investigation of cyber-terrorism (Ho 2003). It requires a lot of time, manpower and technology to trace such cyber offences. Politically, opposition organisations may take advantage of the Internet to spread propaganda on their ideologies and to create social disorder. However, this may not be a big issue in Singapore due to the tight control of the government and the weak activities of opposition parties. Security breaches are another problem for e-Government (Thompson 2002). The loopholes in the legal system and advanced technology make it easy for hackers to penetrate government websites and steal confidential information. This will create insecurity among e-Users who then may not be so willing to go online. For example, they may be unsure if their particulars are protected or if they will be more vulnerable to junk emails. Internet and computer related crimes, such as hacking, scam, spam, phishing or identity fraud and theft, will hinder the development of e-Government. Since the most popular mode of online payment is by credit card, security becomes a major problem. If problems relating to security and privacy are not properly addressed, e-Users could hesitate to give credit card details and thus may not want to use e-Services. Where issues of copyright and intellectual property are not fully and properly addressed, businesses may hesitate to communicate and disseminate information online. Further, an economic threat exists if increases in the oil price flow through
to higher charges for broadband subscriptions which financially burden e-Users. However, the relatively low charges for broadband suggest that that is unlikely. Social threats include the rapid development of telecommunication such as mobile and SMS technology. The lower cost of hand-phones (the Singaporean term for cell phones) provides an incentive for people to switch from the Internet to SMS. For example, National Service personnel can apply to the Singapore Immigration & Checkpoints Authority for exit permits to go overseas by SMS and television news headlines can be received via hand-phones. Information about current affairs and carrying out some other activities is faster through hand-phones rather than by using e-Services.HUONG HAAND KEN COGHILL ASIA-PACIFIC SOCIAL SCIENCE REVIEW 121 Finally, the dependence of people on technology may produce the adverse ffect of “people serving technology, instead of technology serving people” (Mahizhnan and Andiappan 2002, p. 259). For example, if e-users are not well equipped with IT skills and knowledge, it can take them hours to retrieve corrupted documents. An electronic crisis may disrupt activities and the whole country could be paralyzed without any Internet connection. Computer viruses, worms and computer bugs discourage e-Providers from storing data and information online. Network problems are also a major barrier. Users may feel helpless when they have to deal with technological problems. Furthermore, a proportion of Singaporeans may not have equal opportunity to access the Internet (Mahizhnan and Andiappan 2002) even though the government has tried to reach as many users as they can by providing access points at libraries and community centres.
